FOMATPLAY okay thank you Pauline.
first of all for having accepted this
and joined the project.
The first question is about your journey.
so can you tell us, maybe, a little bit about
you know? how it all started and what brought you here?
Pauline okay so...
first it started as trying to find a master's
that was interesting. For that master
I had to do an internship in England
and while I was doing it
they changed the outcome of the master's
and it was no longer what I was looking for.
so
I discovered the world of language schools over there
and I was doing my internship in a
language school in Salisbury,
receiving lots of Italians, Spanish,
French, German and I just loved it.
So I discovered I could do CELTA, and travel
and work at the same time.
so my work would pay for my travel.
um so I stayed a year and a half with them;
once this was done
I got the opportunity to do my CELTA with them
and then I went on to work in Russia.
Covid hit so I stayed longer than expected
but I met people from all over the world
and I met my friend, who's also my flatmate now;
and she came back before Covid;
and then after she found a job here
and she said "well,
would you like to try different experience
and working in an international school this time?".
and that's how I ended up here, in this place now.
FOMATPLAT okay.
how has it been so far?
so do you like the...?
PAULINE it is very different.
so on one side I'm enjoying an international school
because the kids want more out of it.
it's not just a public school,
where not every kid wants to be there.
On the other side
I am not very keen on the organization-,
organizational skills around here and I don't know...
I was expecting a bit more like Spain and it's not.
FOMATPLAY how about it?
PAULINE people are friendly and welcoming
but at the same time they are not inclusive;
they are not easy to make friends with
and nothing is planned beforehand:
everything has to be done as an emergency.
As a teacher that needs to be organized
because there's no way around it.
it's very stressful and demoivating
because whatever we plan,
we know, like, there's no other way around it;
it will fall apart because of unplanned visits,
unplanned parties,
or we were expected to like treat every single,
like, day for international Building,
International Day of the Earth.
We can't end the program in all of those;
and in my opinion, what I'm seeing now is
international schools here are too much of an image
that they were reflecting
rather than what the kids are actually learning;
and it's slowing down the process.
FOMATPLAY okay.
So, what kind of image do you think they want to present?
PAULINE perfect, Instagram-ready. and it's literally
it: even the notebooks have to be picture perfect.
I do not agree with the subjects...
it will probably be my last year.
FOMATPLAY fair enough.
and how about the sociographical context
have you found in here.
PAULINE um...
I wouldn't say much about it, because as I said
it's hard to make friends with local Italians;
like we see them at school with their colleagues
even if we're friendly we don't see them outside school.
I've met more American people through this institution
in Naples than Italians in streets,
let's say.
FOMATPLAY and how often do you get to go to Naples?
PAULINE whenever I want to.
it's quite easy to get to.
let's say, at least twice a month over the weekend.
sometimes
we try to visit different places whenever we can.
FOMATPLAY and do you think that your life
would be different if you lived in Naples?
PAULINE um...
I, I wouldn't know because I am not a big... um
person; like on the outings, during the weekend at least.
so I wouldn't go just to take a coffee a bit after work;
that's not me. so I don't think that would change much
because then at the weekend,
when I have time, I can still go to Naples;
I can still go to other places.
and I think in that way
is also easier here because it's cheaper.
because we're not in Naples.
and it's also like a shorter commute to work.
FOMATPLAY okay how about your linguistic experience in Italy?
PAULINE it's hard.
sorry. I try,
between my French and Spanish, to get
to understand Italians but you guys speak really fast
and here so many people are using [Napoletano]
and... like shortening every end of the words.
I don't already understand, like, the proper Italian;
so if you're shortening the words, it's even harder.
um so... it took a while to get there
but eventually
it's close enough to either French or Spanish to
get around.
FOMATPLAY so who do you speak Italian with?
PAULINE my kids, when I discipline them. or my colleagues
because our common language is English,
my family is French, with my other friends is English...
Italian is just outside of the house.
FOMATPLAY and how do you feel when you speak Italian?
PAULINE it depends.
When I come out here in the morning or in the afternoon is fine.
when I have to deal with work at kids all day
past 6:37, I'm really tired and it gets harder.
and there's like a lot more mistakes in it
but you just get by.
