Voluncheers!

In this episode, Ilona and Ángel tell us the biggest challenges that come from working with children in Poland.  They work in two different kindergartens in Pułtusk, a town near Warsaw where the local community and the volunteers are learning from each other. Furthermore, we learn about the life of the Polish Pope, a figure recognized internationally, and we end with two Polish songs that we discovered during our experience here in Poland.

This episode is about volunteering with horses in Helenów, a center for rehabilitation, education and care in Warsaw. Our guests, Madeleine and Julia, will explain to us which are their main tasks and how they are doing with the horses so far. Moreover, the Polish figure we want to introduce today is Wisława Szymborska, a literature Nobel prize winner whose “ironic precision” allows to understand the human reality. Last but not least, we want to present two songs that remind us to stay grounded, to live in the present, but also to enjoy and realize the things we have.

This third episode of Season 2 is about volunteering and living in a small town in Poland. We will ask our guests Ester and Claire what that feels like, how their project is going in the library and what they would have liked to know before embarking on an adventure like this. We also want to present how Frédéric Chopin's life was, whose essence is still in Warsaw. We end with some music recommendations from our guests.

This special episode is about Christmas celebrations around Europe. Our guests for today are ten volunteers / mentors with whom we can explore the different traditions as regards Christmas. Listen until the end to hear our volunteers sing their favorite Christmas carols in their languages.

Traditions in Spain & Italy: (from 15’’) / France: (13’ 50’’) / Spain: (16’ 08’’) / Germany: (19’ 30’’) / Malta & France: (22’05’’) / Poland & Hungary: (25’ 10’’) / Christmas Carols: ( from 29’ 16’’)

This episode is about three weeks late, so sorry about that. We are both back in Austria an France now but have really enjoyed our time in Poland. In this last episode we are talking about a certain thing called Youthpass and reflect on our volunteering experience and what we've learned throughout the year. We've both enjoyed working on this podcast very much and now it's kind of sad that it's over but we hope that you enjoyed it as much as we have. Do zobaczenia!

Little language lesson:

Everyone who participates in an ESC project is assigned a mentor who is supposed to help the volunteer navigate in their new environment and especially at the beginning of the project but certainly plays a big role throughout the whole volunteering experience.

In this episode we invited our two mentors, Sylwia and Bartek, to talk with us about how they became a mentor, what they like and don't like about it and much more!

Little Language Lesson:

Did you ever think: "One birthday a year is not enough?" Well, Poland's got you covered!

In this episode we'll also talk about why German is basically the same thing as Polish, how Napoleon became a national hero and why you should bring a raincoat with you if you'll ever find yourself in Poland the day after Easter.

Little Language Lesson:

szynka - Schinken = ham

strajk - Streik = strike

fryzjer - Friseur = hairdresser

szuflada - Schublade = drawer

Karolina was an EVS/ESC volunteer in France 5 years ago.

In this episode she tells us about her experience, what she liked the most and how it affected what she does now.

If you are still hesitating to do an ESC project, you will be convinced at the end of this interview!

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LITTLE LANGUAGE LESSON

"Verlan": the French art to inverse the words!

"Merci" (thank you) becomes "Cimer"

Enjoy!

Learning a new language, discovering a new culture, meeting new friends, flatsharing, etc. That all comes with different expectations that might or might not have been met in the end.

In this episode, you can listen to our own expectations and how they turned out!

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LITTLE LANGUAGE LESSON

Potatoes (EN)

Pommes de terre (FR)

Erdäpfel (AT)

Enjoy!