u/SpiritedHedgehog45

I (F29) live in France, and have for 6 years. I have a job out here, but it's not the most stable, and friends here, although I don't live near them currently.

I often get homesick and have been asking myself whether I really want to stay here for the rest of my life, for several reasons.

• The first being simply that I miss my home
• I miss people - family, friends, the sense of humour, the fact that when I'm home I don't feel like a foreigner
• Although I speak French well (I'd never say fluent because I know I still make the odd mistake, but well enough that I can make friends and hold down a job here), it's never the same as speaking English - anyone who speaks multiple languages will understand me when I say that you kind of have a different 'personality' for each one. I feel like I can't really always express my whole personality in French.
• Career progression - I teach English as a foreign language (in the private sector to adults, not in public education), and given that opportunities for career and salary progression are really limited in this job, I'd like to change careers. The problem being that for ANY job that's not minimum wage, you will need a professional certification and probably a degree in whatever field you are going into. Whereas an employer in the UK might be more willing to hire you if you have the relevant skills for a job even if you don't have the degree or certification for it, that's not a thing in France. At all. I'm totally willing to do an online degree (I've already found a few from French universities), but after having already been to one French university and hating my time there, I am very reluctant to repeat the experience in person. I know the job market in the UK right now is in the toilet but my chances here of working anything that lets me take home more than 2100€ a month after tax aren't particularly optimistic.

I left the UK partly out of a desire to use my degree and also because I knew the cost of living abroad would be lower, which it was and still is. Am I crazy for wanting to give that up? My family give varying answers so I'd appreciate feedback, especially if anyone here has been in a similar position.