Hello all,
To start off today’s post, I’d like to say a big thank-you to those of you back in Summerland who sent me such a nice Canadian care package yesterday - although I must admit that it’s weird to receive a snowfall now, just when it was starting to feel like spring ;) One day of snow wasn’t quite long enough for me to source some maple syrup and make tirée d’érable though. Do you have any more to spare? I’ve been back to school for a week now, and already my practicum seems so long ago. I’m happy to report that it was a very enjoyable three weeks of volunteering at the Food Bank! I was lucky enough to work in many different capacities - as a passenger in the food-collecting vans, an office worker, and one of the crew giving out groceries at the Food Bank “Standort”s. This made for a varied and interesting schedule, and allowed me to gain a good understanding of how the Food Bank system as a whole works here. Here’s a quick overview of what each of the roles involved, for those interested in a few more details: Van passenger: At 8:00, we met at the warehouse and loaded the vans with crates. Then, off we drove to pick up food at grocery stores and bakeries. Depending on what the places donated, we needed to sort through the food, throwing out anything with old best-before dates and other questionable goods. Then, we loaded up the van and drove to the next place, ending our route at the Standort of the day, where we unloaded all the crates of food. As this ended early mid-day, I would then stay and help out at the Standort. Office worker: Because it was the beginning of the new year, I was kept very busy in the office making new cards for the customers - which basically consisted of transferring old information to an excel chart on the computer, adding any new information, verifying that they were still eligible to receive cards based on the documents they provided, and printing off and laminating the aforementioned cards. It was a very good exercise in communication and gave me a chance to occasionally put my French and English to use, as many of the customers were relatively new German speakers. Standort crew member: Probably my favourite job, although that’s hard to say. The days at the Standorts were short but fairly intense for a few hours. Every day of the week, the food bank was in a different place, and I got to work in each of them at least once. Each of these places (mostly in churches) had a kitchen, a dining area, and a space for the grocery dispensing. We would meet at 9:30ish, make sure everything was tidy, start to prepare the food (depending on the place, either made there or donated by hotels/schools/etc. and heated up) and set up the tables. As the vans came with groceries, we would help unload the crates, sort everything and lay it out on tables in the hall, and then take a break to breakfast and drink coffee together. After this, the work would begin in earnest. As the customers began to arrive, they would present their cards and pay (2 euros per family for groceries, or 0.50 euros per person for a hot meal), then pick a number from a hat and line up accordingly to wait. Depending on the place, there would be 60-120 customers in total. As those buying groceries came through, we either walked through the grocery hall with them or received them at stations. They would tell us which goods they wanted and we would portion them out according to how many people were there, how much food we had that day, and how many people they were shopping for. Although a few of the customers were occasionally unsatisfied with the amount they received, the vast majority were extremely respectful, friendly, and understanding when there was little of a certain product. When I expressed this to one of the other volunteers, he said “Yes; when you smile, people smile back”. From that point, I made it my mission to be as pleasant as possible - and it was amazing how the warmth I tried to express was given back tenfold. After one and a half or two hours, everyone was through and we cleaned up and loaded any leftover groceries back into the vans to be taken to the warehouse for the night. All in all, my experience was very eye-opening and I feel privileged to have been able to learn about and contribute a little to such an important program, as well as to have met so many wonderful volunteers who do this work on a regular basis. Now, I am in the process of writing my practicum report for school - which I will happily send to anyone interested in testing out their German / doing some editing ;) Since I last wrote, it hasn’t just been “work, work, work”. I’ve also been doing some sightseeing (including visiting the Neanderthal museum in Mettmann (where the first neanderthal remains were found) with Manfred, going for another family cheese-buying expedition to Holland, and visiting the Chocolate museum in Cologne with friends) and attended some interesting events (a dance open house in Dusseldorf where I participated in several free lessons (my favourite being the Afro-Brazilian Dance lesson), a balloon-animal making tutorial at a friend’s house, and a Peruvian food festival in Cologne, to name a few). As well, my schedule is totally new - I switched several classes at school and now tutor english four times a week and have a Standard/Latin dance class in Velbert twice a week, as well as lots of other activities once a week (Youth Group meetings, Rotary/Roteract meetings, German lessons, a tango class in Dusseldorf, and a Zumba class in Heiligenhaus). Also worthy of mention is my awesome “Newbie” (new exchange student) - Francisco, a Brazilian boy who now goes to Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium with me! It’s very neat to have another exchange student at my school, although unfortunately we have no classes together. As you can see, “never a dull moment” is certainly an accurate description of my life right now. I’m excited to see what adventures are coming next! Liebe Grüße from sunny Heiligenhaus, Sylvia
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