A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD BE HAPPY

Someone told me no long time ago, that I became the kind of person that can't be happy anywhere.
I think I've been like that for a long time because somewhere inside me I dream of a place I could call "Home". And this place is clearly printed in my mind.
I sometimes imagine what would my house look like and how I would arrange the furniture. But I don't know where would that be...

The truth is I've been like that since I left the place that was my home.

My parents bought a house in a street filled with flowers, and my childhood was spent there: in this house, in this street. In the park next to it, and in the military camp where we used to sneak-in to get blackberries that we would bring back home, and my mum would make jam with it...
My parents divorced, I left the house at 16 years old.
The house got sold and all my childhood disappeared with it.
Since then I moved a lot and never managed to feel home anywhere. I collected post-cards and posters that I would stick on the walls of my rooms. I would collect any little things I would find or I got offered thinking that one day, these things will find a place in MY home. The one of my dream, the one I would create.

Some of you would think I'm a materialist person but that not how I see it. Every little things, drawings, sculptures, images would be attached in my mind to a sentimental affection toward the person who would have given it to me. Or to the souvenir that it would remind me of.

But then I grew older, I moved further, and everytime, I collected things that I had to give up in the end, to go somewhere again. So I became less sentimental and now, every time I go home (to my parents home to be exact) I go through my fetishes like an anthropologist and try to get realistic over their real value. Sometimes, with regrets, I get rid of one of them. Do you want to know what it feels like to me?
It's like tearing apart a picture of someone you used to love, It's painful but necessary.

Anyway it's true, I can't be happy anywhere. I can't keep a job and I get bored very quickly. I can't stand anyone telling me who I am or what I should do. And when I arrive at the point where things become habits, I start to feel trapped and I run away.
I don't know why I act that way. But maybe it's simply because I haven't find my home yet.
Maybe I will never feel at home again. Maybe I'll keep running away all my life.
But I'm a dreamer! And I hope I can find a place where I can be happy and  that I will call HOME.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoAPw-eJuYo

Homesick

When we travel for the first time somewhere, we find everything around us amazing, new, refreshing, different. And it's a wonderful sensation because it's like being a kid again, discovering the world around us!
I wish this feeling could stay forever and that it would never go away...
Instead our new world become part of us. Because we live there, wake up every morning and see the same street and the same people, and we go to work and there is nothing to discover anymore.
Our life becomes a succession of repeated habits and we start to feel like it's time to move again.

Then we start to think about home and all what we've left behind and how much we miss those days with our friends when we used to have so much fun! And we miss our parents even though our family is fucked up, and we start planning a trip back home.
And we think about it for a while and eventually buy a plane ticket. While we wait for the day when we will be going back home, we start to see the new country where we are like at the beginning. We compare everything we see or do here to the way it is back home: "Why do they make things so complicated here? In my country it's like this, we don't do like that. We party that way and it's so much more fun... etc...etc..."
And this my Friends it's called being HOMESICK!

Ok so let say you are Homesick and you finally go back home. You're going to see your friends and do all the fun stuff you used to do. You are also going to see your family and they all going to greet you like the long time gone kid and ask you millions of questions...
But that is what you think! 

In reality, life didn't stop when you left and most of your friends moved on with their lives and got jobs, new girlfriends/boyfriends...
They don't really have time for you, and they don't have much to say.
Some seems like they completely forgot you even existed...
Well it's not the most enjoyable part of leaving abroad, but it's a part of life you have to experience. It's time to move on with the past, and maybe sort out who are your real friends.

So I've got some advices if you are planning on travelling:

- Don't forget to keep in touch regularly with your friends and family.

 - And don't get too big expectation when you come back home, cause you might be disappointed by a lot of people.

Take it easy... "Friendship" is like "Love": No one really knows the definition. It's something you feel. Sometimes it hurts but sometimes it can surprise you when you least expect it... 

10 things we don’t understand about British People

It's something you will experience with the time, but when you move to another country you always start to compare all the things that are different back home.

Sometimes you feel like it’s better back home, sometimes not. But one question remain: How come Europe is so small and have so many differences between one country to another?

So because I traveled in UK, here is 10 things we don’t understand about British People:

1/Why do you like to queue so much? While French people enjoy complaining in a queue and try to sneak in the line without getting caught, British people seems to be used to wait.

Like when I was late one day and the bus arrived just as I was walking toward the bus stop. So when the driver opened the door I just jumped-in. WRONG! I could hear the people behind grumbling. And that is when I understood that EVEN TO TAKE THE BUS YOU NEED TO QUEUE! Basically the first one arriving at the bus stop is the first one getting in the bus...

In France you just let old people or disable people go first and then the fight begin!

2/Why do you love to wear UNIFORMS? From the first day at school, to the graduation day, and then at work, British people have a uniform for everything. 

Anyway French people hate it because after years of public school where people make fun of you for not wearing the right brand, and because you are not fashionable according to their standard, you become proud of not being like anyone else. Being grown up you can finally decide what you want to wear and have your own style. French people say they are “not part of the herd”.