I think once you've gotten used to leaving abroad
you know that there are gonna be some steps
you have to overcome to be able to communicate
no matter what is happening.
FOMATPLAY so what are your plans after Italy?
PAULINE so I think I'll join this master's with Finland.
It looks very interesting. as of to where next
I don't know yet
I would like something maybe warm enough.
I am not very keen on the weather here.
like I'm enjoying this nice like more summer
but it's too hot.
I miss Moscow,
strangely enough.
I think somewhere a little bit north from here,
in Europe; because
I really want to be able to jump back on a plane
to get home quickly
enough, whenever I want to.
FOMATPLAY can you tell us more about this
easiness of jumping on a train and getting back
back home? so
how have you experienced
freedom of movement within Europe?
PAULINE well, having grown up in all this area of Shengen
and all of that, I have never realized what
the trouble it could be for other people.
because even when I was younger,
I was a teen, almost maybe 13,
I went to the US or Canada
but it was no more than 90 days.
I've never had troubles and never had to do any passport-,
uh, visa, sorry.
so it was very easy.
and then when I started like leaving more abroad,
I realized what a hassle all the visas are
and what other people have to jump through to get in
any other countries. first,
it's so easy. like when I was a student
I literally just said okay
"I'm going to Spain". I didn't have to do my passport,
didn't have to open a new account;
I was using everything that I was using in France.
Even in England; even with a different currency,
it was still very easy before Brexit.
I didn't have to ask myself any questions of insurance
or money or visa. it was also easy.
the difference, I would say, is here.
although you have the movement is quite easy.
depending on your job
you can encounter more difficulties.
so to be hired at the school
I had to get my diplomas translated;
which to me was a little bit weird
because we've been told that all our masters
and license-, and undergrads are European.
so they should be accepted as it is everywhere.
but here I've been asked to get them translated:
my high school diploma, my master's,
my undergrad. so it was a lot of steps
and nobody was really clear on where to go,
how to do it.
FOMATPLAY how did you feel?
PAULINE very confusing, honestly.
it was very confusing. I wasn't getting annoyed
because nobody had the clear answer:
one person would say so,
another had to say something else;
and yet someone who had experienced this before
was the one who helped us.
and I was lucky she was already here
so she could help me around
because she could do things on the ground for me.
FOMATPLAY hmm okay
since you mentioned that um...
what do you think of Brexit?
or what did you think when Brexit happened?
PAULINE so sad. I love traveling.
it's pretty sad. um
as an English teacher,
being European and an English teacher,
I'm gaining from them because, like sitting Europe...
because they now need the visa. I don't need one.
but it's quite sad
because I think we had a great relationship with them.
When I was there
it was more or less when the vote happened
and so many people told me
"I didn't want that" but at the same time
very few went voting
and the one who voted to accept, really, the union
where the older people who are not working,
who are not traveling so much.
so, I don't know, it's quite sad.
and I think we need to remember that in the UK
there are four different countries.
so like who lives in Scotland,
Wales, and even Northern Ireland.
like Northern Ireland is such in a weird situation:
they're part of Ireland but they're not part of it
but they're still kind of Shengen
but not quite and it's so it's sad.
it's literally going backwards.
FOMATPLAY and why do you think they didn't go to vote?
this is interesting.
PAULINE I don't know. to me
the thing that surprised me the most
was that thier voting day was on Thursday.
in France
we go to vote on Sundays because nobody's working
or very few. they go to vote on Thursday.
FOMATPLAY do you think that was made of purpose?
PAULINE I don't know. apparently
it's just common practice that they vote on Thursdays
so... I don't know. if people were not concerned
because they thought it wouldn't, like it wouldn't
end... like there wouldn't be any consequences,
any results. Like
they had so many referendums beforehand
and nothing really happened.
They just dropped the bullets and said "whatever".
FOMATPLAY what were the consequences of Brexit, of Brexit on your experience? How
where you affected?
PAULINE to me the only thing would be that it's harder
if I were to go back to England to work.
I used to do like summer school programs in England
because it's...
there are always so many students going there.
so they are always looking for teachers over the summer.
that's the main
problem for me.
