Ronja
Jó napot! My name is Ronja Köhler, and I am 19 years old. My hometown is Lübeck, a city in northern Germany near the Baltic Sea. I always enjoyed being out in nature, some days just to clear my mind while working, and others to participate in tree planting and rubbish collecting activities. Because nature, for me, is a place to rest and learn simultaneously, I decided to apply for the Kulturweit nature volunteer program. I hoped to be in nature while learning more about bio and geodiversity on earth; furthermore, I wanted to give back to nature something for everything we get from nature.
The UNESCO Commission sent Marei and me to the Bükk National Park. We got the wonderful opportunity to spend six months here in Hungary. Here we learn to look at nature in various ways and try to learn a new language, and meet many new people. Also, we learned a lot about ourselves during our stay in Hungary.
After half a year in Hungary, I would like to work and travel for another half year. I am very interested in getting to know different countries, meeting new people and learning to understand diverse ecosystems. After a year of learning, travelling and gaining new impressions, I would like to start studying in the winter semester of next year. At the moment, I am very interested in sociology, psychology and political science.
We want to share some of our experiences and impressions in the following articles. We must point out that these are individual reports, which are only representations of our own Perceptions.
Have fun while reading!
Marei
Szia! My name is Marei Beckermann, and I come from the small village Burweg, which lies directly between Hamburg and Cuxhaven next to a river called "Oste". After I had graduated in 2022, I needed a break from studying and learning for some time.
Don't get me wrong; I'm also learning quite a lot here in Hungary, especially while working for the National Park Directorate. But this way of learning is much more comprehensive and relates to "real everyday life“. Whereas you learn methods and content of specific topics and subjects, I learned to run my first own household with Ronja, which takes much more time into account than initially expected. Today I am particularly grateful for my parents organising their own life and mine, their work and our animal's needs. In addition, you get to know how naturally our language is sewn into daily life and how much you have to rely on body language when you go to a country where you speak only in bits or not at all. Of course, a significant percentage of the new knowledge refers to the national park, its directorate, the geopark, and the overall relations between humanity and nature. Most unexpected was my learning about myself. When living in a foreign country and outside your comfort zone, you see yourself differently and in unknown situations. And you grow from it.
But to return to my initial point: I needed to take a break from everyday academic learning because I knew I would start studying in the winter semester of 2023. The voluntary service was the perfect opportunity to do something useful with this gap year while seeing the world. I was pleased about it being a nature-voluntary service by UNESCO, so I could do some good for nature and its protection. At the same time, cultural exchange is supported automatically.
After this stay of half a year, I plan on travelling, visiting friends and family from Germany and working for another six months. I will study political science at a university afterwards.
I am grateful for this experience and all the people I've met, and I hope to pass it on to you by writing this blog.
