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Internship in Toulouse, France 2007
Day of arrival
On the 26th of August 2007 we started our journey to France at four o’clock in the morning accompanied by our teachers Ms. Huber and Mr. Weissensteiner. We went by plane from Munich via Düsseldorf to Toulouse. We were already awaited there by Madame Valérie Roques and Madame Elisabeth Van Driel, who had organized our stay in France. They brought us to an apartment in Castres which should be our home for the following four weeks. In the evening we were invited for dinner by Madame Roques where we enjoyed ”la cuisine française”.
The following day we had the unique chance of visiting Airbus assembling center, including a short presentation of the new Airbus A380. After relaxing and having a short picnic in one of Toulouse’s wonderful parks, we were invited for a short boat trip on the river “Garonne”.
JobOn Tuesday the 28th we began working as a trainee in the following companies:
Markus Oberndorfer, AMEN Georges S.A.I started my internship at Amen Georges S.A., Castres, on Aug. 27th, 2007. Iwas the first Austrian trainee with their company, so I was obviously not the only one to enter new territory, in a way. At the beginning of my internship I was assigned to do my work together with Francis. He is the one who supported me in word and deed whenever necessary and assisted me in all kinds of difficult tasks. I also made friends with the other workmen after a little while, which soon helped me to feel comfortable with the work climate at my workplace. It didn’t take long I felt to be well received. Anyhow, it took me a couple of days to acclimatize, as the accent spoken there is not really easy to be caught on and the French are known to talk quickly, so, in this regard, I had some difficulty at the beginning. However, after a week such difficulties weren’t obstructive any longer and I was able to conduct a conversation with my colleagues at work. My daily working hours were from 7:30 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:30, except for on Fridays (earlier leave). A lot of different jobs were assigned to me during my four-week internship. These tasks were rather varied and diversified, either in area or level of difficulty. Partly, my exercises were challenging, but also quite interesting. Anyway, I had also fun doing my practical work. Some of my tasks were e.g.: flexing steel works, welding, drilling holes, stamping plates, threading, grinding wooden parts, operating the edge bending machine and the hydraulic cropping machine. A trainee’s work day at Amen Georges S.A. as I could experience does not only stand for performing tasks and practicing technical experience, but also for talks and jokes between colleagues, interchange of ideas etc. Notably my jocular co-worker Francis helped me a lot not only in solving my tasks, as his sunny nature made it easier to me to get acquainted with a worker’s life. Altogether I had a pretty good time at Amen Georges S.A. If I gained the opportunity to work in the south of France again, I would definitely opt for Amen Georges. Martina Muhr, Benne S.A.
During my period of practical training at the company BENNE S.A., I had the chance to work in several different departments of the company’s workshop.
I spent my first day of work operating at a special machine for laser technology. A very nice employee of the company taught me how to use it and I was also allowed to operate it a little bit. The next three days I was busy assembling special component parts and welding them together. I particularly liked this because I could work independently for the whole three days. I worked the rest of my practical training time with two very nice employees called Patrick and Francis. Together with them, I created and built some parts for a special transport system, called Convoyeur. In particular, I was allowed to weld, smooth and drill several things. Summary: Especially the good work climate and the very nice and friendly integration within the employees were very impressive to me.
All in all, the time at the company BENNE S.A. was very interesting. I can only recommend it to everyone and would do it again at any time.
Andreas Kaltenbrunner, Benne S.A.
I spent most of the time constructing a so called “Cuvette”, which is mostly used in the automotive industry for cleaning parts of a car before it is assembled. Together with a skilled worker I had the task of producing five “Cuvettes”. After I had improved my welding skills my work became more and more demanding – I had the chance to see the development of the “Cuvette” from a sheet metal to the final product. I will never forget the four weeks of my internship in France. I was so impressed by the friendly climate in the company, even the managers behaved very correctly. The workers showed great interest in the Austrian way of living, they asked us a lot. Therefore I felt very comfortable in the company – if I had the chance of working another four weeks in France, I would certainly go for it. Christoph Otto, Comeca Industries
Moreover, I had the opportunity of talking to the employees about their work and the company. I could improve my French, especially the technical vocabulary, further I could get to know the French mentality. Furthermore I could discuss about actual political topics with my interlocutors, which really widened my horizon. SightseeingAlbi
The first weekend we took the train to get to Albi, which is forty kilometres from Castres and the capital of the department. During the day we first visited St. Cecile’s cathedral which is legendary for its fantastic frescos and afterwards the museum of the famous artist Toulouse-Lautrec.
Le SidobreWe spent the following weekend with Célia and Marine, who we already met during their stay in Austria. We went together with their parents to see the beautiful surroundings of Castres, which are famous for their vast, strangely shaped rocks. In the evening we were invited for dinner at Célia’s. We enjoyed the rest of the night with the two girls and their friends at a party.
Mazamet
Mazamet, the home of the famous cyclist Laurent Jalabert, was the target of our next trip on Sunday, the 9th of September. We spent only two hours there because the city wasn’t very interesting. The rest of the afternoon we explored the river “Agoût” in Castres by boat.
Paris
On account of the French mentality, the bus to Toulouse was delayed and so we had to wait for the next train, which departed two hours later. After a “relaxing” night on the train we arrived at half past seven in Paris, at “Gare Austerlitz”. After having checked in, we started our sightseeing-tour through the international metropolis, visiting the “Ile de la cité” with the “Notre Dame”, the “Louvre”, the “Champs Elysée”, the “Arc de triomphe” and the “Tour Eiffel”. In the late afternoon we took the subway to “Montmartre”, visited “Sacre Coeur” and had dinner at a nice restaurant. After having accumulated some knowledge about Paris’ modern architecture, we returned to Castres by TGV.
Return to AustriaWe left Castres on the 22nd of September, keeping the city in best memories. We finished our trip by arriving in Munich at eight a.m. Returning thanksWe should like to express our warmest thanks to Prof. Huber und Prof. Weissensteiner, who had always been available for us in word and deed. We also want to say “thank you” to the school “Lycée professionnel du bâtiment le sidobre”, in particular to Madame Valerie Roques, Monsieur Picard and Madame Elisabeth van Driel for their efforts. Furthermore we want to thank:
Special snapshots
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My internship in the automation company Benne S.A. essentially consisted of steel construction work, especially welding and grinding.
Comeca Industries is a company for steel constructions with about 15 employees. Comeca has specialized in the design and construction of machines for waste disposal and treating.
For 4 weeks I had the possibility of working at various different workplaces within the company. My duties were:
