Valentine's day the best gift for expat partners ? A question that everyone is asking.
Joy of departure, difficulties of integration on arrival
Mary, who followed her husband John to France, is happy with the novelty and discovery:
Everything is beautiful, everything is interesting because it is different and she sees the good side of things.
Then soon after, this positive outlook changes.
The way of life is completely different from her country of origin, she doesn't understand this way of life and the attitudes of French (they are strange, those ones!). She is experiencing culture shock!
On top of that, she left her job before moving, so she no longer has her own income, she discovers financial dependence, not to mention the loss of her social status (she is now only "John's wife").
The importance of finding one's place
All these factors gradually lead to tension in their relationship. In fact Mary does not feel comfortable in France. John has his colleagues, his "work" evenings, and Mary finds it difficult to meet people. She spends her time waiting for him.
She has never been dependent like this.
To keep her marriage in balance, Mary sees that she needs to find a job. Having a job will allow her to develop personally and to adapt to this new country.
But in Paris, she doesn't know anyone, she doesn't know how to look for a job, how to make a French CV...
First, she thinks she has to learn French, it's probably also a barrier to better understand French !
Absolutely French the best gift for Valentine's Day
So Mary discussed it with John at length. John could see that she needed help to get better. So he looked at the options he could offer her:
A « back-to-work » coach ? An outplacement ? A French school? Cultural Visits of Paris ? Workshops to make her CV in French ?
And he finally discovered a French school, which does all this in a fun and friendly way and which aims at one thing: that expatriates' spouses develop their expatriation project to favour dual careers:
Following this discovery, he went to see his company, to discuss it.
And Mary spent 6 months with Absolutely French ! She joined a group of 5 other expatriate spouses from different countries. She played a lot with them, laughed a lot and learned a lot ! She now speaks French and has found a job, in her field, in Paris. And this job will allow her to continue her career when she returns.
What if you also offered your spouse a career?
To do this, invite him/her to a first workshop, to see if he/she likes the atmosphere!
And contact your company right away, because he/she will love it!
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