Yannick, 34
Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Came to Australia in October 2016
What is your occupation?
I am a research assistant at the University of New South Wales, working on conservation and specifically biological ecosystems.
I studied a Bachelor of Sports Science and a Masters of Sports Management at the University of Orleans, France.
When I first moved to Australia, my level of English was pretty poor. I was first doing retail jobs and was struggling to find jobs in the sport science jobs. My fiance, who has a PhD in Ecology at the University of New South Wales, then recommended that I look into casual jobs at the university. That’s how I ended up in research, a completely different field!
I quite enjoy this work as it is intellectually stimulating and challenging. Most of my work centres around data. I’m not involved in the writing and publishing of scientific articles.
Why did you come to Australia?
I met my fiance Roxanne in France. We lived in two different cities and only saw each other on weekends. She was working as an English teacher in Caen, France as part of her gap year in between her bachelor and honours degree.
We met at a Kizomba dance event in Rennes. It is a dance and musical genre that originated in Angola in 1984.
As her visa was about to expire, we decided to move together back to Australia and here I am! I knew no one here besides Roxanne!
What do you like about Sydney?
You have basically everything here in terms of nature. The weather is nice most of the time. You have mountains, beaches, national parks all in Sydney.
I grew up in Abidjan, a very populated city of 6 million people. There are big lagoons, but it isn’t as accessible. Then again, I stopped living there 15 years ago so probably a lot has changed.
It is a very diverse and multicultural place. As a black person, one of the main reasons why I decided to leave France was because of racism. You’ll have employers who just throw away your CV as soon as you apply. You have to completely assimilate and become a white French person in order to succeed in French society. I left France because I felt like I was losing my identity slowly.
When I arrived in Sydney, my mind was blown. I could tell that people were looking and staring at me, but it was from a curious mindset. The administration in Australia is very simple, compared to how bureaucratic everything is in France. Applying for jobs and bank accounts are so easy here.
What don’t you like about Sydney?
It’s far away. To visit home, it’s a logistical effort. It takes 30 hours easily to go home to visit parents.
There are not a lot of people that look like me. For the first 5 years, especially during COVID, I missed Ivorians a lot. I stumbled upon one Ivorian at the gym when he walked in with an Ivorian soccer jersey. At least now I am in a Whatsapp group with 5 other Ivorians in Sydney. Most of them are also a lot older, so they’re pretty much from a different generation.
What would you like to say to Sydneysiders?
Take care of what you have. You don’t even know how unique and how great Sydney is.
I always hear about Australians complaining and saying they want to live elsewhere in Europe etc. Living in Europe is a completely different experience from just holidaying there.
What languages do you speak?
French, English, Dioula, Bété
Dioula is one of the biggest tribes in the Ivory Coast. In the district of Abidjan where I lived, Dioula was ubiquitous and I picked it up there.
The Bété languages are a language cluster of Kru languages spoken in central-western Ivory Coast. For such a small country, we have over 60+ ethnic groups!
What helped me pick up English the fastest was teaching soccer to kids in Australia.
Teach us one word/phrase from your native language.
Abidjan est le plus doux au monde
It literally means “Abidjan is the sweetest in the world.” You say this to every Ivorian and they will relate to it. It’s so ingrained in Ivorian culture. There’s no place like home. Ivorians are very proud people, so this is something that even French or English people would have heard of, if they know of any Ivorians.
What is one thing you want us to know about your native country?
Although Ivorians, especially in Abidjan, might come across as hostile. It’s just a wall that people put up to protect themselves. This is mostly due to our history.
Ivory Coast is a former French colony which gained independence in 1960. France organised a coup that deposed a democratically-elected leader called Laurent Gbagbo. Nowadays, there is a lot of ill will directed towards France in Ivory Coast.
From an infrastructure perspective, the country has developed a lot. There are more luxury hotels and resorts. The problem is that this exacerbates the income inequality problem.
Cote d’Ivoire is the largest producer of cocoa in the world.
The biggest church in the world is The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro
The ecosystems are very diverse. Some places I recommend are the south coast beaches, like Grand-Bassam.
Who is the most famous person in your native country?
Didier Drogba
He is a national hero. He captained the Ivorian football team and is the all-time top scorer.
Football is a religion in the country.
What is the best dish in your native country?
Attieke
Attiéké is a side dish made from cassava that is popular and traditional in Ivory Coast. The dish is prepared from fermented cassava pulp that has been grated or granulated. Dried attiéké is also prepared, which is similar in texture to couscous.
It’s like one of the national dishes of Ivory Coast. It’s cheap street food that is sold everywhere on street corners. In Sydney, it’s quite expensive. There’s a place in Liverpool that sells it.
Disclaimer: All posts are personal opinions and perspectives of the interviewees and are not a perfect representation of the whole country/experience.
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