Julien

France
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
My next destination:
Thessaloníki, Greece - from Apr 2024 until Jun 2024
View all
Description
[EN] Thank you for visiting my profile! I'm an easy-going and social Frenchman with a positive, creative and artistic mindset. I love traveling and discovering other cultures and I have long-term international working experience in Scotland and in the Netherlands. I'm very, very curious about many, many different topics :) I have a scientific engineering and academic research background, and since many years I've been a self-employed teacher for French as a foreign language and for mathematics.

My current project is to visit Thessaloniki, Bilbao, and Eastern Europe. I would really love having a Workaway experience in these regions! I've already had very nice WorkAway and WWOOFing experiences in France (in organic farms, a huge monastery and a yoga retreat center) and Portugal (in large quintas), mostly about gardening, farming, and land maintenance.

I love creative practical tasks, cooking and baking, gardening, do-it-yourself and artistic projects, hiking and cycling, contemplating and enjoying nature, dancing salsa/bachata, playing piano, learning new skills or knowledge, or just chatting and socializing :) I'm very much interested in psychology, spirituality, yoga, nutrition, personal development and astrology!

For further information about me, I would like to invite you to check the following links:
- my volunteering references on WWOOF: https://wwoof.fr/fr/user/1165281/
- my hosting and surfing references on Couchsurfing: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/julienrouger
- my software developer and web designer work on this astrology website: https://www.astroariana.com
- my personal astrologer webpage: https://astrojulien.com/en

[FR] Merci de visiter mon profil ! Je suis un Français social et facile à vivre, avec un état d'esprit positif, créatif et artistique. J'adore voyager et découvrir d'autres cultures, et j'ai une expérience au long cours du travail à l'international en Ecosse et aux Pays-Bas. Je suis très, très curieux de beaucoup, beaucoup de sujets différents :) J'ai une formation d'ingénieur scientifique et de recherche universitaire, et depuis de nombreuses années je suis professeur à mon propre compte de français langue étrangère et de mathématiques.

Mon projet actuel est de visiter Thessaloniki, Bilbao, et l'Europe de l'est. J'adorerais vraiment vivre une expérience Workaway dans ces régions ! J'ai déjà eu de très belles expériences de WorkAway et de WWOOFing en France (dans des fermes biologiques, un grand monastère et un centre de yoga) et au Portugal (dans des grandes quintas), pour la plupart en lien avec du jardinage, du maraîchage et de l'entretien de terrains.

J'aime les tâches pratiques créatives, la cuisine et la pâtisserie, le jardinage, le bricolage et les projets artistiques, faire de la randonnée ou du vélo, contempler la nature, danser la salsa/bachata, jouer du piano, acquérir de nouvelles compétences ou connaissances, ou tout simplement bavarder et socialiser :) Je suis très intéressé par la psychologie, la spiritualité, le yoga, la nutrition, le développement personnel et l'astrologie !

Pour plus d'informations sur moi, je vous invite à consulter les liens suivants :
- mes références de volontariat sur WWOOF : https://wwoof.fr/fr/user/1165281/
- mes références d'hébergement sur Couchsurfing: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/julienrouger
- mon travail de développeur de logiciel et de web-designer sur ce site d'astrologie : https://www.astroariana.com
- ma page personnelle d'astrologue : https://astrojulien.com/
Interests
Hiking
Music
Farming
Events & social
Sustainability
DIY & crafts
Gardening
Yoga / Wellness
Self development
Photography
Drawing & painting
Dancing
Nature
Languages
Cooking & food
Astronomy
Art & design
Animals
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Intermediate
Spanish: Beginner
More details about my language interests
Hi lovely people! I teach French and I'd love to learn Spanish :) J'enseigne le français et j'adorerais apprendre l'espagnol :)
Find a language buddy
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Helping around the house
Art Projects
Able to teach about:
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Languages
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Teaching
More details about your skills
[EN] I like to be practical and efficient, while also having an artistic and perfectionist approach. In whatever I do, I like to bring some creativity and structure, originality and organization, imagination and precision. I have long-term experience in graphic design, web design, software design, teaching French as a foreign language, teaching mathematics and statistics, translating from English to French and from French to English. I enjoy very much and I'm good at cooking and baking, organizing travels, and solving practical problems. While helping several times my mom for renovation work in her house, I found out I'm good at do-it-yourself, small construction tasks, practical organization, and fixing stuff around the house.