I mean they're over this nation
so it's not the end of the world. it is just sad
because I would have loved to be able to visit more
freely England.
because I haven't been to England.
like, I have been there for a year and a half
but I was working so many hours
and I didn't travel much.
it was.... when you're a student
you don't always have the money
to travel wherever you want to.
so I was hoping to be able to go back
for the summer schools
because they have ones in like the main cities around.
it was just an easy way to go back,
not so much anymore.
FOMATPLAT okay.
so what is Europe to you now?
PAULINE still a great place to be.
um I think we were so lucky:
how it works, regulations,
our freedom of um, traveling, transport, goods,
people...
um strangely enough even the money euro is quite amazing.
we don't have to think
when we go to the countries with euros.
we don't have to exchange money first.
um
and I think nowadays
we have so many organizations and group star
and caring students,
young people with ot without studies
just trying to make room for everybody.
I think it's a great place to be for-,
compared to the US with everything that's happening.
I don't know, I think we're very lucky to be here.
FOMATPLAY and do you feel European? and if so in what way?
PAULINE um... I think I need to be
in a few more countries to really,
really feel European first. But
I do feel that I'm not
to spread some part of something bigger
and I have a lot of opportunities. as for example
this master's from Finland;
people from all over the globe are doing it
and yet for Europeans it's free.
and I think it's just amazing; all the
possibilities are just our fingertips.
FOMATPLAY have you benefited from all the
Europe funded programs? If so which ones?
PAULINE yeah. well
I did my Erasmus when I was at university
so that was... that one was European.
I was lucky enough to go to Spain
um...
after that it was not European funded;
it was more French funded
because back then
I think we didn't know as many programs as we do know.
so sometimes I regret some of them
that I kind of miss my chance.
but yeah there are so many more
and I wish young people, students or not,
would know more about that.
FOMATPLAY and how was Spain to you?
PAULINE amazing!
I loved it!
I love the diversity of the food.
the language to me was... um
I don't know, it came quite easily um...
many ask why Italian now is not so difficult.
but Spanish. I had to learn it
and yet it was so interesting.
but I like how they are so much more liad back
than French people;
um and yeah they have pretty good universities there.
they're quite good um
channels in like knowledge,
places where you really can get a lot
and um...
I think it was,
it was also my first long term experience abroad so...
new and so interesting. so it's quite nice.
FOMATPLAY hmm so
I think you said
you feel... so part of you is French.
so how would you define your Frenchness?
I think the first one is the easiest, it is my love of food
that is something you cannot take out of me.
like even in Russia
I was still trained to get my things
like have very specific things I like um...
but I think it's also in the way I think um...
because when I was abroad
it was either university
and university is almost a universal language
no matter where we're from and where we're studying.
When I was in Russia it was language school.
here for the first time
I'm seeing the education system of another country
almost from within the inside
and I see how you guys are presenting math differently
from France. it's not big
but it takes the brain
a little bit of gymnastic to get there; and to me
it's just how French I am.
It's how I connect certain dots,
that obviously would connect in a different way; and how...
I'd say, how organized is my mind in a certain way.
FOMATPLAY okay. what do you miss the most about France?
PAULINE the food.
I'm sorry but I miss it every day.
FOMATPLAY and I think
I have another question about your period in Russia.
so did you feel
that you were not in Europe when you were there?
PAULINE um for the visa part, yes.
because we need a visa that was in the fee process,
especially for teachers
cause then they're working with kids
um and also because they have some restrictions;
for example
there is a train that goes from Saint Petersburg to uh...
think it was uh Helsinky...
we could not get on the train
because there were no borders
it was only from Finnish people and Russian people,
so it was a bit confusing.
Finnish are as European as we are
but... same with Belarus. so there were some limitations
but on the other hand
being in Moscow, which is such an international city,
I did not feel like I was outside of
Europe or anything else, yes.
different money, difference like ratio of money,
but it was still easy to deal with.
FOMATPLAY how about the culture or the language?
PAULINE so oddly...
I did not learn it. I've just learnt like the real basics like:
please, hello, I'm like this and...
the country,
they might seem cold when we first arrived.
then when they see
we're trying to make a little effort
they're quite welcoming and friendly;
very helpful. um but again,
making friends if they themselves don't speak English,
it was a bit hard
so I didn't have that many Russian friends.
they were few.
we can definitely see a big difference between city
people, young and old,
but also countryside people, young and old;
like
there are-, we live big separations between all of those
places, if I could say.
so, it was quite an interesting thing; and I mean,
Moscow is such an amazing city.
