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!!

Final post about my trip to Ireland

Hello guys!

It has been over a month since we came back to Finland from Ireland, and a lot have happened! I started in a new workshop and I try to make plans for future etc.

I really want to say thanks to all who've been included in this whole EVS project, especially Juuso, who've been with me all that time in Ireland. It was really nice to get to know you!

I was surprised how pretty easy it was to live an abroad. Well, yeah, there was a lots of people helping but I still survived on my own. And now my dream to live in Canada grew even bigger, because I know that I can survive an abroad alone. It was nice to notice that I understood English and even nicer that people understood me and said that I speak really good English. I thought that I suck at English because I don't use it in Finland that often, so it was like a really big surprise to me.

Overall my time in Ireland was awesome, even tough I cried some nights because wanted to be in Finland with people dear to me. But still, I didn't forget to enjoy my time in Ireland and get to know to local people. Irish people were so nice and I wanted to know them better, but one month was kinda short time there.

After we arrived back to Finland we had some meetups where we talked about how our time in Ireland went etc. It was really refreshing to let it all out, what bothered me and what I liked in Ireland. I hope next volunteers who go to Ireland have even better experience!

Okay I'm pretty clumsy to write blogs, because it's not really my thing (I love to write and have few novels of my own, but writing a blog text is really different thing), but I hope that you enjoyed reading my blog!

See you again! :)

Dublin was really beautiful city!

Juuso - Back in Finland / Final thoughts

How you doin?

Heyo, long time no see! I'm back here with some final thoughts about my EVS trip in Ireland. Its been almost one month now and I think now is a good time to make my final(?) blog post.

First of all, I want to say that the whole trip was amazing. Even that one month is kinda short in a way, I'm amazed how well me and Allu got through living in a foreign country and using English in a everyday basis. Also, just how much I learned about Ireland and learned something new of myself as well.

One of the biggest things that happened to me in the trip was how well I actually understand English. And I realized that when Laura took us to this Mental Health Talk that happened in the Sports Festival week. That evening was kinda "special" to me, 'coz I actually understood like 99% of what the people were talking about in there, and that kinda blew my mind. I walked away from the event with small grin on my face and just thinking "Hey, my English is actually pretty good"

Also, one of my biggest dreams is to live abroad.. At this moment, I don't know where/when/how but, its a dream and trip to Ireland kinda boosted my confidence that I could actually survive in a foreign country... Well at least in a English speaking country.

Now then, 'lil something about the stuff that we did when we got back to Finland.
We had couple of meetups with the whole group, Terhi, Anna-Kaisa, Vesa, Susanna and Allu. There we talked about the overall trip, challenges, what we learned etc. These were super fun and it was nice to "open up" and just talk about our month in Ireland.

I'm not a writer by any means and writing a blog, still feels kinda weird, but I hope you got something out of this and from my other blog posts. Also, I hope that if someone has questions about the whole EVS process, I'm pretty sure I can answer some of them.

Last but not least, I want to thank everyone who was involved with this project and a big thanks to Allu, the trip wouldn't have been the same without you. Also, big cheer up for Mikko who is leaving to Slovenia!

Bonus pic of my cat Leo!

Allu's 3rd week

Monday
On Monday we went to Roscrea with kids to swim. Well, just kids swam, we just sited and waited for them.
After that we went on a little picnic in some kind of play park.

Tuesday
On Thuesday we didn't like anything. Just sitted on computers and listened kids rapping. There were some guy who makes music, rap music. They were rapping something about their hometown, Thurles, I think.
On evening the Spanish students were there again, So we had a reeeeally long day, like 11 hours.

Wednesday
On Wednesday we went to Athlon. There we did some bay sports, like a kayaking and stand-up-paddling. Also we learned how to fire a campfire. It was really easy for me, but looked like it wasn't that easy to kids.

At first I didn't event want to go, because my swimsuit is "broken" and I was afraid that they gonna fall from me, But then I learned that they give us a wet suits, so I tough that why not to go, because wet suit  cover whole body, so my broken swimsuit wont fall off.

Thursday 
On Thursday we went to work only at 5 pm. We went to Templemore to watch a billiard competition, where kids played against each others.

Friday
Friday was a day off.

Allu's 2nd week

Okay so week had a lot to do, and everyday we were going somewhere. But it was wonderful and I had a lot of fun!

Monday
On Monday were National Play Day at Rugby Club. I painted that board, what I mentioned in the last post, in this event. Kids didn't took photos with it, but adults seemed to be happy of that board.
Kids were playing like all the time. Also we had a a little picnic after 12.
There where a little competitions like jumping in a sack and potato and spoon running.

Tuesday
On Tuesday were trip to Limerick again, to bowling. That little bowling center was at arcade hall. We didn't play with Juuso, but I watched kids playing.

At evening we went to some college to listen lecture of mental health, gambling, alcohol etc. It was very good lecture and it made me to think about stuff.

