Hello, I participated in a volunteering project with the Erasmus Plus Program in Norway in 2020. I had long dreamed of going to Europe, but I didn’t know how to do it. I always had to postpone it due to language proficiency and the difficulty of visa requirements. As a result of my researches on the internet, I learned about the Erasmus Plus Program. I decided to go abroad with this program after watching a video on Youtube shared by a friend who went to Poland as a volunteer thanks to Pi Youth Association. As a result of my research, I was accepted to a program in Norway. Later, with the Pi Youth Association getting involved, we started to collect documents and make the necessary applications. Although I had problems with visa application in the first place due to the fact that very few volunteers go to Norway and the procedures are different from other countries, Pi Youth Association has always been with me and they did their best. I just completed all the procedures, I bought tickets, I was going to go, but flights to all of Europe were stopped due to Covid-19. In July, I was able to go where I needed to go in April. Under normal circumstances, if I were alone, I probably would not have dared to do so, but with the support of my friends from the association and my Professor Deniz İşler, I bought a ticket for the second time, and this time I finally reached Norway, Sarpsborg, where my project took place, without any problems. Although it was a difficult process, it was the best experience I have had in my life. After 10 days of quarantine, I met my other two friends from Spain and France, had a great time together, learned a lot from each other and for the first time had friends from different countries. This was truly an amazing experience. I took the first step into a different world. During my project, I learned both English and Norwegian. I had the opportunity to get to know the Norwegian culture closely, the reindeer, the northern stars, the Viking Museum, the Halden and Fredrikstad castles, the salmon and fish farms, the Gaustatoppen mountain, the hiking trails, the fjords, and many other cool but beautiful things of the north. We did many activities on the islands, such as camping, horse riding, canoeing and fishing.

I would like to tell a few other important points for me. We have been studying English for about 8 years in our country, but I can sincerely say that during my stay in the project, I learned English in 4 months, which I could not learn in 8 years, and this encouraged me. A lot of my prejudices were broken, I struggled at first, but as time passed, I realized that this program added a lot to me. I overcame my fear of learning new languages and learned to know different people and to live in a different culture. At the same time, I am a volunteer of Pi Youth Association and I am happy about this. I would like to thank all the workers who were with me from the beginning to the end of the process. I highly recommend it to friends who will come after me, but I also want to say that I will always help friends who are thinking to go Norway as a volunteer and they can always get in touch if they need it. Let me summarize the time I spent with you in my project;

A photo from an island we went for a nice weekend walk

We took a hike in the Gaustatoppen mountain. There is a tram line carved through the mountain, you can go on foot or by tram if you wish. There is a very nice restaurant and hotel at the top, as you go up you can see the season change.

The horse ride during Viking week was so beautiful, Norwegians never break with the past.
It was possible to see the goats grazing freely in the vast fjords, of course they were followed by GPS ?
A picture of a picnic and swimming event for children.
My French friend Ciara, who was doing cleaning on the farm ?
The representative costume we made for Viking week with Saul, my dear friend from Spain who participated in the Project
It was a nice experience to cook in the campfire and live in nature.

The Volunteer of ESC-026 Norway Project “Ramazan Güngör”
Pi Gençlik Derneği (Pi Youth Association)


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