Introduction

- August 15, 2020

About me and what I am even doing

Hej, I am Natalie from Austria and I just turned 18 in July 2020. This is my dissemination project for my organisation, but also a way to help you guys get familiar with volunteering abroad and what comes with it. There will not only be monthly updates, but also reflections and stuff for future volunteers. Don't worry, I will be updating here a lot, so there's much more to come. Have a look at the labels in the top left!

I have graduated from the highschool BORG Kindberg and got my, in Austria, Matura. The question, "What do you want to do after your Matura?", has always had a clear answer to me: I want to go away. I really didn't care where exactly I would end up, I just wanted a break from all the studying and therefore develope my personality, go abroad and do something totally different. That's why I started searching for opportunities here in Europe.

My mother was actually the one to introduce me to the ESC, as one of her colleague's daughter just came home from her voluntary service in 2019. She told me about the perks of the organisation and their support for their volunteers (which is, in fact, very true!). I figured, "Why not give it a try?", and here I am. In Denmark. Working voluntarily at Kontakt mellem Mennesker while living with a host family in Ollerup. Crazy!

To be precise, I am working in their volunteer center. People come in to search for volunteer jobs and additionally we offer help to the NGOs in different kind of ways. Here, I have some daily tasks, such as preparing the coffee stand for people coming in and keeping the kitchen clean. But, I am also updating various mailing lists, preparing practical things for upcoming meetings/events and helping wherever a helping hand is needed. On Fridays I help out in our own second-hand shop, Genbrugskontakten, where I help delivering furniture to customers, sorting through boxes. which people give us or rearranging shelves in the shop.

If you want to know more about my project in general, peep the label called "About my project".

Genbrugskontakten

"Why did you go to Denmark?", you may ask now. (And if not I'm telling you anyways). It's a real fun story, I would say. I was in Graz, Austria, at a talk with my sending organisation (the organisation helping me with preparation and search for a project) and they asked me where I planned on going. I stated, that I didn't care, as long as it is in Northern Europe. Ironically, they got an E-Mail that day from Denmark, which contained projects, that are still searching for volunteers. I applied to a lot of them, but Kontakt mellem Mennesker was the one.

my workplace, Kontakt mellem Mennesker's Frivillighuset

Originally, I just wanted to be abroad until, like the end of March 2021, but somehow I ended up in Denmark until the end of June 2021. But honestly, that's fine with me! As for my plans after the ESC: right now it looks like I'm going to study food- and biotechnology at BOKU in Vienna. I'll update you in 10 months!