The studium-phase of my program has come and gone and this last week marked the first week of the praktikum-phase. Later, I will post an overview of major moments and events from the last four months at the university and try to give a reader's digest summary...but until then, here's an update on the most recent happenings.
After a few stressful months of searching and applying, I received an offer from a small company in Stuttgart called IBG-Workcamps (Internationale Begegnung in Gemeinschaftsdiensten e.V.). Our organization is housed under the larger Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organization. Basically, we organize volunteer Workcamps, in Germany and around the world, for young, international volunteers and students with an interest in participating in a more meaningful kind of summer camp.
My office consists of five other people at the moment- Lukas, Nanine, Laura, Christoph (my boss) and Sarah (the other praktikantin). Unfortunately, Sarah will be leaving at the end of this week to start another praktikum, but she's been a great help and we've had a lot of fun getting to know each other. Our afternoons have been spent writing descriptions of the camps in English, but we get to teach each other vocab in the other's language, which is the best way to learn. Any time we search for a synonym to spice up the description, we write it down on a piece of paper in English and German so that we can both learn it. Her English is, of course, far better than my German, but I can't think of a better way to learn the language than to teach and be taught in a context that is interesting and make sense, as well as in a stress-free environment. It's nice to have someone I can easily talk to and who can help me ease my way into the atmosphere of the office. Everyone is so friendly and patient with me and I knew I would like as soon as I walked in the first day and was greeted with a hug and a "Herzlich wilkommen!" (roughly translated: Sincere/heart-felt welcome!)
As far as my tasks in the office, I will be doing a mix of in-the-office administrative work, preparing and attending seminars, data entry for camps and participants, and actually leading a few of the camps. Obviously, I am most looking forward to actually leading some camps! This last week I spent half my time filling boxes and envelopes with brochures and flyers for our org to send to universities around Germany, and the other half updating the descriptions of the camps for this year. Every camp sounds so awesome and the activities that the volunteers will be doing range from: building playgrounds, to assisting with preparation for environmental education camps, to hiking-trail maintenance, to castle renovations and reconstruction, to working with awareness of children's rights! I want to lead them all!
I am beyond excited to see where this leads and the opportunities it opens up for me. It is exactly what I want to be doing and fulfills a few of my requirements for an ideal job:
1. Interaction with young people from all over the world
2. Working for a company with a cause and whose mission is to improve the world, even if it's starting with only a few small communities and individuals at a time
3. My work/work-environment is primarily in a foreign language
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| This is Sarah and I hard at work! |
Other than dealing with a few of the normal stresses of being a grown-up (including managing a minimum of three hours of commute everyday), everything is going well here in Germany. I've had my ups and downs in the past few months but have made a few great friends to help me through it.
A few of the ups: Christmas markets, holiday food, a visit from Pallavi (my roommate from Fort Collins last summer), Mid-year Seminar in Frankfurt, new hair-do (just because I could and my father is far enough away that he can't do too much about it ;) ), and my volunteer work (visiting 'highschool' classrooms to talk about America and volunteering at a bilingual Kindergarten).
The lower moments obviously come from a mix of Heimweh (homesickness) and stress. Of course it is natural and expected to miss home, so I accept it as it comes and try to find ways to overcome it: exercise, cooking, hanging out with friends, sleeping, messaging people back home, and looking at pictures.
I never regret my decision to come to Germany for a year and even a bit of homesickness couldn't blind me from seeing how amazing this opportunity is. I will always encourage others to travel and I stand by my belief that an experience outside of your comfort zone can only enrich your life.
I know this is a short post but it's a start and I'll try to do better now that I don't have homework and tests to study for!
Ciao,
Dawn
