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Daniel Teunissen to Greece
Hello people out there!
I am Daniel From the Netherlands and eighteen years old. I have worked for two months in Greece. I lived in the city Corinth 80 kilometres from Athens. I stayed in an apartment with eleven people from whole Europe. I had to share a room with an Italian boy. And in the apartment lived two more Italian girls, four French girls, one finnish girl, one girl from Wales. It was nice to meet people from other countries, because you get to know there habits and culture.
The life in Greece is very nice. The Weather is always good, it was never colder than thirty degrees. The lifestyle of the Greece people is very relaxed. Because of the heat there is a siesta from one till five. In that time you can eat, sleep or lie on the beach. That is very different from Holland where they work from nine till five. During my stay in Corinth I have spoken with Greece People and they are very friendly and relaxed. Some of the Greek people visit our apartment frequently for a drink or something. And at the youth center there were more Greek people of Corinth who went to the bar there. Because of that you get to know much people of the city you live in.
I worked in the youth center of Corinth. For the fist two weeks I had to follow Greece language lessons in the morning. In that lessons I learned the basics of the Greek language. Also the teacher learned us much about the Greek culture. In the afternoon I had to do different jobs like helping in the bar and working in the garden. I also supported workshops the youth center gave. My tasks were for example making stop motion videos as promotion for the youth center, shooting pictures for the site of the youth center and making a mosaic table.
When you work in a project you get a mentor. You can go to the mentor when you have questions. There is also a coordinator of the project. Regularly you have meetings with other volunteers together with this coordinator. In that meetings you discuss what you want to accomplish and how you want to do that. I learned a lot of this meetings for example how to work in a project and how to express myself. We had those meetings twice a month.
Beside working and meetings you have enough free time. If you want you can go to the beach every day during the siesta. After my work at ten PM, frequently I went to a bar or a club near Corinth. One time I went to an open bar with a swimming pool in it. I never went to something like that before. One Sunday we went to a spa in a city nearby Corinth to enjoy the weekend. Another weekend I went with some friends who also lived in the apartment to Athens. There I visit the Acropolis, an old Greek temple. It was very impressive. We had Greek lunch with tsaziki and pita gyros. In the afternoon we went shopping in the city. Half July I went with two girls of the apartment and two Greek boys to a festival. The festival was called Rockwave and was situated in the Mountains near Athens. The main act was Massive Attack witch was very good.
Corinth is a little town near the sea. The youth center was situated near the center of Corinth and with a view on the sea. In the youth center there was a bar, one room for workshops and a place for the people who worked in the office. In the room for workshops they give courses for different groups, such as for handicapped young people who could make art with the volunteers. There were also general art courses for the youth of Corinth. Every week the center organised an Italian evening or a French evening. Then they made Italian or French food and played Italian or French music. In the evening the bar was open for all the local people. Some evenings were visited by a lot of people. I assisted in the bar a few times.
This was the first time that I was this long time away from home. I learned very much of it. I learned simple things as doing the laundry and cooking, but also living with other people in one house. and organise my own financial house holding. I enjoyed very much living with other young people in one house. That’s why I want to live in a student house next year when I’m going to study event management in Amsterdam.
The aim of the EU project to bring people in contact with other cultures to stimulate an Europe feeling has worked for me. I feel more like an European citizen then before. I made contact with people around Europe and I think I will see them again. This project was made possible by financial support of the EU. They paid my ticket to Athens and my stay in the apartment. And I also received a compensation of 200 euros a month for food and pocket money.
For everybody who visits Greece I want to say this: Drink the Ouzo, but not to much!
