EVS on-arrival training

EVS European Voluntary Service is a part of Youth in Action -project of European Union. It offers you to have unpaid and full-time voluntary activities in a foreign country within or outside the EU. Projects take usually from 3 to 12 months and they're for people aged 18 to 30. 
You can read more about EVS here.

On January 20.-24. all EVS-volunteers gathered together to have on-arrival training in Hotel Krek in Lesce. We had a group of 21 people from all around Europe; Belorussia, Bulgaria, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. For this group we had two trainers, Alenka Oblak and Henk Persyn and besides them also EVS-coordinator Jerneja Modic.

During the training we had different activities and tasks to do. For example teambuilding, information about volunteer's rights and responsibilites and what can you learn during the EVS project. We were also talking about how to get into a whole new culture with new people and environment around. One of the biggest tasks was the project day. In a group of 4-5 people we had to make a team project what was somehow connected to Slovenia and local people and something what no one of the group had never done before. Our group envented kind of survival kit with humour and big smile for EVS volunteers  - "How to get married in sLOVEnia". We had the idea because we have heard that many long-term volunteers have found a boy- or girlfriend from Slovenia and after EVS stayed here. Project was a lot of fun and we also learned very much about working as a team.

It was really awesome to meet all the volunteers in Slovenia. After on-arrival training we will keep in touch on freetime and propably even have some working projects together!

From Oulu to Ajdovscina

On the way to Slovenia! January 3rd I traveled from Oulu to Helsinki by plane. I chose to go by plane because Finland is quite big country (actually almost 17 times bigger than Slovenia) and the distance to Helsinki is about 600 kilometers. So by train it would take around 9 hours and by bus something between 9 and 13. And if the weather is bad on winter, they might be also late "a bit" :) In Helsinki I spend the night by my good friend Lotta.

Next morning I went to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. My flights went by route Helsinki-Berlin-Venice. And then from Venice to Ajdovscina by car. Mateja (one of the volunteers in our organisation) picked me from airport with a sign written "HELI from FINLAND WELCOME"!

Finnair in co-operation with Air Berlin

EVS-volunteer Heli

I'm 20 years old girl from Finland. I came to Slovenia 4th January to work as EVS-volunteer for one year (till December 2013). European Voluntary Service is a good chance to travel and live abroad for longer period.

At first I could write something about myself. I live in Finland, in town called Liminka (population of 9000). It's near a city called Oulu (190 000). They're located on the coast by the Baltic Sea.

About studying: After primary school (grades 1 to 9) I went to high school and hairdressing school at the same time. It took 3 years and I graduated in 2011. Right after finishing school I started working in hair salon in my home town. So before I came here I had been working there for 1,5 years.

I was living with my parents. I didn't move by my own yet because I was expecting to spend one year here in Slovenia. My dad is a farmer and mum works at office. I have also one sister, called Laura. She is 5 years older than me. At the moment she's studying civil engineering in university of applied sciences.

There are also 2 cats in my family :) They are called Pöpskä and Milla. They're living with my dad - on the farm there is a lot of space to run outside and hunt birds and mice ;)

Pöpskä - 9 years old

Milla - 13 years old

I like sports veeeeery much. I've played floorball (indoor hockey) like 10 years already. We are playing in women's 2. division and have tournaments 1-2 times per month and practicing twice a week. I am a goalkeeper.

I'm also a cheerleader. Our team is called Baby Beast Cheerleaders (check our websites here) and we are cheering for an ice-hockey team from Oulu called Kärpät. Because we are dancing in ice-hockey hall with not so much space, we don't do stunts etc. It's more like cheerdance.

Besides these hobbies, if i still have some freetime I usually go running, snowboarding, fishing or rollerblading.

Fishing in Lapland: 12,2 kg salmon from river Muonionjoki