Wednesday
On Wednesday we went to  Lahinch beach to surf. I didn't bring my swimsuit with me and weather were so cold, so I didn't want to go surfing. But when I went to water just walk, it wasn't so cold as I tough it will be. Water was actually pretty warm.
The scenery in Lahinch was very beautiful and I really loved the sea.

Thursday
On Thursday we went to Dublin in X-HALE event. It was a campaign against smoking. Kids from different Youth Center's did amazing 2 minute - videos against smoking. I liked to watch them, kids did a wonderful job.
Also there was some dance group, and their performance was really amazing!

Friday
I have nothing to write about Friday, because we did nothing.

Saturday
On Saturday we went to bucket collecting for Youth Center. We've collected only for 1,5 hours, but I got in my bucket a lot. Youth worker joked that I got that much money because I'm young and beautiful. I don't think the same, but I laughed :)

Allu's first week

Okay, so it's already a whole week behind! That week there was so exiting.

On Monday we were Karting, like I already told in my previous post.

On Wednesday Laura told me that I have a little project. I had to paint soldiers in 1916 clothing on board with holes to faces.

On Thursday we had air soft. Juuso went air softing but I waited in tent, because I wasn't in play mood and didn't want to wet my clothes. It was a bit rainy and very cold day, so maybe because of that I felt a little sick.

I've been doing a whole Friday that hole face board thing. It turned up pretty good. It was the biggest painting project what I ever have done, so it was kinda hard. But Laura and others are happy with that, so am I.
In the end of the day we went to see a Sport Festival's opening. There were a bagpipers, horses and kids, who plays national Irish sport, Hurling.

There's so cold like all the time, even tough there are warm moments in weather. It feels like weather is changing every hour, from rainy to sunny.
We don't have a internet connection at our house, so keeping a connect to home country is a bit hard.

It have been a very nice week and I'm exited what 3 next weeks going to have!

Allu's first day in Ireland

Hello from Ireland!
My time there started greatly. People are very kind and nature is really beautiful. I feel kinda relaxed there. We go everywhere together with Juuso, so I feel safe.

The departure day was worst. I was really calm at first, but then truth hit my face. I'm not going to see my family, girlfriend and friends for a whole month. I started to cry in car when Vesa and Susanna asked my how I feel about leaving. It was horrible. I try to not to cry in front of people, but this time I can't hold my cry.
Gladly I calmed down really quick and I felt better after that. Because I can contact everyone there in Ireland, so I don't have anything to worry about.

The very first day we traveled a lot. From Lahti to Helsinki, from Helsinki to Dublin and from Dublin to Thurles. It was so tiring, so when I get to bed I felt asleep immediately.

On the next day we went in Limerick karting. It was very fun! I and Juuso were in the same team, Susanna and Vesa in other teams. We were in the first team to race, so we had a lot of free time after that.
We went outside, because inside were so hot! Don't know why, but I looked in the sewer on the ground and saw a 5 euros! So we tried to hook it up and after a half hour (I think) we finally get it! Lucky!! So now I'm 5 euros richer!

Today we have nothing to do, but maybe tomorrow I start to paint. Ireland is celebrating their independence day, so I'm going to do something to that. Ireland left Great Britain in 1916, so that their 100th year independent. I'm so exiting, can't wait for tomorrow!

A view from airplane

Dublin's train station

Wearing a karting clothes

Pre-departure training.. what?!

My name is Anna-Kaisa and I’m the coordinator of this project. My responsibility is to look after that our volunteers are aware of all aspects in their volunteering activity. And there are quite a few things behind, that I’m also taking care of. Such as funding, insurances, communication with partners etc.. I’m glad that I’m not alone, instead I have a big group of great colleagues doing the work with me. But let’s get to the topic.. 

“Okay guys, it’s 2 weeks and you’ll be in Ireland, Thurles to be more precise. There are few things, that we need to go through. And I’ll bet you might have couple of questions as well.. “

"What are the feelings right now? Vesa, Juuso, Allu and Susanna wondering what picture would best describe their feeling."

And so started our first pre-departure training in this project. Basically, it means that we go through all possible things, which need to be taken care of in order to build a successful experience. 

“Do you have valid passports?... How about vaccinations?... Do you have enough pills for your hay allergy?... Remember to inform your sports club that you are out of country for a while!... Did you check your employment plan in the electronic customer service?... Do you have a trolley where to back your belongings?... Remember to shut down the data services in your cell phone when you’re there!... Are you going to take a buss to the airport or is somebody driving you there?... The travelling takes long time, take some snacks with you!... How does your girlfriend cope the time without you? … And how about your mum? Yes, she can call to me whenever she needs to. “…

The list is loooong, as you might understand everybody’s situation is different. Somebody has to focus more on leaving family and friends for a month, and the other might be more worried about who’s looking after pets and taking care of post. And even more it is about the feeling that volunteers are ready to start the journey.

