,,WINTER: SURVIVED - Five Months in and I know how the wind blows'' Blog dei volontari

WINTER: SURVIVED - Five Months in and I know how the wind blows I’m Milan, 21 from Germany, volunteering as an assistant-teacher in an Italian middle school. This is the second update on my experience with the ESC-Project and it's going great.In the last 3 Months I learned a lot about being a teacher and had the chance to experiment. Oftentimes my role is keeping the calm and the concentration in the classroom, but I also get to introduce ideas and own lessons. First I did some warm-ups / energizers with the kids to recharge their attention, then I sang little German folk songs with them, because I love singing together and think that it creates a unique energy and unity. With some classes these exercises were hard to do at first, because it was either too silly for the adolescent kids or too funny for the little ones. Nevertheless after some time now, the kids have built trust in me while I as well have grown more confident. It is really cool that so many kids are excited to say hello to you in the corridor and even greater when you remember their name. I am grateful for my super nice colleagues who are good teachers and excited to work with me.Apart from school my time in Italy is filled to the brim with stuff I like: singing, visiting the local youth center #Kairos, reading The Witcher in italian, playing the piano, trips and hikes with friends, jogging, biking, cinema, ... I could go on. One of the most memorable sundays started with me and 3 Italians in a car blasting "norwegian ragaeton" on the road to the mountains. We were a group of 9 people - volunteers, our ever smiling mentor Michele and his friends - hiking in the snow white forest up to a mountain lodge where we rented sledges. Yes! Sledges to slide all the way down through the winter wonder. We had a ton of fun, especially Zuza who must have reached some 100 kmh. Above all it was incredibly fun for me to talk so so much Italian that day, learning more about the incredibly diverse usage of the word "cazzo".The birds are chirping everywhere. Spring is coming to town and it brings energy. In January I have been sick a lot unfortunately, thats why it feels so great to be fit again, rising from the winterbed along with the sun. Last saturday we were even swimming in the garda lake for the first time this year and I do not wear three pants anymore. I am so hyped for the next 4 months. Summer incoming!