Although it is cold and rainy in the winter, the hearts of the citizens of the north of France are very large and warm. The city itself has huge pedestrian squares, great shopping centers, and a very efficient transportation system. The architecture is charming and unique as most buildings are made of red brick which gives it a sort-of industrialized style that is juxtaposed by neighborhoods like Vieux Lille where the buildings resemble something more traditional. It is a large enough city that you have everything that you need at your fingertips, but small enough that you can still get to know people and feel like you are at home.

The weather though, from what I have experienced, is cold and rainy in the winter. It is usually right around freezing. There are no real seasons from what everybody tells me, so layers are a must in case it is hotter or colder than expected.

The north is unique in their treatment of foreigners.

Everybody seems to want to know where you are from and get to know a little something about your culture. The people here are very open-minded and seem to be accepting of people for who they are. There does not appear to be a lot of racism, violence or discrimination. As in all cities, there are areas to avoid after dark (Lille Sud, Wazemmes, Fives, etc) so it is important to know where you are going in the city and what you need to be prepared for. If it is after dark and you are a single woman, it is a better idea to take a cab than to take the metro if you are in one of the more questionable suburbs. To avoid problems, simply be aware of your surroundings and if in doubt, ask, and somebody will tell you if you are headed into a bad neighborhood. They were very honest about this with us when we were apartment hunting and job searching.

There is not any sort of dress code because this is traditionally a city of working class people. You wear what you feel comfortable in, and you will be fine. The general rule for France is no tennis shoes, wear wool jackets rather than ski coats, and dark colors are always acceptable, but you can get away with more here than you could if you were in Paris, for example.

The biggest con for me is the cold weather, but if you have got a warm coat and hat, you will be fine.

Visas are necessary for studying abroad and working. If you want to obtain your residency permit (carte de sejour) you must have a valid visa.

When you arrive, if you intend on staying longer than six months, you must go to the prefecture and ask for the documents for your carte de sejour. This is a time-consuming process, so be patient..

First, you will fill out paperwork and make photocopies of your passport, visa, birth certificate (this may or may not need to be translated by an official translator, so make sure you ask), a bill to prove where you are living, etc. You will also need passport-sized photos.

Then, you will turn in all of this paperwork and get what is called a 'recipisse'. This is your temporary carte de sejour. It gives you the right to travel around the schengen states and the right to work and live in the country.

After 2-8 weeks, you may or may not receive your real carte de sejour. It depends on the prefecture. A carte de sejour is valid for a range of time periods - a refugee is ten years, a person that has been married for more than three years is ten years, a student is for the length of time you will be studying, etc.

You must renew if you would like to stay in France after your card expires. DO NOT let your card expire! If so, you must return to your country of origin and get another visa before returning to France. You should renew about three months before the card is set to expire in order to be on the safe side.

The cost of the carte de sejour varies depending on your country of origin and the status of your card. I paid around 400 Euros and will pay around 60 Euros/year for the next three years until I receive my ten-year card. Others have paid upwards of a thousand euros, depending on where they are coming from. Make sure to ask.

You do not pay in cash, check or by card for your carte de sejour. You must go to a location that sells ANAEM stamps and buy the value needed in stamps. You will give these stamps to the prefecture. They can be purchased at the same locations where you will pay taxes or handle any legal money issues.

Lille is an expensive city to live in, so I recommend taking a look at apartments in the suburbs if you do not mind being outside the city center. Rent for a studio is around 400-500/month, an F2 could be anywhere from 400-800/ month depending on where you want to live, and it only goes up from there. Outside the city, the prices are significantly cheaper and there is great transportation to get to and from the city if need be.

Expats will have difficulty renting an apartment from an agency unless they have a french relative or spouse that can co-sign. Our experience with agencies has not been positive, so I would suggest picking up a copy of ParuVendu and looking at the classified ads. There are lots of owners who rent their apartments directly to their occupants and it is a great way to avoid having to pay agency fees.

