It,s been almost 20 days since I’ve arrived in Portugal. There are many cultural differences. The one I will never accept is not eating a big breakfast in the morning. For the most part, I,m slowly getting used to the work and life flow here. My main goal outside of work is to speak Portuguese better. I already understand most of my surroundings. But I want to be able to hold a genuine conversation with people.
It is my first time being surrounded by a language I don’t fully understand. Surprisingly it’s kind of refreshing. I enjoy the multilingualism of living here. It’s also one of the main causes why my brain gettings tired so quickly. Especially compared to how productive I can be in my home country.
I think that The rest of the world could learn a lot of things from Portugal culture(no not only having tasty cheap coffee. My point is everyone knows we should take breaks while working cause it’s healthy for both physical and mental health. And here no matter what you do for a living sit at a desk or build bridges. Everyone gets a one hour break in the middle of the day. Most people just sit with their coworkers in a nearby pastelaria and drink coffee while chatting. I wish I could bring back this habit to Poland it helps to wind down for a moment during the day. I could go as far and say that drinking coffee for an hour can be a mindfulness practice cause you can truly focus on the taste or smell of your caffeinated beverage. When I go back to work I know what exactly I’m supposed to do what projects are my everything is clear and organized. That helps me to manage my time as efficiently as possible. It’s rewarding when I finally upload a video I spent hours making. Every day the tasks get a bit more complicated but not too challenging so I stay motivated. Working in an office environment has its good and bad sides. The bad one is mostly your physical health but that it’s obvious. The one I enjoy the most is having your place and your computer it gives me a sense of stability. Every Saturday we have workshops that cover various topics. The other day we were discussing the purpose of volunteering like mine and it made me finally understand the bigger picture of things. I feel like every day I learn new things not only about for example photoshop or video editing but also about myself. Being so far away from home gave me an enormous perspective on myself as a being. After being here for a while I think my dream of studying abroad is closer than I thought.
Maria W
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