Zuluboy

Level 10 is a piece of cake - if the computer hadn't crashed I would have made level 12 in 4 minutes.  My score is 337,000!! Go back to Geography lessons !

  So much for 'totsi' (actually spelt tsotsi) - I am SA born with a Brit passport and have lived in the UK for 10 years until last January.  I still want to go and live in France - the property we owned was in Eymet near Bergerac and if I go back it will be to that area.

I had a property in France jointly with my ex-wife - we had intended to move there to stay eventually.  As things went pear-shaped she sold the house and I am back in South Africa but have a strong desire to move back to France some time (I am still a UK Citizen).  I found it very hard to get a job there over the 6 years that we travelled back and forth from the UK and would go the self-employment route when I go back there.  

I came to the UK to get away from the declining education system in South Africa after 1994, the rise in political crime (and general crime as policing softened) and the general downward trend in small business.  I have no regrets about having made the move but in 8 years in the UK have found that it is actually very similar - albeit on a lesser scale - to South Africa - and on a steady downward movement. I will not go back to South Africa as long as there is a government, black or white, that follows the trends set by Western governments.  Therefore I have chosen France, which has a balance of the two as far as climate is concerned.  The village where I have a house is similar to where I lived in South Africa and the people are also similar in their habits.  I have yet to make the move - that will happen in the next couple of years.  I can't wait to get there and start again.  

I was directed to a farm out of town to find a manufacturer of old terra cotta floor tiles which I needed to replace.  On arrival at the farm there was no sign of life besides an old crone dressed entirely in black walking down the road.  She approached me and I indicated that I wished to buy 10 tiles and asked her in my pidgin French how much they were.  She did not seem to know so I offered her 20 euros - 2 minutes later I was on my way with my tiles and she wandered off down the road slightly richer.  I will probably never know whether she was a part of the farm or just a lucky passer by!

I have found the Trocs very expensive - I ended up buying new (especially white goods) because the Troc prices were dearer in many cases.  The village Grenier sales are good but mostly I have carted everything from the UK (car boots) and saved loads.

I am also in the position of having to either sell or remortgage my house in France.  I am not divorcing my ex at this point but will have to find a way of paying her out her share.  So far I have had positive reponses from both the Notaires and the Mortgage lenders.  The biggest snag is raising a mortgage large enough to pay her out and still be able to live.  At present I live in the UK but would like to move in the next 12 months. I have secured work in France but it may not be enough to service the mortgage I will need to pay her.  Any suggestions?