FOMATPLAY have you ever encountered any kind of hostility towards
you or European French and if so can you tell us
anything about it?
PAULINE I wouldn't say hostility per se
but maybe, like, being in Barcelona,
I remember speaking Spanish, [castillano],
and they were not very happy
because I was not speaking Catalan.
It is a regional language and I explained
"I'm like I'm sorry,
I'm not even Spanish.
I'm trying". And they fore more inclined afterwards and said like
"okay,
you already making an effort so I'll let it slide". um
but other boys in in Russia maybe towards the end um,
because I left when the war started;
so... it was like getting longer than expected;
so there was some kind of like "okay,
you are a foreigner,
you're not from here". But it wasn't that bad,
I still have friends wjo are over there and they are fine.
FOMATPLAT and what about the
attitude of Italian people towards French people?
PAULINE I don't know.
I mean,
most of them forget that I'm French most of the times,
so....
I don't know. I don't think there's such hostility.
FOMATPLAY or any other
attitude that you might have noticed
in terms of stereotypes
or preconceived images of Frenchness or?
PAULINE no.
I don't think I have perceived any of that.
I mean, it is true that in Naples
they're not very open to tourists
um but that I think is equal for any nationality.
FOMATPLAY how have you perceived that?
PAULINE well, easy.
The first time I came,
even before working here, was Easter weekend.
Like it was holiday, so many tourists;
everything was closed.
Going to the restaurants, having waiters that,
I don't know, like
seem angry to be to be at work
or couldn't be bothered with helping someone
that is asking them something;
or how the...
But even for the locals. For example
I cannot understand how a city as big as Naples
can have a subway that closes at 10 PM,
and on the weekend even like sometimes earlier.
I cannot conceive that. Like, even in France,
like, a city like Lyon that is less known than Naples,
its subway runs later than that, until midnight
and sometimes, one or two over the weekend
or party days.
Here it feels like if you don't have a car,
if you're not local then you don't matter.
That's the only thing here that, I don't know...
I don't think it's hostility.
it's just like "why bother? you got to go anyway
because we are touristic".
To me this is the feeling I got,
when I got here.
FOMATPLAY Ok, what kind of feeling do you-, tell us more.
PAULINE that they are not interested in toursits. Like they,
they don't want to make the effort
because the tourism is coming to them anyway
with Vesuvio and Naples being Naples.
On the other hand, going to Salerno, to the Amalfi coast
the switch is enormous.
They are a lot more open minded to, like,
think of what the tourists could do,
where they could go,
how to make everybody's life easier.
So, yeah. I don't really get this difference between the
Amalfi coast or Salerno
and here. To me is still the same region,
is still... like one draws from the other and vice versa.
FOMATPLAY do you think it would be different
if you lived for a longer time in Naples or?
PAULINE possibly. But then I think it really depends on, again,
who you meet,
what is your job and how established you are;
because when I meet most of the foreigners,
most of them are married
either to an Italian
or they got married and moved here many,
many years ago. Sorry.
so I think it really depends on what is your,
like, your love life, to say.
FOMATPLAY is there anything else that you can't
really tolerate about the Italian culture?
or is there anything that you appreciate,
on the other hand?
PAULINE um I have to say here the driving,
oh my gosh, it makes me mad. Mad and scared.
I cannot
understand how parents have infants in their arms
when they're driving or
the phone. It, it just gives me the
the chills.
I have seen the kids coming at school in the morning
and I'm stressed just seeing the cars coming in.
And it's, I don't know; I don't have kids
but just seeing it makes me,
makes me feel like something's wrong. um
on the other hand, I think Italians can be really funny.
they're quite affectionate.
it's hard to get in
but once you're in they're quite affectionate,
they're quite nice and friendly.
Whereas the kids behaving with their teachers
at school, very,
it's very kind, very
benevolent.
FOMATPLAY anything else about the
national values that you..?
PAULINE I don't know. I don't think I have visited enough to...
if I have to compare,
like, I spent a few days in Milan and Rome and here.
it did not feel the same in the north, at all.
