It was quite early in the morning when we took a bus through the icy city. When we finally arrived at the Plovdiv Language High School the German teacher already waited to pick us up at the main building. Only 10 minutes later around 30 pairs of eyes were watching me, interested what the German guest has to tell.
To expel the tiredness of a Monday morning at 7:30 I decided to go outside with the students to play a game. The game included some action and boosted the concentration of the students. Still they were happy to finally return to the warm classroom.
I prepared a presentation for the classes which explained how to go abroad with EVS (in Bulgarian: “Европейска доброволческа служба”) and especially why. Furthermore I introduced BG Be Active Association, events like MOVE Week, European School Sports Day or No Elevators Day. Also I explained the youngsters how to involve to make change happen in the local community. It was great to see that the classes are quite sportive compared to the average Bulgarian and that they are aware of the benefits of physical activity for health.
It turned out to be a good way to use humor as a way to keep the students awake and to explain about the culture shock people sometimes experience when going abroad.
I was impressed of the amazing level of German the students already have in 10th grade but also of their interest for the topics. A lot of questions were asked after the presentations about how they can engage themselves in MOVE Week, why I decided to come to Bulgaria, what I like most about Plovdiv (and what I think about Bulgarian girls!). It seems like some students really got interested in doing a European Voluntary Service themselves. I hope that I could inspire some of the students to start a personal experience which might change everything.
Thank you for the invitation!
Words: Philipp