Daily Archives: June 1, 2008

Will moving to France improve your life? – read on…

Posted by Wendy on June 1, 2008 4 comments

For those of you who assume, rightly or wrongly, that selling up in the UK and buying that dream home in France will be the answer to all your dreams – and the solution to all your problems…then think again.

One British woman found out the hard way that what those nice shows on TV say about moving to France bears no relevance to real life. Whilst many people find their idyll exists in France, just as many people find life in France to be the complete opposite. Only thing is you rarely read or hear about the latter.

Life in France as experienced by expat Brits is usually represented by two sides; those who came, saw, lived and hated it.  And those who came, bought where other Brits bought and therefore loved it.  Simply because they trod where others had cleared the path for them.  The latter tend to be the smug type. ‘La France’ works for them so it should work for everyone else – if you don’t like your life in France then it is your fault.  To blame France and it’s weird ways, or the French for their xenophobic ways, for your not liking France is tantamount to heresy in the eyes of the smug British Expat.

These types tend to identify their ‘place’ in France in such pretentious terms as ‘The Tarn’; ‘The Var’ or ‘The Lot’…not what the local French call these areas themselves…

However, here are some of the sentiments expressed by said ‘smug British Expats’ in regard to this lady and her problems as quoted from a popular online forum for British Expats in France…

” Why didn’t she just learn French ? ” – this is always their answer to problems here.

” I cannot help but feel that the move to France probably brought forward an event which would have occured anyway ”

France has a culture which revolves around the consumption of alcohol. Just read what many Brit expats state as their reasons for moving to France and they will almost without exception include ” the wine ” as one of those reasons. In France wine is cheap, readily available and consumed before lunch, after lunch, before dinner, during dinner and after dinner. Oh, also during the morning as the cafes open around 7am and aperitifs are sold whereas food is not.  To see people consuming alcohol at nine in the morning in France is a very common sight.

Anyway, should you be considering a move to France just consider this; what exactly are you looking for ? if it is a cheap house in a pretty area but with little to no need to integrate then by all means move to an area where there is a large established British community. France is full of them.

If you are looking for a better way of life, more time with your family surrounded by sympathetic friends – then stay in the UK and go on the dole. Just remember, there’s no place like home.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

A little bit of encouragement goes a long way

Posted by Wendy on June 1, 2008 No comments

Pictured left is one of the finalists from the series Britain’s Got Talent, Andrew Johnston aged 13. Andrew stunned the judges and audiences with his beautiful soprano voice when he sang Pie Jesu; Andrew was 3rd runner up in last night’s final and a deserved finalist.

He is yet another example of what young people can achieve when they put their time and energy into something really worhtwhile – themselves. Young people like this should receive far more exposure than they get – one only hears about the bad things committed by the youth of today. But there are thousands of these little unsung heroes in our neighbourhoods.

Creative arts should be a part of the school curriculum and should be made available to all kids. All children should have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument or develop a talent that they have whether it be for music, art, dance, painting…

If the Govt would just invest money in this way we would have far less anti-social problems; if only the media would focus on far less, and cease glamourising, celebrities who drift in and out of drug rehab; if only young girls had better examples of success to look to rathen than emaciated actresses and offered decent role models for our kids to look up to.

We need to see kids like Andrew Johnston and kids need to see him as well. I wonder just how many he has managed to inspire over these past weeks – let’s hope he has inspired their parents as well.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

While Britain’s got talent like this Britain’s still got hope

Posted by Wendy on June 1, 2008 No comments

This past week, or even the past fortnight, has not been a particularly positive time for the youth of Great Britain as you may have noticed in the media.  It is all too easy to generalise and lump all young people into one basket or catgeory – and we all know that this is not fair, or even true.

Having watched this recent series of Britain’s Got Talent I can honestly say that we can heave one huge collective sigh of relief if what was represented is actually out there in bigger numbers than we know about.

And I say there is plenty of talent out there; many more thousands of young, ambitious and hopeful young people taking what nature has given them in whichever form and doing something worthwhile with their talent and time.

The winner, George Sampson (pictured) is aged just fourteen and after being unsuccessful in last years auditions came back with a venegeance this year to win the coveted first prize with his electrifying dance routine. And all power to him. This kid, whose mother cannot afford private dancing lessons for him, travels to Manchester every day to dance ‘street style’ to earn spare cash to pay for his tuition and finance his dreams of being a dancer.

This is what Britain needs to have and to see as well. There are many more kids out there just like George, doing their own thing and doing it well – working hard, striving to make their dreams come true. Not for them the culture of ‘boredom’ which so many use as an excuse for their inactivity and anti-social behaviour.

I have said before, all kids have talent; all kids have something they are great at doing, it just takes encouragement and committment to help them find what it is that makes them extra special. And getting behind them most of all; praise, heaps of praise and encouragement is what would make a difference to so many others out there – they just need someone to believe in them so that they can believe in themselves.

The rewards for them will be so many and society too will benefit.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.