[FR] J'aime être pratique et efficace, tout en ayant une approche artistique et perfectionniste. Dans tout ce que je fais, j'aime apporter de la créativité et de la structure, de l'originalité et de l'organisation, de l'imagination et de la précision. J'ai une longue expérience dans la conception graphique, la conception web, la conception de logiciels, l'enseignement du français langue étrangère, l'enseignement des mathématiques et des statistiques, la traduction de l'anglais vers le français et du français vers l'anglais. J'adore et je suis doué pour la cuisine et la pâtisserie, l'organisation de voyage, et la résolution de problèmes pratiques. En aidant plusieurs fois ma mère à effectuer des travaux de rénovation dans sa maison, j'ai découvert que je suis doué pour le bricolage, les petites tâches de construction, l'organisation pratique et les travaux de réparation dans la maison.
Age
43
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  no
- Special dietary requirements
  no

Friends

Feedback

4 Feb 2023

Left by Workawayer (Julien) for host (Help on our land in Central ...)

I had a super awesome time at Emma and River's "little" paradise quinta and I highly recommend volunteering at their place if you ever get this chance! Emma and River are lovely sweet people with a really great vibe. We got along very well and we found out we had so many topics of interest in common, especially going back to the fundamental… read more

(Excellent )

4 Feb 2023

Left by Workawayer (Julien) for host (Help on the land, around the ...)

I had a super great time at Harriët's "little" paradise quinta and I highly recommend volunteering at her place if you ever get this chance! Harriët is very kind-hearted and fond of nature and animals. We got along very well and had many common "alternative" topics of interest to chat about, especially related to spirituality and nature.

She has… read more

(Excellent )

3 Nov 2021

Left by Workawayer (Julien) for host (Practice yoga and meditation, ...)

I had a super awesome experience at Gertrud's stylish and original yoga-retreat :) I unreservedly recommend staying at her place if you get the chance to!

Gertrud is an absolutely lovely host. She's a bubbly and dynamic entrepreneur, always on the move with new projects and ideas. I was amazed by her fantastic cooking skills, a fascinating mix of… read more original flavour combinations, hands-on experimentalism, and down-to-earth pragmatism. I really enjoyed her approach to yoga and body awareness, and to life in general, with her outside-the-box combination of spirituality, philosophy, curiosity and critical thinking. Gertrud has a very caring, motherly, warmful personality which makes you feel at ease and part of a great multicultural family with the other volunteers and guests. She is very generous and makes you definitely feel appreciated and rewarded for your work.

Gertrud's place is absolutely fantastic and will make you feel a little out of time and space! As part of the property there is a very spacious cosy garden that provides for a relaxing and homey atmosphere. The centuries-old building is also very spacious, with massive stone walls, several wooden floors, several big rooms, two big wooden stairwells, a spacious and fully-equipped kitchen, a big reception hall, and much more. There is a warmful, original, authentic, stylish look to it that makes you feel right at home.

I really enjoyed my work there, with its action-packed rhythm, typically 4 to 5 hours a day. Typical tasks I did: help out cooking the meals for the yoga-retreat guests, do the groceries, vacuum and mop the floors, clean and tidy up the guest rooms and the premisses, do the laundry for the bedding and towels, water plants in the garden. Fridays were busier since guests typically leave on that day.

Throughout my two-month stay, I teamed up with a turnover of different volunteers who were all very friendly and very well-meaning. I'm generally glad about this teamwork, and team communication with the other volunteers usually worked out well. For the sake of completeness I must mention I did feel uncomfortable a few times with some of the volunteers behaving a bit too bossy/pushy towards me. These occasional glitches were however all appropriately acknowledged and apologized for, so that neither of us kept any hard feelings. Overall this felt like a great unique opportunity to learn more about working in a team of varied volunteers from different ages and mindsets. I'm definitely super happy about the whole experience!

