this is my entry for the following contest: https://steemit.com/promo-mentors/@futurethinker/promo-mentors-writing-challenge.
My most meaningful experience - Turku's finest
As a volunteer for an lgbtq+ organization I had the opportunity to leave for a training on migration/refugees/asylum seeking all the way to Turku, Finland. I consider this trip to have been my most memorable and meaningful of my experiences and I will tell you all about it!
First of all you have to take into consideration that I only knew one person there and that I have never been anywhere on my own. It was one of the scariest, most tiring weeks of my life. But also the most beautiful.
The training was well organised and had meaningful content, meaning it taught us a lot of useful things about social justice in wonderful, inovative ways. Throughout the week we learned how to me more sensitive to the issues of refugees, how to help and understand asylum-seekers, how to raise awareness about the issues people who migrate face.
We also learned each others' names. We learned that we're all having fun in the gay bar - gay or straight -, that saunas are a great place to hand out, that mixing alcohol from five different countries leads to an eventful night, and that finish people are delightful. We also lived on a boat!! How cool is that?!
I've never had a more eventful week in my life, simply because we knew how little time we had together and so we made it count. In the mornings we all met for breakfast, late and in pajamas, in the afternoon we drank coffee with amazing oat milk and we learned how to be better people. At night we went out to eat and drink and meet new people. Some of us even fell in love. We danced, and kissed, and walked, and laughed.
I could have said no and just stayed home and go to uni and take the test I had to miss, but I chose an adventure and I am damn glad I did!