But in UK it’s more like a way to bring everyone at the same level. Wearing a uniform makes you happy to take off your costume and relax at the end of the day. Also that’s probably why you love going shopping in Pyjama at 5pm or at 11am on Saturday morning. That’s also why you love fancy dress and are such Party Animals.

3/Why is it so complicated to see a Doctor? First you need to register and it always seems like they don’t have time for you. They also treat you like you are about to hurt them... Like being in pain make you a dangerous person. Then you need to wait for hours until they call you... (Remember French don’t like to wait!) And then whatever your problem is, if you are a girl and your belly hurts they assume you are pregnant. After the test result shows that you are not pregnant... (thanks, you knew that before and that not the reason you’re here) they tell you they don’t know what is wrong with you and give you pain killers. Pain Killers is their answer to all your problems!!!

The only way to get help is to CRY in front of them... And that’s what a British person told me to do!

4/Why you Girls wear so much make up??

Seriously, my mum who has more wrinkles than you doesn’t put on that much!! I’m sorry if that is going to sound mean to you but in France we say that basically they just pour a paint bucket on their face! Anyway girl: you are beautiful and you should realise that youth is not forever-lasting. Why not enjoy and let us enjoy your natural beauty for a while? You will have the rest of your old-days to hide under make up...

And also we don’t get why girls actually wear dresses that look like a T-shirt to us. And why when it’s - 2 degrees outside they walk bare-feet?

5/Why do you need to call everyone “Love”, “Honey”, “Sweetie”, “Darling”, “Mate”, “Man”, “Bro”, “Brotha’”?

 “- I don’t know you Man! “

6/Why your mum and dad still go at the Pub at 60 years old and have fun, while mine are “too old for this sh**!”?

7/Ok this one is just a request: PLEASE, Stop asking us if we eat frogs or snails because it’s the most old-fashion dish you could ask for in France. And to my opinion it’s yucky... And NO! We don’t all come from Paris and live by the “Tour Eiffel”. And Yes! We like to deep our toast/croissant in the coffee in the morning (or at least I do...).

8/Why Beer is on sale?

Really, beer is so cheap in UK it’s like going shopping!

“Hey, Let’s go to that Pub there is 2 pints for 4.60£ Every Tuesday!”

9/Why do you keep driving on the left just to say that you are not like the rest of the world? We got it! You don’t want to be part of Europe... But why not make it easy for everyone to travel in your country?

10/Well I could think about it all night but for now I can’t think of anything else that we don’t understand. I think you are People that know how to have fun and make fun of yourselves as well. And by the way British people are very different among themselves: You are Welsh, You are Scottish, You are Cornish, You are Cockney, Gordie, Indian , Arab, Polish, Irish etc... You are a small Country that just Welcome everyone else, and I guess that’s why we like it!

You make the Neverlanding Experience Possible!

Comment trouver un emploi au Royaume-Uni

Si vous ne prévoyez pas de faire un travail " au black " ... ne pas payer les impôts, et toutes ces choses que vous finirez par regretter plus tard, voici ce que vous devez faire pour trouver du travail au Royaume-Uni :

Obtenez un National Insurance Number :

-  C’est très facile et cela prend environ 2 semaines pour obtenir votre carte .

- Vous pouvez commencer à travailler , même si vous n'avez pas reçu votre carte.

Comment l'obtenir ?

Eh bien vous pouvez le faire en ligne à l'adresse:

https://ni-apply.co.uk/

Ou vous pourriez faire comme je l'ai fait quand je suis arrivé :

Je suis allé au Job Center où il ya des Agents de la Securite partout.Permettez-moi de vous dire que cela semble très impressionnant pour un Français . Je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé au Royaume-Uni , mais il est étrange de penser qu’en tant que chomeur vous pourriez être une menace pour ... qui en fait ? Eh bien, si l'un de vous connait la raison de ce besoin de protection , je serais heureux d'obtenir une explication.

Donc, ce gars va vous demander la raison de votre présence ici ... Comme je ne sais pas... parce que vous avez l'intention de mettre une bombe dans le Job center ... Dans ce cas, mieux vaut ne pas lui faire savoir .Quoi qu'il en soit , dites-lui que vous avez besoin d'un NI number et il vous dirigera vers le bon bureau .Je crois qu’il faut appeler un numéro pour obtenir un rendez-vous  afin de remplir un document. Assurez-vous que vous avez vos papiers (carte d’identite etc...) avec vous.

Une fois que c’est fait vous recevrez votre carte NI sous quelques jours .Vous pouvez alors commencer à chercher un emploi ...

La recherche d'emploi

Cela depend du travail que vous recherchez. 

Vous avez deux options :

1 - Démarrage de la recherche d'emploi avant d'arriver à Royaume-Uni.

Cela est valable si vous avez été un très bon élève , ou si vos parents ont payé une fortune pour que vous deveniez un architecte , un ingénieur ou que vous pouvez effectuer n'importe quel travail technique qui pourrait être nécessaire dans un pays étranger, parce que vos compétences font la différence! Mais qui ne fonctionne que si vous parlez anglais un minimum .

Donc, pour trouver un emploi voici un site qui va beaucoup vous aider pour commencer: http://www.gumtree.com/

2 - Rechercher un emploi une fois que vous êtes là .

