„On-Arrival training in Bremen“ / March 2023
Hello Leute again!
I am writing this after my on-arrival training in Bremen. It was a great experience.
I will tell you more about it in a second, but first I want to inform the people who don’t know about the training. As a European Solidarity Corps volunteer abroad, I have the right and the obligation to participate in national trainings: The on-arrival training, which takes place 1–2 months after arrival as a volunteer, and the midterm training, which takes place 6–7 months after arrival. The training sessions bring together volunteers who are currently volunteering in Germany in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps.
Thus, my on-arrival training took place in Bremen, organized by Naturkultur e.V. on behalf of the German National Agency „YOUTH for Europe“. It was a 7-day program. I know, you will think: 7 days? That’s long, but believe me, it wasn’t. We even wanted to stay longer after the training! Because of the warm atmosphere and all the fun, nice people and the nature. I felt really comfortable and free to have fun, use my creativity, socialize, experience and take part without any doubt or fear. We did so many fun games, dances and intercultural activities, and I met many different and cool people with whom I am still in contact!
And the good thing is that we learned and had fun at the same time. We learned about the host organizations and the projects of the present volunteers, as well as about our rights and duties as volunteers. We learned that as ESC volunteers, we are really protected and cared for.
How do I know this? Because we had the opportunity to learn this from a representative of the National Agency. She shared all this with us in such a friendly and welcoming way.
Besides having information about the web of National Agency, organizations and volunteers, we learned about also youth pass (documentation of our learning process), self-improvement, learning to learn and methods for productive and ´smarter not harder´ learning.
We had a city tour during the training. While that time we learned a lot about the history of Bremen which has such a cool and full of story historical.
Oh, speaking about the learning; did you hear about the Bremen Town Musicians? I wasn’t! Here is the story if you’re curious about;
Check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_Musicians_of_Bremen
Ah! I almost missed sharing with you: If you’re ever in Bremen, don’t forget to take a photo with the Bremen Town Musicians while holding the donkey’s leg to make a wish!
I did… I hope it comes true, this is what they told us!
