I am on my way to Australia as I write. To finally see Diana.
In my first blog post I listed 5 things I was looking forward to in Lyon, here they are with a little review about them:
Living in France
It was a dream of mine to live in France and it hasn't disappointed, the opposite actually. I really like being here. I like the culture, I like the people.
I think that I am more connected to France culturally than to England. France and french people are culturally closer to us Portuguese people, so maybe that's why it has been easier to settle in. I really can see myself living here full-time with Diana in the future.
Getting to know my French cousins
Like I mentioned on my initial post, this reason was why I specifically picked Lyon and not other French cities like Marseille, Lille, or Bordeaux. Paris was never an option.
I got to spend some quality time mainly with Sara, my nephew S and Sara's husband PA. I also spent some time with Quentin. It has been great spending time with all of them. I am really happy to finally getting to know them after all these years.
Even though they are my family, they are also great and very interesting people- which from my own experience, doesn't always goes together! I am very lucky to have them here!
The only cousin I haven't had the opportunity to spend time yet was Bruno who lives in Geneva, but will see him early next year.
Learning French
I can now have basic conversations in French, which is something I am really happy and proud about. I can understand much more than before and my reading has also improved quite a lot.
I think being at Alliance Francaise every day for at least 3 hours really made a difference.
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| My December class at Alliance Francaise - such a great group! |
I also make an effort to speak it all the time. I avoid speaking English and Portuguese at all times. I go out quite a lot and meet quite a lot of people, so I get to speak French outside school too, which it helped massively. I also listen to French Radio during my cycle rides to school. Every little helps!
However, it hasn't been easy.
I still struggle a lot as I seem to be a lazy speaker and tend to speak mainly in the present tense, even when talking about the past. I think this is due to my natural laziness and also to my natural fast way of speaking, which doesn't allow me time to first process what I will say before I say it.
I am starting to use the past tense more and more, so I hope that in the next few months this will improve.
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| Accepting the 1st Prize for the "Letter to Santa Claus" Christmas contest at Alliance Francaise! Check the "video-letter" at my previous post. |
Make friends and meet as many people as possible
I really made quite a lot of friends and great ones too. This to me has actually been the best part of the whole experience. Along with spending time with my family.
Thinking about it now, I cannot imagine myself not being friends with Barbara, Nahil, Fabio, Mathieu, Pedro, James, Aitor, Tom, and all the others (so many to mention!) I met for the past 80 days.
Its crazy knowing that if I didn't come here I wouldn't know any of them...so weird!
Living in a new city, Lyon!
Ahhh Lyon. What can I say? I love being here. Apart from the pollution and from the Carrefour queues, I have no complaints. People here are nice and welcoming. The food is great, so many street markets, interesting restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, bars. The wine, cheese and bread really are great in here. I love cycling using the rental bikes which are a great way of getting around the city. I enjoy running too.
Even though its not as vibrant as Paris or London, there is always something to do in Lyon, its a dynamic but relaxed city. There are plenty of cinemas, bars/disco to all tastes, a lot of theatres, dancing activities, sports - really, anything you want to do, it's possible in Lyon!
Its just a gorgeous city when the sun comes out. I can't wait to enjoy Lyon in the summer!
There were also a few points I mentioned which I wasn't looking forward to:
Bureaucracy and not as efficient compared to the UK
This is true. The opening of my bank account, was a bit of a nightmare. I can see that some things don't work as efficiently as they should, such as supermarkets, stores, banks etc but you just have to adapt and get on with it, nothing can be done about it, it seems.
Living in a student accommodation
It has actually been fine. It isn't a noisy residence, the students seem all nice, always say "Bonjour" and "Bonsoir" and things seem to work fine up until now. It is very cheap so, cannot complain really!
Living this experience on my own, apart from Diana
This really has been the hardest thing!
Yes, I have made plenty of friends, I have been out a lot, I have been busy most days. However, for me, it always lacked something. Sharing all of this with Diana. It sounds cheesy but its true. Being with her day in and day out was something I missed.
To call her the next day or the day after to tell her all about it, or for her to ready it on my blog, it's not the same thing. For both of us.
It is also hard in other aspects of our relationship, and this year apart has been an interesting one on that aspect, but its fair to say that our relationship got even stronger being apart, which is something we thought not possible.
Summary:
Taking all into account, I couldn't be happier with my decision to come to Lyon.I have met some incredible people who made this experience what it is - incredible. It is the people you meet that shape your experiences and here is exactly what happened.
I have also changed in the process. I am even more open (!?). I now drink wine. I now drink beer. I now eat guacamole. Yes, those seem normal to the majority of you but not to me, being a very picky person. I think I've even become more outgoing. More patient. I try more. Not sure why. It just happens naturally.
I really didn't need to have come here. I loved my job in Nottingham. I liked my colleagues, I worked as part of a great team there. I could have stayed there this year whilst Diana was in Melbourne. It would have been fine. I would saved enough money for our round the world trip in 2019, I would probably be living in a nice flat/studio and I could go out most nights too. Life would be good. However, I decided to take this opportunity to shake up my life, to see what would happen, get out of my comfort zone and go for it, no regrets, just thinking positive and just following a dream...
I know I know what you're going to say. "Its easy for you, you aren't married, you have no kids, no responsibilities, you can just do whatever you want, all of us have a life, kids, a permanent job that took years to get, we can't just go and leave everything like you just to follow a dream!".
Well, some of that is true. I have no kids. Diana was going away to Australia. I did not have a permanent job. So, it was easy right?
Well, for me it was yes, but a lot of people in my position would still not do this. I had friends and family saying I was crazy and I shouldn't do it. They wouldn't do this if they were me, they kept saying.
I had a safe job, not permanent but close to being permanent, all I needed to do was to keep performing as well and working as hard as I always had in the team. I earned £1,350/month and going up every year - yes, not a lot at all for UK standards, but in Nottingham and living with Diana with who also earned above £1100/month, was more than enough to have a nice flat and travel quite a bit.
I left a secure job to live abroad for a year, with no job waiting for me. For some people this was insane. Some of my friends said I was insane to leave the UK for France. Some even mentioned the terrorist attacks in France, as another reason not to come here!
Yes, the money is running out, it should run out in May so...am I worried? Not yet to be honest. It won't be easy to find a job but I will manage.If I worried about that in the first place, I wouldn't have come here.
Everything is going as well as I thought initially, even better. I am happy. If it doesn't work out as I intended, I will surely work what to do and how to go about it.
So, can I suggest something to you reading this?
With Christmas and the New Year's resolutions around the corner, what about picking that dream or long term project and put it into action in 2017?
Learn to play the piano? Learn to dance Salsa? Move to India? Run a marathon? Do a round the world trip? Learn Italian? Start writing a book? Get into acting?
Just go for it!! You won't regret it!
Merry Christmas and Happy 2017 Resolutions!
PS: Thank you all for reading my blog for the past 3 months, and for all the support and comments. It has been a pleasure so I will continue sharing this adventure with all of you!
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