FOMATPLAY how did you feel?
PAULINE peaceful, quiet.
I'm really sorry. I love you guys here but...
like, I think the one obvious example is
I was in Milan before coming back for the school year
for a few days. I visited it.
um people were smiling everywhere
but the weather was dreadful.
in Milan, yeah.
like I don't know it felt like summer.
Even if it was raining like cats and dogs, like buckets,
it was so bad; and yet people were smiling with friendly,
welcoming tourists and it felt really peaceful.
We got on the train it was so quiet and peaceful.
We pass Rome, and it's not a joke,
we pass Rome,
like the people getting off our room got off
and we're in direction of Naples; Naples
was, like, the next stop and suddenly
it's like the volume on the train doubled, or tripled.
like, it's like "oh
we're not in the north anymore.
we're home".
and it sounded like chatting, being really loud.
I can tell you what
the person that was three seats in-,
behind me was telling his friend.
And, I don't know, maybe it's after going to Russia,
where everybody is so nice and polite out,
that in transport
it makes me cringe sometimes when I see like
they're so loud and they don't care
they really don't care about people around them.
FOMATPLAY other things that you...
um
maybe anything else that you, um,
that you enjoy? that you like being here?
PAULINE well, I do enjoy having longer seasons,
like longer springs with, like, nicer weather
and not dreadful weather.
but I thought the weather would be better;
like, I don't know. it's very humid, there's no-...
when it's hot, it's stuffing hot.
it's not not fresh; there's no ocean, like, air.
and what surprised me the most I think is
although Naples is on the sea
you don't really have infrastructure to enjoy the sea.
so, you know? I talked to Italians and they say "yeah,
because it's a port city".
Yeah? my mom's city is a port city,
we build cruise ships,
and we have so many beaches all over the town
or parks. Here there are very few parks.
very few. And it is not accessible for people living in the town
or with buses. like
the buses are not reliable enough to leave town
and enjoy all the nature that you can find.
so it's a bit sad.
but otherwise... yeah,
the ice cream is nice. different way of life.
FOMATPLAY okay.
and how would you define yourself as a person?
I want to go back to the identity theme,
also in relation to this other,
you know? different situations in which you have lived.
PAULINE it's a hard one because it is screwed up
when we talk different language;
depending which language we're using,
we always changing our like point of view.
as a French person I would say,
if I'm just looking at the French perspective,
I'd say I'm someone that is quite um...
organizing what I want and how I want it.
but then if I go with the English side where I have,
where I have traveled more and discovered new things,
and use some wonky ways of travelling,
I realize I'm a lot more chill I can adapt better
but at the same time I can still feel this like
underlying Frenchness where I'm like "no.
this is not not acceptable.
like, I'm not going to do that.
I'm not changing no matter what you want.
this is where it needs to stop".
so, I think the more languages we learn
the more we travel and discover,
the more our own perspective on ourselves changes.
when I was in Spain I thought I was like super chill
nothing would like disturb me
and then I went with more English and I'm scared like
"no I like actually more regimented things".
then I went to Russia and I'm like yeah
"I like it, okay.
you're disorganized from a certain point of view. here,
like, you're chilled, like it,
but I don't like how disorganized you are.
So I think we become more of a Tetris;
so it becomes harder to, like,
decide exactly just one categorization of who we are.
FOMATPLAY and how do you combine opposite French
pieces of this jigsaw puzzle?
PAULINE I think it really depends. I think I have moments in more than ones like...
if I talking English,
I'm gonna be more like my English self.
if I am with my French people
it's gonna be more... I think it's just a rotation.
You never forget things but the same time
there's always a new thing coming forward
depending the language.
I think that's the only way to explain it.
FOMATPLAY so you think that the language that we speak
actually sort of affects the way you behave or you
communicate, or?
PAULINE yeah. maybe not behave per se,
but how your thoughts are formed,
how you express yourself. I mean
it is known that you feel time differently
depending the language.
and um...
so I think it also affects how we
are relating to other people.
