My EVS took place in Amiens, a picturesque town
in northern France. The project – EVS and
Beyond – lasted for 4 months from September to December and ended up being
one of the most worthwhile experiences of my life.
There were 12 other participants in the project,
all from different countries of the EU. In that, EVS and Beyond was special – never before had our receiving
organisation (Info Point Europe Direct Picardie) hosted such a large group. The
other volunteers were from Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Czech
Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Cyprus and Greece. The reason
for gathering such a large group was to celebrate the 20th anniversary
of the EVS. The main objective of the project was promotion of European
mobility in the region of Hauts-de-France.
Most of September was spent with preparations
for interventions in schools, getting used to the town and life in Amiens,
signing up and attending French classes in the Université de Picardie Jules
Verne etc. We also started preparations for various other events to come,
namely for Ze Dictee – a dictation event for students to celebrate the European
Day of Languages and to promote foreign language learning in schools. The event
was a success with over 1000 participants from the region. Depending on the
curriculum, the students could choose between participation in a dictation either
in English, German, Spanish or Italian. One of my tasks was reading the English
text and correcting the numerous dictations during the weeks after the event.
In October we participated in an on-arrival
seminar week, which took place in beautiful Narbonne in South of France. After
the return from sunny and warm Narbonne, the first school interventions
started. The main topics of our presentations were introducing our countries,
the EVS and/or other mobility programmes within Erasmus+. The activities in schools
were generally quite varied since it depended on the ages of the students (we
had pupils from 5 to 20 years old). In addition to presentations, we would also
do sports activities, cooking our national recipes from home, activities with music
and singing (such as teaching a song in our native language and in English),
simply talking for language practice, discussing topics such as European
history, politics, security threats, future and so on.
November and December passed particularly
quickly, because in addition to our presentations in the schools of the region,
we also represented our countries and Centre Europe Direct Picardie in European
Village (Café de l'Europe) events in Saint-Quentin, Beauvais and Amiens. In
December our presentations focused more on the Christmas and New Year’s traditions
of our countries. In December we visited the EU Institutions in Brussels with
the winners of Ze Dictee; we also visited Lille to meet our representatives in
the region of Hauts-de-France.
Despite all the activities, we also had
opportunities to travel. In addition to the aforementioned Narbonne and
Brussels, I also visited Rouen, Arras, Strasbourg, Lille, Baie de Somme, Étretat,
London and of course, Paris on several occasions, since the latter was only 1,5
h away. Naturally, there were many places I would have wanted to visit in
addition to that, but I am very content with how much I managed to see and do
in such a limited time frame.
However, EVS is not just about the project and the
work. From this experience, I will always cherish above all else are the
amazing people I had the great fortune to meet. For me, EVS will always be
about the cosy dinners we had together with our group, the gripping
conversations over wine until late at night (or morning), the music we played
and listened together, the parties, the dancing, the troubles and frustrations,
the singing (karaoke night, choir, solo, you name it), the trips together, the laughing
and crying (often simultaneously), the exhaustion, playing a waltz to an
elderly couple while watching them dance and laugh, getting lost, being found
again and understanding each other better, being inspired to be better, do
better, live and love better thanks to all those shared experiences that shook
me and moved me to my core and eventually made me shed quite a few tears. I
could go on and on blathering about the amazing people and experiences, but I
hesitate to pontificate on something that could never be properly expressed in
words as it has to be experienced.
I would like to thank the coordinator of my
sending organisation Marco for all the good advice and support. I am very
grateful to Centre Europe Direct Picardie (Max, Hédia, Glen and Adeline) for
choosing me for this project and for all the help and cooperation during those
eclectic 4 months. Last but by no means least, I would like to thank all the wonderful
volunteers in the project: Florine, Veronika, Jakob, Mary, Krisztian, Ilona,
Johannes, Constantina, Domen, Chiara, Sigrid and Lukáš. Each of you has made a
difference in my life and brought me joy, each in your own way. I will always
have great fondness for the memories of Amiens and France thanks to the many splendid
days spent with you. Thank you for reminding me that life is awesome, people
are beautiful and helping me restore some faith in myself. You will be dearly
missed in this cold corner of Europe.
