This couple plan to return to the US after their dream life in France became a ‘nightmare’

CNN ^

[aquila48]

They moved to France from San Francisco in October 2023, but just over 12 months later, Joanna McIsaac-Kierklo and her husband Ed Kierklo say they are on the brink of returning to the US.

While Joanna, 74, and Ed, 75, intended to spend the rest of their lives in the European country, the retired couple have struggled to make friends and are becoming increasingly frustrated with French bureaucracy.

“We gave it a year here,” says Joanna. “And we just said, ‘Too much grief and no joy.’ There’s no fun. We’re struggling every day.”

“I honestly don’t think we could have put in any more effort to acclimatize to the French way of life,” adds Joanna, who describes their experience as “a nightmare.”

While they’re still working out the finer details of their imminent return, Joanna and Ed say that they’re “frustrated and exhausted,” by life in France and feel ready to “give up and leave.”

Uprooting their lives in the Californian city and moving to France was certainly not a decision taken lightly, they say.

Joanna and Ed, who’ve been married for 20 years, had already traveled the world extensively, both together and separately, beforehand.

“I didn’t get married till I was in my 50s,” says Joanna, who is originally from San Francisco. “So when I met my husband, we traveled.

“We have no children. No siblings. No parents. There’s nothing to encumber us doing exactly what we please.”

Joanna explains that she and Ed bought and sold three different homes during their first 15 years of marriage, “giving us a comfortable amount of cash to afford us the option to travel and even relocate to anywhere we wanted.”

[Rocco DiPippo]

I'm an American who ended up living in Sicily through a series of random events. Not going to bore you all with the details but in a nutshell, I bought a house there as a tax shelter of sorts. I never intended to leave the 'States, but several years later, while I was restoring the place during time off from my gig, I met a gorgeous, cool English gal who was on vacation here and, as they say, the rest was history. So, for a variety of practical reasons, we decided to temporarily settle in Sicily.

Well, "temporarily" ended up being permanent and so here we are.

We've grown to love this beautiful island and its peaceful, "Old School" people, but there were - and still are - aspects of the transition that have been tough.

The bureaucracy here is a nightmare but once one has gotten their residency situation straightened out (a total nightmare) it can be largely avoided. But woe be to any American who ventures into it without being able to speak at least basic Italian!

I'm amazed at the arrogance and stupidity of the couple in the article - they moved to a foreign country in their freakin 70s? That is just nuts. And it is equally nuts that neither of them could speak the language and seem shocked that the way things work in France are very different from the way they do in the US. Seriously?

Based on my experience, before moving to a foreign country you must have AT LEAST a basic working knowledge of its language. You must also be very familiar with its cultural mores so you don't make an ass of yourself - or worse. You must also decide if the move's worth giving up some things that you can get in the US. And unfortunately, you must also familiarize yourself with the basic machinery of that country's bureaucracy, or you'll experience a world of frustration and worry.

I've been living in a small, mountain-top village in Sicily for about ten years now. I love it, and my British wife loves it too. Food's local, fresh, cheap and wonderful as is the wine. How's 1/2 gallon of kick-ass, local red wine for ~$4 sound. . ?

The air here is clean, the locals are friendly, hospitable, kind-hearted and very funny. Church bells ring every day and the culture is grounded in a traditional Western, Christian ethos. Unlike when I visit the US, my head's never on a swivel here.

Anyone trying "woke" bullcrap here would be met with a wall of derision - and serious warnings to stop, "or else," so besides an occasional American or British tourist, there's none of that crazy, purple haired, fatassed, tatt-covered, foul-mouthed, slovenly vibe going on in my town.

It feels free here, because unless you're a total asshole, it is free - no one breaks your agates, there isn't a menacing cop around every corner, because the ones here stay in the background and aren't aggressive and looking to throw fines at people. I can hit a beach here and fish, go into the woods to camp or gather firewood without some a-hole jobsworth telling me what I can and cannot do or what I must pay or what "license" I must have.

Overwhelmingly, people respect each other and here, family is everything and street crime, except for in some "refugee" pockets of the major cities, is almost non-existent.

So yes, you can find wonderful places outside the US to live, but you cannot expect those places to be the US. That's just idiotic, and it seems that's what the couple in the article did. Plus, they're only going to give it one year before quitting? That's just weak.

Lefties seem to think the world exists to please them. Seems the two in the article found out that it doesn't.

[norwaypinesavage]

" I doubt she learned anything!"

They don't realize that DINKS (double income no kids) are mostly self-centered fools who didn't anticipate growing old. It's quite telling that she "doesn't have time to learn French", but she whines that she can't get along with the locals. .

[SJackson]

BTW, Quebec French is very different from French French.

I've left behind speaking the languages I know, other than English, years ago. I've been told by several people I speak Quebecois not French. And some years ago in Spain discussing locals preference for English she explained they like to practice their English. Then smiled, and said also, you speak like a Mexican. Non tourist areas a different problem.