Well the North America adventure was great but we decided it was time to go back. We’ve been talking about it since last summer. And we finally decided that for our daughter it is best to do it during summer break, for evident schooling reasons.So next summer we’ll be back in France. We already put the house for sale with an occupancy date of June, 30th.
I got nothing against going back per say. What I feel very uncomfortable with are the administrative tasks ahead, and the awful lot of social thing to take care of… Selling the furniture (Craigslist is my best friend, minimum interaction with people), the car, the house… Closing accounts, dealing with pension and education plans… And then of course the finding of a new home, new job, and… Be closer to family members… I have already been pretty clear that there will not be any “family weekends” on a permanent 7 days rotation schedule! Otherwise I’ll move to Australia next time, and quick!
What I’ll miss most from Canada will probably be the peoples… Ironically, the society here is much much colder than in France, which I appreciated. And of course the faculty to suddenly “not being able to understand a single word of English” was a nice cover too 
My job I could not care less, I’ll find another computer job with no trouble, and this time NO SHARED OFFICE!
My home I’ll miss too, it’s not gonna be possible to find the same comfort in France, especially around Paris, prices are way out there. A two storey with three bedrooms and full open space rec room, yeah right, not with our kind of salaries…
What I’ll enjoy having back is: The Culture! Zero trouble to get any of the good North American culture (I will even be able to watch French Canadian movies easier than in Toronto!!!) and access to all the good European stuff that is very sadly missing here… And of course: My bread and cheeses that I have missed SOOO much those last 9 years (you can’t understand, it’s a French thing).
Evidently the education is for a lot in our decision to go back, the French system is entirely free, and even if its level went down the drain those last years (teaching is not a vocation anymore…) I am not sorry to say it’s still can’t even start to compare with the Canadian system (let alone the US one). Got a bit tired of correcting the teacher of my daughter, or the school communiqués, and worst, having to contradict part of the teaching process when my daughter is back home. I am supposed to enforce the education system at home, not fight it… No US is not the centre of the world (GM is), no inches and feet are not a standard (ISO metric and decimal systems are), and yes there is some rules in the French grammar (you can’t just make them up because you don’t know them, or let children learn them “in context”, sorry but they gonna have to LEARN them to understand the context… what is the point of putting a roof if you have no walls nor foundations?)
Anyway, that’s it, the end of a great 9 years adventure, and another one to begin…
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