Big changes...

It's official--I got a job in France!!!

It's for a company called Amadeus, they make travel booking software for airlines, hotels, car rentals, etc. and I will be doing technical writing for them in the South of France near Nice. I just got the offer last night.

I found out about the job through an agency here in the UK that sends out an email newsletter once a month or so with various job postings. I saw this one and thought why not? Turns out, it's a really good fit in terms of work, and when the agency sent my CV (resume) through, the company wanted to interview me on the phone. So we did that the week after Kev and I got back from Brussels. I hate phone interviews because you can never tell exactly how it went. They contacted me two days after the phone interview to invite me to their offices for a face-to-face interview.

They paid to fly me down there and put me up in a hotel overnight. This
was on Sunday, 9/23. Then I interviewed all day Monday and they had a taxi pick me up at 3 and take me back to the airport. It was a total whirlwind trip, but good nonetheless.

The office is in this big industrial park called Sophia Antipolis, which is about 15 miles from Nice, and just north of Antibes and Cannes. It's a hilly area, and when you look outside, you see trees and rolling hills. If you look to the east, you can see the higher hills that form the foothills of the Alps. It's lots of pine and olive trees, with bleached stone everywhere. And it's not the bland US-type industrial park either--you can see the buildings here and there, but it's mostly trees.

The company is really a relaxed place. It's not a formal business dress environment, which is nice. People seem very friendly and mellow. The official business language is English, for emails, meetings, etc. and I will be writing in English for the documentation, but people speak French in the halls, which will help me learn quicker.

The whole thing is kind of scary, but both Kevin and I are really excited about it. Kev has been super-supportive and helping to keep my spirits up when I freak out about it. It's such a great opportunity, though. Plus, the location is perfect for traveling, since Nice has an airport and we could day-trip to Italy (it's only about 30 miles away).

This will be my first foray into a "permanent" job for many years, but the benefits are really good and we will be located well for travel. So that means we'll be extending our stay over here for at least another year.

As for Kev's work, we may have a lead for him already. I had lunch with the manager of the doc group on my interview day, and she knows someone in a nearby town that owns an electrical shop that caters to the large English-speaking population down there. I told her that if everything ended up working out, I would definitely follow up with her on that. As much as I would love for Kev to be a house husband, I think he would get bored quickly. So we'll do our best to find something for him also.

Wah! It's very exciting, and a big change, but I really think it's going to be a great experience.