Not only get but also give | EVS/ESC Review #22
Toastmasters International Community, English development, busy weeks and time to relax, how to measure your life whether it's balanced or not, blog marathon and my football and stadium life!
#1. Toastmasters International Community
After English Teaching Conference I decided to improve my English and what is the best place to find any events of such kinds nowadays? Of course, it is Facebook.
Therefore, I started looking for events like speaking or discussion clubs and debate teams. Luckily, I found Toastmasters Speaking Elephants at Łazarski University and on Tuesday I went right there after my busy day with Kirkland students and office work at the Foundation.
Toastmasters Club format is completely new for me. Though I heard about that before (seems to me, we even have one club at V.N.Karazing Kharkiv National University), I never was much engaged or interested because I had enough English practice at university and work. So I knew nothing about Toastmasters Community format, goals, roles, etc.
I am lucky that from the first time I chose so great Toastmasters club because everything here was just perfect - from scheduling (everything was on time without any excuses) to really friendly members of the club (students, teachers, and professors)! To cut short, Toastmasters International is a perfect opportunity to practice your English, public speaking skills, overcome your fears and find new friends. If you're interested, you can read more about this community here.
Unfortunately, Tuesday isn't convenient for me, so I have no opportunity to become a member of Toastmasters Speaking Elephants at Łazarski University. But if you happen to be in Warsaw on Tuesdays - visit these guys! They are really professional ones!
#2. Time to relax
Everything in your life should be balanced - enough time to learn, to work, to meet with friends, to relax and to enjoy this life. There is a good exercise when you draw a circle graph and should evaluate different aspects of your life from 1 to 10: family, personal growth, career and business, etc. (have a look at this method here).
Why am I writing all that here? Because after a really busy week with no weekend (remember, I had a conference on Saturday and Sunday), I started a new week with many other events and things from morning till night. Therefore, a free evening on Wednesday when I simply stayed at home, cooked something, surfed the internet and spent time with myself turned out to be so recharging! It is unusual for me to relax on a workday; however, if you have no weekends, why not to make such an 'evening off' in the middle of a work week? :)
#3. Blog marathon - or what to do if you don't have time
If you are reading my blogs after my ESC finishes (sounds like a letter into the future), you will not see the time when this blog review has actually been posted. However, I can tell you that I have some kind of 'traffic jam' here.
Because of so many events happening every week I simply haven't got enough time for everything I want to do. That's why now, unfortunately, I don't post blogs every week (actually, this one is being written on 11th March).
I think everybody of you encountered such kind of problems at least once in your life. And the only remedy for that is to keep going despite all the difficulties*. We'll never have enough time, so the only thing we can do is to create that time!
#4. Ice-rink. Whowhoooo!
Finally, we are ice-skating! At the last moment (literally, the ice-rink closes on March 4) we decided to go there! What a wonderful place!
Notably, I have never been to a football match and even have not visited a football stadium (yeap, though I am from Kharkiv). Because the rink is situated right on the field in the centre of the stadium you can imagine how amazed I was!
What is interesting and unusual here is that every 20-25 minutes the directions is changed. We don't have such practice in Ukraine, that's why at first I didn't get what I should do and why people are going towards me :D Nice music, white ice, sweet atmosphere - I definitely want more!
All the best from EVS/ESC-wolontariuszka Ira Konoplianko.
Cześć!😉
