I officially finished my project at the end of September and stepped into my new life. I can’t understand how time passed so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I got off the plane and stepped into my new home, I ended my first day at work with big curious eyes, I tried to learn German for months, I planned many trips with my friends and visited many beautiful places…
In the last week of my project, I unintentionally romanticized everything, because I realized that even if I am on vacation, even for a bit of time, I miss Freizi. It doesn’t make sense to romanticize so much, because even though my project is over, I will continue to work at the same Freizi as an employee, but I guess change, inevitably makes us nervous.
As of October, I started my studies at the University of Bremen. Thanks to this project, I have achieved my goal of studying abroad, which seemed very difficult or impossible before.
Recently, in a meeting I had about the project, I was asked if there is anything I didn’t like about my project, anything I wanted to change. I stopped and thought, what could I change? I don’t know if it is the most beautiful project, but I found the most suitable project for me. So I wouldn’t change anything. I am very lucky to have the best boss and colleagues in the world. I am very lucky that we are crowded in Bremen as volunteers and I have so many friends. I gained a lot of experience both in my project and through the activities we did with other volunteers. I learned how to paddle a canoe, I learned how to balance on a paddle-board, we baked bread and sausages on a campfire, we went swimming in the lake many times, we went to the amusement park, we experienced Christmas and Easter Markets, we cooked amazing meals together, we played card games and Mario Kart countless times. I celebrated my birthday for the first time with such an international group of friends, I listened to birthday songs from each of my friends in their own language. We had nature walks and picnics. I did my first solo-travel!!! I learned how to pump and even change the tire of my bicycle, I went to work by bicycle, I think we can say that I am now Germanized 🙂 I enrolled in my university in Germany, I signed the contract to continue my job as an employee instead of a volunteer… Some big changes 🙂
What this project has tought me is countless, I can’t put it into words. I will never forget the people in Freizi, our Nutzern, who ran and hugged me every time I returned to my workplace after spending a few days apart, the activities after work, the weekend parties. Happily, I will continue to do all that, because I am here for at least three more years 🙂
Before writing this report I wanted to read my first two reports and I realized how far I have come and how much I have changed my life in this one year. In my previous report I wrote how sad I was because I need to say goodbye to Bremen. I wish I could have give the good news earlier to the past Kübra, not to be more upset and stressed at that time.
I know it sounds cheesy, but it was the best year of my life. I’m glad I took that brave step and came to Bremen, to this project and met these amazing people and had this incredible experiences and a future I could never have imagined.
Thank you for every opportunity, every challenge, every surprise that came my way during this year. I could not have gained this experience in such a short time in any other way.
In Turkish, when we have a great day, we say “May our worst day be like this”. I think this sentence is enough to close my third and last report.
May my worst year be like this!
Teşekkür ederim hayatıma!
Hugs and kisses <3
Kübra
Kübra was hosted by Friedehorst Teilhabe Leben gGmbH on our project financed by the European Solidarity Corps and Jugend für Europa.
