As you’ve probably read by now, ever since I took the first step of my EVS, I’ve been repeating one phrase over and over again, and that is “EVS is all about new experiences”. It sounds redundant, and people are starting to get fed up with it, but it is true nevertheless.

During the past 8 months and 3 days, so many things have happened, so many things have changed and so much progress has been made in this period of my life. Before I started this journey, I’ve read some personal recollection of one ex-volunteer who claimed that “after EVS, nothing is the same”. Maybe this is true, maybe an exaggeration, but I am quite positive that EVS, especially one that lasts 12 months, is a perfect way for self-discovery and self-development. Thanks to the support of Erasmus+, this voluntary service is well-structured to benefit all parties involved. Speaking of, it goes without saying that the hosting organisation and its dedication are the foundation of the bountiful outcomes.

I will dedicate a separate blog post about what happened on this EVS adventure so far in the past months, but for now, I will focus on my Christmas activities in Toulcuv Dvur, something that you already had the pleasure to read about. [LINK]

Since the beginning of December, the ecological center, or precisely, the organisation Botič, has been organising workshops for children from Prague schools. Every morning, children of all ages and from different schools are coming to take parts in the festive events. Traditionally, YEE’s EVS volunteers, which this year happens to be me and Judit, are asked to help at these events.

Fun fact: I was never much of a fan of working with children, and thus when I was supposed to select an option during my university education whether to be a teacher or a translator, I chose the latter option.

Still, from the start of my EVS, I know that this is part of YEE’s activities intended for the volunteers, and thus, back in April, [PUT LINK]I decided to try it and see what happens. After being part of several events for children in Toulcuv Dvur, I can definitely say that not only I don’t have any problem working with kids, but I also enjoy it. Quite a lot.  Maybe this is because I took this period of my life as a trial period for so many things, or maybe is that I have two nephews, I don’t know. What I do know is that I am doing good, much better than I expected, and I’m looking forward to future endeavors. During the past three weeks, I got involved in making Christmas candles, cookies and postcards with and for children and I enjoyed every minute of it. Despite the language barrier, because, let’s face it, my Czech is not very good [moja čeština je špatná :D], I was able to communicate even with 5 year-olds. Of course, sometimes I received confused looks, and sometimes I got laughs at my expense, but it was all part of the learning process.

As a conclusion, I know I keep referring to my mantra “EVS is all about new experiences” but it is because I want to emphasize the enormous impact it has on my understandings of what I can or can’t do as a professional and also as a person. As I said, I will dwell more on this subject very soon, so stay tuned for more reflections.

Happy holidays and take care,

Vladimir