About me

Bonjour, my name is Anne Gillmé.

If you’re on this page, you’re probably wondering who I am and why you should trust me to help you.

So I’ve prepared a menu for you.

Appetizer: the facts. Cold.

I’m originally French, born and raised in Alsace (east part of France). My first move was when I was 22: I went to Germany to live and study there for one year.

I then graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Lille, which means that I’m a chemical engineer. I worked for 3 years in Paris for a multinational company selling specialty chemical in France and North Africa.

My second move was when I was 28. I went from Paris to a little town in the middle of Flemish Belgium. I did not speak any Dutch, had no job and was just married. I stayed there for 15 years, had 4 children, and travelled to Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Benelux and France for my work. In the meantime, I learned Dutch and Italian.

Three years ago I made my third move, from Belgium to Australia, this time with a husband, 4 children (aged 15, 13 and 8 year old twins) and my own company.

Main course: my cross-cultural experience. Spicy.

“I’ll build my life with a man from another culture.”

This deep-rooted intuition was realized when I married Rachid, one of my study partners at university. While Rachid is French, his parents come from a pure line of Kabyle people, an ethnic minority in Algeria.

I’m a Catholic, he is a practicing Muslim.

As a young couple, we emigrated to Flemish Belgium, a region located around 200 km from the French border: so close on the map but so closed as a society.

At first we did not speak a word of Dutch. We learned the language, built a house and had 4 kids – all raised bilingual (French and Dutch), attending local schools. One child was diagnosed as gifted, one with ADHD: special-needs kids.

Three years ago, we had a major change and moved to the end of the world (Tasmania). The kids are now trilingual. While they hold a French passport, they’ve never lived in France. Sound familiar?

Dessert: my personal bio. Bitter-sweet.

I went from a 6-figure job, travelling around Europe, to a stay-at-home mum with no income of my own. Financial dependence, loss of identity.

I struggled for years with my parents because of my choices, even if (or maybe just because) they want the best for me. Conflict, misunderstandings, wrong perceptions, continual criticism: this is common ground for me.

But I stuck to my beliefs and worked my way out of the need for conventional approval. I learnt it the hard way but it does not have to be the same for everybody:

• You won’t have to feel guilty about your decision of moving abroad when comforting a crying teenager, lost between 2 worlds, angry at you for the good moments she’s missing with her friends and desperate to see her future. In fact, you may very well have a crying teenager once in a while but you’ll feel strong because you’ll know how to address her concerns and make her a successful adult, rich of the wealth of her experiences.
• You won’t have to be scared and feel horribly doubtful about having left your job, thinking you’re now useless and trapped. In fact, you may very well realize that it’s a huge opportunity to build resilience skills, to know you better and to tie meaningful relationships with others as never before.

You’re not alone. And this makes all the difference.

Reach me at anne@expatriateconnection.com

“Isolation is the dream killer.” Barbara Sher