Enjoy nature and join our family near Rimouski in Gaspésie, Quebec, Canada

Details

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  Description

  We are a family of 5 living in a charming family house in Sainte-Flavie, Québec near the city of Rimouski in the beautiful region of Gaspésie (Gaspe) with the sea in front of the house and agriculture fields in the back. This makes this place very peaceful.
  
  We speak a mix of French, English and Japanese. It's a bit chaotic but as long as you can understand 2 of those, you should be able to communicate with everyone.
  
  We are not very outdoor people. We live a simple (boring) life but we like it that way.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Technology

  

  Music

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Winter sports
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Over the years, we had many visitors from Japan, France, Belgium, Netherlands, China, Mexico and Taiwan. We sat and talked about food and our respective culture. If you like nature and calm, your at the right place. It's really a peaceful and resourcing place to live and stay.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We have three slots left available for this year.
  May
  June: Pending
  August/September
  
  In May, we are demolishing the kitchen cabinets and would appreciate another pair of hands. We have hired someone to install the new ones though so help might not be necessary for this step.
  
  During the summer months, we are looking for help for general maintenance tasks. Since our daughter was born, we accumulated a lot of tasks and would appreciate your help tackling them.
  - Landscaping (removing weeds and branches, trimming trees and bushes, lawn mowing)
  - Cleaning and organizing the shed and basement
  - Stacking wood for winter (if we get our order during your stay | August/September)
  - General cleaning (windows, dusting, etc.)
  There might also be the odd DIY project where we could appreciate your assistance.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Japanese: Fluent
  Spanish: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  We offer one clean private room on the top floor facing the sea. It is equipped with a twin sized bed. I can only accommodate one person at a time since there's only one bed. We have AC although the unit is in the main bedroom.
  It's powerful enough to cool the whole floor when doors are opened though. Meals are provided but you can also cook if you prefer using our ingredients . We do like to eat relatively healthy and eat home cooked meals everyday. Also, we don't drink alcohol and don't smoke.
  
  We own 2 electric cars so we can help you get where you want when time permits. We don't lend them though. Also, I work from home so you'll most likely never be home alone. If we choose to go somewhere where there's a fee (national park, restaurant, museum, etc.), you are most welcome to come along although we expect you to pay your entrance fee/meal. Also, we usually try to go to the grocery store during the first days of your stay to make sure you have everything you need (at our expense of course unless it's extreme and way out of our budget).
  
  We prefer short stays of at the most 1-2 weeks but that really depends on the connection we have with you. I do like to organize a video chat before your stay just to make sure everything is alright on both sides and both our needs are clear. It also helps to create a first connection and relieve some of the stress of the first day.
  
  Please no smoking or drugs.
  
  We would also prefer "older" guests (25 years old and up). It's not a prerequisite by any means but from experience, it does improve the connection during the stay when guests are closer to our age (we are 43 and 36).

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  What else ...

  Some additional details:
  - We have two bicycles you can use (if weather permits)
  - We are not vegetarian or don't follow any restrictive diet beside trying to eat healthy home cooked meals. We do eat meat (mostly pork).
  
  Around the house, there is:
  - The beach just across the road
  - Sainte-Flavie village center 3.2km away
  - A small family owned fast food restaurant (seasonal)
  - Cultivated fields and cows behind the house
  - A honey product shop 2 km away
  
  Honestly, there's not a lot to do around the house especially off tourism season and it can get quite boring for some people used to busy city life. As we don't go out often, that rural life suites us perfectly but it might not be to everyone's taste so please keep that in mind. Also in the evening, we like to relax by watching tv or play video games (we are all gamers in the family). You are more than welcome to accompany us and chat. Some also prefer to retire to their room and do personal work or relax and that's also fine with us too. The point I want to illustrate is that we have our lifestyle and can't really change it full 180 because we have a visitor. It's hard to explain but some travelers seemed a little disappointed of that probably expecting more of a resort experience where attention is fully centered around the guest. I really think the Workaway experience is more about being part and sharing the daily life of the host. More like a friend or family member.
  
  Also, we don't give any monetary compensation for the help done in the house as we feel it's not how the Workaway experience is meant to be. We can't provide any help too with any visa, flight or borders questions. It's your responsibility as a traveler and not ours as a host.
  
  As a final word, don't hesitate to ask questions about us, our home or even if you are just curious about our lovely part of the world and don't necessarily plan on staying with us. I really like to help and usually answer in the next hours (or minutes).

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have a 750mb/s fibre internet link with wi-fi. We have a small computer desk that could be moved around in the house at your convenience to work.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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