Living together

When Klara, the administrator of our blog, told me to write a text about us living together during the last months, I knew that it would be one of the most difficult tasks I have done here.

How should I express this experience in words?

Five different people from five different countries and cultural backgrounds living together for 8-10 months.

Maros and I arrived in the beginning of November here in Kruiningen.

I would live two months alone with him before the other EVSer arrive.

My first thought: Why should they put the youngest girl (20) and the oldest boy...or better man (his age is a secret) together to live two months alone? I admit that I was very skeptical in the beginning. It seemed that we have a lot of differences. And that was true, but we concentrated on our similarities and after all we were depend on each other. 

Until the other EVSer came in January, Maros and I already experienced a lot together, he cooked his healthy food for me and we started becoming a very good team.

This team of two people became a strong group when the other EVSer arrived.

Not only at work we had to function well as a group, it was even more important to function as a group during the everyday life in the “Vierslag”.

Everyone had his own role in the group.

We cooked together, played games, made music, celebrated birthdays and had parties, played volleyball and visited different cities. We learned from each other.

The aspect that we all come from different countries makes it even more interesting.

For example Noel from Galicia taught us how to cook tortilla and Klara from Croatia taught us how to play a Croatian card game (to which all of us got addicted).

In every single situation you learn something about different cultures and there were not few evenings, where we discussed how one aspect, e.g. corruption, influences our different countries.

When we played a game called “Dixit”, where you have to know the other players very well, with a person from outside, this person had no chance to win.
Of course there were also difficult situations and some arguments.

Who doesn't clean enough? How much money should we spend for shopping?

But this is simply part of it.

After a few weeks, many of us were on vacation, visiting the family and friends. Most of us

experienced how much we miss the others.

I for my part have after these 10 months a second family.

This is my best way to express it in words.

Wietje, Germany