France 🇫🇷

Marie, 30

Born in Teofilo Otoni, Mg, Brazil and lived in Chateauroux, France

Came to Australia in December 2019

What is your occupation?

I am a career coach and mentor; I used to be a recruiter and I like helping people Ace Their Interviews. I started my own company in April 2020 called “Marie The Coach” and I work with international clients.

Basically, my three services are; career coaching, new manager coaching and Ace Your Interviews. I empower clients to find a successful and rewarding career path and I coach/mentor them for specific interviews (or not), strengths finding, LinkedIn profiles, CV reviewing, and elevator pitches in the latter.

I have a Masters of Marketing & Strategy and a Masters of International Business from Idrac Business School in Lyon. It’s common for French people to have two Masters degrees.

Why did you come to Australia?

In early 2019, my husband and I came to Australia during the Chinese New Year public holiday period in Singapore, where we lived for three years, to maximise our annual leave. We only had to use three days’ annual leave to take two weeks off.

My husband loved it so much that he applied for and secured a position in Google’s Sydney office. We then made the move here late last year.

What do you like about Sydney?

I love living close to the water. The ocean views and coastal walks here are spectacular. I had a friend who told us we’d never get to experience such a high quality of life outside Australia and she was right.

I love the dry climate; after spending 3 years in Singapore, this is a welcome relief!

I’m very used to living in an international environment from all my years as an expat. In France, I could also enjoy foreign cuisines and I love that Sydney’s food culture is similarly multicultural.

I have to put boundaries on myself since I’m self-employed but I love the emphasis on a healthy work-life balance in Australia.

What don’t you like about Sydney?

I’ve lived in cities where I could survive without a car. This isn’t the case in Sydney, where it’s really hard to get around without one. Using public transport to get to friends’ houses, for example, is like a journey in itself. I haven’t bought a car yet but we’ll soon either rent one or buy one.

I thought Singapore was expensive but Sydney is very expensive too. Rent and going out for drinks is exorbitant. This only becomes apparent to me when I return to Lyon in France; everything feels much cheaper all of a sudden.

What would you like to say to Sydneysiders?

Let’s try to maintain social distancing together so we can travel domestically around Australia before the international borders are hopefully opened!

What languages do you speak?

English, French (native), Portuguese (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), German (intermediate)

I’m fluent in English because I participated in a year-long Rotary exchange program in California. My mum enjoyed watching media in the original language, so watching all the English-language movies and TV shows definitely helped. This is a lot easier said than done because in France dubbing is very common.

I was adopted at two months old by a single French mum. I learnt Portuguese last year because I finally got in contact with my birth family. I met them in person for the first time and spent 7 months beforehand learning the language!

I learnt Spanish for a year while I was in America. Since then, a lot of it has been self-taught through Netflix shows.

I learnt German as one of my two foreign languages in secondary and high school.

My husband is Polish so I’m taking online Polish classes at the moment.

Teach us one word/phrase from your native language.

C’est d’la balle- this is slang for it’s awesome or it’s cool.

What is one thing you want us to know about your native country?

France has such beautiful and contrasting landscapes. You have mountains like the Alps, Pyrennes, beaches in Nice, Montpellier and the French Riviera and the beautiful countryside like the Loire Valley with the castles. You can take the TGV (bullet trains) to properly explore the beauty of France.

We are a country famous for food. For example, Lyon, where I’m from, is the gastronomic capital of France.

We truly take care of our appearance. We always wear nice and matching clothes no matter the occasion; this stereotype is definitely true.

Who is the most famous person in your native country?

Gerard Depardieu

He’s from my hometown too and is one of the most famous actors in France. My favourite movies of his include: Cyrano de Bergerac, Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, The Man in the Iron Mask.

What is the best dish in your native country?

Quiche.

I often make it myself. I put leek, mushrooms, smoked salmon when I made them last week for some guests. Gruyere cheese is nice with it.

Every quiche I make is different because there are thousands of ways to make them, you can definitely cater it to your taste.

In Lyon, my favourite dishes are saucisson de Lyon & quenelle de brochet.

The first one is a large cured pork sausage with pistachios or truffles.

The second one is pike cakes with crayfish sauce.

Your taste buds will never regret going to Lyon.

Disclaimer: All posts are personal opinions and perspectives of the interviewees and are not a perfect representation of the whole country/experience.