Whuuuhh...this week has been full of fysical exercises! Every morning our boot camp starts with one hour of training. I think we all will be in a good shape in summer 2020. Sweating continues! :D
Also these few weeks in drama has been full of dancing, performing, great convercations, improvising and the feel of good. It's been a wonderfull EVS- episode so far!
-Lauri
This is our lovely drama group. It is so nice that you can do everything with these guys! Love them all!
Sooo half of my journey is already over. What can I say about past two weeks? Well I was attending interior design workshop, where I've learned a lot of new things - I made my own apron, I was painting the walls, learned how to sew and a loooot more.
My very first apron :)
I've met a lot of great youngsters during my "journey", I've learned a lot about Finnish culture, differences between Slovenia and Finland. I'm kind of sad that my days in interior design workshop are over, but now I'm going to media, where again I will learn a lot of new things + I'm going to be neigbours with my previous workshop, yaaay :)
Gift from the youngsters working with me in interior design workshop :)
We've been also having Finnish lessons, went to Swimming and visited Naomi camp, where I've tried my skills in Frisbee-golf, enjoying the nature by the lake, and had a nice time drinking coffee by the open fire. Guess what - I went to yoga for the first time and actually realized that yoga aren't just "standing on the head" poses, but that is actually allowed to fall asleep - yep, you've heard that right.
Yoga instructor on the left, and Susanna on the right (Thanks to her I've tried yoga for the first time) :)
Finnish lessons :)
Lake at Naomi camp - At first I actually tought It was the sea haha :)
Well I think this is all for now. There is a lot going on, every day I learn something new, but let's leave it for another time, shall we? :)
We are still alive. We are veeeeeeery happy, both volunteers and mentors about our staying here and meeting each other. At the beginning we didn't know each other but now we have a great bond, We have the same interests, taste in music, movies and share the same values about life.
We all LOVE black humor. Thank God there is three more weeks left, because time goes reeeealy fast!
Making weird faces with mentors (They are amazing by the way!) :p
We have eaten Finnish food (and luckily we're still alive), we went to the swimming pool, gym, we've learned some of the Finnish words (and we didn't break our tongue), some of them sounded like we were singing, and the others one sounded like we're going to throw up haha :)
Our Finnish teachers Tanja and Kati :)
Traditional Finnish meal (Lauri is the "picture jumper") :)
Workshops are pretty awesome. Every day we are learning and experiencing new things, that we've never done before. Work coaches are amazing, they are very helpful and understanding!
You will hear from us soon, so that you'll know we're still alive!
Hopefully all of the volunteers who are staying in Lahti feel like home here :) Thanks to all of the youngsters in the workshops and trainers! I think the place looks amazing :)
Teja and Denis! You will be the first lucky ones who will be living in our new appartment in Sammonkatu :) Interrior decoration worksshop with the youngsters has been working last week and doing the painting jobs and making the appartment nice for you :) They will continue the work for couple of days this week to get the furnitures in! If I were you, I would like to live there, hih ;) We hope you like it what we have done with the place. And the best thing, see you two soon! Jia!
How are you doing? :) Sooooo, where to begin.. there are 5 days left until our arrival to Finland. My preparations for going abroad are almost finished (all of the formal things, getting new haircut ofcourse :D) , there is one more thing that is left- packing, this is the hardest thing, believe me. Right now I'm wearing t-shirt and shorts because is so warm here in Slovenia and right now I'm making the list of "what to take with me".. I defenitely won't forget sweater and jacket. You know that feeling when you think you've taken everything with you, but then you forget something? Yeah, me too, that is why I'm making that list. :)
I'm already counting the days until our arrival, I'm veeeeeeery excited to come to Finland again. I've already been there once and it was the most amazing experience I've ever had. I hope I will make a lot of new friendships and spread my horizons about the "unknown things".