The fees with an agency - you usually pay, in the first month, the rent, plus one to two months of deposit depending on the agency, and agency fees. Agency fees are usually around the cost of the rent, so you will need 3-4x the amount of rent for the first month.

Also, in order to have a fighting chance at getting accepted to rent an apartment, you must make, as a rule of thumb, 3x the rent as your salary. You also need a CDI contract instead of a CDD, and you will need all of your tax documents and previous bills proving that you paid your rent at your last apartment.

If you can find a good apartment through a classified ad, you can avoid all of the hassle I just mentioned. Make your life easier by calling around. I would only recommend an agency if you are really pressed for time and need to move quickly.

It is pretty common to have a cleaning lady come once a week or so, and it is pretty cheap. I cannot personally speak on this because we do our own cleaning.

Nannies are common as well, either in the form of an au pair or an 'assistante maternelle' which is essentially a mother's helper. They are usually licensed by the state.

For internet, you must find out which providers actually reach your neighborhood. Orange will try to toy with you on this one, but let it be known that their service does not extend everywhere around Lille, and they will connect the service and charge you for it, but it will not work properly unless you live within their zone. Then, they will charge you to disconnect it when you discover that it does not work. Plus, their customer service is terrible, rude and uninformed.

In all honesty, the best internet providers in the Lille area are Numericable and Free. Do not waste your time anywhere else. With Numericable, we have a package deal and this is the best way to do it, in my opinion. We have 300 tv channels, free calling to 40-something countries (free if it is landline to landline, except the US you can call cells) and wireless internet. For all of these services, we pay 36 Euros/month. You will pay more if you call cell phones using the landline and it can add up fast, but it is free to call any other landlines.

There are a few channels in English but not many, and you can buy English newspapers and books at Le Furet du Nord. It is a huge bookstore downtown that carries anything you could ever want, basically.

The postal service is terrible, as anybody in France will tell you.

Always pay the extra money for insurance and do not mail anything That has got a lot of value because somebody will probably steal it. It is sad, but true.

The water is safe to drink but it is very hard.
Do not bother bringing shampoo from home because it will not get your hair clean enough. Buy it once you get here. In typical housing, there is city water available.

Bills are expensive, there is no other way around it. It is cold here so you will use a lot of heat, and gas heat is MUCH cheaper than electric heat. Try to find an apartment with gas heating. For electricity, sometimes you do not have a choice and sometimes you do, but I would say if you must choose your provider, choose EDF. Direct Energie will over charge you just to see if you will pay the ridiculous bills. GDF is the only gas company, I think. Be careful with these bills - you may think they are cheap because you are only paying 30 Euros/month, but every six months you will get a big bill to cover the rest of the electricity or gas that you used (the initial bill is just an estimate). This can come as a big shock if you are not prepared for it.

For local employment, there are many services that help people find jobs. I would recommend registering with the ANPE/Assedic first, and then see if there is a local agency in your neighborhood that is designed to help people find jobs. Word to the wise: if you are not an EU citizen, you will not get a job here that an EU citizen could do unless you are highly skilled in the area and speak fluent, flawless French.

For an expat, it is easy to get a job in a language school. The pay is decent, there is always a demand even in an economic crisis, so it is at least something. The nice thing about Lille is that it is so close to Belgium, the Netherlands, England and Germany, and if you speak any of those languages in addition to English, you are golden in the teaching world here.

The local currency is the Euro, but do not be shocked to see the price of something in French Francs just beside the price in Euros. To set up a bank account, you need proof of residency and photocopies of passports, visas, etc.

I bank with la Poste, and my husband banks with BNP. BNP is not a good bank unless you have got a lot of money to give them. You will not find quality customer service anywhere.

In France in general, credit cards do not really exist so everything is done with checks and debit. You have the right to overdraw your account to a certain limit (that you set) but you must repay your entire balance within one month. If not, you will have some huge fees coming your way.

