My EVS experience in Belfast
It all seemed to me like a big dream, when I received the confirmation of my EVS placement at Shopmobility in Belfast. On the 20th March 2010 I realised this was not a dream anymore. My dream come true! I am going to Belfast for 1 year.
First impressions:
It was already dark, when I arrived at Belfast City airport. I saw the lights of Belfast City through the airplane window and I thought Belfast looks like a huge Christmas market probably like the ones which we have in Austria.
My big international Family.
I share the house with different Volunteers form different countries. We all became a big international Family. My flatmates came from Hungary, Spain, France, Portugal and Germany.
There are other Volunteer houses throughout Belfast and we meet regularly for international dinners or organise Trips to amazing places in Northern Ireland’s, Ireland’s and UK’s nature.
I learned a lot about other cultures and languages since I am here. It’s such a great experience meeting so many different people from different countries, exchanging experiences and getting to know their cultural traditions.
English Language and Belfast.
When I arrived in Belfast, I heared someone talking and I thought: Is this English? The English I learned at school was completely different than English in Belfast. After a while I figured out yes it is English, I just have difficulties to understand it. It took me a few month to get used to the accent, now it seems normal to me.
Once I went into a Fish and Chips shop and ordered a bottle of water, instead, I got a cup of hot water. As I was a bit embarrassed,I asked for a tea bag. There is always time for a cup of tea!
Belfast and it’s lingo
Belfast has a very nice lingo, which can be hard to understand for foreigners like me.
What would you think if you hear the Phrase „Dead on“? Well I tell you, what I thought: A customer come into the Office and I asked how I could help him, he looked at me and said, its DEAD ON. I asked him if someone died, because I didn’t know that Dead on mean It’s OK.
So everything Dead on than, no need to worry! An other phrase which I like very much is What’s the Craig? Which does NOT mean that someone want to buy drugs. It simply means: What’s going on? Something else I discovered here is that everything is WEE. It doesn’t matter if the house, the bag, the shop etc is small or big you just use the word wee for everything, even if it doesn’t make sense.
After a few months in Belfast, even I started using the lingo without recognising it. Friends made me aware of that, and I find it funny and I am a wee bit proud of that.
Volunteering at Shopmobility Belfast
My work at Shopmobility contains a lot of different tasks. Shopmobility hire out wheelchairs and scooters for people with limited mobility or disability. My duties are helping in the day to day tasks like reception and answering the telephone, but my main work is within their youth group „ Tyre Out“ which is for young people between 16 and 30 years, with limited mobility or disability.
Organising all kind of activities like Sports Arts and Culture, seeing how they enjoy themselves makes me very happy and makes me proud of what I am doing here.
Especially, because I have a disability myself, I appreciate the service of Shopmobility and I think Shopmobility should be available in as many countries as possible.
My workmates encouraged me to try as many new things as possible. That’s why I volunteered in my free time at lots of different local festivals.
The Main Things I have learned during my EVS in Belfast:
Appreciating peace
I learned a lot about the Northern Irish History and I learned to be aware and to appreciate the peace in my home country more than ever.
My opinion of nice weather has changed
For me now, the is weather nice, as long as it doesn’t rain.
Believing in myself
Through my work and the volunteering in my free time I learned lots of things I never thought of.
Knowing that everything is possible and that dreams does not have to stay dreams! They actually can become true!
For everybody who haven’t done EVS yet, please don’t miss such great experiences!
by Christina Frisch, Austria
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