Traditionally,
when the weather is nice, I do on-arrival trainings outside, under the walnut
tree at the entrance of the Vila. This tree became kind of our summer check-in
place for workshops, evaluations and other meetings, but at the same time also
a nice playing spot for the children and with its’ deep shade, the best place
to chill-out during the hot days.
This
time, the training was done with six volunteers: Mikko from Finland, Theo and
Benjamin from France, Anka and Adrien from Romania and Youssef from Sardinia.
The
introduction started with a short get-to-know activity and a small challenge of
how are we able to communicate without speaking. It’s hard, but possible. J After that, we went into
the details of the volunteers hosting organization, it’s aims, goals and
vision. It’s really empowering to share our learning processes with the
volunteers and vice versa, and with the help of our volunteers’ new ideas,
their fresh heads, hands and hearths being able to continue building a
comfortable and safe place for experiental learning, for the local children and
other curious souls. The intercultural dimension which volunteers bring, is an
awesome value which can change also the people who are indirectly involved in
our projects: by-passers, neighbours, parents etc.
Hey,
what about volunteering? What does volunteering mean to us? Are volunteers able
to do their job better that a professional? Where is the learning in this
story? What are the volunteers’ rights, responsibilities and commitments in our
local reality? Do we need to pay to be volunteers? These are just a few
questions when we discuss about the background of the volunteering and at the
same time open our way for the practicalities of every-day life in the Vila.
After
the pre-departure trainings, all the flights and journeys to arrive in this
small village “under the mountain”, it is time that the volunteers lift their
anchors and start to sail. Like in all new oceans, it is important to set our
compasses, astrolabes and other instruments to prepare for the storms that
might come. But we can’t get ready for the storms, if we don’t know in which
direction the winds blow, how the streams behave and what is behind the
horizon. For these reasons, we continued the training by having a hike around the
village.
First
check point is usually at the memorial park behind the old manor, where we run
an activity about our cultural backgrounds, what living in a community is about,
which are the obstacles and challenges, coming along with these topics.
After
giving the volunteers some time to adapt to the first “waves”, the first
challenges come. Finding a way to our destination – the old Castle Kamen can be
fun, but with a serious learning process behind it.
When
the group arrived to the small crossroads in the forest, me as a coordinator
(named “United Nonsense-UN” :) ) proposed to
democratically vote for the path we should take. The first question was, whose
votes count? Wait a second, what is the majority of voting? Then what? Are we
voting for the path or for a person who should have the power to decide which
path to take? Should we then elect a leader? Is that leader then an absolute
leader or can he or she be a democratic leader? What is better – a bad
democratically elected leader or a good dictator? And many many more... The group trusted the elected leader, the
leader did everything not to become a tyrant, and they all accepted their actions
with understanding and high awareness.
After
continuing the walk to finally reach our destination, we ran into a place where
ancient settlements used to be. Today, this place is a nice climbing area and
perfect climax to use the climbing metaphor: stepping out of our comfort zones,
accepting and dealing with new challenges, preparing for and using the proper
routes to reach the goal, trusting yourself and the persons next to you in case
you fall down, using not only the force but also the technique when dark days
come and so on. Hopefully, one day we can actually try our climbing skills here :)
The
last part of the training was held at the castle Kamen. Being tired from the
hike, all the activities and so many new information, the only thing left was
to come closer and congratulate each other for doing a great job!
And the period for Mikko has started in Slovenia! David send us a picture of the whole group of volunteers yesterday. Enjoy your time there everyone, regards from Finland :)
The
introduction started with a short get-to-know activity and a small challenge of
how are we able to communicate without speaking. It’s hard, but possible. J After that, we went into
the details of the volunteers hosting organization, it’s aims, goals and
vision. It’s really empowering to share our learning processes with the
volunteers and vice versa, and with the help of our volunteers’ new ideas,
their fresh heads, hands and hearths being able to continue building a
comfortable and safe place for experiental learning, for the local children and
other curious souls. The intercultural dimension which volunteers bring, is an
awesome value which can change also the people who are indirectly involved in
our projects: by-passers, neighbours, parents etc.