I do not think the state health care is of exceptional quality, but everybody has it so you can go to the doctor very cheaply. It usually costs around 23 Euros for a doctor visit. Medicine is very cheap, free actually once you have got your social security number, but it is weak compared to American medicine.

French citizens have something called a 'carte vitale' that keeps track of their usage of the public health care system. You can get this card once you have a social security number. Beware, it takes about a year to get one. Beforehand, you will have a temporary SS number, then an 'attestation' of the real number, and then you will finally get the card.

If you or a spouse has a really great job, you can also get a 'mutuelle'. This is additional insurance that covers what the socialized medicine does not cover. The state pays 70% and the mutuelle covers the other 30%. What is even better is that it is not very expensive (40 Euros/month for two people) and it will save you a lot of money if ever you need an expensive procedure or medicine that is not covered by the state.

Ladies beware - you must strip down completely for your annual lady exam. There is no comfy robes and no soft stirrups - it is just you, in the nude, and the doc. There is no bedside manner here, either.

Be aware of the semi-annual 'gastro' that goes around. This is the worst stomach bug you will ever catch, and they make their rounds regularly here. You cannot really avoid it, but if it happens to you, go to the nearest pharmacy and ask for Spasfom. It is like Immodium and it will clear it right up.

Public schools are free for everybody from age two to 18.

University costs some money even if it is public, but not a lot.

Private schools are very expensive but almost guarantee a good job upon graduation.

After working in the public school system, I would recommend this to nobody. Pay the extra money for a private school, because the teachers probably will not hit your kids in the back of the head if they make a mistake if you are paying for their education. Most schools are in the neighborhoods so the kids can walk, and for high schools there are buses.

From my experiences, there is little to no extra care for special needs children.

Driving in Lille is a definite possibility if you have got the money for a car, insurance and pricey petrol. For those unfamiliar with how it works here, you buy fuel by the liter, and one liter can cost anywhere from 1 to 1.60 Euros and four or so of those make a gallon. Americans love to complain about gas prices, but they have not seen anything yet! A diesel car is the way to go if you would like to have a car. Diesel cars are more expensive to purchase, but you will save more on gas.

In Lille there is a metro, tramway and bus system called Transpole. The metro is computerized, so there are no conductors. The good thing about this is that when the bus drivers decide to go on strike, the metro still runs normally. There is a train on average once every two minutes. I have never had to wait. It is safe during the day, but there are certain stops that you should avoid after dark, like Porte des Postes. It costs 1.25 Euros per trip, and there are monthly discount cards for people under 26, and people over 60, and for people who are unemployed.

The tramway is slow, but it gets you where you need to go if you live or work outside of the city.

There are buses that run from the suburbs to the train station, and from there you can get around by tram or metro, or take another bus. The only downsides are the frequent controls, the very rude controllers that do not appreciate foreigners, and the fact that to get anywhere, you need to go through Gare Lille Flandres. For me, this is a con because it takes me very far out of my way and elongates my commute, but for others they might find this to be very convenient.

There are two train stations and an airport for getting out of town, and we are a 40-minute train ride from Paris CDG, Beauvais, and a 40-minute drive from Charleroi in Brussels. There is the Eurostar or a ferry in Calais for getting to England, and the airport in Lille, Lesquin, recently added a Ryanair line to Marseilles. If you need to go anywhere else I would recommend catching a low-cost airline out of Charleroi.

There are many sports and sports clubs available, depending on where you live. Ask at your local city hall and they can give you all of the information that you need.

My favorite books about living in France in general are 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' by Dave Sedaris and 'Almost French' by Sarah Turnbull. These stories are based on true accounts of life in France.

A movie that you must see before moving to the North is Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis. I warn you that your French needs to be up to par, but that there are English subtitles available if it is not. This will give you a great idea about the generosity of the people in the region, and also their cultural quirks. It is a good laugh.

For blogs, my favorite Lille blogger is Uh Oh Spaghettio's and is the story of a Franco-American family raising their child in Lille:
http://spaghetti-o.blogspot.com/