On-Arrival

Last week, Marta and me went to Warsaw for our On-Arrival training. On-Arrival training brings volunteers from all around Poland to the same place. It is a program where you can find answers to your questions about Poland, your project and everything about it. Before I went there, I was thinking that it might be a boring week which is full of cheerless sessions. But my opinion has quickly changed once I arrived to the hotel.

First meeting has started in a beautiful park which is located right next to our hotel. Our trainers divided us into groups and gave us different topics each time, so we got to know each other with the volunteers. We could learn more about each other while exploring the park. It was a very good start to a great training week.

Shortly after, we all became very good friends. We were always given very interesting topics to discuss which I find very inspiring. I had a chance to think about many subjects and compare my thoughts to the thoughts of people who are coming from different backgrounds. Even we are from different cultures, we have a lot in common and we are all here for a good reason, solidarity.

During the training, we also had a chance to learn a lot about Polish culture. We had short Polish language classes in the beginning of the sessions and we learned many phrases which we can use for daily communication. We also had an activity where we have chance to go out and search for answers of locals for many different social topics. We decided on a topic according to our interests and were divided into different groups. Some of us had meetings with organisations and some questioned people on the street. For me, it was a very good opportunity for us to see how Polish people think and how they react to different topics.

Of course, it was not always discussing and talking. On Tuesday evening, we had a city tour with a tour guide in Warsaw and we learned a lot about historical places, monuments and symbols. On Thursday evening, there was a surprise for us. A group of dancers and musicians came and had a performance which was full of fun. They taught us how to dance and we had a competition😂

It was an amazing week for all of us!


-Hande Ozdemir

Primary school in Przemiarowo

Today, we were invited to a primary school in Przemiarowo.

We had the first meeting with the young group. We have introduced ourselves and we gave some informations about our countries. Since they were young, they needed translation sometimes and Sylwia and the teachers helped us about it. 😊

After the presentations we divided the class into two. One group prepared sandwiches while the other group were playing games. Thanks to the activities, we could have a chat with the students and shared something together.

Then we have met the older group. Their levels of English were better, so this time, we could talk about ourselves and our cultures more.

After that, we have made two different salads, one Turkish and one Polish. Both were really delicious, so it was a good team work.✌😋

By the time we were making the salads, the other group were playing games like Tingo Tango. And they were punished with tongue twisters which was really funny. Also the students and the volunteers had a chance to talk about their lives, hobbies and so on.

At the end of the day, all of us had so much fun😊
Dziękuję bardzo!


-Hande Ozdemir

Our new volunteer, Marta!

The last member of our volunteer team has arrived in Pultusk yesterday and we are completed finally💪

Now let's learn about Marta!😋

Marta Bjeličić

Hello!

My name is Marta and I am 25 years old. I live in a small town that is one hour away from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia 🇭🇷. 

I just finished my studies in Zagreb, early childhood and preschool education so I decided to volunteer in Pultusk as an assistant in kindergarten to gain experience, meet new people and culture.

In my free time I like to read (mostly psychological thrillers), watch TV series and walking. I love travelling and hope to explore Poland while I am here. 

I am really exicited for this 9 months that are ahead of me.

Language Cafe at Prus

Today, we visited Zespół Szkół im. B. Prusa w Pułtusku with Chien for Language Cafe meeting.

 We started with an introduction of ourselves. We talked about our background, volunteering and the project which brought us to Pułtusk. We also wanted to get to know the students, so they have introduced themselves as well.

After that, we showed some pictures from Turkey and Taiwan. We have given some general information about our countries and cultures. They were really interested in the pictures we showed.

Chien talked about Taiwan and the most famous cities, foods and drinks of her country. It was pretty exciting to learn about Taiwan. 😅

Then I have started talking about Turkey. I showed them some of the cities, typical Turkish breakfast, Turkish coffee and the very popular Turkish series 😹 It was funny that most of their grandmothers are watching those series.

After we introduced our countries, they wanted to learn some phrases in Chinese and in Turkish language. It was great to see that they were really interested in our culture. Then we taught them some basic words and sentences in our languages.

They all tried to pronounce the words correctly and to be honest, they were pretty good at it! 😍

It was a great meeting for both of us! ✌ We are looking forward to meet them again.


-Hande Ozdemir