I can say-, for example in France we are not as um
touchy feelings as Spain or here but yes
we have like the traditional kisses on the cheeks
but that's a bit it. um...
here I noticed that everybody is always like
hugging or holding hands or arms;
even guys, which is great.
it's like inclusive.
but in France we wouldn't have so much of that.
um and at the same time
Spanish
people would be like ways ahead and like...
FOMATPLAY okay, yes. um
so you still have family in France, right?
so you keep speaking with them and you...?
PAULINE I am also able to jump back on a plane
very quickly.
FOMATPLAY okay.
how often do you get to go back to France?
PAULINE not a lot, unfortunately.
Our school has very few holidays:
Christmas and Easter. So it's about it.
but I want to find somewhere where I can go,
like, every week back,
every few months; that'd be nice.
I have a baby back home that I want to see grow.
um okay so where is home uh for you?
so where do you feel you belong?
PAULINE hard to say.
It used to be my childhood house but it got sold;
my dad moved; my mom moved;
that was a good solution. It was way too big.
It's hard to feel at home, at home.
and after having lived alone in Russia for a while
it's even hard
sometimes to go back to sharing apartments.
Like, you live alone, you miss people.
But then you live with them
and I'm like-, I miss being alone.
So I think I most feel at home,
even if it's not at home
at home, at my brother's because um
my baby niece was born last um...
so not this one, the one before-, last January.
I came back in France mid March because of the war
and when she was a baby she had lots of health issues
and I had decided to take six
months before coming here to work,
because I knew I could only start in September,
to just chill,
be with my family that I haven't seen in like
almost 3 years.
And I was lucky enough to be able to say "look,
I have my savings" and they were happy to welcome me.
I was just with her and my sister in law for like
4 or 5 months. So I developed a feeling there.
although it's not my house,
it's something, the closest thing to home. But again,
they don't live in... they don't live where I grew up.
so I don't know the region. It's really just their place,
like their courtyard. As soon as I leave
I'm like "oh yeah, okay.
it's another apartment,
it's another region, as we say in France.
FOMATPLAY so home to you is more of a,
more like a feeling or a place
or a memory?
PAULINE feeling with people.
I mean it's really the mix of feeling with people
because it's hard to get this feeling without people.
Right now if I just come here like "yeah, okay.
I'm home but it's just like we are here temporarily.
whereas my brother, I know that he's built
the house. It's theirs, they're gonna keep it.
And they are not planning to sell.
so it's more fixed, like a fixed part.
so... because he's my younger brother
like there's more time.
Because that could get attached to my dad's house
or my mom's house.
but cycle of life makes it that
they're going to go before my brother,
hopefully many years. um
but I think it's also just a safety net that I knew
they have their own house and they are 26-
27 so they have their whole life ahead.
FOMATPLAY and have you ever perceived Europe as your home
versus when you were in the States or
in Canada?
FOMATPLAY I've...
I would talk more maybe about home-based, rather than home,
home.
because, again, I don't think I have discovered enough of
Europe all over to say Europe is my home.
um yeah.
I can't even say France is my home. because, again,
it's too generic. there're too many things in there.
and I wouldn't be able to
live in Paris;
just like I don't think I would like it in Naples.
so I think it's really a
particular point in time and space
with certain people that makes it happen.
FOMATPLAY um just out of curiosity,
what is the future of Europe?
PAULINE right now that's a very difficult question,
with what's happening out of its doors.
I really wish, I really wish the best, for it to continue
and if we could help euro countries like Ukraine
that'd be lovely because um...
unfortunately I was unable to see pictures of it
but it used to be a wonderful country.
It still is; just in Rumples. um...
so I think it's hard to say you're a European
if you haven't travelled a lot in Europe
and so far my travel has been more outside of Europe:
Russia, US, Canada.
uh but I'd like to feel European with, like,
how the decisions are made and how interested I am in
um the European Parliament
and which programmes are developing to help european people.
FOMATPLAY so what do you think of the EU situation in general?
do you have a...
PAULINE I tend to be more positive and negative,
I don't think they're all perfect,
all of that. I think it's quite beneficial
for most countries involved.
okay, there are too many I think unknowns;
like we don't know enough of the EU
unless we're really interested in it
and I think that's quite sad.
I don't know if it's our education
system that wants that
or simply that's always evolving
and they missed
the opportunity to keep educating people
along their life, possibly it.
