Tervehdys Irlannista,

Kuinka suomalaiset ovat tänään? Toivottavasti kaikki on hyvä?

Kaksi viikkoa olen palannut kotimaahansa Suomesta ja neljä viikkoa, jotka vietin Lahdessa, oli vaikuttanut elämäni monella tavalla, että sanat eivät todellakaan voi kuvata sitä. Kun saavuin ensimmäisenä, ensimmäiset ajatukseni olivat, kuinka voin käsitellä neljä viikkoa, millaista se on, ja nautin siitä ja niin edelleen.

Neljä viikkoa Suomessa oli valtava kehitys henkilökohtaisessa kehityksessä ja ammatillisessa kehityksessä. Opin paljon hallinnoinnista, olen oppinut olemaan täsmällinen. Kehitin myös sellaisia ​​keskeisiä taitoja, joita opin ja kykenivät toteuttamaan työpaikallani, kun palasin kotiin. Koska olen palannut kotiin, minulla ei ole ollut töitä. Tällä hetkellä olen palkattu pikaruokaravintoryhmässä, jossa kaikki kysyvät minulta Suomen. Tässä vaiheessa luulen voivani kirjoittaa kirjan aikani ja kokemukseni Suomessa.

Kokemus oli erittäin myönteinen. Olen erittäin iloinen, että menin ja sain tavata uusia ihmisiä, nähdä uusia paikkoja. Minua koulutettiin suomalaisten kulttuurien eroista kaikille muille kulttuureille, jotka olen kokenut ja todistanut. Minulla oli valtuudet enemmän itsevarmuutta ja sitoutumista myönteisempään muutokseen. Tällä hetkellä työskentelen metsästysmaailmassa sosiaali- ja yhteisötoiminnassa, aika parempaan muutokseen: D.

Kaiken kaikkiaan Nuorten organisaation ja Lahden ihmisten jokainen tekee tästä kokemuksesta ainutlaatuisen ja siksi en koskaan unohda heitä. Halusin tällä kertaa arvostaa kaikkia tämän matkan tekemistä todella onnistuneeksi ja hyödylliseksi.

Kiitos..

Greeting from Ireland,

How are my Finnish People today? I hope all is good?

It's been two weeks I came back home from Finland and the experience of the four weeks I spend in Lahti, had impact my life in many ways that words can't really describe it. When I first arrive, my first thoughts was how am I going to cope for four weeks, what will it be like and will I enjoy myself and so on.

Four weeks in Finland had huge development in my personal development and professional development. I learned a lot about management organisation, I learned to be punctual. I also developed so key skills that I learned and able to implement at my work place since I got back home. Since I got back home, I have been working none stop. At the moment, I am employed as a team staff at a fast food restaurant where everybody ask me about Finland. At this stage, I think I can write a book about my time and my experience in Finland by now.

The experience was very positive. I am very glad I went and I got to meet new people, see new places. I was educated about the differences in the Finnish culture to all other cultures I have experienced and witnessed. I was empowered with more self believe and commitment for more positive change. Currently, I am on a job hunt for the field of my degree in Social and Community work. It is time for a better change: D.

Overall, everybody at Nuorten organisation and the people of Lahti really make this experience one of a kind and that why I will never forget them. I wanted to take this time to appreciate everybody on making this trip really successful and beneficial.

Thank you. 

Last volunteers of the Here we go again project!

In these couple of weeks you guyes have been able to read the post of Ola's and Ewan's period here in Lahti. Couple of minutes ago we got a WhatsApp message, that boys have safely landed back home, Ireland. They had an early morning with their flight :)

So yeasterday was the boys last day here in Lahti and we had their farewell party! Youngters from the Sisustamo and Reppupaja workshops gave them thank you gifts for their time here with us :) They will be missed!

Some finnish sweets, FIS Nordic world ski Championships backpack, pocketbook etc. for remember us by

We all!

Thank you Ola and Ewan! You are awesome dudes!

-Terhi, Coordinator

Ola Seriki

Where am i from
I am from Ireland


Age: 27


What I have experience my time in Finland?
I have experience alot of positive vibe and good friendship. I have also experinece the culture and how to be a people person and to be more understanding.

Is there something that I find exciting?
I found everything new very exciting but the most stand out thing is the level of engagement with the people of Finland when you communicate with them


What are my hobbies? what kind of stuff am I interested in?
My hobbies are listening to music, dancing and going for walk, cycling and cooking.  I also interested in going to gym and playing football.


What is the most important thing I am going to take with me?
What I like to take back to Ireland with me will be the experience and the different lifestyle I have gain and the understand that not everything I know is right but there is more to life to what I already know.


What would I like tell about  Ireland to people of Finland?
 Ireland is just as beautiful as Finland but much cheaper with same level of quality.  Ireland is also peaceful and very calm and is a place  that you would feel like home regards of where you are from.

What do I wish for my future? What is my dream?
I hope and plan to be a youth worker and my dream is to be able to assist and support young people and their family in the coming years.

