France/ Two foreigners are working in the city of Quimper this summer thanks to the twinning

They are Greek and from Quebec. Two students from towns twinned with Quimper have been working as seasonal employees since July. Éveline at the media library, Évangéline at the heritage house.

Only two foreign seasonal workers got a summer job this year, a Spanish student having withdrawn. This is not for lack of available jobs, but for lack of applications. Evangeline, a 22-year-old Greek woman, works at the Heritage House and Eveline, a 19-year-old Quebecer, at the media library. "The selection of candidates takes place in January, I understand that the lack of visibility on the health situation has discouraged some of them," explains Nolwenn Henry, city councillor for twinning. It was a slow year, after two years without exchanges due to the health crisis. "We have to get the machine going again," she admits. The town hall is expecting the last Spanish recruit on July 29 and the team will be complete.

Discovering how people live here

Every summer, Quimper offers foreign students seasonal jobs in the city's departments. "It's a tradition," says Anna-Vari Chapalain, deputy in charge of twinning, smiling at the two young women. Evangeline is a civil engineering student from Lavrio, while Éveline is studying to become a history teacher and lives in Val-D'or. They both answered a call from a local newspaper to come and work in France. The young Greek woman had already tried her luck in the last two years. But because of the pandemic, she had to give it up. The objective of these (almost) two months in Brittany: to travel abroad, discover Brittany, its culture and traditions and meet new people. In other words, "to know how people live here", as Éveline says.

Seasonal workers cherished by the committees

For many years, the town hall has worked with the twinning committees to recruit young people and help them discover Quimper. We can count on their members to pamper the two new arrivals. "We welcome them, we show them around the region, we offer them accommodation," says Françoise Kerfriden, president of the Quimper-Lavrio Twinning Committee. The Cornouaille Festival was a good way to get used to Breton life. A beautiful week which gave them to see all that Quimper had in the belly.

Source: www.letelegramme.fr