FOMATPLAY so would you like to know more?
PAULINE yes, because I mean, they're
always creating something within the EU,
they always have new things going on.
the problem is knowing how much to tell people
on the general scale and how much to not tell them
if they're just interested in the general idea.
because,
maybe this new generation is getting better at it,
but I think there's too much on the internet;
there's too much on there
and it's hard to find exactly what you want,
or simply like the bigger fats.
I know you get more than bare facts, you get your idea
but it's a good, like um...
direction to start with.
FOMATPLAY super interesting. um...
all right can you tell us
maybe a little bit more about how you have experienced
freedom of movement in
the EU?
yes...
PAULINE well my Erasmus program;
literally, just build paper up before you leave.
I went, that was it. Same with England back then,
it was very easy.
um living also in Burgundy um...
for me place depending on where I'm going
sometimes it's better Lyon, sometimes better,
better Geneva;
it's in another country but yet
sometimes they have direct lines or cheaper prices
and it's, what? maybe just an hour extraway,
so it's still so close.
and
I think that Europe being so small
compared to other countries,
that we have also this facility to say
oh
I went to another country. Because if we put Europe on
the US is like just one small country, more or less.
so the Americans say yeah
I went to the other side of the country,
it's like us visiting half Europe.
so I think we need to remember that
it's okay to visit or not visit
but we should enjoy all we can
because we never know what's gonna happen.
maybe what's coming.
FOMATPLAY um,
okay. I think we are at the end of our interview.
now we have a set of uh short questions.
I'm gonna ask you.
you can um
choose to answer also in a sentence if you want to.
yeah, okay.
so how would you sum up your FOM,
so freedom of movement experience
or experiences across the EU so far?
in one sentence?
PAULINE amazing concept.
FOMATPLAY and how would you feel if your freedom of movement
was removed?
PAULINE as... what I hope as a free traveller,
I'd be annoyed;
deeply annoyed.
FOMATPLAY what would you do?
PAULINE I think I will still continue to do it
but I would have to plan a lot more ahead and
be more conscious of when
how and where whereas now we can just say where. Whereas now you can just say "oh I have a day off where would I go?"
FOMATPLAY where's home
and where do you feel you belong?
PAULINE hard one... um,
home is with my family
wherever they are and I belong to
okay yeah
I think I belong to Europe or anywhere
else. because I can't pinpoint where.
FOMATPLAY how do you feel in Italy?
PAULINE Southern Italy is something special.
so...
FOMATPLAY In a good or in a bad way?
PAULINE here
precisely, leaning more toward the bad than the good,
but um...
it's nice to see something else,
it's always nice to discover
and.. how would we know that we don't like it
if we don't try it? so true.
FOMATPLAY yes, and what do you miss the most of your home country?
PAULINE varsity-, varsity-, variety of food.
because I think having this argument with people here
they say "we have so many different dishes here".
yes,
based on pasta. "But there's [parmigiana]".
yes pasta, [parmigiana]...
I'm waiting.
in France we are such a difficult country as it-,
but food wise, like people, especially my region;
because we've got everything:
we've got the meat, the cheese.
so we are known to be picky eaters when we go abroad
and I recognize it now more than ever
because here it's very local, like you have few,
even restaurants, you have few outside restaurant that are not Italian.
so it's not very diverse so...
I miss the diversity of food here, really.
FOMATPLAY would you take the same decisions
if you could go back in time?
why so? why not?
PAULINE like for all the decisions of me,
like every country?
Spain, definitely.
Russia, yes.
but I would have pushed myself to travel more
before Covid happened
because most of our visas ran out while we were there
and we were waiting almost day to day the extensions;
sometimes we had extension;
but when it was finishing
they only made the new extension the following day,
so we kind of look overnight.
and because like
it was easier while I had like a proper visa,
uh easily...
I don't know.
I mean, I Learned;
I did different things: went to international school,
um I'm not sure I would
have accepted the job after having visiting Naples
and going to work first.
FOMATPLAY who are you?
could you define yourself using three or four words?
PAULINE a woman who travels and has food.
FOMATPLAY wonderful. I think this is the best way to .
thank you for the interview.
PAULINE my pleasure.
FOMATPLAY That's sweet.