Ewan Reid

Name:  Ewan Reid

Age: 20

Why I'm went to Finland? I’m going to Finland because I want too have new experiences.
I haven’t been in Finland or worked in another country. I want to see the world, so Finland is a good start!!

What are you expecting for your time in a foreign country? I was expecting people to be afraid to talk to me because I am a foreigner... But it was'nt so bad i met some really good people and got to see most of Lahti, but i would like to see more of Finland, like the nature and the countryside.

Is there something you find exciting? I found the idea of being in a different country exciting and this meant everyday would be different and not the same, this made everything interesting.

What are your hobbies? What kind of stuff are you interested in?
I like to go out in the evenings and see the nightlife, I also love to cycle as I do it everyday at home, in my spare time I like to hike, which i have'nt done in Finland as there is only little hills!

What is the most important thing you're going to stow with you? 
My phone.

What would you like to tell about your homeland to people you'll meet in your destination?
I want to learn about the finnish people's ways and how they are different from irish people, I told them about Irish culture and how different it is from finnish culture, and it what ways it is the same.

What do you wish for your future? What is your dream? I really want to travel the world and see the most interesting places in it and now Finland is off my list!!

Hyvää iltaa mitä kuuluu?

For my 23th week in Finland, I had a change of scenery and a change of work station for the first three days.  I was with my mate I came here with Ewan, and his group of colleagues whom participate in the Rappapuja workshop (Environmental Workshop).  The experience with this group of people has been really beneficial in participating using different tool and learning more about the use heavy mechanical.

The most inspiration aspect of this week as to be the view of the environment we were working at. It was beautiful and peaceful and I would recommend to everybody.  Here is a picture of the peaceful place I was at and I hope you like it too.

I participated in different activities during my time with the Rappapuja group. I did some wall printing, cutting off dead wood part, sanding and I also had the opportunity to use a riding lawn mower. Here are some pictures to the work did.

In mid week, one of my mentor invited me to attend a yoga class which I did and I enjoyed it.. It was hot yoga class and it was my first time participating in hot yoga. I am a big fan of yoga because I like create peace from within and also I like to be able to have control of my body and balance myself and yoga is one the best way I know it can be achieve and I achieved my goal on the day :). Here are some picture to some the yoga pose I was able to do.

The rest of the week has been quite and relaxing. I attended my Finnish lesson this week and the process if going nicely and I also attended the 100 years of Finland Freedom on Saturday. The music were nice and most of the display were very interesting.

Overall I have enjoy everyday and every min of this week and I am looking forward to the coming week. Wishing everybody a nice evening.

Peace,
Ola

Hyvää iltaa,

How are we all doing this peaceful evening? I hope everybody had a productive and fulfilling weekend. Starting off, I had my second Finnish language lesson this past Friday with the assistance teacher. I am growing in confidence in speaking the Finnish languge but the only challenge I still encounter til date is the pronunciation of some words but I believe with more practice and lessons, I should get it down. Here is a picture of me and my assistance teacher.

After the Finnish language lesson on Friday, I attended Arman Alizad conference speech where he spoke about his life and he also shared words of motivation and encouragement to some people of Lathi. He spoke in Finnish so I was not able to understand everything he said but luckily I had a mate who translate some of Arman Alizad speech to me and i was able to use google translation for some words I wanted to know the meaning to. I really enjoyed it and I believe everybody that were there took one or two positive message home with them. Here is a picture of me and Ewan after the conference speech.

Here is a picture of me and Ewan at one of the local bar developing our singing skills during the weekend. We sang Beat It, by Michael Jackson. Well, we tried to anyway ha.

And for today, Sunday. I decided to go exploring so I went cycling until I saw came across an exciting. I went up to the old ski jump track I believe it called. It was very high and I am not very good with heights but then encourage myself just as Arman Alizad said not to fear (Pelko) so I went to the top and it was the best view I have seen in a long time!. I was glad that I did not give up and that I made it to the top which really gives me a new perspective to things.

Wishing everybody a good and exciting week ahead Peace, Ola

Moi :)

The start of this week which was the 29th of May, Ewan and I spent some quality time with some local people at Multi-Culti (Monikulttuurikeskus).  We had a cuppa (Tea) before we went off to be park where we create a sense of positive vibe around us where other local people felt at ease and came to join us and interact with us.  I learn a new game call Molkky.  Here is a picture of me practicing out the Multi-Culti before we head to the park.

I have been very busy in the interior design workshop (Sisustussuunnittelupalvelu) for couple of days. There have been a lot of self development in the area of discovering more around the culture and lifestyle of the Finnish people, learning and improving my interior design skills and interaction with others within my workshop and outside of it too.

In the interior design workshop where I have been placed, I have learned alot and also be able to craft a prefect chair. The first chair took me about two days and an half to build but after that, I was able to manage to build two chairs within a day and an half. Witness the work of good communication and explanation of my supervisor and the support of my colleagues.

I was promoted to a new project that I welcome with new challenge and experience.  Here is a clip of the new project and hopefully I will have it completed in prefect condition by mid next week.

I am enjoying my week so far and I hope everybody is too. Long weekend ahead so expect more picture and interesting development. Thanks for reading and peace :)

Ola :D.

