I have spent almost a year in Leipzig, Germany. I worked in 3 smaller libraries which belong to the city library. Although I had no expectations, I could learn a lot in these 11 months.

My year can be divided into 2 parts based on the tasks. The first half was about getting to know the city (and the german) library system in general, my colleagues tried to show me almost all of the libraries in Leipzig (there are 16 libraries there!). I could observe all the difference amongst the programmes that each one offer, meet the co-workers there. I was surprised how many possibilities people have to do something in the library. My favourite was a special alternative for old and disabled people, which give them the chance to request any book or medium then the orders are delivered to their home. In the second part of my voluntary year, I did kid activities every afternoon, which mostly consisted of hand crafting programmes. In smaller libraries I had a deeper connection with the kids, so we usually played board games as well. My impression of the people was very positive. The children handled quite good that I do not speak german perfectly and also the parents were patient with me. These gave me a lot of courage to speak more confidently in german.

My only aim with this voluntary year was to improve my German, which I could absolutely accomplish. I had not liked speaking in it before, but here I had to (luckily not all of my colleagues spoke english so basically I was constrained to speak german, which helped me a lot. Now I feel confident, even though I am not grammatically correct.

It was interesting to learn a lot about the culture and German people in a non-formal way. I talked a lot about history and politics to my colleagues. Personally I enjoy making discussions about social issues and politics specifically with people who have different cultural backgrounds. I could definitely widen my way of looking at things.

Another thing which is noteworthy, the exsistence of the Deutschland ticket. With it, I could travel many cities around the country so I could see the diversity of Germany.

Besides these good experiences, I have to mention the only negativity that happened. I had a complicated relationship with my flatmates in the first half of the year, which led me to think about leaving the project. Luckily, my new flatmates were much better, so I changed my mind. Although those were tough months, I could learn a lot about myself and from the situation.