On arrival seminar in Würzburg 8 – 17th November 2010 and from 17th to 20th/11: Munich

After a month living in Dresden, I had to go to Würzburg in Bavaria to attend the on-arrival seminar organised by the National Agency of Germany. On the one hand, it would be interesting to go to a different place and meet other EVS volunteers that live and volunteer in different places in Germany and come from different countries but, on the other hand, I was so attached to Dresden and my friends there that I wasn’t so motivated to leave. Plus, ten days in a seminar could be a little bit boring. But anyway, I had to be there and I didn’t have a choice.

I went to Würzburg by mitfahrgelegenheit (www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de). What is this? It is a way to go wherever you want in Germany by sharing a car ride. For example, If somebody goes to Berlin from Dresden by car, he writes on this website that he can offer a ride to 3 people at a certain time and then people who are interested, see this offer on the website and decide which offer suits them best. The prices are always written and also what kind of car it is, if the driver is a smoker and so on. This system is widely used here in Germany because it is cheap and practical. I spent only 20 euro to get to Würzburg and I heard from other EVS people that their associations paid much more money on tickets with the conventional transport systems (train and bus mainly). In the end, the whole trip cost me in total 40 euro and I came back to Dresden from Munich which is further than Würzburg. It is a really nice way to get to your destination without paying that much money and you also have the opportunity to meet people. It is reliable and works very well. So far, I have used it many times and was never disapointed. The only thing is that you have to be on time which means that for Greek people it would be a bit hard since we are always late..!

A friend from my German class also would join that seminar and it was good to know at least one person who would be there. When we arrived at the seminar, I think we were the latest ones, there were 25 people who were sitting in a circle and playing some ice breaking activities in order to meet each other. It was interesting to see how many different nationalities there were; from Spain, the UK, Georgia, Turkey, Norway, Finland, France, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia and aged between 20 and 27. I think I was the oldest together with a girl from Finland and a guy from Hungary.

There, we had some workshops and activities about the history of Europe, the EVS programme, the language integration in Germany, the cultural differences that exist between the country we come from and the country that hosts us and generally topics related to culture. The workshop leaders were quite young, my age more or less and were very friendly and talkative. Most of the EVS volunteers were working in kindergardens and some other in cultural associations like me. We had fun activities as well and in my free time I played table tennis and got addicted to it.

We had some time to explore Würzburg and its old city and take some walks in the city centre. We also visited Nürnberg, which is a really beautiful and old city which was also bombed in the WWII like Dresden. We visited some museums and historical sites of those cities and had the opportunity to taste the Bavarian cuisine. It is true that Germans eat a lot of meat and in particular, pork.  There wasn’t a single meal which could only consist of vegetables and honestly, after so many days eating meat I started getting sick of it.  But it was impossible to get sick of the beer or wine and Bavarian beer is very tasty indeed, but don’t tell people from Saxony! They don’t like Bavarian beer and I think they don’t like anything Bavarian.

The first days of the seminar were quite pleasant since the sun was shining sometimes and we could do some activities outside. However, the following days it started getting colder and colder since November had already begun and some days were quite foggy, rainy and a bit melancholic. It was a signal that winter was coming and I could feel the temperature changing.

I started missing Dresden and the good time I spent with the people that I had already met there and I was looking forward to getting back to my lovely city. It sounds weird but I feel it like my home city, Thessaloniki. But before leaving, I wanted to visit Munich. There a friend of mine lives, who used to be my classmate at the University of Edinburgh in 2005/6. She is German and when I told her that I would be in Munich, she invited me to stay at her place.

It would be great to see her after 4 years. Our life has so much changed since then…I didn’t know what she would be doing but I appreciated it a lot that even if we didn’t keep in touch, she wanted to see me. And finally, on the 17th of November I went to Munich. In Munich I felt that I was in a real city. The U-Bahn (underground) crowded with people, the city more hectic and busier than Dresden of course but still very beautiful. With lots of green parks, a wonderful city centre which was vibrant during the whole day and many museums to see.

I walked in the city centre with a couchsurfer, who was kind enough to show me around and also decided to go to Dahau and see the concentration camps. It took me almost half a day to see it, as it had a great photo exhibition, projections and of course the camps  and the famous “showers”. I also visited the English Gardens and the University and many different churches. From what I have seen so far, I could say that Munich is a wealthy city and the living conditions are quite good. I had a great time with my friend and was happy to see her and hear her news. We spent the whole Saturday together and went to the theatre as well. Of course it was a theatrical play in English as it would still be impossible for me to understand it in German. Munich’s nightlife rocks and there are very nice clubs and bars with live concerts and people who dance non-stop!

