British volunteers arrive from Germany

Posted on May 3, 2016 by La Giraudiere

John and Geoff head into La Giraudiere to volunteer and lend a hand in France.

La Giraudiere continues its 2016 season with the arrival of 2 new guests. John, Paul’s brother, and his friend Geoffrey Heath came to volunteer in France for a week. They are tied for 5th volunteer of the 2016 season.

John is a Londoner through and through whereas Geoffrey is from Rochdale, however they both now reside in Germany. John works for the US army and Geoff is a retired tailor.

John was a valuable asset to the team – he assisted greatly in painting apartment 4 and the balcony rendering project by providing a constant supply of cement. He also repaired the shower in apartment 4, chopped some wood for the fireplace and cut down some weeds with the weed whacker.

Geoffrey took over housekeeping duties, keeping the apartments spick and span and making sure the table was set for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day to keep morale bursting high.

On the night of their arrival the duo were welcomed by being taken to Le Bistrot du Circuit, a local French restaurant which overlooks a Formula 2 race course. Their menu offers a wide variety of splendid French dishes and great value for money – you can get a three course meal for 18€ with a choice of 6 entrées, 6 plats and 6 desserts.

They both leant their talents to create some great-tasting German cuisine to share with the team, with rhubarb and apple pie for dessert for the weekend.

volunteers-french_night_out

Geoff, Foo, Paul and John enjoying a drink together

They finished off their stay at La Giraudiere by attending a special fish & chips night held at The Clubhouse, a local sports bar. La Giraudiere was full of fun and laughter during the week of their stay.

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World traveller finds his way to volunteer in France

Posted on May 2, 2016 by La Giraudiere

John Hollister, an American Volunteer, arrives in France to help out at La Giraudiere

La Giraudiere’s 2016 season starts well and its fourth volunteer of the 2016 season makes his arrival. John is the second American Volunteer to arrive in France in order to help out at La Giraudiere.

John originates from San Diego but refers to himself as a nomad – his goal is to visit 100 hundred countries now that he is retired. To date he has visited 72 countries.

John arrived on the 18th of April, bringing sunny weather with him and putting up a good fight in a heated game of pétanque against the reigning champions.

Volunteers_working-holiday_France During his stay, John has been helping out with painting apartment 4, installing a safety barrier for the balcony and rendering the balcony walls. John proved to be a valuable member of the team with his skills.

John did not like to cook for the group and felt guilty when it was his turn for the week, especially after eating the delicious meals provided by the rest of the group. However, he compensated for it by purchasing a curry from the local boucherie to which Paul provided the rice (which is why he’s called Mr Rice) and Paul’s brother, also called John, made a lovely apple pie for dessert which was copiously covered in crème anglaise.

American_volunteer-John_Hollister

John made use of his days off by visiting Pons, La Rochelle and Bordeaux for his first weekend and enjoying the local festivities provided at the Brossac Fête du Muguet on his second weekend, there he shopped at the market stalls, watched the bike race and visited the brocante to buy some gifts for La Giraudiere.

John was happy to participate in the Friday French lessons and was a keen contributor to the class. He practiced his communication skills with the teacher and Foo and also by visiting the village shops.

You can read more about John’s travels and his stay at La Giraudiere by visiting his blog at   American volunteer in France

 

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Malaysian volunteer arrives in France

Posted on April 19, 2016 by La Giraudiere

Choon Poh Tan is the second volunteer to arrive to help out at La Giraudiere

La Giraudiere continues its 2016 season by welcoming Choon, from Germany, to help out. She is the first Malaysian to arrive at La Giraudiere.

Choon is a service agent at Frankfurt Airport, due to her career she is a polyglot. She is capable of speaking English, German, Chinese, Malay, Russian and basic French. Choon used her time off from work to arrive on the 9th of April. She came to La Giraudiere for the opportunity to get involved in the rural French lifestyle and to improve her command of the French language to better assist the many Francophones she deals with as part of her job.

choon-malaysian_volunteer

During her stay she helped out in many ways. She spent plenty of time in the garden, getting rid of weeds and planting roses. She was also a great help around the house by cooking some excellent vegetarian dishes, setting the table for meals, organising the linen and doing a spot of cleaning. When the weather was unsuitable for gardening she helped out with painting the windows in apartment 4.

Since she came down by car, in her spare time she drove off to explore the Charente region. She visited the Chalais market which takes place every Monday and drove down to Bordeaux for a day out.

Choon took part in the French lessons with Paul and Zach. She got involved with the local community by playing belote and pétanque, lending her ample opportunity to practice French with native speakers.

We were happy to host Choon at La Giraudiere and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

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First volunteer in France

Posted on April 8, 2016 by La Giraudiere

Zachary Aubin, an American volunteer, arrives in France to help out at La Giraudiere.

La Giraudiere starts off its 2016 season with the arrival of Zach. He is the first volunteer  to arrive in France this year to help out at La Giraudiere.

Zach, fresh out of high school, is a teenager from Masachusetts, USA, who is taking a gap year to explore Europe and experience different cultures before he starts college in September. He works as a life guard for a water park and has volunteered in many projects back home. He is a budding film maker who aims to become a corporate lawyer but Paul believes he has the potential to go even higher and become a politician, perhaps even the President of the US.

Zach arrived on the 8th of April, making his way down from London

zachery_aubin-american_volunteer

Zach has been helping the team by cleaning up around the house and their tools after they’ve finished their work for the day. He fitted new lamp shades in all the apartments,  gave the windows a new lick of polish and assisted John with the cement mixing. He’s also working on creating a video to promote La Giraudiere.

Zach has been using his weekends to travel far and wide through France, visiting Bordeaux and Paris, and even going as far as Germany for one weekend.

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Help Creat international volunteers partnerships

Posted on March 30, 2016 by La Giraudiere

La Giraudiere looking for global partners and international volunteers

One of the projects for 2016 that volunteers and interns can help with is setting up and forming new international partnerships. Contacting associations and organisations from around the globe that operate similar programs to that of La Giraudiere.

We would contact to ask if the organisation would like to strike up a partnership with us, We have several ideas in mind but would also welcome ideas from you and also from the organisation or association,

We will be informing them that we are a non-profit organization / association based in south west France and that each year we open our doors to international volunteers, interns and groups from around the globe who wish to help or learn about France it’s culture, language and way of life in general. That our project presents an ideal oportunity for their participants.

Ideas presently on the table are,

  1. Initially we could propose an exchange of emails and messages making each other aware of our respective organizations, goals and ideas.
  2. Exchanges on social media, likes on Facebook and follows on twitter and other social media.
  3. Preparing a blog entry or webpage about our newly found partner describing the organization and their goals. Similar upon their website describing our association, our goals and opportunities in English and or the language(s) of the new partner.
  4. We would also include their project/program in our quarterly newsletter.

If you think this is something that you would enjoy setting up and or doing then apply to help now at Volunteer or Intern in France

Les Amis De La Giraudiere – France

International volunteers logo

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