My name is Floriane, I am French and am now since September in Estonia. Why? Good question. Well, few months ago, I ended my studies and decided that I wanted to experiment my skills abroad. I heard about a european program, a cultural exchange program, with which you can apply to some organizations in foreign countries, so I had a look. I had to find a sending organization to explain me all the different stuffs concerning this EVS, and very quickly I began to apply here and there.
Finally, I choose to come to Pärnu, in Nooruse Maja to take part in their projects as a volunteer.
Now, I don’t even remember exactly what I was supposed to do here, because actually, I did a lot of different things, in relation with what I was expecting, what I was interested in, and so on. I did for example the communication elements of some events, concerts, the estonian line dance festival, I help during these events, gave some French lessons, I had video projects, on local groups, but also on the cultural activity of the county that I was supposed to present. For this projects, I visited a lot of interesting places, cultural houses, festivals, fairs, and met as well a lot of different people. I also opened my own photo exhibition, a great experience for me.
I even had the opportunity to visit once a week a day care center to give french lessons, and to take part in some activities, I was able be involved in a lot of things.
As I am not the only volunteer in Estonia, we must be over 50, and from everywhere, I managed to see a lot of different places in Estonia, by visiting those friends, or in organizing some trips here and there. My family and friends also visited me several times, and also for them it was such an experience!
This year was a big adventure, full of new things, and that in a way made me grew up. My problem is now that I don’t want to end this adventure, and I want to keep traveling, meeting people, creating cultural exchanges and of course, to try to come back here one day.
