vive la you know where
exciting news – we’re moving back to France!
I’m going to be working for Varicent, a software company based in my native Canada, but I’ll be working from France and managing projects in Europe as well as in the Asia/Pacific region. My last day as a program manager at Blackbaud is this Friday – it is certainly a bittersweet moment to leave the company, as I have had a great time working there, and have made many amazing friends at the company and here in Charleston.
the reasons for our moving back to France are probably self-explanatory for any who know us – we loved living in France the last time we were there; several years ago I completed a Masters of Science at Groupe ESC Clermont in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne. And it wasn’t just for the cheese (though I do so love the cheese) – as a Canadian, not to mention a Canadian born in Quebec, the French language is very important to me, and one of the alpha reasons for our wanting to move abroad is to get the kids – now 7, 5 and 3 – into a French school where they can undergo complete immersion and become fluent in the language. Some friends of ours decided to do a similar thing a few years ago, and their kids are now completely fluent in the language and loving attending a local school in Provence. Yvonne also plans to perfect her French, and my own could certainly use some improvement.
the when and the where of the relocation are a bit up in the air at this point – we’re currently thinking Paris, Lyon or Lille by the end of the month, but a lot depends on the logistics of my new job, for which I will be undertaking new employee orientation in Toronto starting next Monday. Whatever the case, it’s very exciting and a bit scary, but we’re really looking forward to the challenge of it all!
Best of luck to you and your family Brian. Lauren and I will miss you all. Keep up the violin – Calum has potential in it, as I’m sure many other things as well. We might even come visit you guys next year.
thanks Mike – it would be great if you and Lauren could come visit! And we definitely plan to continue with Callum’s violin lessons – I hope we can find a teacher as good as the two of you.
Best of luck! 🙂 Sounds quite exciting. Though Jax and P will miss your playdates.
thank you Diane! We still might be able to continue those, depending on the timing… it is certainly worth a try.
Brian, what an exciting opportunity — congratulations and best of luck to you and your family. You’ll be missed!
thanks very much Jared! I appreciate it!
Hey Brian!
Congratulations on the new adventures! We will certainly miss you, but I know that you will be successful wherever you go!
Best of Luck to you and your family!
Paige
thanks Paige, that is very kind of you to say! It certainly will be an adventure…
wow, cool. congrats on the new opportunities. glad we had a chance to meet. good luck with the new job and I’m sure France will be a great place for the kids
thank you Eugene, I appreciate it. I do hope that the kids enjoy going to a French school!
it appears that you had a great Christmas vacation in Edmonton… I’m sure you got lots of snow! But I did notice via your Twitter feed that you didn’t let the blizzards stop you from eating some great food up there…
Congrats! That’s super exciting!
thank you Yi-Mei!