I’m Jonathan, a 18-year-old from the countryside in Northern Germany, near Hamburg. I always liked to travel and discover new things, and to share this with other people. I think the world needs this kind of curiosity, because by now, in our new “global village”, we increasingly get the impression that we know everything about each other. But this is completely false.
When I finished school one year ago, I didn’t know what to do. So I spent all my money on travelling in summer, and, since I still didn’t know what to do, I went to university for studying Information Technology. But since I finished school, I wanted to quit Germany for a longer period of time and do something completely different, something that really makes sense to me. Like working with people and supporting them. But, I didn’t have money. So when I learned about EVS, applying was not a hard decision to take, especially because at the moment, Europe really is in need of creating bridges, for they are currently all breaking down. I applied for several projects from Spain to Estonia, and finally ended up here at Vicolocorto in Pesaro.
Wait, that’s a month?
I arrived here on the 6th of April, making it almost a month that I spent here already. And it’s surely been a great one! While I came here with no expectations to not endanger myself of feeling disappointed, it turned out to be better than I could have imagined. Not only do I really like the job that I’m doing, but the bridges I can build (not only to Italian culture but also to cultures of other volunteer’s home countries) and stereotypes I didn’t even know I had that are now being utterly destroyed are a huge experience that I could not have gained otherwise.
Non parlo italiano
Before coming, I worried about the barriers that you face when going abroad and don’t speak the language. But unfortunately for me, that barriers turned out to be quite small. I speak more Italian now than I did when coming here (which was basically nothing but the friendly reminder “Non mangiate le mie caramelle!” [“You do not eat my candies!”] that I learned in DuoLingo, my mobile app for learning Italian), but I still can’t really communicate. In most cases, at least one of the other nine volunteers in Pesaro can translate for me (which is practical, but slightly annoying by now).
Just like the language, I’m starting to get to know the country. I’ve not travelled much so far, but that will change. After major investments in things like a bike the first month, I didn’t really have much money left to spend on travelling, but that will change.
I am looking forward to see many places and to meet many people during the 9 month that are still to come!
Jonathan
Vicolocortini 