Moving from Paris to Cary - Looking for experiences of other Europeans who've moved to North Carolina (Charlotte: sales, chapel)

[cunparis]

Hi, I'm American and my wife is French, we live in Paris France. Paris was great when we were single but now with 2 kids (1 & 2 1/2) we realize Paris just isn't for us. So we are planning on moving to the US, and we've narrowed down our choices to Cary and Charlotte. We visited both when we were passing by during our vacation last year.

I'm looking to "meet" some French and/or European people living in the triangle area, especially mixed couples that are American/European. It's a big step for us to move from France to the US and my wife isn't sure what to expect.

We wonder if there are international restaurants (food is very important to the French). I just looked up a few "French" restaurants I found searching the forums (La Residence and Dream Catcher Café) and they don't seem French at all. I tell my wife we should open a real French restaurant.

We're also curious about jobs with international environments. I'm not sure how many international firms are in the triangle area. My wife would love to use her French while working in the US.

One of the things we would like is a bilingual school so our children will use their French. We want them to be able to read, write, know the grammar, literature, history, etc. So far we've found these schools only in the big cities and that's really what we are trying to move away from. So a school with at least a little French would be plus.

So far I've found (online) Atlas international school and also the Montessori school. I haven't seen many comments about them while searching here. If anyone has any experience with them please share.

Overall I'm looking for information and experiences from Europeans who have lived in the triangle area. Did you like it? What did you like better than in Europe? What did you miss from Europe? Etc. My wife is a bit apprehensive which is quite understandable, so I'd like to be able to show her that other Europeans are happy in the triangle area.

I know there are more international cities, San Diego was on our short list, but in the end we decided that the big international cities have a lot of disadvantages such as very high home prices, crime, long commutes, less friendly people, hard to make friends, etc. In fact many of the things we want to escape here in Paris! So that's why we're willing to give up some of the advantages of a big city in exchange for a smaller town like the triangle area. I'm from Kentucky originally and have very fond memories of my childhood in the south.

Thanks for any information you may have to share.

[DebbieF]

Awesome awesome french restaurant in Raleigh on Falls of Neuse. They plan trips to France every year and they are truely french. I am french also and grew up speaking french until the 2ndgrade when my parents sent me to an english school in CT. I had to have a special teacher to teach me english, because my parents spoke french in the home. They are from the upper part of Maine near the Canadian border. Anyway check out this great French restaurant called St. Jacques.

Saint-Jacques French Cuisine

[Jdatlas]

The Dream Catcher Cafe in Chapel Hill closed down a few months ago.

[Francois]

Unfortunately, for bilingual jobs in the area, SPANISH is what everyone wants (I have a degree in French, so I know). She might look into teaching at a high school or community college, though she would eventually need to go through the red tape of "certification", or teaching part-time at Berlitz or some other language school here. She could also tutor high school or university students, which I think pays a decent hourly rate.

Otherwise, it would of course, like any job, depend on what her skill set outside of speaking French is.

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by DebbieF

Awesome awesome french restaurant in Raleigh on Falls of Neuse. They plan trips to France every year and they are truely french. I am french also and grew up speaking french until the 2ndgrade when my parents sent me to an english school in CT. I had to have a special teacher to teach me english, because my parents spoke french in the home. They are from the upper part of Maine near the Canadian border. Anyway check out this great French restaurant called St. Jacques.

Saint-Jacques French Cuisine

Wow, I just looked at the menu and I must say this is real French food. I haven't seen so many real French dishes on one menu. Seriously, it looks very good. And judging from those prices I think we really should open up a French restaurant.

PS: Do you still speak French?

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by Francois

Unfortunately, for bilingual jobs in the area, SPANISH is what everyone wants (I have a degree in French, so I know). She might look into teaching at a high school or community college, though she would eventually need to go through the red tape of "certification", or teaching part-time at Berlitz or some other language school here. She could also tutor high school or university students, which I think pays a decent hourly rate.

Otherwise, it would of course, like any job, depend on what her skill set outside of speaking French is.

These are all great ideas. She's quite timid so I'll have to build up her confidence for the school teaching idea. I hadn't thought of Berlitz. I was thinking she could do some private lessons but it'd be hard to find students since we'd be new to the area. I think her strength could be doing more than just language but also French culture and cooking as well.

Outside of that, her profession is sales administration and what we're finding here in France is that there is fierce competition from people with 2 year degrees which is bringing salaries down. So she'd like to change careers.

[badger77]

If your wife does not have a Bachelor's degree (or the French equivalent) she will not be able to teach at the high school or community college level.

[J_Lurk]

Off the top of my head I can think of three couples I know where one partner is French, but none of them are on this board . I don't think you'd struggle to find similar folks here though. Many international students come to study at the area universities, and many stay.

One friend of mine who is fluent in French ran a bilingual home daycare for a while. You can find more information on doing that here: Licensing Requirements
Her kids are much older now, so she's moved on to substitute teaching French in her child's school.

Another friend of mine used her French & Dutch skills working for the NC Department of Commerce and later for a small company selling industrial equipment overseas. However, as the previous poster said, a bachelor's level degree would probably be required for those jobs.

I've lived in London and travelled a lot, and I think one of the biggest shocks here might be the near complete absence of public transportation, but that would have been true in San Diego too!

Good luck with your decision making!

[DebbieF]

Originally Posted by cunparis

Wow, I just looked at the menu and I must say this is real French food. I haven't seen so many real French dishes on one menu. Seriously, it looks very good. And judging from those prices I think we really should open up a French restaurant.

PS: Do you still speak French?

I told you it was a great restaurant. I also have a french client that owned a french bistro in New Orleans that may be coming her. I showed him around the area for several days. Maybe he can open up another french restaurant. I don't really speak french anymore which is a shame. I would like to go back and take lessons. I always sayI am going to. I have a ton of french speaking relatives and my grandparents never really spoke english. Maybe you can give me lessons :-)

Enjoy the rest of the day,
Debbie

[virgo]

This French Meetup Group may have some Europeans as members. Good luck!


Raleigh French-Language Meetup (Raleigh, NC) - Meetup.com