I'm an American expat living in France. I have been living in France for 10 years. I have had to endure the French immigration process, which is lengthy and progresses in stages from a 1 year carte de séjour, a 2 year carte de séjour and finally, if you have passed the 1st 2 levels of residence and the language test, you move on to the carte de residence which is good for 10 years. It took me 6 years to get my carte de résident but The problems I encountered were not because of French bureaucracy, but because of negligence I won't bother discussing here.
My question is, now that I'm finally enrolled in a formation Compétence de Base Professionnelle so I can learn to speak and write proficiently in French to get a job, all of my fellow "stagiaires"- who are from all over the world (except the UK and Australia) but predominantly from Turkey, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, keep asking me why I left the USA to live in France, as if the USA is some golden Promised Land?
I really want to know how non-Americans view the United States and why, if you needed to emigrate, you would consider the USA over France.
Thank you very much for your honest answers.
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I've just asked you question to a friend of mine:
He grew up in a country (Middle East) that taught him that everything about the USA was evil. So of course they were all obsessed with it. He said that the 1950's version of 'The American Dream' is rampant, and they all believe that they can truly become whoever/whatever they want if they move there. So it really is a golden promised land to them.
Upon reflection as an adult, he feels completely differently. He thinks he would have hated it. He watches things like 1st amendment auditors, and 'American reacts' videos and [quote] "despair at the things I seeing all the time".
He's glad he settled for the UK. He didn't like France (said that they're too racist). He loved Germany but struggled with the language.
I (Irish) also wanted to live in the US. I wouldn't have to learn a new language. A lot of things are easier to come by. And it helps that is so VAST, so a lot of different types of landscapes to settle into.
I'd still love to move there, but for a few factors. The politics are all over the place. The lack of gun control. The lack of healthcare. The cost of groceries. What's in the groceries!!!!
The few times I've been, I met some of the friendliest of people, and I've loved it. But the more I learn about life there, the more compliments I run out of, to the point where I can only say... Landscape, beautiful... Most people nice.
So now... South of France, please.
Op here-- I'm curious about why the 1950s version of the USA you claim is rampant among many Middle Eastern countries when the internet is everywhere, and surely it's possible for everyone to have viewed the USA as it is in the 21st century? The only country I know of still sequestered, but rapidly moving on from the 1950s, is Cuba. So, please tell me more about your "friends" from the middle east, and also, why you would want to move to the south of France? For the warmth? Wouldn't you feel uncomfortable with all the elite British living there? I don't live in the south of France, nor would I want to as it's quite exclusive unless you've got €€€. Wyt ti jest yn cael chwerthin, ti'n ffycin, achos ti ddim yn Wyddel
My cousins (I don't want to share personal info but they're from a typically poor country. They specifically are middle class.) still see the USA as the American dream. There's a lot of people from their country that will try to do anything in any country. All they want to do is to get out.
And then up north you have the nationalistic people who mock America.
