My name is Julie Perrier, 18 years old, French, and I chose to go abroad to volunteer under the European Solidarity Corps program. It was a carefully considered choice, I wanted to discover another culture, another environment and at the same time be able to feel useful, therefore volunteering was the best decision for my future student career. After graduating high school and coming of age, I arrived in Varna to join the Alliance Française Varna. This was my first volunteering experience, it was very enriching for me. I arrived in Varna on October 17, 2023 and was immediately welcomed by the members of the Alliance Française, including my roommate. We are a small team, so it is nice to work in such conditions.

What was your motivation to apply for this project?

After my senior year of high school, I wanted to take a different path than others and volunteer. After much deliberation in France, I chose the European Solidarity Corps program. This very interesting program allowed me to submit my application for the AF Varna project in Bulgaria. The opportunity to participate in the development of Alliance Française Varna is also a personal source of pride! I chose this volunteer mission also because I wanted to discover Bulgaria and learn more about this beautiful country. The city of Varna is a seaside resort, so this is a positive motive for me. Later I want to work in the tourism sector, so the dream was to live and volunteer for 4 months in a seaside resort.

What were your missions, what did you learn about yourself, what new skills did you acquire, how did volunteering change you?

At Alliance Française Varna I performed many tasks, we started at 10 am and finished at 6 pm, from Monday to Friday. I worked on multiple projects related to communication (website, Facebook, Instagram) but also on Excel spreadsheets. We also attended high school classes with French language studies. This is very interesting both for me and for the students to whom we introduced French culture. I really enjoyed sharing my creativity, my energy and my Breton and French culture. I was proud to share the customs of my country.

What challenges did you encounter?

My first challenge was adapting to a different culture, not always easy. Also, the Bulgarian alphabet and the Bulgarian language are different, so it’s quite a difficult step to overcome in order to be understood. Traders are often understanding, which is quite reassuring. They like to know which country we come from, it’s quite funny because they try to say a few words in French (“hello”, “no problem”), it makes for really nice moments.

What is your favorite moment from the project?

I loved participating in the language meetings. During these meetings, people from different nationalities are present to exchange and share good moments, for me it was a nice and interesting moment of sharing because all the languages were together.

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