About rpalomo

Status:

Expatriate  

Currently Lives:

Saint Petersburg City, Russian Federation

Citizen Of:

United States

Past Expat Posts:

France

Some Forum Posts:

Vietnam: Terrorism Threat to Americans:

Of course there's a risk! Driving to the grocery store is a risk. There was risk in traveling abroad before 9/11... most Americans just throught they were somehow immune because they were Americans. Those of us who lived any length of time abroad quickly shed this illusion. There's more risk everywhere today because a whole lot more people in the world dislike the United States than was the case say a year or so ago. VietNam is probably not much worse risk right now than anywhere else except maybe Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, etc. Provided your son really understands the realities of today's world, if he still wants to volunteer in the face of it, I admire and respect him. I didn't think we had that kind of kids today. Listen, you can't protect him, at home or abroad. Think about this: If, God forbid, the worst happened and you were to lose him in a terrorist attack, would you rather spend the rest of your life knowing that he was taken out while courageously trying to do some good in the world, or that they got him while he was laying low at home or somplace you perceived as "safe"? Sorry if this sounds harsh, but as an expatriate of nearly a decade, that's how I see things.

France: insurance & banking - reccomendations wanted please.:

Like anywhere, much depends on the local provider... bank, insurance, whatever. For example, our nearby Credit Agricole branch manager is super and we've had excellent service. But you can find people who HATE Credit Agricole. Our GAN homeowner insurance has been fine. Again, we had local referrals to the agent. For transferring money, I'll give you a tip that someone once gave me on this forum. Look at http://www.xe.com/sitemap.htm and check out the Currency Transactions section. We've been using them for about 8 months to transfer funds from the States and like them a lot. Good luck.

France: moving with dogs to France:

All the French people we know tend to favor smaller dogs... I can't remember when was the last time I saw a larger dog that wasn't on a farm. Well-behaved larger dogs will probably be OK most places. In our area in Cher there are a lot of farms raising sheep and the farmers will not hesitate to take drastic measures (i.e. a shotgun) against dogs that get into their flocks. In the country side it's well to be aware of this.

Global Expat Forum: Wanting to move to France:

I doubt you'll get much response with so little information. What part of the country? Any particular skills or experience? Languages spoken? You might drop in on www.livingfrance.com and browse around their message forums. If you have any skills in building trades, there's a need among the many English and Europeans buying homes and gites in rural areas for good, reliable building tradesmen. Good luck!

France: Good banking experiences?:

In my opinion French banks in general are poor and expensive compared to U.S. banks. That said, the service we've had from Credit Agricole Centre-Loire has been good. Their on-line access to our account is very useful, as we only spend about 1/3 of our time in France at the moment. I had to dig a little to find out that I didn't need to pay a monthly fee for on-line access to my account. (CA is selling Internet provider services and wants to sign you up! No way! Try freesurf.fr for connection to the net.) My experience, and that of people we know in France, is that quality of service varies widely not only between banks, but between individual offices of the same bank. CA, for example, has autonomous regional organizations. I have had very good personal service from the CA Centre Loire branch in the village near us, but folks 20 km away positively hate the people in a different branch of the same bank. I would suggest trying to talk to local people in your area... neighbors and so forth, for referrals to people they do business with. That's how we chose our banker at CA. If you don't speak French, try some British expats. Forums on www.livingfrance.com have a wealth of information from mostly Brits who have settled in all areas of France. Good luck!

Finland: Looking for nice B&B in Helsinki:

Been searching the Web without success looking for a nice, charming B&B, inn, or similar accommodation in Helsinki for New Year holiday. If you can recommend something, please e-mail me at robert@thirdline.com Thanks!

France: USD to EUR: best way??:

I'm an expat American living in St. Petersburg Russia My wife and I have recently bought our retrement home in France. I work for an American company and get paid in USD (ouch... but, well, I've been expecting this slump for quite some time!) Anyway, our little hometown bank has never heard of any currency except USD, so we've been using currency brokers in th UK to buy euros and transfer them to our French bank account to pay the monthly bills . The current weakness of the dollar has caused these folks to up their minimum transaction to $10K. Hmmm. We need to find a better solution and wonder if any other American exats in France are doing to get euros to pay monthly bills. Tnx in advance...

France: elec. outlets - question:

Unfortunately you have to understand some of the technical specs of whatever it is you want to bring over. At a minimum, you have to know what "input voltage" it's rated for. Some things like computers and some hair dryers are rated for a voltage range that encompasses US and Europe... usually they'll be labeled "110-250 v." or something like that. If the applicance will accept up to 250 volts (European coltage is 220 v.), then all you need is an adapter for the plug. These tend to be hard to find and expensive in the U.S. In the US they generally sell sets that contain adapters for every conceivable country in the world. Plug adapters are easier to find and cheaper in Europe and you can usually buy just one to adapt to a U.S. plug. I've recently seen some pretty cool all-in-one universal adapters but I don't know where they were bought. Anyway, if your appliance is only rated for 110 or 125 v. then you need a transformer, sometimes called voltage adapter. These may or may not come with plug adapers for European outlets. With transformers it's important to check the "wattage"... how much current they draw. For example, you shouldn't try to run something that draws 1800 watts on a transformer rated for 1200 watts. Most electrical products have their electrical ratings stamped or engraved on them in small print somewhere. Good luck!

Date Joined:

7/19/2002

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12

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