Montag, 5. Januar 2015

Memoirs of a Volunteer



I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and never came around to uploading it. But here it is, my last blogpost, for a while at least. 



Tobias Volkmer – Memoirs of a Volunteer
My year abroad is over, and as I reflect on it I realize how much has happened in these last months. Starting off with a rough start in July and August transitioning to highlights such as staying with a host family or traveling through South East Asia, I think of all the up´s and down´s, and how I’ve grown, not only in width but also as an individual throughout this experience.
When you plan to leave Germany in July, you generally have no Idea of what that means. When I first applied to American Field Service (AFS) I was only 17, not done yet with my Abitur and had absolutely no Idea of what I was getting myself into. I did not think of how I was going to spend Christmas in Thailand or my Birthday in Malaysia. In hindsight it feels like I did only a limited amount of thinking during that time.
My second and permanent workplace was a learning center in the heart of Georgetown, Penang, which provided me with a wide variety of experiences throughout the year. These included occasional sessions with students, where I was able to teach English and Math, group therapy, two vacation camps with our students, and also dull moments where there was nothing for me to do. As a compensation for a rather mellow work atmosphere, I was given the chance to use my time wisely and enjoy South East Asia. In separate holidays I traveled to Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
Even though I felt like quitting early off, due to my first work placement, I think that exactly these, more difficult experiences, are the ones that have defined me the most throughout the year. During these hardships I learned the value of family and friendship. Without the support of my family and my friends back home and especially my new found friends among the other volunteers I could not have survived 335 days in Malaysia.
And that is why I find it especially important to thank them all at this point. To the guys in Penang who suffered my complaints all year long, thank you so much for your support and your honesty. I had a lot of fun eating at the famous Komtarinder and drinking at Antarabangsa. Even though we might not be the best, we certainly are the most enthusiastic karaoke group, even if a karaoke bar is nowhere to be found.
As to my family back home I cannot express in words my gratitude for their never ending support and their uncanny ability to make me feel like I was not missing out on life in Berlin. I am especially grateful as to how they brought Christmas to Thailand via Skype.
As one chapter of life ends another chapter begins. I have started my studies at the Europa Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt Oder where I plan to do my Bachelor.
After my homecoming in June, I applied to 18 different Universities across Germany.  After a few weeks I was overwhelmed by the responses. I ended up choosing the Viadrina for a variety of reason. Not only is it a small University with only 6.700 pupils, but it also offers a very unique course called Wirtschaft und Recht (Business and Law). While 2/3 of the bachelor consists of the standard business courses such as accounting and international management, the other third allows you an insight into the seeming chaos that is German law.  I am very glad to say that after three months of studying I neither regret my choice of University and bachelor.
My decision to work as a volunteer, after graduating High School has been one amazing roller-coaster ride of an experience. It had its ups, it had its downs, but that has become part of me and has helped me grow as an individual. I am convinced that without this year I would not possess the necessary discipline to be a successful student.
I left Malaysia with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. Thank you all for the great time and for supporting me by reading my Blog.
Tobias Volkmer




Sonntag, 27. April 2014

Vacation Camp, Thesi in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and more!



Goodbye? Not quite yet.
As my year in Malaysia reaches its end it feels like I need to begin to draw conclusions of whether experiences have taught me anything and if my stay was worthwhile. But before I can review my year I need to finish telling the tale. So much has happened since my last blog from the 11. of march. 

March Camp

One of the events that took place was a three day vacation camp with 35 of our students and about 17 volunteers /teachers. Although this seems like an excessive number of helpers, do bear in mind that most of these children have some sort special needs. And so even if you “only” have to take care of two kids, it can become quite a workout if one of them has ADHD and won’t stop running around. At some point I found myself wishing that everyone would just sit down and eat their lunch. Not even 30 minutes passed until I started to regret my wish. This was when I tried to motivate a 20-something year old Chinese boy with Down syndrome to walk back to our living quarters with me. As I tried to get him to walk he just sat on his chair sometimes on the floor he was clearly the one in charge. After a 10 minute struggle one of the teachers gave in, and offered to drive my student to our rooms. As soon as the teacher pulled out his key, the student sprang up and ran to the car. Thereby I was left alone to walk back blazing 35°C. 





Here you see exactly this student walking through the pool with me. Although it took some persuading to get this particular student into the water, it was clearly worth the time and effort. His joy was so rewarding, that this experience compensated for the disgusting food at the camp.
  

One of my personal highlights of this camp was when a little girl, diagnosed with selective muteism, started to play and the gradually started to talk to me. Not only was it nice to see that the little girl (age 6) felt comfortable enough to talk to me. Which she had only done with one other teacher. The joy in her mother’s eyes when I told her the last day was worth every hour i sat next to her daughter just talking and playing without her saying anything.

Reunited


After two days of rest in Georgetown I took a bus down to Kuala Lumpur to pick up my older sister Theresa from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.






And that is where the fun started! The first stop on our tour was my house in Georgetown. After having to listen to her complaints at how dirty my room was, we went and explored my new hometown. We walked through the heritage part of Georgetown, stoping what felt like every hours or so in order to eat.When we werent eating we were taking silly pictures infront of streetart. 