On the the 20th November, on Sunday afternoon, I arranged my mitfahrgelegenheit so that I would be back to Dresden around 7 in the evening. Everything went really fine and was glad to get back to my city..!

Saxon Switzerland – Sächsische Schweiz

I should not omit to mention the excursion I went on, to the Saxon Switzerland in mid-October. Sächsische Schweiz or Saxon Switzerland in English is a mountainous climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Saxon Switzerland alone has some 1,000 climbing peaks, as well as several hollows. In the area there are sandstone rocks which draw many rock climbers. There exist ca. 14000 routes on over 1000 rock towers. Most people go there for free climbing and hiking especially in the summer time where they have the opportunity to camp in open caves.

These days I had a visit from a Greek volunteer originally coming from Crete, whom I met at the pre-departure EVS seminar in Athens, and is doing his voluntary service in Poland. Therefore, together with my flatmates, him and some other friends, we left on Friday night on a crazy hippy car. That night, there was a garage party, a party that took place outside a garage actually, with DJ vinyl music and fire and lots of delicious homemade food! Many people were there, drinking beer and wine, talking  and sitting around the fire while listening to the dj’s mixes. It was a mild night, and the sky was full of stars. It was quite interesting to meet not conventional Germans, but kind of hippy, rasta, punk and any kind of  eccentric style that you can imagine. Afterwards, there was a fire juggling show by Stefan, a friend who organises the sunflower festival (www.sunflowerfestival.de) and has got his own culture organisation (Jugend und Kultur Projekt) and a girl whose face was all covered with piercing and her body with tatooes. It was quite impressive to see how they were performing with fire and it actually fitted perfectly to the night. The wine was abundant and it was difficult to resist the temptation…I don’t remember what time I joined Morpheus’s company but as far as I remember, I really enjoyed that night!

Next morning, most people had already woken up, some of them having slept in cars, some outside and some (including me) being in the garage!!! Music was being played with vinyls and breakfast was getting ready. I will not forget a guy whose hands were full of dirt and grease and was grilling some steaks using of course his hands…I didn’t want to be rude, but it was impossible for me to eat those steaks. We had to leave as we needed to go hiking and I was so much looking forward to it.

It took us about an hour to reach the national park and the route was spectacular. We were driving along the Elbe river and could see the traditional houses of the area and different kinds of trees. Brown, gold, green and light green were the colors that prevailed in the landscape. The weather was also good and ideal for hiking as there was no rain and sometimes sun would show up for a few minutes and then hide behind the clouds. It was not difficult at all to hike the hills and it didn’t require any effort.  The view from these sandstone hills is staggering as you can distinguish the variable shape from the one hill to the other. This actually is the beauty of this national park.

Yannis, the Greek guy, was the attraction of this excursion as he would always do something to catch people’s attention. He was wearing tons of clothes and as it wasn’t that cold,  every ten metres, he would take off some of his clothes and as a result, we had to wait for him because there were many small paths which can confuse you and you may get lost if you don’t the way. However, it was funny to see him every time steam up…It was already evening and half of the people wanted to get back to Dresden but I really wanted to sleep in this open caves and eventually it was really worth it. We made a fire and started cooking while listening to the breeze and smelling the mixed odour of  fresh air coming from the wood and a hot airstream coming from fire.It was all I needed to relax and forget about everything!

Wonderful days in October..!

The days pass by like the drops of a heavy rain…so fast and softly. Different activities and plenty of experiences. One remarkable that  would like to mention is the exhibition we had in Alte Feuerwache by Anthony Joseph Bartholomew and Craig Lucas (USA), William Habermann (Schweden) who work on graphics and know new printing techniques. Hans was kind enough to ask me to play the piano as a welcome to the guests. The atmosphere was quite cosy and cheery. Mostly artists joined this exhibition and I had the opportunity to talk to some of them.

The following week we also had an exhibition with the title “The invisible neighbor”, which was about the Jewish morals from a historical perspective and was presented by Eva Kuzelova who comes from Prague. The exhibition was quite interesting but the presentation was in German, so to me it was difficult to follow although I tried as much as I could. Also, Hildegart Stellmacher (Gesellschaft für christlich-jüdische Zusammenarbeit Dresden) andVaclav Kazda (Brücke/Most-Stiftung Dresden) participated in the presentation.

