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PR, MARKETING & MEDIA DEPARTMENT
NEWSROOM DESK

PEOPLE+ | Life goes without stopping

    Updated: Dec 10, 2020

    Hi, I am Berkan. I came from Turkey which is a beautiful, warm and wonderful country. Let us go back to the beginning of the whole story. By the way, the story is no longer as you expect.


    I was born and raised in Turkey. I have lived in Bursa until I left for university. I had started university with really high expectations. After a short time later, I realized that would not pass as I had expected. Any different things had not happened at the beginning. I was solved later. Then I went to France for some kind of volunteering activity. We were at least 20 people from different parts of the world such as Russia, China, Spain, France. That was the first culture shock that I faced in my life. But I quickly figured out that to find a common point to start a conversation then everything went on. Some bad thing happened in France. I faced the problem of lack of speaking English. I still have the same problem but I am better than that. That project was the beginning of my change.


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    Then, I participated in 2 more projects. The first thing that comes to my mind when I heard an Erasmus project is to spend a good time and learn key competencies of the EU. The atmosphere of Erasmus project was beyond my dreams. I learned lots of things as much as I can. When I went back to Turkey, I was not the same person. At that day, I decided to go back and be part of a multicultural organization.


    I always love to be in challenging situations ever since I could remember. My university challenge has already completed. I was looking for a new adventure to change my perspective. Life goes without stopping. I have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I do not want to miss nothing that happens around me. This is what it means to be FOMO. So, I decided to go abroad after a long quarantine and spend time with family that will help me for the rest of my life. This is why I am here.


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    Erasmus is not a temporary learning process. Erasmus is a life-long learning process. I am here to gain lots of things about multicultural projects and also contribute to the whole things that I have. I believe that I will come back to Turkey with good experience, good friends, and good memories.



    Berkan Aydin, volunteer@ICDET

    VIEW+ | Aral's travel story

      Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to answer some questions on arrival. What did I feel in my first experience abroad, how do I feel now? As a volunteer, how did I get here? And, why did I come here?


      My train ticket was canceled when I first arrived in France in 2018. The first day I came to a country I didn't know, I wanted to be teleported back home. I was studying French Language and Literature but had never heard this French in Paris. I somehow managed to reach the camp. The facilities were not very good. Even though we shared a common goal with foreign people, meeting was not easy. But it was a lot of fun. Because new cultures had begun to give me new perspectives. I felt that my experiences had a positive impact on my life.


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      I met my first real work experience in 2019. As a receptionist, I found it very difficult and important to be patient. After those days, I learned that "getting used to the work environment" had a critical role. Meanwhile, my “EVS” applications continued. Even though I have applied to many volunteering projects after 2018, some one-year projects frightened me deep inside. Because my comfort zone was very large.


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      But one day, I saw the announcement of ICDET on Facebook. I graduated this year, but my body still thought I was going to school in September like a student. When we also added the virus uncertainties, there was no harm in applying to ICDET. In the application phase, I believed that any experience I will earn in Bulgaria will be good for me like France.


      Finally, I can tell that I tried to explain myself by summarizing. I feel very comfortable here like I am from another city in Turkey.


      Aral Dilek, volunteer@ICDET

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