 While I was doing this a chinese woman shouted: "I want do same!"


 Although our parents dont approve of riding a motorcycle Thesi gave it a try


 I have joined a marching band




We also went to the Tek Lok Si temple that is located here in Penang.


Thesi feeding the turtels.

Older she might be, but I am still the taller one



Temple garden


Sri Lanka!!

Sri Lanka? Yes, Sri Lanka!!



When Thesi first decided to visit me in Malaysia we discussed where we should go. A lot of options were dicussed… Should we stay in Malaysia, travel to Thailand or visit Vietnam. And then out of the blue came the idea of Sri Lanka.  And it was the best choice we could have made. What a great Vacation. 



Thesi and I started off in Colombo. After an uncomfortable taxi ride from the airport to our hostel I encountered my first big shock of the trip. Instead of being greeted by an impolite employee who sits behind a rundown desk in a dark and stuffy room, we were welcomed with a smile and offered a seat.



Something was wrong. I knew it at this moment that this trip would not be like my experiences in Thailand or Cambodia. And then, while sitting on a comfortable couch, waiting for the receptionist to confirm our booking and registration, a man appeared. And with him he brought a tray of drinks and towels. I was suspicious. Nothing in life is for free, especially not in a hostel. “We will probably have to pay at least 20 US Dollars for this later on” I said.  But then Thesi laughed and said: “Ahh now I know what they meant by writing ‘complimentary drinks and cold towels upon arrival’ ”. In all of my travels in South East Asia I have never experienced a trip like Sri Lanka. Starting with this experience in Colombo it became apparent that my older sister had a completely different traveling style than what I was used to.



While I like to live day to day, decide upon my next destination the day before I leave and check into the next best hostel upon arrival, my sister had done actual research and planning. And what a great job she had done.  We stayed in the best rated low budget hostels/motels/resorts. Instead of sleeping in an overcrowded 28 people dorm, like I did in Phnom Phen, we usually had a two bed room, without having to pay more than I usually did.  And as an extra highlight there we had breakfast every day! For a person who has been skipping breakfast for a good part of a year, because he is too lazy/ disorganized to buy food in advance, this is like waking up in heaven.



Our travel route, yes I made that all by myself.

First Stop- Kandy


After a great start in Colombo, where we spent our first night, we took an early train to Kandy. The trainride by itself is an unforgettable experience. It takes you from Colombo through the hills and tea plantations all the way to Kandy. And for a price of 2 euros for two people in 2nd class, there is no way that I can complain about the quality of the seats or the lack of aircondition.


Our Train



 Thesi enjoying the ride




 No wories the train wasn't moving.



Thesi infront of Kandy Lake




 At the sacred tooth relic in Kandy, and yes I am wearing backpacker pants.


Next Stop- Udu Walawe

Our next stop was at Udu Walawe, a national park in the south of Sri Lanka. We took a local bus from Kandy to Udu Walawe. It was hot, dirty and extremely cheap. But most of all it was quite a very unique experience. The first thing we did was to sit down on the seat that is reserved for clergy.  


 Upps...



 Safari!

We stayed at a small resort with a pool and woke up the next day at 5.30 in the morning to go on my very first safari!!


 beautiful landscape



 Sunrise



 Our first wild Elephant



 And another one.



Elephant Family in the bushes!!



 Nothing wrong with a nice haircut.



 
 Birdy



 Thesi



Elephant by the lake



Water Buffalo 



Dinner is ready


Baby Elephant Orphanage


There are quite a few Elephant Orphanages in Sri Lanka, but they have the tendancy to be very touristic and/or not to treat the animals in a good way. The one that we visited was clean, they treated the elephants as you would expect them to and did not look like busloads of tourists were ever brought here.

We managed to arrive just in time for the feeding of the elephants.  

 This three legged companion conquered my heart in no time



 Who can resist him?



 So adorable


 What can I say?


Hot Springs

After a morning of elephants and exitement, we decided to lie down for a power nap. After which we took a tuktuk to some hotsprings. 







The trip continues...

Next stop on our trip was tangalle, where we stayed in a resort right by the beach.


 I just want to go back!



 Run Thesi run!



 Thesi in the wind



I clearly won this fight

Last stop: Galle (besides Colombo)

Our last stop of our trip, besides Colombo of course, was the dutch fort city of Galle. It is a very nice little town with its historical core still intact. With its little shops and restaurants it was a bit more touristic than any of the other places we had visited so far. These are going to be the last pictures for this rather long blog.


 Thesi looking all calm even though she is scared of heights



:)

Thank you so much for reading, or if you were lazy, looking at the picture. I had such a wonderful time with my sister and thank you Thesi for visiting me! As nice it is here, I can't wait to go back home in about 50 days! It has been quite a year! I will write at least one more blog to conclude this adventure of mine and summarize what I have learned.

As always, feel free to write me at: tmvolkmer@hotmail.de
Tobi