Ok, here we are. At first I was thinking of writing this volunteering stories in Polish, after all I’m a Pole.
But it seems more people can benefit from them if they’re in English and most helpx and workaway volunteers are English speaking.
So, no prologues? Why not, I like them in old-school novels. Our prologue is here and now – Strandheim, Nearsneas in Norway. Here and now – early May 2012, our first Helpx experience.
Fjord by night singing me silent lullaby to wake me up early morning – rising shine! Time to leave the summer cabin with a stunning view and move to the summer chair with your morning coffee. Calmly staring at fjords, eyes not focused on any particular point and that’s how it should be – all I can focus now is my inner self. At last.
Ok, so our first Helpx. Was it worth it? Hell, yes! Not very hard, but occasionally physically demanding job like painting outside walls of the wooden buildings or gardening – pruning trees, cutting bushes, weeding and such. At the same time it’s mentally relaxing and gives you feeling that what you do makes a difference, deeply rewarding after all the corporation work.
Views are breathtaking when you think about it. But sometimes you don’t even feel like thinking 🙂 Just observing rain drops on the porch. The fjord seems so calm, birds are singing and I’m not ready to wake up fully yet. What should we do with this rain? No painting of the outdoors, still plenty of other things though…
Ok, so it’s a job. Nothing like holidays, but as I said – kind of therapeutic. I can hardly imagine going back to the corporate reality. It’s not real for me anymore.
Let’s hope this kick-ass start given by that Helpx experience helps us figure stuff out and head on.
We got here thanks to our friends, long-term helpers at Strandheim. Time spent with them is great. They are so positive, easy-going and relaxed you can see they are into Helpx for more than a couple of days 🙂 They make of a good company.
Our hosts Marianna and Martin give us a lot of freedom. We have separate kitchen plus dining area as spacious and chef friendly as I could ever dream of. And food’s always in the freezer and if anything’s missing you simply put a list for the hosts and they bring it on the next supermarket trip.
After day of work (5 hours a day 5 days a week, unless you want to have more days off, then you just stick to 25hrs a week structure) we can start evening chats, cooking, eating and continue with more chatting in the big room, by the chimney with marshmallows on a stick 🙂 God, I love it here! Such a shame we can only stay for a week. I guess if not for a bloody deadline, I could easily stay for a month without noticing how time flies. But there are things we need to take care of first.
Ok, so our first Helpx: mind-opening, slowly/easy-going time and a great shot of positive energy. Thanks guys! (hosts and friends).
