Here we are with the last report after one year of life in Bremen.
It might sound repetitive but I still struggle to realize how fast my year in Germany passed,
I came back around a week ago and I still have a weird feeling about not waking up in my Bremen’s room.
If I had not embark on this adventure I’m sure I wouldn’t have questioned my future choices in the same way I’m doing it now and that’s the reason why I think that leaving was the best way to grow and to challenge myself.
My workplace taught me a lot; in terms of skills and practical abilities, I had the opportunity to practise and create content with editing programs and travel to film various projects related to dance. I learned a lot about dance in the first place and gained experience in a field that I was always interested in.
I obviously also went through difficult moments at work that taught me a lot about communication and the ability to set boundaries in order to not burn out.
I’m gonna carry this knowledge with me along with the conclusion that not every place is able to provide a safe learning environment and that, no matter the amount of gratitude, learning is not supposed to be so painful.
Living abroad can be very challenging and isolating sometimes, as a person with a very little knowledge of German I felt disconnected from the country and the culture multiple times.
On a more positive side I can definitely say that, luckily, Bremen is a very culturally diverse city which helps a lot when you’re a foreigner trying to navigate life abroad.
I will deeply miss the city and its nature, the parks and lakes; one of the main highlights of my experience was the possibility to explore Bremen and its outskirts and to slowly familiarize with it.
The life in the house has also been a good training ground where I learned a lot about the necessity of communicating your needs in order to create a comfortable living environment, it took some time to be able to call the apartment a home but in the end it became one.
One of the things I’ll always be grateful for are the people I met along the way, my friends from the volunteering community enriched my experience and were able to provide a safe space full of love and support where I was able to grow, question myself and learn.
This whole year has been a continuous learning experience for me, about work environments, about boundaries, about my passions, about people and especially about empathy.
Thank you Bremen, hope I’ll see you again!
Elena is hosted by Deutsches Tanzfilminstitut (TAFI) financed by the European Solidarity Corps and Jugend für Europa.
