Arianna and her ESC in Berlin! Volunteers say

To her the word:

"When I left I promised myself to share as much as possible of my experience with other people, in order to inform them about the project I have been following in Leipzig, Germany, since June. A promise that, however, I have not kept until now, thanks to my desire to let myself be carried away by new stimuli, by the new language and not to stop too long to reflect on what was really happening to me. Now, however, I feel the shortening of this period: my project will expire in exactly 4 months. this awareness followed a sort of struggle against time, so here I am writing.

A year and a half ago, I made the decision to spend a period in Germany, with the aim of learning German. I was about to graduate and I was determined to learn this language, hoping that it could increase my job opportunities in my region, as I am thirty by adoption.
Every night I checked new sites and inquired about the functioning of the German civil service.
Then, one evening when I was struggling to fall asleep, I discovered the existence of the European Solidarity Corps Projects: lasting up to 12 months, these projects allow young people aged 18 to 30 to work for an organization chosen at the within the different countries of the European community, receiving in exchange a pocket money, a room in an apartment, a budget to follow a language course in the destination country and health insurance. On the site you can find several applications, of an extremely different nature: projects concerning the setting up of a film festival, workshops in a circus, help gardener in a park or help in a clinic. The adrenaline I felt was indescribable.

Having some work experience with children, I started to fill mainly the applications concerning the possibility of working in a kindergarten, attaching my CV translated into English. After a few weeks of no answers, a German organization contacts me and I find myself in December to have an interview via Skype. That was enough. After a few days they sent me all the forms to fill out with the help of a sending organization. I then turned to the InCo Association of Trento, and thanks to their collaboration I was able to be sure that it was all real.

The following months were a succession of events: I finished writing my master's thesis, I graduated, I continued to work at the Rovereto swimming pool as an instructor and… I fell in love.

The enthusiasm of December was then accompanied by completely different sensations: the fear of living for the first time in a big city, the fear of feeling alone not being able to have my friends next to me for so long and then a nostalgia (yes, even then while I was still at home) larger than I expected to experience.

Despite everything, I still decided to leave. I nearly blew up the biggest suitcase I had and got on the train, heading for Leipzig.

My organization, Fairbund e.V, made me feel welcomed right away, organizing a week full of activities for myself and three other volunteers, all like me involved in a European volunteering project at a asylum run by our association. Furthermore, I was immediately able to stay in an apartment 15 minutes' walk from my kindergarten, a truly optimal position considering my indescribable morning laziness.
Also with the support of Fairbund, I was then able to start an intensive German course, lasting 4 hours a day for a month, and my attendance was considered as working hours (6 hours a day).
Thanks to this and the possibility of being able to speak German daily with the children of my kindergarten, I was able to improve the language more quickly, which greatly facilitated my life outside of work, allowing me to communicate more easily with my roommates, acquaintances, shopkeepers and doctors. (because, we know, children are living incubators of bacteria).

During these months I also took part in two seminars, lasting one week, organized by the European Union and aimed at all volunteers involved in this type of volunteering. In this way I was able to learn about the existence of other projects, I was able to compare myself with other volunteers and get to know completely different realities from mine.

Stimulated by all these possibilities and feeling supported by my family and my loved ones, despite my insecurities and fears prior to my departure, I can now add another 'despite': 'despite the distance'. "