Volunteers from Australia in France

Posted on May 26, 2015 by La Giraudiere

English French language exchange

Unfortunately Sharyn and Janice – our Australian volunteers – left La Giraudière this weekend. This is to thank them very much for the excellent work they carried out during their 2 weeks stay.

Janice’s main task was the painting of our benches and tables for the garden and in the Old House. This job was perfectly designed for her as she has worked as an Interior Architect back in Australia. Sharyn has taken over the function as our main gardener and was very busy doing a lot weeding, cutting our hedges and planting new flowers. Both ladies have got an awesome hands-on mentality which enabled them to finish their projects efficiently.

On Thursday last week we were very lucky, because Janice and Sharyn decided to organise an authentic Australian barbecue for the whole group. They spent hours at the grill to ensure we all had a lovely evening. It was a great international night with lots of delicious food, amazing people and a good laugh.

Australian volunteer France La Giraudiere

Sharyn preparing the authentic Australian Barbecue

In addition both used their time at La Giraudière to improve their French language skills by interacting with the local community on a daily basis. They will still have the opportunity to use the French language as they will now spend a few days in Paris before they go back home to Australia.

Thank you very much Janice and Sharyn for everything you have done at La Giraudière. Working with you was a lot of fun which we all enjoyed very much. It was a pleasure to have you here!

 

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A New Zealander in France

Posted on May 26, 2015 by La Giraudiere

Cultural exchange between New Zealand and France

This is to announce the arrival of another volunteer at La Giraudière. Carolyn from New Zealand will be helping out for 3 weeks and is hoping to improve her French language skills (which are already very good) during her stay by taking part in local activities as often as possible and by communicating with the local community on a daily basis. Furthermore, she loves the idea of being part of an international team and working in a multicultural environment.

Back at home Carolyn works for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to arrange and support people from developing countries to come to New Zealand for study at university on a scholarship. She is taking a month’s holiday and is coming to France to immerse herself in a useful project with other people for 3 weeks rather than travel alone for the whole month. In addition to her work responsibilities she also does a lot of environmental volunteer work (planting and weeding) near home. Moreover, she has also volunteered in a village with no running water or electricity in Thailand which she enjoyed a lot. Furthermore, Carolyn has also worked as an English teacher for people from many different countries.

Volunteers from New Zealand in France

Carolyn carrying out some building and construction work under the sun

Due to her excellent CV Carolyn can provide help with everything that is needed. She started as a gardener to do some weeding and to plant new flowers. During the next days and weeks she might also be carrying out some painting, do some administrative work or take over the work of our household manager.

Welcome to La Giraudière Carolyn! We are very happy to have you here and look forward to working with you and finding out more about your exciting and interesting work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand.

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New volunteer from the US in France

Posted on May 19, 2015 by La Giraudiere

French Cultural Experience

We warmly would like to welcome Elisabeth from the US who arrived at La Giraudière last week. After a very exhausting journey from California she found out that her luggage is still in the US and did not make it with her to France. However, this gave her the opportunity to explore beautiful Angouleme the next day as she urgently needed to buy some new clothes 🙂

Elisabeth will be staying at La Giraudiere for three weeks. During the first week she will be taking over Margaret’s tasks as the household manager. Furthermore, she will be helping with every job, for example painting or gardening, which needs to be done. Like every other volunteer Elisabeth wishes to experience French culture authentically by being part of the local village life. While studying Elisabeth has already spent one semester in France  during which she learned very good French. At La Giraudière she would like to refresh her knowledge by speaking French on a daily basis.

Volunteering in France for Americans

Elisabeth and our dog Sidney

Back home in the States Elisabeth has worked in sales for several years. Moreover, she has got a lot of hospitality industry experience. She co-managed an Eco-Lodge in Costa Rica and also managed the front-of-the house in several restaurants. In addition to that Elisabeth worked as an event planner for the American Lung Association and as a fundraiser for some local non-profit organisations. As she has been working in many different areas she can offer excellent planning, social and administrative skills which are all needed for our daily work. Elisabeth, it is great to have you here and we look forward to working with you!

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American volunteer in France

Posted on May 19, 2015 by La Giraudiere

Cross-cultural communication in France

This is to say a big THANK YOU to Marcella – our volunteer from the United States –  who arrived four weeks ago to experience unique French culture. Unfortunately she left La Giraudière last week to go back to Scotland where she spends her semester abroad.

During her time at La Giraudière Marcella’s main project was the improvement of our orientation guide, which is sent to every volunteer or intern in advance to on the one hand provide them with the most important information about La Giraudière and on the other hand to give them an overview about La Giraudière’s surrounding area. Marcella finished this task very efficiently which made it possible to take over other jobs too. She helped to prepare the appartements for the arrival of other volunteers, did a lot of weeding and other important work in the garden.

Volunteer America France

Marcella giving the hedge a beautiful shape 🙂

Furthermore, during her stay at La Giraudière Marcella improved her French language skills by interacting with the local community on a daily basis. She also got to know French culture including its traditions and lifestyle. This experience of cross-cultural communication and cultural exchange will be very helpful for her studies, her personal life and her future career.

Marcella is now back in Scotland finishing her final exams for this semester. After that she will spend her summer in Italy teaching English as she is a qualified T.E.F.L (Teaching English as a foreign languange) teacher. We wish this talented young lady all the best for her future career and would like to thank her very much for her extraordinary effort and help which made it possible to finish off many projects.

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Volunteers from America and Australia in France

Posted on May 12, 2015 by La Giraudiere

Cultural Variety at La Giraudière

It is getting busy at La Giraudière! We are very pleased to announce the arrival of 3 new volunteers who all turned up over the last weekend to experience French culture.They were blessed with lovely and warm summer weather which made it possible to enjoy Brossac’s charme from the first day on.

Tom from the US was the first of our new volunteers who arrived last Friday. It is already his third visit at La Giraudière. The charismatic and warm atmosphere, working in an international environment as well as the opportunity to experience French culture authentically are the reasons why he loves to come back every year. Back at home Tom has worked as a pilot for many years and is now retired. At La Giraudière he helps with building and construction work as well as with any other job which needs to be completed.

Australian volunteer in France

Always with a smile on her face Janice is getting some painting work done

Janice and Sharyn, two friends from Australia, arrived on Saturday. Janice is a fit and very active reitree. She has worked as an Interior Architect. Thus, she has got knowledge of design and can offer brilliant technical and also project management skills. She loves the French language and takes regularly part in French language classes at home. The 2 weeks she will be staying at La Giraudière will definitely help to improve her language skills. Furthermore, she looks forward to interacting with people from different ages and backgrounds. So far we have got volunteers from 5 different nationalities – aged between 18 and 67. This makes it possible for Janice to experience a very lively cultural exchange.

Australian volunteer France

Sharyn doing some weeding under France’s beautiful sky

Sharyn works as a Radiation Therapist in Australia and has also renovated several gardens and houses. She has got excellent planning and design skills which will be very helpful for renovation activities as well as for La Giraudire’s daily routine. Moreover, she loves to be involved in local village life and to interact with Brossac’s community on a daily basis.

Tom, Janice and Sharyn – We are very happy to have such motivated and ambitious people with very interesting backgrounds here at La Giraudière and look forward to working with you and to enjoying France’s beauty and charme with you at the same time!

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