Mid-Term Training

Hello,
my name is Eva (19) and I am a volunteer from Germany. I work in VitaTiim and lead the English Language Cafés for youngsters and kids, the German Language Café and other things.

Today I want to write about my Mid-Term Training. It was in Leppoja, ca. 1,5 hours from Tallinn, in the middle of the forest. We, that's our two trainers, me and 10 other volunteers, arrived at the place after a long drive through the forest. There were two wooden houses. One, where we had the training and the meals and one other house, just for us volunteers. We also had our own sauna!
On the first evening we just played some games to get to know each other and, of course, we went to the sauna. We almost used this sauna every evening and every morning.

On the next day, friday, we analysed our projects: if we achieved any of the goals we wrote down in the beginning, if we had problems and what we still want to do in the last months of our EVS. For me was it really good to talk about my project, because that's how you can see what you learned and what you developed so far. And this is mainly about the 8-key-competences:
1. Digital competence
2. Interpersonal, intercultural and social competences and civic competence
3. Cultural expression
4. Entrepreneurship
5. Communication in the mother tongue
6. Communication in foreign languages
7. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
8. Learning to learn
To be honest, in the beginning I also couldn't imagine what this actually means. But now, after 6 months, I really know what does it mean to develop the "ability to turn ideas into action" (Entrepreneurship) or to learn something about "how to organise your own learning" (Learning to learn).
In the afternoon, we went outside for a ski-trip in the forest. I thought it would be normal cross-country-skiing, but we went really through the trees, on "trails" where nobody went before. It was difficult sometimes but it was really beautiful and relaxing to be in the nature.
After this we made "Viltimine"- felting. I made a heart and two ugly sheeps.

The next day (saturday) we talked about the youth pass, what every volunteer can get in the end of the EVS, if they fill in what they learned during the project.
In the afternoon we had the topic "our problems". Yes, I know it sounds really negative, but for me it was good to talk about the difficulties and to get some opinions from the others. We talked a lot about difficulties and challenges and how to solve them, and this was really helpful.
Ok, and now I will tell you something what people, who know me, won't believe. After this we went to the traditional estonian smoke sauna. Yes, me too and after it we didn't cool down in the snow, no, we went into the lake. The boys made a hole before in the ice and then we went into the freezing cold water for a few seconds (I was screaming the whole time) but then, when you are back in the sauna, you feel awesome. Seriously, it's such a great feeling! This was a really nice experience and I am proud that I made it :D

And on the next day we already went back home :(  It was really...sad because you get to know the other volunteers and you are one group and I wanted to spend more time together with them.
That's the great thing about this trainings (On-arrival-Training, Mid-Term-Training) : you meet so many great people, you spend an awesome time together and create unforgettable memories. Ok, this sounds kitschy but it's true. These trainings were such an important part of my EVS. They gave me so much motivation, energy, friends and memories which I will never forget.

ski-trip in the forest