Age: 23

Former Residence: northern part of Paris suburbs

Education Level: Studying for Master’s

Length of time in NYC: 1 year as an exchange student

Length of time planning to live in NYC: Although she currently lives in Lyon, France, she would like to return to NYC for extended period of time. However, if she were given the chance to live here forever, she does not know if she would take it.

Residence in NYC: Flatbush (6 months) then Crown Heights (6 months)

Reason why she came to NYC: She wanted to study abroad in L.A. through her school’s exchange program, however, it would have been difficult to travel around with a car. NYC has a broad subway network and seemed like a great city to live in as well. She wanted to see the city herself because she only had clichés and stereotypes in her head.

She wanted to study abroad to see something new and get to understand another culture. She had traveled a few times when she was younger and loved how everything could be different in so many ways. She also wanted to be independent and learn more about herself and knew that study abroad would a great life experience

Biggest difficulties living abroad/cultural differences:

  • The language was a barrier at first.
  • People in NYC were a big difference. New Yorkers are more open and friendly, especially because many of them went through the same experience of becoming New Yorkers, than Parisians.
  • People are keen on knowing your background (where you come from) whereas in France, it’s not as big of a deal, unless you are from an unknown country.

Likes about NYC:

  • Commuting without a car is generally easy because of the subway.
  • Subway runs 24/7.
  • Little delis are also open 24/7.
  • The atmosphere: you can wander around the city and then take a little break in a café.
  • She loved that she knew little about the city and therefore, everyday was a new day to explore.

Significant changes in life due to moving to NYC:

  • Living in NYC made her more conscious of what she eats. Before, she would eat everything off her plate, but the portions in the U.S. are much larger.
  • She realized that she didn’t have a great lifestyle when she moved. Her habits didn’t change, but her point of view did on certain topics.
  • Her opinion on people in general has changed. She became less judgmental and more avid of their experiences, as if she could somehow draw lessons from them.
  • Being away from home made her see France from new eyes.

Social circle in NYC:

  • It is easy to get to know people in New York because they are really open and friendly, but at the same time, it’s really hard to make friends. She noticed that people would invite her to parties, but there is a distinction between people you party with and people who are your friends. In France, you would invite people to parties if they are your friends.
  • Friendship in America is not particularly superficial, but “the friendly look is like a façade.” It’s harder to get to know people in France and really be in a clique whereas in America, it is easy to get into a group of friends, but only be an acquaintance.
  • Most of her friends were American. She also stated that if she had attended the welcome event for her exchange program, she probably would have probably hung out with more exchange students instead. Most of her friends came from a big group of people who knew each other in their freshman year. And from there, she made friends with friends of friends.
  • She avoided making French friends because it would not improve her English. And she already had one – one was enough for her.

Remarks on being French: Because Hélène is of Asian descent, most people thought that she was joking when she said she was French. Many were under the impression that the French are only Caucasian and acted as if America is the only country that experienced immigration.

People generally did not know where she was from, however, she was also desperately trying to blend in.

Once people discovered that she was French, they generally would not ask anymore questions on her Asian descent and then would ask a few questions about the Eiffel Tower and cheese before asking what brought her to NY. It was annoying, but at the same time, she felt that it was one of the things that made her interesting (or makes anyone who is living abroad interesting).

She did not bump into many French people while living here.