Hallo!

Hey, my name is Melanie, I’m 19 years old and I’m here in Finland since one week. I come from Germany, there I lived in the south, next to the border of Swiss and Austria. I finished school this summer and now I will live in Porvoo for the next eight months. I will do my EVS (European voluntary services) here in the Youthcenter. 

EVS is a European project where you get the chance to stay some months abroad in a European country. It’s a chance to live and work in a foreign country, learn a new language, new culture, a new country… and of course get to know lots of new people. In my opinion it’s a great chance. I’m here now and will learn how Finnish youth work is going because in Germany we don’t have these kind of youthcenters. But it is even more than that... It is the first time I have my own flat, so I have to cook, wash, clean and go shopping… but it is also a chance to get independent and learn something about myself. 

In my free time I play transverse flute and I played handball. Furthermore I love it to read a book, bake something or to make some handicrafts like sewing or knitting. And I also enjoy to meet some friends and just talk with them the whole afternoon…

I never was before in Finland and never before in Scandinavia so the north is completely new for me.  My first impression of Finland is, here are soo many trees... For me it seems like Porvoo is a city that is built in the middle of a forest. On my first morning here in Finland I was just sitting in the kitchen and having my breakfast and then outside I saw a squirrel hopping from tree to tree. Now I can see some squirrels nearly every morning. That's also new for me watching animals while having the breakfast...