I was accomodated in a room on my own, at times in volunteer rooms and at other times in guest rooms, due to the changeable guest accomodation schedule. Every room I stayed in always felt really nicely cosy and comfy, and most of the time I had a nice bathroom and shower for my own personal use.

As for the meals, the yoga retreats work on a 8-hour/16-hour cycle, with two vegan meals per day at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm. We always shared these meals with Gertrud, the volunteers and the guests. All the food was provided for by Gertrud, and her vegan cooking was always super delicious and beautifully good-looking! In between those meals, we were completely free to use the kitchen whenever we needed a lunch-break.

This review would not be complete without mentioning the absolutely amazing surroundings! Chalabre is an ancient medieval village with an authentic and cosy atmosphere. From Gertrud's place, there is a quick and easy access to a gorgeous river where you can swim, several nice hiking trails in the hilly landscape all around, and even a major cycling trail that extends far away (you can hire bikes at the shop nearby). There is also a nice big artificial lake within a one-hour walk, where you can also swim. There are several noteworthy beautiful highlights in the surrounding area, including some picturesque nearby villages such as Camon or Esperaza with its great lively market, or the impressive mountainy Monts d'Olme, or the mindblowing deep gorges of Galamus. Gertrud very kindly drove us regularly to some of these great spots, which I very much enjoyed and appreciated! :)

(Excellent )

3 Nov 2021

Left by Workawayer (Julien) for host (Help us on our small farm ...)

I had a super great experience at Renée and Nigel's peaceful organic vegetable micro-farm. I very much recommend staying at their place if you get the chance to!

Renée and Nigel are great lovely hosts. They are very social, friendly, easy-going and generous, happy with mixing and mingling with all kinds of different people, and curious to learn… read more more about them. I found them very inspiring. I really enjoyed their contemporary bohemian approach of life, both chilled-out and down-to-earth, patiently and perseveringly taking up daring practical projects such as building a house, a farm and a swimming pool from scratch, or organizing a cultural festival at their place. I especially liked Nigel's approach to micro-farming with its carefully thought-through organization, which I found really fascinating!

Renée and Nigel's place is super lovely. It's in a 3500 square-meter garden with spacious vegetable patches, several fruit trees, a big swimming pool, and three greenhouses - two of which have been converted to accomodations for farm workers. The neighbours (very friendly too) are taking care of a similar-sized vegetable garden that can be accessed directly from the property. The house and accomodations have their walls built from strawbale and mud, and their structure made from wood beams: this gives you the really cool feeling of staying in some remote African country.

I really enjoyed my work there, with its very relaxed and varied rhythm, typically less than 3 hours a day. Typical tasks I did: pick fresh vegetables, weed out the vegetable patches, plant seeds or baby plants, water the plants, stack wood for the winter. Mondays and Tuesdays were slightly busier since on Tuesday evenings vegetable baskets are distributed to the 30-ish subscribers of the AMAP (farming products association).

Throughout my one-month stay, I teamed up with Cédric and Francisco, two super friendly full-time workers who were assigning me new tasks every day. I'm really very glad about this teamwork with Cédric and Francisco, which worked out super smoothly and easily, and made my experience all the better! :)

I was accomodated on my own in a spacious wood-beam-structured and strawbale-mud-walled "flat" under one of the greenhouses, which felt cosy and comfy. Shower was shared with Cédric and Francisco, who were always very flexible and easy-going about it. There was a fridge and gas stove for my personal use, which was very convenient. I was free to help myself to food like garden vegetables or fresh eggs whenever I liked, which I'm very thankful about (organic vegetables & eggs taste awesome!).

Full flexibility applied for the meals. Most of the time I cooked and ate on my own, and sometimes we shared a nice tasty lunch or dinner with Cédric and Francisco, or/and with Renée and Nigel. The friendly neighbours also joined us a few times. On Tuesday evenings we had a delicious convivial evening buffet and drinks with the friendly subscribers of the AMAP.

(Excellent )

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