Apart from the exhibitions, I had an interview as well:) Yes, yes it is true..only two weeks and I am becoming famous! Hans insisted, so the blame on him! Hence, a journalist came from the newspaper “Dresdner Nachrichten” and asked me a few questions about what I do in the association and what my actual tasks are. Hans also spoke about the EVS programme and the reasons I am in Dresden. He talked about the content of the programme: ‘A cultural dialogue between Greece and Germany’ and explained to the journalist that he attains to create a long lasting partnership  between the association ‘Alte Feuerwache, Loschwitz’ located in Dresden and the NGO ‘Peirama’  based in Thessaloniki. And, if you remember the ‘Casablanca’ film ending, Hans actually implied that “…this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship..”. Let’s see how good it can be 😉

And after  two weeks, I would finally meet Olga, one of my flatmates, who comes from Bella Russia, and was at her EVS on arrival seminar. We just met outside the building of our flat as she had to be for lots of hours in her association due to a meeting that her organisation had organised. That day I would finally go to Phil Shoenfelt and Southern Cross’s concert. I was so much looking forward to it but I forgot to mention..! On Saturday morning I went with an American friend to Hans’s vineyards to pick up the grapes. A good volunteer helps anywhere and anytime as you can see…it was my pleasure anyway to be there as I love grapes, good wine and of course good company. It was more than a pleasure and a great experience as Iwouldn’t expect to pick up grapes in Germany. I didn’t know that in Germany grapes have a chance to live and grow…day by day I am learning more and more! We had some dry white wine from Hans’s vineyard grapes dating back to 2008 and I must admit that it was quite good.

The night was coming and I was getting excited about the gig. However, I made a mistake and took the wrong tram which took me one hour to get the right tram and find the place. So well hidden was the club Tante Ju, that if you want to bury a treasure you could be sure that no one would find it. I thought I wouldn’t finally see the concert after all this great adventure and finally I made it. I was one hour later than the show would have started but I was actually in time. The gig hadn’t even started…it happens also in Germany that the concert could start one hour later than expected time but at least in my case it was for a good reason. I bought a beer and enjoyed as much as I could the great concert. The band played wonderfully and once again Phil and Pavel made me fly and dream. At the end of the show I had quite a lot of time to speak to them and hear their news. I also met a friend of theirs, Mirko, a guy who is a founding member of the organisation ‘Kultur Aktiv’, where both of my flatmates work. We had some interesting conversations as he is politically active and he is a member of the Liberal political party.

The next day, Mary from Armenia came back, the other flatmate and around 2 a.m. we had finally the chance to meet each other. They seemed to be quite nice and friendly although they were so different and a bit younger than me. We talked until 4 in the morning, when I finally decided to go to bed as the following day I had to wake up early to go to work. They told me about the on arrival seminar, which was a bit tiring and boring as it lasted for ten whole days and they both couldn’t wait for it to finish. Then, Olga went to Amsterdam for a few days and Mary went to see her sister in Münster. After having heard all this about the on arrival seminar I was a bit afraid that I would be also bored of it but as always I try to be positive and not think about anything that could disturb my happiness!

Second weekend in Prague 9th of October

Well, even though I haven’t explored all the must-see  sights of Dresden, I decided to go on a day trip to Prague with some friends from Dresden. It was a last minute decision but I always get excited with such spontaneous actions. I was with Bine, a German girl, Kurshed, who comes from California, a German guy, whose name I don’t remember and he was the driver.. and my friend Richard who is also German. We went by car, which didn’t take us more than 2 hours. Prague is actually extremely picturesque but also touristic. Hordes of tourists crossing the Charlesbridge, were wandering around the city and admiring the beautiful  buildings of Prague. Indeed, this city has got an artistic  bohemian air as it  is full of artists and musicians and most cafes and bars are kind of mysterious and underground. The weather was very good and the sun was shining. We were all eager to explore and get lsot in the city and didn’t stop strolling and watching the one happening after the other taking place in differents parts of the city.