Going through insurance matters and the house rules for volunteer's apartment

EVS is about learning, experiencing, jumping out of the comfort zone and reflecting what happened. In the training we focused a lot on communication and surviving in the foreign country, in the middle of different culture and a bunch of unfamiliar faces. And when you’re placing yourself in your imagination into the summer fun activities for the local kids in Thurles, the only way to do it, is to look in a mirror and ask a question: Who am I?... What are my values?... What am I afraid of?... How do I react?... Why do I react the way I do? 

In EVS it's very useful to think about personal goals in order to get most out of the experience.

This is a learning tree.This is also first lesson of Finnish to our partners..  :) My goal: what will I learn / become aware of? What competences / skills I need for that? What competences I already have? What have I learned before, that will help me?

Excitemen is competing with slight insecurity. The more we go through, the wider the smiles get. Yes, it will be a great experience! 

Juuso

Allu

But wait a minute! Who are these two other guys?

Susanna

Vesa

They are my colleagues Vesa and Susanna who are going to travel with volunteers and spend the first 2 days with them. This is first time ever when we do EVS in co-operation with Youth Work Ireland Tipperary. We have visited there once, but for a different reason. And we met Laura already in APV and got loads of information. But still it is good to assist volunteers all the long way to Tipperary and help them to adapt the fact they will be spending the whole month there. And Irish people speak super fast, so it’s good to have two extra pairs of ears and brains. ;)

I can’t wait to read and follow the stories and updates that Juuso and Allu are going to post during their time in Thurles.

Anna-Kaisa, coordinator

Yep, that's me!

A short film about Youth Work Ireland Tipperary

Juuso and Allu are leaving to Ireland in the end of June. We all are curious what Tipperary has to offer for them and what kind of people they will meet.

Laura from Youth Work Ireland Tipperary send us a video which we like to share with you. The video describes Youth Work Ireland Tipperary through the works of their young people staff and volunteers.

Wow, I think that Juuso and Allu are going to have great experiences and meet wonderful people in Ireland. Don't you think so too?

Anna
The head blogger

Advance planning visit 2.-3.6.2016 in Lahti

The first mobility in our project took place in the beginning of June when Laura (Ireland), Annika (Sweden) and David (Slovenia) came to Lahti! We had two days full of conversations and success. We also had an amazing weather, days were heat all day and night long :)

The purpose of the advance planning visit is as the name says; plan together with all the partners and discuss about the coming activities, get to know how each organization is arranging practicalities like accommodation for volunteers, do joint operating agreements and go throw the financial side as well. All hard work but interesting and exciting to think about the awesome experiences what volunteers can have through this project.

From Lahti we had several people, workers and youngsters along these two days.

So that our visitors would know what their volunteers are doing to do in our workshops, we had a tour! Our youngster, Mikko, was our tour guide when we visited the catering, arts and crafts, car and metal and carpentry workshops. Oh yeah, Mikko is also chosen to do his period in Slovenia at the beginning of September :) So you will hear more about him later on.

But our hard work in the morning going throw the project and presenting our organizations to each other’s for a reminder, we had to have lunch before the tour! Youngsters in cafeteria had translated the menu to us.

Pictures from to workshop tour:

After the tour we went to Ohjaamo Lahti where volunteer from Sweden will be working at the end of this year. Ohjaamo is only a walking distance away from Sammonkatu, so we met up with Juuso who is doing his period in Ireland and walked there together. Laura and Juuso got to talk about their coming teamwork. Laura told Juuso what kind of volunteer work Juuso is going to do and Juuso got to tell about himself to Laura.

At the end of the day we visited Niemi youth club where the volunteers are staying in Lahti and rest of the day we spend working in the harbor, discussing how each organization is arranging practicalities.

In Finland we even have moving Sauna’s :DD

The second day was also full of work!

We discussed around topics; roles of different people in the project, agreements about project management etc. The day was full of conversations and result was for example updated risks assessment and we shared good practises about trainings.

This blog and how we are going to use it in this project was also on discussion. So that you will know what we decided you should stay tuned! ;)

Vesa for media workshop was helping us with the blog

So that the hole day wouldn’t just been sitting around we had again lunch in cafeteria workshop. After that we continued the workshop tour. We visited media, interior decoration and environment workshops. During the tour Laura met up with Allu, who is our other volunteer leaving to Ireland :)

Vesa and Saija from the media workshop

One workshop is still missing from the tour! So that’s why we went to see Drama workshops show in Ohjaamo Lahti later on that evening. Although the show “Tunto”, “feeling”, was performed in Finnish, our visitors got the hang of it and liked it! As well we all :)

Reason why we got to know the workshops in Lahti was because now by seeing their own eyes Laura, Annika and David can tell their youngsters and show pictures what’s the place and people about :) For anyone who’s going to a new place, you know that it’s easier and nicer to come when you know something before :) The same thing when Juuso and Allu met up with Laura!

We were all pleased about the two days working together. Now the project continues on, we will make use of all the information that we gained from the APV and will start sending and hosting volunteers, do what this project is about!

Terhi
Finland's coordinator