Stefania, 25, after defending her Master’s degree in psychology, went to France to do a volunteer project at the University of Brest. As part of the European Solidarity Corps, she spent 9 months there, discovering French culture from the inside. What are her impressions?

Brittany – land of the Celts

Even before the trip I was thinking about my project in France through all possible stereotypes – baguettes, cafes, wine, elegance. Meanwhile, I ended up in Brittany, the westernmost region of the country and probably the most culturally distant. It is inhabited by quite a distinct cultural minority, which has its own language, traditions, flag and which proudly repeats “we are Bretons, not French”. The terrain, as well as the culture, is strongly linked to Celtic history.
As it turned out, instead of baguettes, I eat crepes (here’s an interesting fact: crepes/pancakes originated in Brittany!). Instead of wine, I drink cider. Instead of road signs in French, I see those in Breton – although of course French is the dominant language. Instead of exploring cities, I walk along rocky ocean shores. Instead of going to discos, I dance at fest noz, Breton folk parties. And you know what? I do not regret a bit that my French year is not stereotypical. Although leaving Poland I had no idea about the uniqueness of Brittany, after arriving I fell in love with this land of druids, folk music and nature.
By the way – this year’s song representing France in Eurovision is performed in Breton language. As someone wrote in a comment on YouTube, it sounds like a “Celtic forest rave”. These words, in my opinion, also quite accurately capture the atmosphere of Brittany.

Everyday life

But actually, what am I doing in this land of French Celts? I am doing my volunteer project at the University of Brest, one of the larger cities in the region. I work in the Office for Student Life, which is in charge of animating life on campus. I spend most of my time preparing graphic designs (posters, information brochures, digital graphics). I also help search for information needed by student-foreigners and organize events at the university.
One of the biggest challenges of the project was language, as my co-workers don’t speak English and my knowledge of French (still from high school!) at B1 level was quite… disappointing. Over time, I consider this “compulsion” to speak as one of the greatest advantages of my program. Today, I am comfortable solving most problems on the phone, working, or talking to someone about fairly simple topics.
I live in a dorm together with French and Erasmus students. After my third year of studies I repeated loudly and with full conviction that I would never again live in a student residence, but as you can see “never say never”. I spend from 4 to 7 hours a day at the office and on days when I have free afternoons I go to sports activities organized by the university. The evenings I usually spend with my friends cooking together, playing pool in the bar or going to the climbing wall.

Gallery of first attempts

This gap year was supposed to be a special year, full of cool memories. However, I didn’t expect that along with openness to the new would come so many interesting opportunities. First of all, living in another country means challenges (how to make a doctor’s appointment?), daily delights (the bread here is fantastic!) and disappointments (but what do you mean they don’t sell cottage cheese [polish twaróg] here???). Also, this year I worked with Adobe programs for the first time and started building my portfolio. I spent a lot of time in international company, I can recognize European accents and I learned that Italians cut pizza with scissors. It was a good year for sports: I kayaked in the open sea for the first time (yes, you can get seasick in a kayak), I started learning to surf and kitesurf, and I went cross-country skiing in the mountains. I spent the December holidays working in a restaurant at Disneyland. I cured myself of my hopeless love for Paris and took a liking to traditional folk dancing from Brittany.

This was my first time away on Gap Year and I have a feeling it won’t be my last.