JOE DOBBYN spent a week in Lille to experience French culture and improve his language skills
The Lillois like to blame their notoriously wet weather on the British, seeing as they have been connected to us by the Eurostar for last twenty years. In October, thanks to the help of the Old Burians, I was lucky enough to travel to Lille for a week of work experience whilst living with a local host family. I went to Lille to not only improve my French, but to experience first-hand the culture and mode de vie of France. Despite their grudge about the rain, I had an invaluable, often challenging but utterly enjoyable experience.
My host family, Eric and Cécile were self-confessed anglophiles and when they weren’t asking me about the complexities of Brexit or the Royal Family, were incredibly helpful and kind for the week I lived with them. They shared their culture with pride, encouraging me to try every type of bread, wine and cheese that Lille had to offer. They even took me bowling. Living so close to Belgium and Germany, it was fascinating to see how these cultures mix in a way we would never see at home. Their favourite beers were Belgian, their favourite television channel was bilingual, and they envy German society. These were people that lived just miles away from two completely different cultures but instead of shunning them and turning inwards, they embrace it.
Auberge de Jeunesse
Every day, before the sun was even up, I had to navigate my way across Lille’s metro to make it to the auberge de jeunesse (youth hostel) that I was working at. During my time at the hostel I developed my bartending, barista-ing and washing-up skills as much as I did my French. The challenge of speaking a new language and operating in a new culture and environment was a fantastic experience. Occasionally not understanding everything everyone said did lead to me being unwittingly roped into tasks such as having to drag a 30-foot piece of cladding through the hostel lobby. That was just part of the thrill.
After I left work, I was free to explore Lille. I don’t believe I could have visited any city as culturally bursting with life as Lille. Lille has been fought over and besieged countless times during its thousands of years of history. This turns the city centre into a melting pot where this history clashes together – most obviously where the typical French splendour of the Belle Époque opera house sits uncomfortably next to a row of small, gabled Flemish houses. According to Éric, there is still a 17th century cannon ball lodged into the wall of the town hall, presumably put there during a dispute about architecture. A few friends I had made from the rest of the group and I made it our tradition to meet at a patisserie, eat an escargot au raisin and find somewhere to explore in the city. My personal favourite was the Palais des Beaux-Arts, which was one of France’s first art museums and was built on the orders of Napoleon. The looming statue of him in the entrance hall doesn’t make its patronage very subtle.
When I first sat down on the train at the beginning of the week it would be no lie to say that I was terrified. In a typical teenage overreaction, I had no idea what would face me or how I could ever cope. By the time I waved Eric and Cécile goodbye a week later I realised how incredible an experience it had been. My French improved, but even more importantly I gained an immeasurable amount of life experience and confidence, that could not have happened if it wasn’t for the help of the Old Burians.
Joe was subsequently offered a place to study French at Oxford University.