Chinese Citizens in Provence

Abstract

The ITER Organization has currently about 1000 staff from 35 countries each bringing with them their own language, culture, traditions, working habits, and for most of them their families! They are physicists, secretaries, engineers, accountants, administrators, IT specialists—all of whom are among the best professionals spanning a wide range of very different fields. For many of them ITER is their first international experience. The huge variety of cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds held by staff make ITER a truly multicultural project. Although only 15% of ITER’s staff speak English as their native language, it is ITER’s lingua franca. Simply speaking, use of the same language is insufficient for staff to completely understand one another—the wealth of different cultures within the organization also creates difficulties in the day-to-day running of ITER. Agence ITER France is aware of these problems, shared by most expatriates, and so manages a team that facilitates the integration of foreigners into the region. Despite these difficulties (common to multinational organizations) ITER employees manage to communicate and work together. In actual fact, each member of staff is enriched by the differences they encounter. Working in an international environment is attractive, but is evidently a source of complexity. I discovered that cultural aspects can also influence technical decisions. ITER’s multiculturalism is both a great asset and a constraint. Gradually, a new culture is forming at ITER based on all cultures and fueled by joint staff experiences. In the region, although some residents complain that expatriates are “quite distant,” there are clear signs of integration. The opening of Manosque’s International School was undoubtedly an important and positive influence. However, changing one’s job and integrating oneself and one’s family into a new life in France is not easy—some find that there is a cost to family life. The “Iterians,” as they are sometimes nicknamed, face the dichotomy of living in a beautiful region like Provence and addressing the many practical difficulties that face expatriates. There are also specific problems related to health, psychology, and psychiatry.