Sunday, September 19, 2010

Expat Experiences: France - Erica and Eric

Who are you?

My name is Erica; I am an American citizen living in France.

I am married to a French citizen. His name is Eric, and he lived in the US for over 20 years. I am an original cowgirl and poet from Cody, Wyoming and he is an outstanding jazz guitarist and guitar instructor educated in France with live music experience in the US and France.

He is also a music gear specialist and an excellent salesman and manager!

I have lived in 5 different US states including, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, New Hampshire and Oregon. Most recently, I worked at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), (http://www.pnca.edu/) in Portland, Oregon as Assistant Academic Advisor and International Studies Programmer. I am also a Marketing Consultant for my parents business in Powell, Wyoming, Running Horse Realty, (http://www.runninghorserealty.com/) (Saddle up - Run with the Best!)


Where, when and why did you move abroad?

The first time we moved to France was in May of 2003 from Eugene, Oregon in order to be closer to Eric's family. We were married in France and stayed until October 2003 and then returned to the states because we could not find employment in France. We had a beautiful, storybook, countryside ceremony near La Cote St Andre (central, east side) with both of our families and spent much needed time with Eric's family during our stay in France. However, It was a difficult political time for Americans as May 2003 was just after the start of the Iraq war.

When we boarded the plane to come to France it was nearing the end of the SARS outbreak. The dollar had lost its value and we in turn lost a lot of money moving our funds to Euro. It was also the summer of the largest heat wave on record in Europe where over 14,000 people died just in France. I remember that farmers were feeding trees to their livestock because there was no feed due to the drought. There were also a lot of very large bugs finding their way into our apartment.

Read more at www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-france-experiences-erica-eric

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