On-arrival training and Slovene lessons

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Hi there.

It's been a while since the last update now, but the days have been very busy. On Monday last week I went to Log pod Mangrtom (in North Primorska) for the on-arrival training. We were people from twelve different countries; Armenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France, Austria and Norway. On day one we did different ice-brakers and team building practices. We were divided into three groups and had a compete on different tasks. My group got stuck with a turtle game! After the session we even went back to complete the game and after two hours we made it. EVS's never give up ;-)

At night we explored the local pub next to the hotel and Tuesday was mostly spent in the classroom and in the dining room. My we ate a lot!! Hotel Sola (schola) is a newly renovated place and used to be a school in the older days. It was opened two months ago, so I think we must have been one of the first bigger groups that came to visit. Anyway, the staff was friendly and the food was delicious. Even the vegan was satisfied.

On wednesday we went to Bovec for a short walk. We went to a fortress where we were told stories from the First World War.

At night we went to the local pub again, before we had a long day in the classroom on Thursday. We learned about communication, conflict solving, intercultural learning, project development, EVS, Youth in Action, personal empowerment and a lot more. I found it both useful and interesting.

Friday at noon we went back to Ljubljana. It was a bit sad to say good bye, but fortunately Slovenia is a small country and we don't have to travel for ages to meet up again. Besides we are quite a few volunteers in Ljubljana.

On Saturday I decided to prepare the next language course - as I am to be the teacher. I started working and felt more and more frustrated. Saturday night I was a complete mess not able to understand how it is possible to speak a language like Slovene! I e-mailed my language mentor, Neja, on Sunday and explained to her that I wouldn't be able to do the lesson without more guidelines. We met up yesterday and it was such a relief; we went through the lesson together and I even "invented" a game we could play. So, I will do my best on Thursday. The other volunteers in my class have already promised to laugh at me if I do something wrong. In that way we will avoid any awkward situation :-D

I better get back to work now as I have a lot of thinking to do. The training last week gave me a better picture of project management and I think it will be easier to work from now on.

Happy St. Patrick's day!

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Photos

Bovec
At the fortress

Uno!
Playing uno in the sun