Age: 29

Birthplace/Hometown/Other residences in France: Bourges (17 years), Orléans (1 year), Lyon (2-3 years), Paris (2 years)

Education level: PhD candidate

Length of time in NYC: since September 2012

Length of time planning to stay in NYC: lifetime

Residence in NYC: Upper West Side

Reason why she came to NYC: Angelique and her husband had always had always wanted to travel. He applied to a fellowship at Columbia University and was accepted. NYC was already on their list of places they wanted to visit.

Biggest difficulties living abroad/cultural differences:

  • Saying goodbye: the American standard of hugging was strange for Angelique. It felt too intimate of a gesture.
  • The American way of befriending strangers then being too busy to hang out later seemed shallow.
  • Restaurant service in NYC is a lot quicker than the French standard. However, Angelique prefers the French concept of slow dining.

Likes about NYC:

  • How welcoming the people are
  • NYC is very safe, especially for a large city and compared to Paris. She does not feel intimidated by strangers in public.

Significant changes in life due to moving to NYC:

  • Angelique was originally a journalist back in France with no intention of going back to get a graduate degree. However, being a journalist was no longer feasible in America. She saw that her husband was having a great time in graduate school and so, using her native French language skills, decided to pursue a PhD in French. She became an adjunct at Columbia University, Fordham University, and St. John’s University, thus solidifying her love for teaching. This was a career path that she never planned on pursuing, however, was brought to her by moving to a country where French is not the official language.
  • As a journalist, she used to read and go to events. Now, as a student, she finds herself going to museums more often.
  • She was able to quit smoking. It was a lot easier to do so in NYC than in France because in America, there is a stigma to smoking. She does not feel the pressure to smoke socially because the majority of her social circle does not smoke whereas in France, at parties, most of the attendees would smoke.
  • Coming to NYC, she gained weight.
  • Before, eating felt like a more intimate affair. However, because people in NYC tend to meet up to eat, she now sees food as more of a social affair.

Social circle in NYC:

  • Angelique does not primarily hang out with French people on purpose. Instead, her friends are mainly other foreigners because most of her friends are fellow international students or her husband’s friends (from the Spanish Department), who are also international.

Remarks on being French: Angelique wanted to fit in and be a regular New Yorker, however, people constantly remarked on her French accent. It was interesting for her to be an “other” because before, living in France, she already had a very specific image of who “others” were. When she moved abroad and then became a foreigner for the first time, her preconceptions changed.