This week we visit Matus Lazorik, 27 years, from Slovakia which he recommends all of us to visit as it is cheap, has nice people and good beer :). He participates in the EVS program, working in a Kindergarten in Tallinn.
What was your motivation to do EVS?
One of my main motivations was to get a change. I do not like routines so I looked for something which would stir up my daily life. Then I found EVS and would have liked to done it earlier. But after I applied 3 times, I am finally here now!
But now in your project there is quite a lot of routine I guess, how do you manage?
I recently talked to my mentor and we changed my program a little bit, so that I can have some changes again with my daily routine. That is the nice part about doing a volunteering service, if you have some ideas how to change your program to feel better, there is normally a way.
Did Estonia choose you or did you choose Estonia?
I chose Estonia. It is not the normal country where people want to go. It is a little mysterious and I wanted to get to know more about this small country and it is really nice here.
And are you happy here?
It’s ok! Sometimes we make some jokes that people are grumpy and not as happy but I feel at home. The people in Slovakia are quite similar and also the food is pretty much the same. I just sometimes would love if people would communicate more, so that I do not have the feeling of doing something wrong.
And do you feel any big changes?
Well, I am definitely older now. 😀
No seriously, I think if I didn’t change during my time here, it would mean I did something wrong. I learnt to be more active, to step out of my comfort-zone more often, which is always so easy to say but in the end quite hard to do. But I guess because I am already a little older than most of the other volunteers, the changes are not as big as for example for an 18 years old volunteer.
Did your EVS experience already change your idea of what you want to do after?
I now saw something I have never seen before. It definitely increased my motivation for helping other people. I got a more specific idea of what to do in my life. Now I can imagine working with youngsters and helping them out. This idea of “making the world a better place” is something my EVS experience created and planted in me.