I was lucky enough to see my friend, Phil Shoenfelt, a great musician and writer, who originally comes from Britain but has been living in Prague for about 15 years. Phil has played in the art center that I used to work in Thessaloniki “Peirama” and he will also play in the association “Alte Feuerwache, Loschwitz” that I work now  in March. He is a very intelligent person, with a great sense of humor and is at the same time a very thoughtful man. I always have interesting talks with Phil, as he is up to date with the news and knows what in the world is going on but also has a great knowledge on history. We have spent some days with him and his wife together in Greece and now it was my turn to go and see  them but just for a little bit. We went to a nice restaurant called “the little France” and spent some time talking and eating Czech steaks. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time left and soon we had to get back to Dresden…

However, I was lucky enough to see him again the following weekend as he would play with his band (Phil Shoenfelt and Southern Cross) at the Tante Ju club in Dresden 😉 updating soon!

New life 3rd of October

After a nice and relaxing weekend in Berlin, we arrived at about 5 in the evening at Dresden. I was looking forward to the first day at work which was coming soon! I was alone at home as both of my flatmates were at the on-arrival seminar since they had come to Dresden earlier than me. They would come back after two weeks!!! So, didn’t have many things to do than evening. I just cleaned and tidied a little bit my room and went to bed quite early.

The next day was Monday! My first day at work. I had to be on time because I was prepared and already had been informed that Germans are always on time. Too bad for me as I am always late and people always wait for me. Well, it could be a good reason to change and be more punctual. I think that I was late for about 5 minutes which for me is nothing but for the Germans you may seem rather a looser. Am I ? Don’t think so…

So, the first day was the introduction day where I would meet my colleagues and get to know how the association works and what my responsibilities are. I would work from Monday to Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Not bad at all! Hans explained me a few things about the history and the situation in Alte Feuerwache and showed me the building, which used to be the building of the Old Firehouse. The building is a very impressive one with slopping roof and a tower like building. I saw where the artistic and cultural projects take place. The association hosts workshops such as ceramics, printing, painting, dancing, theatre, music (guitar, piano lessons) and organises cultural events such as concerts, literature evenings, presentations and exhibitions. It has a gallery which hosts modern art exhibitions of young artists.

I am so fascinated by the architecture of Dresden. You can see baroque, rokokko  but also art nouveau buildings and some of them look like fairytale houses which are made up of caramel, chocolate and sugar. They remind me the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel, which is probably a German one. The roads are very clean and it is really hard to find big rubbish bins on the road. You can only find small bins as every building has its own bins for paper, plastics, bio and glass seperately! I couldnt find the bin of our building as I was not told where it was and it took me two weeks to learn where I should throw my garbage, thanks to my flatmates!!

Everyday, I have to leave around 9.20 in the morning from my house, walk for about 10 minutes to Albertplatz, take the tram line 6 at 9.36, stop at 9.50 at Schillerplatz and then walk for another 10 minutes to get to Alte Feuerwache in Loschwitz. From Schillerplatz I cross the Blue Wonder Bridge and take a look at the beautiful river and the green slopes. To people of Dresden, this distance sounds really long and especially to young people who live in Neustadt, as they never go to other districts if there is no reason. To me though, it is something very usual as I live far from the city centre of  Thessaloniki and need at least 20 minutes by car to get to the city centre. Not to mention by bus how long it is…approximately 45 minutes!!!

I enjoy the fact that in Dresden there is hardly any traffic jam, although I don’t drive here and the transportation system is fantastic! Every ten minutes you can take any tram or bus line you want and go wherever you want. I wish it would be like this in my homecity. Buses are always late due to traffic and they don’t go directly to all places in Thessaloniki. There are also night trams every forty five minutes which means that if you go out and are late, you can take the tram to get back home instead of taking a taxi or your own car, and….you can get drunk!

I should also mention the bike roads which are very smartly constructed and you don’t need to go through the car road and risk your life next to buses or cars. I wish the Municipality of Thessaloniki could use Dresden’s bike road and tram route plans in order to make its citizens’ life more humane!

My first weekend in Dresden and Berlin! 1st of October 2010

 

I left Greece at 11.50  in the morning on the 1st of October 2010 and arrived at Dresden at  about half past four in the afternoon. There I had been informed that the manager of my association “Alte Feuerwache, Loschwitz” would be waiting for me and take me from the airport to my new house. So, after a while we recognised each other and started talking. Hans is my manager, yes, indeed! An elegant, charming,  middle aged man, who doesn’t look his age, very modern and always smiling. He’s got a passion for Greece, Greek food, Greek language, Greek islands and Greek..lifestyle!

