In September 2022 I arrived in Kraków to start my volunteer year. I have never lived for a whole year abroad. At the beginning was it really hard to live here, because I was completely on my own. I realised that there were no parents who can help me. I had to do everything alone. I learned how to cook or how to take the right tram and I came to this new country where I couldn’t speak their language.

I needed to find a solution to understand and to communicate with the people. The students I was working with during the volunteering helped me a lot with the communication. Besides I was lucky that I could speak a little bit Slovak, because there are many similarities between the languages. I have been learning Slovak since my childhood, because my mother comes from Slovakia and I have my relatives there.

In Kraków I had the opportunity to visit many sights. During my staying in Poland I visited two big cities: Warsaw and Torun where I was doing my volunteer Training. In the mean time I worked in a school where I was helping the teachers in their English lessons. I did a lot of trips with the school for example to Auschwitz, Berlin or Zwardon . I figured out that Polish People are really kind, friendly and helpful. I made new worldwide friends.   

At the end I will leave Kraków with many incredible memories. Not only the time spending with the volunteers also with the students in my school. I learned many skills, which are also useful for my future. 

Thanks for reading
Florian