Siripong Kaewla-iad; Steve Kelley aka mudpig/ Getty Images
- Arthur Begtine was born in France but moved with his family to Atlanta when he was eight.
- Begtine felt reverse culture shock when he moved back to France for his father's job when he was 14.
- He told Business Insider he was desperate to return to the US because it has more social mobility.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Arthur Begtine, a 34-year-old senior business development manager in Atlanta. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in France, 20 minutes from the Mediterranean. I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Toulon, in the south of France.