Fearless Friday No. 16 – Chloe from My Life Living Abroad

Name: Chloe
Pronoun(s): She/her
Nationality: British and French
Hometown: Teignmouth, Devon (England)
Current location: Paris, France
Occupation: Court Coordinator at the International Chamber of Commerce and part-time Blogger (My Life Living Abroad)

Meet Chloe

Hi there, I’m Chloe. I’m British and I’m from a tiny seaside town called Teignmouth in the South-West of England. I originally came to France as an au-pair and planned to only stay for 9 months. Ten years later, I have gained French nationality, bought an apartment and I plan to call France my forever home.

Editor’s note: If you’re interested in applying for French nationality, be sure to check out Chloe’s article here: How to apply for French Nationality Part One – The Paperwork – My Life Living Abroad

By day I work at the International Chamber of Commerce as part of the Court Coordination team, organising events for lawyers. However, in my free time I work on my blog, which is my true passion in life

My blog (My Life Living Abroad) aims to help foreigners with the many red-tape situations they may find themselves in whilst living in France. I also write about restaurants, bars, and travelling because I am a total foodie and I love to visit new places.

On Education

Did you attend college? If so, where, and how did you choose that school/those schools?

I attended the University of Loughborough in England. I chose this university because at the time, it was the only university offering a degree in Publishing, which is what I wanted to do. I also chose this university because it was far from my hometown. I really wanted to have the full university experience and be independent, which wouldn’t have happened if I had gone to my second choice, twenty minutes from my parents home.

In your opinion, what makes travel uniquely “educational”?

I spent over ten years in England trying to learn French.

Once I finished university and realised my level of French was still nowhere near where I wanted it to be, I decided to move to France to improve it

Travelling can be uniquely educational in respects to learning a language. I could never have made so much progress without actually living in the country. You not only learn how to speak the language, but you learn how to speak like a true French person (in my case, a Parisienne). This opportunity is very unique and, in my experience, life-altering.

What, in your opinion, are three of the most useful languages someone can learn? Why?

This is such an interesting question! Personally I think that English, French and Spanish are the most useful languages someone can learn. I have worked in both French and English for years and I’m now learning Spanish after it became more and more evident that it would be useful for my job. Living and working in France I hear these three languages spoken on a daily basis. It seems that if you know one of these languages, you can always find a way to communicate with someone when travelling abroad.

Professional Background

How long have you been in your current position?

I have been in my current position for 2 and a half years, but in the same company for almost 5 years. I love working at the ICC because it’s such an international environment and my colleagues come from all over the world. At the moment, we are all working from home due to the pandemic, but I dearly miss working in the office and hope to be able to return in the near future.

What has working outside your native country taught you about yourself and the culture you come from?

Working in France has taught me a lot about British culture. It has taught me that British people are very passive-aggressive. French people are not like this at all. What may be construed as direct or aggressive, is actually just a French person being honest with you about your work. They are straight-talking and open, contrary to the way most British people behave in a work environment. If you have never seen it, you can check out the Anglo-EU Translation Guide which I think shows perfectly what the British say, and what they really mean.

Would you say travel or living abroad have impacted your career path? How?

Definitely. I always wanted to work in publishing, which I don’t do here in France. Unfortunately, I graduated in 2010 when the economy in the UK was doing very poorly. People were not hiring and internships (which you needed to be hired) were offered, but unpaid.

Since moving to France, I have worked as a teacher, a customer service manager, and now as an event coordinator – three things I did not plan on doing in my career

However, I get to work with different languages every single day, which is a dream come true for me.

What are some unique challenges facing expats in your career field? How are you working to/how did you overcome them?

I think the biggest challenge for Expats in my career field is the weight of the Masters Degree in France. In France, having a Masters is much more important than in the UK. Without a Masters, it is very difficult to access certain promotions or job opportunities in a number of fields. In the UK, you are often judged more on your performance and your experience, rather than on your level of education.

Do your future career goals involve living abroad or traveling for work?

Absolutely. I travelled to New York for work last year and I would love to continue travelling for work in future. I would prefer to remain in France and travel for work, but if the right opportunity came up abroad, I would be open to moving to another country. I would love to live in Tokyo for a year, for example!

On Lifestyle

Do you think young people in your home country would benefit from traveling more? Living abroad more? Why?

I think young people from England would benefit from travelling more for a number of reasons:

1. We are very much educated to believe that England has everything you could ever need to be happy, which in my case was not true.
   
2. We are also made to believe that we are not European. Even pre-Brexit when we were, no one would ever refer to themselves as a European citizen. Now that Brexit has gone through, this divide will only get stronger and I fear that people in the UK may become very isolated.

There is so much out there to see!

I am from a very small town in the UK and it’s difficult to picture a life outside of it, until you leave

People are missing out on so much by not travelling, or always travelling to the same places.

Has traveling changed the way you view the world? If yes, how so?

Travelling has totally transformed the way I view the world. Before living in France I only had friends from the UK. Now, thanks to my life here and the travelling we have done I have friends in Canada, America, Sweden, Germany, The Faroe Islands, Crete, Greece, Spain, Portugal and many more. Thanks to these friends and the countries we have visited, I have a much better understanding of other cultures and much broader horizons!

How would you describe your travel style? (Budget, luxe,backpacker, thrifty, fancy, some unique combination?)

I used to be a luxe traveller. I grew up travelling with my parents, staying in beautiful hotels and visiting far off places with no understanding of how much it all cost. Part of me still enjoys luxe travelling, but thanks to my other half, I have learnt to equally enjoy backpacking and budget travelling, and most often a happy balance of the two.

One last question

What advice would you give to a young person who knows they want to travel but aren’t sure where that fits in with the rest of their lives?

Don’t overthink it.

In my opinion, it’s never too late to travel

Maybe you’ll do it next year, maybe in 5 or maybe when you’re 50. The important thing to remember is that if you want to travel, you will find a way. The timing just needs to be right for you.

Editor’s note: This interview with Chloe from My Life Living Abroad has been lightly edited for concision and clarity.

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Thank you for reading Fearless Friday No. 16 – Chloe from My Life Living Abroad!

If you connected with Chloe’s story, she invites you to connect with her via the following platforms:

Instagram: @mylifelivingabroad
Facebook page to Blog https://www.facebook.com/mylifelivingabroad
Website (linked earlier too) https://mylifelivingabroad.com/

Fearless Friday Features like this one with Chloe from My Life Living Abroad are posted every Friday evening, France time. If you enjoy reading and want to keep up-to-date with the latest posts, please subscribe to support this work and be the first to receive weekly blog posts and a monthly newsletter recapping the best and weirdest of the last thirty days. You can peruse the full archive of past features here: https://www.themillennialabroad.com/category/fearless-friday-features/