Engaging in Projects That Make My Life Meaningful

Tell us a bit more about yourself, Anna.
I love planning trips and holidays. I am interested in non-formal education projects which have enabled me to travel, such as Erasmus+ projects and youth gatherings. I really love the German language and I want to become as fluent in it as possible, in other words, mastering it and be proficient in it. I already wrote about it for Hostelling International Slovenia. I did an online research on how to learn it with free learning tools and wrote two articles which you can read. About how to ace German: www.globetrotter.si/en/globetrotter/april-may-2018/how-to-ace-german, www.globetrotter.si/en/globetrotter/june-2018/how-to-ace-german-part-2. I was also learning other languages like Dutch, Estonian, Spanish, and Portuguese, among others. I also like watching movies, hanging out with friends, and networking with people. I’m really interested in different cultures as well.

What are you most interested in when travelling?
Getting to know the local culture and customs, what to eat and what to do, the local traditions and cuisine. I did my internship in Estonia. I was a part of a group of six to seven people and we were inseparable for three months. These friends had no connection to the company that I worked at. They did their internships in other companies in Tallinn and we met through mutual friends and meetings. We're still in touch and it has been four years now. We have a reunion every year, too, and each time we choose a different city/country. So far, we’ve had a reunion in Berlin and in Estonia, and the next one will probably be in Belarus. I also like to travel to the countries of my foreign friends where I visit them and stay at their place for a while.

What are your best and not-so-good memories that you have from your travels? Why?
I would have to say that the best one is that of Estonia. I met some random people there and we really clicked. The experience I had there was really insightful. I was working at an HR consultant agency for three months. The owner was a German man who moved to Estonia for love. He was very understanding and welcoming, and I learned a lot really. I was in charge of the recruitment and they needed someone who spoke Polish. I got a scholarship, too. Estonians are very courteous and truthful, but they also cherish their personal space and celebrate their individualism. That’s why I found it extremely challenging to make genuine friends with them.

The worst thing that probably happened to me was when I was in Iceland. I have to say that nature there is truly spectacular. There’s no doubt about that. But the thing is that I had some private issues that took my mind out of the Icelandic splendour and I soon returned to Poland to solve them. That was definitely a lesson for me.

About the Icelanders that I’ve met I can say that they are smart and artsy – I seems like all of them either sing or play an instrument, design, or write stories. They are very courteous when it comes to relations between man and woman, and are fun-loving party animals. They also adore nature they were blessed with to the fullest, and need some time before they start trusting outsiders.

I hope that I’ll create better memories the next time I visit Iceland. I volunteered there. Something like the EVS. I was working in the office of an NGO fostering non-formal education provided by long-term volunteers/camp leaders in ecology, sustainable living, farming and agriculture, and arts. Long-term volunteers also went on excursions. I was an office assistant and placement officer, dealing with administrative chores, and the person to go to for short-term volunteers attending our 10- to 14-day workcamps. The organisation was called SEEDS.

You've been volunteering for Hostelling International Slovenia for quite some time now. What do you do and how did you hear about us? I really want to know because you're from Poland.
It really happened by chance. Before writing my thesis and graduating I had been applying to different projects all around Europe and I had also written to Hostelling International Slovenia. I had spoken to Anja who had suggested to me that I should maybe write travelogues and articles about my travelling experiences. Because I could do that from home and online and there wouldn’t be any need for me to be physically present in Slovenia.

There’s also Hostelling International Poland, but I’m not familiar with their activities and I never really reached out to them.

Did you take part in any projects, exchanges, seminars, or any other form of co-operation abroad? How was it? Some of them you already mentioned.
As already mentioned, I was a long-term volunteer in Iceland for four months, assisting in the office where I was managing PR and social media, and placing volunteers who came there. As the organisation co-operated with different NGO conglomerates/accelerators for workcamps, the SCI (Service Civil International) invited somebody from the SEEDS, a partner organisation, to POT training in Switzerland.

The POT training (Placement Officer Training) in Switzerland addressed only the placement officer role which was fostered by the SCI, and concerned only the communication and acquiring short-term volunteers for our projects according to the SCI platform and regulations. We had integration games and events, but the main part was the ability to place short-term volunteers on SCI projects with regards to regulations and platform functions. The majority of attendees were EVS volunteers, but there were also some professionals working for NGOs around Europe. Following is an article on that event from Marija from the CID, a Macedonian organisation: cid.mk/2017/05/09/marija-about-the-sci-placement-officer-training-in-switzerland/.

Here is the official SCI site: www.sci.ngo/795-the-pot-taking-place-in-switzerland.

My article about it: www.globetrotter.si/en/globetrotter/june-2017/erasmus-trainings-and-exchanges.

Another experience was a school exchange in high school in Catalonia, Spain through the Socrates/Comenius programme.

Well, I studied psychology, so I decided to do my Erasmus exchange in Antwerpen, Belgium for five months. It was a ground-breaking experience that changed my approach towards myself and my demeanour, as well as opportunities, for 180 degrees. I went from a shy and timid person to a go-getter who was thirsty for new experiences and getting to know new cultures. The lectures there were more practical compared to the Polish ones.

In Timisoara, Romania there was a training for social educators, professionals and volunteers. It was an Erasmus+ training.

The first part referred to an online tool/a platform with tasks and a gamified route that the educators needed to complete in order to test the beta version before it would be released as a non-formal learning platform for children and youth, in order to better understand their skills and career opportunities. There was a ranking system and those who performed best and got the highest scores were later invited to an event in Timisoara where we gained knowledge on how non-formal learning is established in each represented country. We had workshops and trainings on how to develop understanding of policymakers and society, and how to better foster the spirit and the aim of non-formal education for youth.

I also attended the European Youth Event in Strasbourg for two days. We visited the European Parliament. I saw the opportunity in a Facebook group and it immediately caught my eye. We had to register as a group for the event and I didn't hesitate, not even for a second. So, I quickly contacted some people from Erasmus+ and youth mobility groups, and off we went and had a great time together. The name of our group was Brave Minds.

After registration, all of us could choose individually what sessions, lectures, trainings, discussion panels etc. we would like to attend. We would either run into each other in-between the events in the Parliament building or meet in the evening to dine together. Outside of the building there was a campus erected to entertain people with workshops and to allow them to network. After the lectures there was an open-air concert. We visited the city on our own, too. We also had opportunities to discuss with the politicians and share ideas and arguments on different topics, from policy-making to social security and technology involvement in the labour market, volunteering, etc.

Could you share your future plans with us, please?
I just came back from Ireland. I was in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. My greatest wish is to take part in the HI Connect programme, maybe in South Korea or Canada. For now, my next trip is backpacking Amsterdam with my mom. It will be her first backpacking trip and I'm going to take care of all the organisation, so I'm quite excited to see how it goes. In the long run we would also like to see St. Petersburg and London, but only time will tell.

Here are some useful links to certain projects she attended and to her articles: www.seeds.is, thevoyage.eu, www.salto-youth.net, sci.ngo, europarl.europa.eu/european-youth-event/en/home/home.html.

At the end I asked her whether she would like to add anything I haven't questioned her about yet. This was what she said: “As a matter of fact, yes. Seize every opportunity you can in life. You live only once, and you are alive now, so make the most out of it.”