Arrivez avec un tas de C.V. , En anglais bien sûr, et allez faire du porte a porte pour demander n'importe quelle position disponible . Ceci est valable si votre but ultime est d'apprendre l'anglais et que vous ne vous souciez pas vraiment du type de travail que vous allez faire . Alors je vous conseille d'aller dans tous les restaurants, bars, etc .. et demandez également au backpackers/auberge de jeunesse dans laquelle vous avez atterri, de vous conseiller à ce sujet. N'hésitez pas à parler aux gens. Parfois, les meilleures opportunités viennent des rencontres que vous faites.

  Good luck living the Neverlanding Experience!

How to find a Job in the UK

If you are not planning to do a job “undercover”... not paying taxes and all these things that you will end up regret later on here is what you need to do:

GET A NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER:

-          It’s very easy and takes about 2 weeks before you get your card.

-          You can start working even though you didn't received your card yet as long as it’s on the process.

 HOW TO GET IT?

Well you could do it online at :

https://ni-apply.co.uk/

Or You could do like I did when I got there:

I went to the Job Center where there is these Door-mans hanging around.
Let me tell you that seems very impressive to a French person. I don’t know what’s happened in UK, but it’s weird to feel that as an unemployed person you could be a threat to... to who in fact? Well if one of you British person know the reason of such need of protection, I would be happy to get an explanation.So this guy is going to ask you the reason of you being here... Like I don’t know it could be because you plan to bomb the Job center...In that case you better not let him know.Anyway, tell him you need a NI number and he will direct you to the right office.
I think you actually need to call a number to get an appointment and then you’re contacted for an interview. Make sure you have your documents with you.Once you've passed it you will receive you’re NI card within a few days.You can then start to look for a job...

JOB HUNTING

Depending what job you are looking for you have 2 Options:

1-      Starting the Job hunting before getting to UK.

But this is if you have been a very good student, or if  your parents paid a fortune for you to become an Architect, an Engineer or any technical job that could be required In a foreign country because your skills makes the difference. But that only work if you speak English a minimum.

So to look for a job here is a website that will help you a lot to start with: 

http://www.gumtree.com/

2-      Look for a job once you are there.

Arrive with a bunch of C.V. , in English of course and go from door to door asking for any available position. This is if you aim is to learn English and you don’t really care what type of job you are going to do. Then I advise you to go to all the restaurants, bars etc... and also ask the backpackers where you have landed to advise you on that. Do not hesitate to talk to people in the street. Sometime the best opportunities come from the acquaintance you make.

So Good luck living the Neverlanding Experience!

(Chers Franchouillards: Comme je suis gentille (si, si c’est vrai!)  je vais traduire cette page en francais pour que vous puissiez beneficier correctement des informations ci-dessus.)http://theneverlandingexperience.blogspot.com.au/

Travel to the UK.

I have to tell you that when I told my parents I was leaving to the UK I experienced 2 different kind of reactions from both my parents.

I was 24, I was over with my studies and I wanted to Leave!!!
Not that I was living with my parents or anything but I wanted to leave my town. Leave the streets I've been wandering all my life... I wanted to see something different, speak a different language and leave this country I've never felt a part of.

So basically my father was very proud of me, and jealous at the same time, and started indulge himself in an enjoyable recollection of his past... Well I hope you can portray myself at this point: 

Anyway, it wasn't the same for my Mum. She acted like I was moving on the other side of the world when you just have to cross the English Channel!!! 

There is 3 ways to get there from France:

The Train: http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers

The Boat: http://www.brittanyferries.com/

The Plane: http://www.flybe.com/

OK, maybe it is stressful to actually leave everything behind you and arrive in a country where you don't know anyone and have absolutely no idea what you are going to find. But here is what I told my Mum, and what I also told myself:

 There is 2 options, whether I fail or I succeed.

- If I succeed I will feel better about myself being able to do something on my own.

- If I can't find a job or a place to leave over there, then I'll just come back home. But at least I'll try!

Because that is what the Neverlanding Experience is all about isn't it?

Introduction

Hi Everybody,

I've decided to start a blog since I have lots of free time and I feel a lot of people might be interested about travelling and reading about it.

I'm an expatriated French girl on the move. I've left my hometown one day and I'm now in Australia for the second year.

Years ago, I took a suitcase, had some savings, and I went to live in UK for a couple of years. After seeing a different country, learning English, get to know the British culture etc... it was difficult to go back home and simply get back to a normal life. So I've decided to keep on the travelling experience.

Why is it called The Neverlanding Experience?
Isn't travelling giving you that feeling? The one where you think that while you're on the move nothing around is changing. The only way to escape growing up or watching yourself stay in this one place and feeling the earth is turning so fast you will be dead before you know it.

Here you go!

I guess I'm going to talk about my travels, give you some advices to get through all the steps when you travel.

I will share my own experiences and my problems in fact. Because I feel that if I can let you know about how tough it is out there you might be able to cheer me up in somehow, by reading me...And I hope I can do the same.

And together we can keep making the Neverlanding Experience!