EVS Prantsusmaal
Minu EVS leidis
aset Põhja-Prantsusmaal, armsas Amiensi linnas. Projekt milles osalesin kestis
4 kuud septembrist detsembrini ja oli üks parimaid kogemusi mu elus.
Projektis osales
lisaks minule veel 12 vabatahtlikku, igaüks erinevast EL riigist. Kunagi varem
polnud meie vastuvõttev organisatsioon korraga nii palju vabatahtlikke projekti
kaasanud – selle põhjuseks oli aga EVSi 20s aastapäev. Teised vabatahtlikud
olid Slovakkiast, Ungarist, Austriast, Soomest, Sloveeniast, Tšehhist,
Saksamaalt, Itaaliast, Hollandist, Taanist, Küproselt ja Kreekast. Projekti
peamine eesmärk oli Euroopa mobiilsusvõimaluste tutvustamine Hauts-de-France regioonis.
Lõviosa septembrist valmistusime ette tulevasteks presentatsioonideks
koolides ja muudeks üritusteks. Lisaks tuli ka kohaliku elu ja linnaga tutvuda,
ülikoolis end prantsuse keele loengutele kirja panna jne. Üks olulisemaid meie
korraldatud üritusi septembris oli « Ze Dictee » – etteütluse
võistlus, millega tähistati Euroopa keeltepäeva ning mille eesmärgiks on
populariseerida võõrkeelte õppimist koolides. Üritus läks igati korda, kuna
osalejaid oli rohkem kui kunagi varem (üle 1000 õpilase regioonist). Õpilased
said valida etteütluse kirjutamise vahel kas inglise, saksa, hispaania või
itaalia keeles. Minu ülesandeks ürituse päeval oli inglisekeelse teksti
lugemine ja ürituse järgselt arvukate etteütluste parandamine.
Oktoobris osalesime nädalasel saabumisjärgsel koolitusel Narbonne’s,
Lõuna-Prantsusmaal. Lisaks sellele algasid esimesed tegevused koolides.
Presentatsioonide peamisteks teemadeks oli oma koduriigi esitlemine, aga ka
EVSi ja Erasmus+ võimaluste tutvustamine. Kuivõrd õpilased võisid olla väga
erinevas vanuses (5-20 aastased), sõltus meie tegevus ka sellest. Lisaks
eeltoodule õpetasime lastele ka erinevaid laule meie koduriigist, küpsetasime
rahvustoite, vanematele õpilastele ka lihtsalt suulise keelepraktika tunnid või
Euroopa ajaloo, poliitika ja julgeoleku teemalised presentatsioonid.
Novembris ja detsembris lisandusid ka EL foorumid, mis leidsid aset
erinevates linnades, näiteks Saint-Quentin’is, Beauvais’ ja Amiens’. Detsembris
tutvustasime koolides lisaks eeltoodule ka oma jõulu- ja uueaastatraditsioone.
Lisaks külastasime Ze Dictee võitjatega Brüsselit ning kohtusime oma
Hauts-de-France’ regiooni esindajatega Lille’s.
Hoolimata tihedast
graafikust tekkis võimalusi ka reisimiseks. Lisaks eeltoodule külastasin
Rouen’i, Arras’, Strasbourgi, Lille’, Baie de Somme’i, Étretat’, Londonit ning
loomulikult mitmel korral ka Pariisi, mis oli vaid 1,5 tunni tee kaugusel.
Kuigi reisida oleksin tahtnud veelgi, jäin ma üldjoontes rahule sellega, mis
suhteliselt lühikese aja jooksul õnnestus ära teha.
EVSi kogemus jääb
mulle alati oluliseks mitte eelkõige tehtud töö tõttu, vaid tänu inimestele,
kellega mul oli õnn kohtuda. Üleelamisi ja seiklusi oli kuhjaga, kuid seda ei
ole võimalik sõnadesse panna, seda tuleb ise kogeda ;)
This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme
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