Blog #1 And so it all begins!

Heyy everyone! 🧚‍♀️✨🌸

In case we haven't already met, I'm Annezina or Anne as people might call me, and I'm one of the new volunteers at Kulturfabrikken. I'm 24 years old from Greece and I will be staying in Denmark for almost one whole year. Things I like: movies, animals, art, my friends, hiking, gym training and watching football. 

So the journey to Denmark began on the 15th of September when I packed my stuff and took the flight (and two trains) to Nykøbing Falster. The first people I met were Mette and Guna and they immediately made me feel welcome and safe. They took me to the most beautiful apartment I have ever lived in, right in the city center. Later, my flatmate Katrin also arrived and we were now ready to kick off our new life in Denmark!

The first days we were trying to figure everything out, from our apartment facilities to our everyday life and grocery shopping here. The transition felt quite surreal and my biggest culture shock? To get used to riding a bike in the city, next to cars, following the traffic code , and not having a hand break, but a foot break instead. And honestly, I'm still not entirely confident when I ride my bike in the city...

Then we had our first café shift and Designstuen, and met so many sweet people. We had a lot to learn and remember about how things work, but on the weekend Mette and her husband kindly took us to Knuthenborg Safari Park. Thankfully the weather has been so nice all through September, so we explored every part of the safari park, saw tigers and elephants, goats and ponies, had a picnic and learned about dinosaurs. Definitely the best animal sanctuary/safari park I've ever been to! 

The second week it felt like the transition period was over and now our volunteering period was actually starting. We started off strong with Åbent Værksted and had a lot of youngsters coming for the workshop. It was so fun to get to know them all, help them and create our own crafts too!

Then we had our first team meeting where we met all our lovely colleagues and finished off the week with another successful Designstuen and a school event where we also had fun taking part in (yes I consider myself an egg salad expert and a less expert surfer now). Apart from that, we also explored the city center and the stores more, went for a walk in the forest and watched the beautiful autumn sun set over the sea.

Lastly, we went off to our On-Arrival Training in Gymnastikhøjskolen in Ollerup. We did lots of group activities, learned about the danish culture and even took a day trip to beautiful Odense! But what I liked most were the connections I made with other volunteers and the cultural discussions and exchanges we had.

So far Nykøbing has been wonderful! From the cute old houses, to the nature, the lovely people and our unbelievable apartment, I still pinch myself to make sure this is not a dream. That's all for now, but stay tuned cause this is just the beginning!🍿🤗

-Annezina