TIME FLIES

As I have already mentioned in the last blog, I had my MID- term seminar last week. When I got the invitation email I was a bit surprised, because I didn´t expect that my MID- Term seminar would have taken place so early. Hence, I thought about the last couple of months and realised that it is actually really a Mid-Term training. I came to Lithuania 5 months ago and I will stay here again 5 months until I will go back to Germany. I was a bit shocked because it was the first time I really realised that I am already five months here. Time is flying. However, this is a good time to give you a short summary what I experienced the last half year and what I am going to plan the next months.

October: I started to work in Waldorf kindergarten and school. This month was actually the most structured one. Back in that time I would have never thought that, but the daily routines of the school were taking place regularly, so it was easy to set up a schedule for me. After the first two weeks, I got a new flatmate and from then on, I started to make lots of experience according to living with another person in a flat. I am still learning every day. During that time I didn´t know any other volunteers so I spend lots of time with Erasmus students with whom I made friends with. I just realised while writing that this was the only month I haven´t spent my year abroad in lockdown so far.

November: Through my ON – Arrival I got in touch with other volunteers. Together, we organised nearly every weekend Christmas cookies evenings. Especially with one flat – four volunteers – we, my flatmate and me, started to hang out a lot. I has become our social bubble, including lots of cooking and board game evenings. Every Tuesday I had sushi evening with Erasmus people. This month it was still legal, to meet with quite an amount of people, what was a huge advantage to get into touch with some more people.

December:  In December Lithuania had one of the most Covid cases in Europe, so the restrictions gotten worse week by week. Even Humana (Second hand brand) closed, what was a good and a bad thing at the same time, because I spent lots of money buying second hand clothes, even so it was a nice activity. Over Christmas, I went home for three weeks, to spend the holidays with my family. I struggled for quite a long time if I should have gone home over Christmas or not, but it was the right choice, even though it was quite stressful to manage everything with the Covid regulations.

January: The Lithuania I came back to turned into a winter wonderland. It was super cold and lots of snow, which I enjoyed so much. The last months have been grey, rainy and dark and it was so nice finally seeing some sun at the sky again. We started to see the advantage of the beautiful weather and went sliding or spend some time on frozen lakes. Moreover, we could have made the experience to live with -27 degrees. Not just the eyelashes started to freeze, it was also nearly impossible to move fingers anymore, once they were not covered in warm gloves. This month I nearly worked every day in kindergarten. The school was closed and they had a lack of kindergarten teachers. I also learnt to crochet during that time. I really enjoyed spending time with the kids, what included lots of outdoor activities as well.

February: Besides working in kindergarten and starting to work in reconstruction again, we had one week of vacation. We used this one to do lots of stuff with view friends. We rather figured out that it is really nice to have some cook events together. Quarantine is still a daily topic and effects our life, so we spent lots of time trying out fancy new recipes. Moreover, we still tried to find some new outside activities like Geo catching for instance.

The second half of my experience just started, so I made up my mind what I want to achieve in this few months. I really want to see more from Lithuania. Currently it is not allowed to travel around, but hopefully this will change soon. Moreover, I am really looking forward to spend sunny and warmer days outside with other volunteers and try new outdoor activities. I am glad that we all got quite creative over the last months to enjoy our staying abroad even with all the limitations we daily face. Furthermore, I also want to improve my crocheting and knitting skills. In the school, nearly everyone can help me and teach me new techniques. Besides the advantage to have a Covid friendly hobby, it also helps me to relax after a long day. Overall, I can say that I am still really happy to be here and try to enjoy every minute of it, because the next few months will be sooner over that I will expect!