Quick reflection check-in

 Learning and growth

- that's the motto I live by here in Denmark. One of my tasks lately was to create a Facebook-Update-video for Kontakt mellem Mennesker's Facebook page. That's exactly what I did!

For some unknown reasons I unfortunately cannot upload the video here. But I will put the script for my video (which is a little different from the spoken one) here and try to add the link to the Facebookpost.

link to the FB post :)

in Danish

Hej, my name is Natalie and I am 18 years old. I am from Austria, but I am now living in Ollerup with a host family and I am working voluntarily at Frivilligcenter Svendborg. 

But you know that jazz already. I mean, I have been here since September. What a crazy and short time it has been, filled with new experiences.

My mentor Gry asked me to make a video as my next update. So I found myself thinking about what I want to say and how on earth I should do that. And then I thought: why not just talk?

A question people ask me really often is if I "got" what I had expected from my time here in Denmark so far. And if I'm being honest, there are actually two answers to that simple, but complex question.

On the one hand, I'd answer with a simple no. The pandemic situation has sometimes brought me to my knees by being sad and frustrated about various things. For example, most of the nice and fun things to do in Svendborg just didn't happen because of the oandemic, I couldn't yet travel to other volunteer's projects and I do not have the freedom I would love to have. On top of that, I work from home most of the time. I'm here to volunteer at Kontakt mellem Mennesker and I haven't physically been there in three months. 

But on the other hand, I still didn't get what I had expected - I even got so much more. My time here has been teaching me a whole lot about my impact on the people surronding me, not only here in Denmark, but also back home in Austria. It showed me how people react to me being genuinely me, without a veil. Therefore, I feel so much more cinfident in my whole being. I believe in myself harder than I've ever done before. I know where my strengths lie and what needs improvement. (I want to improve my Danish).

I've learnt how to adapt to new situations, be it moving to another country or changing workspaces or being on my own. Independence, that's also a big topic. I came here without knowing anyone or anythinge. But I've created relationships that will last until the end of days. 

Self-awareness, mindfulness, gratefulness, healthy coping mechanisms, crocheting, cooking, baking, openness to the unknown,...

There's an uncountable amount of things I could say about my learning and growth. But I also want to say that I still have goals for my last three months here. 

I want to see as much as I possibly can here in Denmark. I want to make a little roadtrip, maybe even alone, as I feel like this could give me another eternal amount of important experiences. I want to enjoy every single day and be happy about every single detail. And most importantly: I want to make sure to hang on to that new growth-mindset, so that I come back home as a new best version of myself. 

Last, but not least: New chapters don't have to be scary or bad, and the world is a pretty international place - take advantage of it.