These last weeks in Paris were damned busy. We had to pack all our belongings, send them on a boat, do one ton of paperwork to leave Paris (taxes, phone accounts, insurances, etc), and another ton to settle in San Francisco (taxes, phone accounts, insurances, etc ;). To my surprise we’ve gone through all that busywork pretty smoothly, we have even found a preschool for our 3-year kid. After 4 days we are almost settled.
Here is a random list of my first feelings in the US.
What I like so far:
- the family plans for mobile phones. This idea is nice and cheap.
- the sunny weather
- the amazing beauty of the bay area
- all the friendly and helpful people we’ve met so far
- our apartment
- my 20-minute commute with SF Muni
- how easy it is to deal with your banker: accommodating opening hours, not-tied to a specific banking center. Generally speaking my experience with my american bank is better than with my (not online) french one.
- …
What I’m not a big fan of so far:
- my no-SIM-card mobile phone. I can’t use my French mobile phone with Sprint, I can’t reuse the provided mobile with another operator, and if I want a new phone I have no choice but go to a Sprint store. And of course the Sprint representative did not mention this point to me. This vendor lock-in situation reminds me Microsoft or Apple. In France, all mobile operators provide you with a SIM card and have the obligation to unlock you phone after 6 months if you request so.
- the no-choice situation for high-speed internet. In San Francisco the only way to get easily an internet connection is to go with Comcast, and it costs a lot of money. In Paris, with the same $45 you can pick among several Triple-play offers and get a true high speed internet not just a marketing word. Of course the US is 16 times vaster than metropolitan France but the scale argument cannot solely explain the lack of competitors and bandwidth.
- …
to be updated as remarks come into my mind…