EVS in Pomiechówek

Roald Dahl was my favourite writer when I was a child. And if I think about it now, he still is.  I’ve always been in constant research for something more than the ordinary, and perhaps this has something to do with my name, that’s very predictable! I have the clearest memory of sneaking down the stairs in the middle of a sleepless night at my uncles’ house and choosing Matilda from the bookshelves in the dark living room. I had just learned to read on my own and there was a magical haze blurring the borders of reality; I was completely captured inside that familiar yet scary universe inside my warm blanket shelter on the armchair, avidly turning the pages until sunrise.  As soon as I finished I ran to the library and borrowed as many books by him as I could, and kept going back and forth to read them again!  His outrageous, eccentric stories ignited a long lasting love for reading that genuinely applies to the whole spectrum of storytelling, from visual arts to film to m...

Cześć everyone! I’m Alice and I grew up in Padova, Italy, where I graduated in Publishing and Illustration. I am currently living in Pomiechówek and I work at the Biblioteka in the culture center. The village is a small but really pretty place by the river, surrounded by a beautiful forest; it’s so good to be able to spend time in the nature! I’m fascinated with both Art and the wonders of our planet, and I think they all need to be treasured and protected. I’m hopeful my year here will continue to be as wonderful as it’s been until now, and I will try my best to give back the joy, support and inspiration I’m receiving from everyone in the project. I'm starting to get familiar with a very basic Polish but of course I can't form a proper sentence or understand what people talk about yet. In fact my first language assessment test resulted in A1-  What can I say... it can only get better from here :') I’m so thankful to be part of this project, especially considering the curre...

You can’t ignore it, the months of March and April 2020 have been special for everyone! First, the library closed its doors to the public. But me and my colleagues still worked at the library. But the very next week, all the volunteers received a message from the coordinators, saying that we needed to stay at home, and could go outside only for groceries. Fortunately for me, my work at the library could be done from home: to write articles for the blog, to create wishes cards for Easter and, for the biggest part of my time, to create videos for the “Okiem Marine”, my weekly art history post for the library’s Facebook and YouTube accounts! So I organized my work as I wished! I woke up when I wanted and started to work when I wanted, which means that I began to work around 10:30 AM, and finished later than at the library, around 6 PM. I went out only for shopping, 2 or 3 times a week.  Fortunately for my flatmate and me, we have a balcony directly under the sun...

Pomiech ów ek is a small town. There are not a lot of foreigners who come to this city, except the volunteers of the library and cultural center. So when Anna and I arrived in September, we became the representatives of our countries, Austria and France (and we still are, until the new volunteers come!). And as good representatives, we made presentations on France and Austria, to allow people to discover or better know about it. We both went to the primary school to present in English what our countries are famous for: food, people, sport, landscapes, arts, etc. 3 times, classes listened to us carefully. Some students had questions, which were very interesting, but most of them were shy, or we didn’t have time to have a real conversation… Too bad ... Anyway, a few weeks later, and a few times after, I went to the high school to present France, this time in French, linked with the French lessons and teachers (who translated into Polish what I said)! Without exaggerating, ...

Every week, I go to the kindergarten of the town. Every week, I see the same children sitting on the rug of the classroom, eagerly waiting for my story. Every week, I read a new story in English, for them. I read a page in English, then the teacher translates in Polish. The kids don’t understand everything I say, of course, but at the end of the story we repeat the main vocabulary together, and they remember quite a lot! Twice a month, I go to a different class in the primary school of the town. Twice a month, I see the same children sitting on the rug of the classroom, eagerly waiting for my story, shouting “Bonjour!” as I arrive! Twice a month, I read a new story, for them. The teachers don’t translate everything, but it doesn’t matter, the kids know the story and they have the illustrations to understand what happens. Then we repeat the main vocabulary in English, and they try to teach it to me in Polish… As they are older than in the kindergarten, they...

  Before arriving at the library, I'd never had to create communication posts or projects. I’d never used the website Canva (no, I tried it once, but it wasn’t conclusive at all…). I was convinced that I had no real creative skills. But when I arrived, my colleague Kalina taught me how to use the software Gimp and Canva. It’s not that complicated after all, and I’m now able to help her on different communication projects for the library. Even if sometimes it’s hard to be imaginative or original, I love to find new ideas and improve my creativity ! Until now, I had to design projects for : The national reading day The kitten Kicia Kocia The Christmas wishes The new books post etc. And I’m pretty proud of it !

Dzień dobry everyone! I'm Marine, the new volunteer who works in the library since September 2019. I come from France and I'm here until August 2020. I took a long time before continuing this blog, for my new life was so full and exciting! But the good thing is that now I have plenty to say and to show to you! So let's start a recap of the last 6 months! Who am I? First of all, I will introduce myself a bit deeper. So my name is Marine, I come from Rennes, a city in Brittany, in the West of France. I celebrated my 21st birthday in Pomiechówek.  Before I decided to make an ESC (new name for EVS, now it's European Solidarity Corps, no more European Voluntary Service), I spent 3 years at the university, studying art history.  I loved it, but I didn't know what to do after that, and I was eager to live on my own, abroad, to have experiences I wouldn't be able to have at home, to confront a new way of life, new people, a new language, etc.  And until no...