Bonjour and enchanté everyone. Welcome to YumsItchyFeet, a travel blog dedicated to sharing the best of life in France.
On this blog, you’ll find ideas of the best places to explore in France, tips and tricks around transportation, hacks to living like French, and genuine reviews on places/activities I have tried personally!
I hope it will inspire someone worldwide and be a helpful resource whether you’re coming as a tourist or planning to move here for good.
Life In France – My Story
I’m Malaysian. So, I had never imagined a life where I would call France my second home. I was terrified and anxious when I first moved to the southern part of France, to the small village of Aix en Provence.
I mean, a Malaysian living in Southern France? Studying mechanical engineering? I received so many looks of disbelief. I wondered if I would survive in the land of baguettes and croissants.
The good thing is I survived! But it’s not always rainbows and smiles.
Challenges Of Living in France
I remember the first time I wanted to take a bus to the city center, and I looked at an elderly French lady and tried to ask her whether the bus had passed by in my very not-perfect French language.
She just stared at me from top to bottom and looked away. That’s when I knew that either my French was so wrong, or foreigners weren’t so welcome in that neighborhood.
I also remember when my Korean friend and I were walking back home from a night walk from Hotel de Ville, and someone threw a bucket of water from the top on purpose, which was a near miss.
That’s when I knew that it was because I was different. I was not white and has “des yeux bridés”.
But that’s how life is. There are definitely ups and downs throughout the whole time, and I appreciate what I have now.
From living in a small studio of Cité Universitaire de Cuques in Aix to surviving engineering school with one whole bunch of smart-ass people in La Garde Toulon, to being an intern in the most significant nuclear site ITER in Saint Paul Lez Durance, and to chasing the dreamy French life in Paris.
Living The Life Between Croissants & Teh Tarik
I learned how to adapt faster to the local culture as time passed. I’ve learned the beauty of living like a French, the art of complaining, applying the ‘Je ne sais quoi’ in my daily conversations, and saying ‘oh là là’ in different notations depending on different situations.
By living in France and traveling, there are many things worth documenting, experiences that deserve to be shared with others, and places that have to be shown to the world!
I will share my stories, adventures, and life lessons that I’ve picked up along the way as I grew up in this strange, uncommon land which is also a place that I call my kampung (my second home).