So, the first stop was at my new flat which I would share with two other EVS girls, one  from Bellarus and one from Armenia. The building is one of the still remaining GDR buildings on Neustadter Markt in Neustadt, which brings back memories from the East Germany. The flat is ok, not something really special or modern but has got a wonderful view to the Old city and the Elbe river and has also got a balcony. My bedroom has the same view as the living room and the kitchen although there isn’t so much furniture. I left my luggage and then we would go with Hans to register in the Zentrale Meldestelle. Thanks God he was with me as my German is not that good and the employees there don’t speak any English which is a bit weird because Dresden has got many people from abroad who may at the beginning not know the language. Anyway, we did it, and then he had a surprise for me…dining in a Greek restaurant. After nine whole hours, I would eat Greek food, haha!  To be honest, I didn’t miss it that much but it was such a kind and sweet offer that I could hardly refuse.

At dinner, I had really good time with Hans, his girlfriend Jacqueline, a wonderful, smart and humorous woman with a spontaneous laughter and a mediterranean temper. I also met the Greek owners of the restaurant who were very kind and friendly. The next day I would join Hans and Jacqueline for the weekend in Berlin. Hans would go to a concert of ‘Anathema’, an atmosperic metal band, and he invited me too.

Berlin was also great. I enjoyed a lot myself that weekend and had the chance to speak a little bit and listen to German. The concert was very good and later on,  we had some dinner in a  Nepalese restaurant and a few drinks in a bar (ahhh! a smoking bar actually). I didn’t know that Germans follow the same laws as in Greece. They have many bars for smokers which means that they have a lot of smokers. So if you smoke, you are welcome in Germany.

Take the chance! September 2010

What would you say if you got an appealing e-mail about a voluntary job which was exactly what you have always wanted to do but  in another country? You refuse, continue your predictable and monotonous life and regret it forever? Or take the chance, leave everything behind and start a fresh new life?? Well, if I were in your shoes I would definitely take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and..I am so glad I did!

One beautiful sunny morning in Turkey, as I was checking my e-mails, I bumped into one which started  ” ‘Agapiti Myrto’ (meaning Dear Myrto), it was not easy for us to choose between nearly 20 applicants for the EVS project in Dresden from October 2010 to March 2011. At the end we have chosen YOU to become a volunteer in our association for this period of time. We are looking forward to your coming “.

After reading it, I was flying out of happiness and excitement and couldn’t believe that I would have this chance to live and work in Germany. That time, I was joining a European Youth Exchange Programme in Bursa (Gorekle) for a week during the end of July where young people from Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Spain partcipated.

It was a great moment after being fed up with my life in Greece. I wanted so much this change. Change job and environment, make new friends, speak a different language from my mother-tongue and get used to a different way of living, hmmm sounds GREAT! Of course, it’s not that easy and ideal as it may sound and it is definitely sure that problems and difficulties will show up but still it’s a challenge.

On the 6th of September I went to Athens to join the pre-departure seminar, whichprovides information to all volunteers who would participate in the EVS programme in 2010-2011. We were about 15 people from different cities of Greece, different age groups and backgrounds but with a common aim: EVS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. And when I say foreign country I don’t mean Greenland, Australia or South America. It would be great but unfortunately only EU countries , some neighbouring countries to Europe, Mediterranean counties as well as Eastern Europe are accepted.

But what is actually EVS? EVS is the European Voluntary Service and is the second Action of the European Programme “Youth in Action” funded by the European Commission. The EVS  can be for a short time, which means that it can last from 15 days up to 2 months and for a longer period of time  which lasts from 2 to 12 months. My EVS for example lasts 6 months. And where can you find this information? On the website of your National Agency or if you are a member of a NGO which specialises in voluntary service you can easily find lots of things about EVS and other programmes as such, where you can go and live or study abroad.

The pre-departure experience was fantastic. I had incredible time as all the participants were very motivated and eager to learn about EVS and meet new people. The seminar tutors were extremely helpful and kind and were actually coming from my city: Thessaloniki. I had already known them as both of them are founding members of a NGO called “Kids in Action”. The atmosphere was cozy and we had some funny interactive activities to do which would break the ice and make us feel at home. The seminar lasted for three days and I must admit that I became aware of the programme’s content, as well as my responsibilities and rights.

And, after twenty-four days I finally flew from Thessaloniki to Dresden.