Marie Van Rhijn and Antoine Haeck applied to British Council Northern Ireland in January 2007 for a Charles de Gaulle Bursary.   Both submitted an application form and detailed project proposal outlining their activities for a 4 week stay in the UK, including details of provisionally organised meetings, visits and contacts established.  Having been short-listed, the candidates were invited to attend an interview at the British Council’s office in Paris.  The bilingual panel asked for a rationale for their project proposal and an explanation of the research methodology to be used in gathering data. Having been successfully awarded a bursary to the value of £1000, both candidates were responsible for all preparatory work in relation to their visits – booking travel, organising accommodation, confirming meetings, managing a budget and all other activities required to make their project successful.  

Marie decided to study the Harpsichord as she hopes to teach it in the future.  She spent the month of August living in London and visiting various museums, attending recitals and collecting information from libraries that she would not normally have access to.  She also made contact with curators and collection owners as well as makers of the harpsichord and used these meetings to further develop her understanding of this instrument and its use from the 16th century to present day.  Marie's experience helped her in various ways:

• personal and professional interest
  help with future career
  broadening of knowledge of the instrument
  its use in another country
  improved communication skills and English language

Marie has commented:

‘Obtenir cette bourse d’étude a été également bénéfique sur le plan personnel.  En effet, je pense avoir acquis une plus grande autonomie, et un certain sens des responsabilités.  Ce voyage d’étude a été pour moi l’occasion de me rendre seule à l’étranger, pour la première fois’.

‘It was a unique and wonderful experience’.

Antoine's plan was to carry out a 4-week project in Derby and London investigating the wide variety of food available there, also aiming to study differences between a large city and the capital city in terms of the food provision on offer.

Prior to going to England, Antoine undertook a survey of some people in his home town to ascertain what they know of ‘British Food’.  He hoped to be able to use the data to compare to what English people think about their own ‘cuisine’.

When in England, Antoine spent time visiting different kinds of food markets – fish, farmers, European, Afro-Caribbean among others – to look at the diversity of food products available, as well as visiting supermarkets to see where they source a lot of their food from.  In addition he spent time helping out in different types of restaurants serving traditional fish & chips, tea rooms, pub grub, and traditional roast dinners. He undertook to interview chefs, diners and restaurant owners.

      Antoine has commented:

‘Je remercie très sincèrement le British Council de m’avoir permis de réaliser ce séjour et ce projet en Angleterre dont je me souviendrai toute ma vie.  Je rentre en France grandi de cette aventure, avec une profonde volonté d’y retourner très rapidement !’