Moi guys !!! This is as much finnish as i have now, i have travelled to Finland with a man named Ola as part of the EVS scheme. I am working in the rappapuja (enviromental) section of the project.

Before we left Ireland we did pre departure training where we were informed of what to expect of our time in Finland and also making our travelling plans.... but i must say i was nervous about going on the plane!

Riina our mentor met us at the bus station and helped us get settled in when we arrived ahe met us at the bus station and showed us our flat for the next month which i have to say is fairly Cushti! (Nice)

When i got to finland and had a good sleep as you can see i was a little more relaxed, sussanna and Larissa showed us around on the wednesday where we looked around the city and the local park especially which has a lot to see and then we went to the bay area where there is loads of restaurants and had a lovely meal of meatball and noodle soup and finnish root beer.

On my first day at the enviromental workshop i met all the people i would be working with who are a great bunch, the workshop is renovating an summer house, so tommy one of my mentors who knows i have some chainsaw experience said i cut do some sawing and we done some clearance to clean up the entrance to the house which left a lovely view of the lake. I really enjoyed it and i learnt quiet a lot on my first day at the workshop.

On my second day at the workshop i was just cutting the lawn near the picnic area and enjoying the sun and having fun chatting and getting to know everybody.

after a day off, i had my first finnish lesson which i must say was taught well maybe not learnt so much. Finnish is a very difficult language and i dont feel too bad as i have heard from some finnish friends themselves that they find their own language is difficult to them !!

On the first day of our second week we had a day at Multi-Culti the multicultural centre and played football in the park and played a traditional finnish sport where you throw a small log at markers with numbers on them which i think is quite similar to bowling, the sun was shining and it was great to make new friends and just enjoy the sun :P

Presenting the mentors for the volunteers from Ireland

Hello and welcome to Finland! We are Riina, Susanna and Larissa, the mentors for the volunteers from Ireland. It is finally starting to feel like summer so it looks like the perfect time for a volunteering period.

Riina is working at Ohjaamo Lahti, which is a one-stop guidance center for young people. She is helping young people to get a job or getting into studies. The aim is to create functional networks and decrease bureaucracy.

Susanna is working at Ohjaamo Lahti too. She is a work/career coach and helps her clients to plan their future which can mean e.g. to find a jog, a work placement or a place to study.

Larissa works as an outreach-worker. She helps young people to find solutions to their problems, small or big.

We mentors will be welcoming the volunteers to Lahti and take care of the on-arrival training. We will have regular meetings with our volunteers and help them with the Youthpass as well as other issues concerning the stay.

We hope we can make you feel at home in Lahti and make the most of your EVS-experience in Lahti. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have a questions. Welcome!

Well hello! What's coming next?

We are at the stage of our Here we go again! project that couple of weeks ago volunteers from Lahti, Jonna and Pauliina arrived back home from Slovenia :) Last week they had their return training with their mentors. Welcome back!

Also the last volunteers are coming to Lahti this week on friday evening, two youngsters from Ireland! One of them is going to work in Sisustamo, upholstering furniture. The other volunteer will be working in Reppupaja (environment workshop), they are currently working in Naumi, Lahti city Youth Services camping site.

We wanted to say hi to the coming volunteers, so let me introduce Sisustamo the upholstering section and Reppupaja for you!

Sisustamo says Hi!

Reppupaja says Hi! from Naumi to the volunteers joining them!

We all are so excited to meet the boys! We all wish you good travelling and we will meet on Monday when you have your on arrival training :)

And what is happening before the volunteer come here?

We are having the same attitude indicator with our younsters in Reppupaja and Sisustamo. If you don't remember what this indicator is, here it is in a nutshell: we will discuss about attitudes, prejudices and how do the volunteers see Finland and Lahti when they come here for the firts time. We will have a second meeting after the volunteers have returned back home to give them an opportunity to tell and talk about what they have learned from internationalism and possible tell if have they learned something about themselves!

And of course we are preparing an apartment for them etc. 

Let's wait that the boys will do their introduction to us :) SEE YA!


-Terhi, Coordinator

Hello from Slovenia!

Us

We have been here now four weeks and time has gone so fast. Slovenia is amazing country with stunning nature and friendly people. The village where we are staying in is called Begunje na Gorenskjem, and it`s about an hour drive from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

Other volunteers who we share our house and work with are from Norway, Estonia, Belgium, Georgia and Macedonia. Here lives also three crazy bunnies and two cats and a hamster.

We have been working with some handicraft projects and outdoor work and also planned activities for children. Usually we play with children on wednesday, friday and saturday afternoons and on thursdays there comes school kids from the local school. On fridays we work at the center of people with disabilities.

Handicrafts

Painting the fence

Outdoor work

On our free days we have been travelling around in Slovenia and also went to Zagreb in Croatian.

Castle in Begunje

Begunje na Gorenskjem

Church that`s on top of the mountain behind Vila Cira Cara (the house where we live)

Metelkova in Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia

Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb

Mountains in Slovenia

Trip to the mountains

Street in Ljubljana

Lake

Pauliina and Jonna