“My Seminar in Toruń in March 2024 „ – by Jan Mitschke
I arrived in Toruń on Monday, and the first event of the seminar was dinner. After dinner, we took a walk through the old town of Toruń and began conversing with the other volunteers, getting to know each other for the first time. After the short walk, the first day ended. On Tuesday, the seminar began with breakfast, followed by an introduction to what we would be doing during the week. We discussed our work, projects, and our time in Poland so far. We engaged in reflection, which proved to be really helpful in reminding myself about my experiences and assessing how I’m doing. Following this session, we were given a task. In small groups of four people, we visited a special landmark of the city, Toruń. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t good, but we managed to find the ‘Krzywa Wieża,’ or the Leaning Tower, and learned about its history. On Wednesday, we had some time for self-reflection. It was an opportunity to reflect individually on our past experiences, our contributions to the project, what we’ve learned, and much more. This exercise was really beneficial in bringing to mind things we may have forgotten and allowing us to focus solely on those aspects. On Thursday, we were once again divided into groups, tasked with exploring the city. We visited several museums, including the Old Town Hall exhibition, the Ethnographic Museum, and the Travelers Museum, which were all very interesting. Throughout the walk, we had specific tasks to complete, such as taking pictures of certain objects. Additionally, on Thursday, we visited the Toruń Gingerbread Museum, where we learned about the process and history of gingerbread making, and even made gingerbread ourselves. On Friday morning, we had a summary of the week and a final reflection, focusing on our future selves. I truly appreciated this week; it was enjoyable, interesting, and incredibly helpful for my personal development.”
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