My first Erasmus + experience

As a volunteer of the DevelopMent organization, I would like to write about my first Erasmus + Experience.

Inside the school where I was at the student stage at that time, a competition was organized based on which opportunities were offered to participate abroad in classes for personal development. At that moment, I decided that this opportunity is one that I would not want to miss because it will beautify my CV as a university student, but it will also give me the chance to volunteer to enrich my personal perceptions about teaching methods and learning in other states. So I didn’t fail. I took the first step by registering for this contest, and I was selected as a participant in the Romanian team that was to go to Georgia. I was very happy with what I heard, so I started packing and waiting for the day when we would fly to the heart of Georgia, Tbilisi.

I can say that the road was a long one, but we managed to get to know each participant in the team to meet the group leaders, Doina and Petru, and exchange experiences of how we were selected in the project and how we arrived. until then. We first went by bus from Chisinau to Bucharest, where we were to have our first flight. From Bucharest airport, we flew for about 2 hours to Kiev, and from Kiev, we took the second flight which took about 3 hours. We flew by plane for the first time, and I want to mention that it had been an unforgettable experience because it was daylight, I could see how the sun shone above the clouds, how the lights beautified the cities at sunset.

After finishing and tasting the flights’ aroma, we took a pleasant bus ride to the hotel where we were going to stay. On the way to the hotel, even though we were tired, we all sang, joked and talked about our next week there. Arriving at the hotel very late, each of us was going to stay in a room with a participant from another country, this moment was one of the most interesting for me, because you were going to exchange experiences with someone in different languages or at least English. So, that very late night, each of us had managed to get to know our roommate and rest for the next day.

From the first day, each of us had received a daily schedule, in which the classes were anticipated and at what time they would take place, and at the end of each day, one of the countries represented in the project had to present itself through its traditions, traditional food, dances, customs and bring some souvenirs from the state they belong to. In this project, we made mini-projects for our future business plans, we learned the steps to start a business, we understood how a product should be sold in the market and many other things. I think the most complicated thing for me was to express myself and speak English, but it was very nice when people tried to help you and teach you how to be fair, not to judge you and that contributed a lot to the enrichment of the vocabulary. And my fluency in English. In any case, in this project there were not only days where we learned or stay bored in the chairs and listened to someone talking for an hour and a half, there were also days when the leaders went with us, and we visited every market in Tbilisi, but I also bought some things, souvenirs or things to eat. We even stopped at a nearby restaurant where we had tasted for the first time the traditional Georgian food khachapuri and khinkali, which were a delight for the Romanian team.

At the end of this project, no one wanted to leave and break up with the friends he had then, no one wanted to break up with the teacher who had trained us for days such interesting lessons about the world trade arena and finally no one he didn’t want to leave because we all considered ourselves a family. The last hour I had was about the successes of all the participants and everyone was handed a diploma that rewarded their merit in this project. Last night, many of us preferred to spend time with new friends instead of sleeping. When each team left, all the others came to say goodbye, and that had been one of the nicest gestures on their part.

The road was long again, but despite this and the fact that we were tired, we returned home with new experiences, luggage full of souvenirs, and a wide smile on our faces. After this project, I tried to be more open to new challenges and try to communicate with more people, and I understood that you should not be afraid to speak a foreign language because there are people who can help you in and you can help them.

Author:

Corina Cebanica

#Erasmus+ #DevelopMe #FirstExperience #YouthExchange  #Education #Traveling