Cati in Bremen // 2nd Report

Moin,

My experience has changed a lot since the last report, in a very positive way. I think the most important part of it is that I met beautiful human beings.

Looking back, my time in Bremen feels divided into two clear periods that coincidentally match the two reports: living on the farm and later living in Gröpelingen. The change between these two environments was exactly what I needed. Spending winter on a farm could have been difficult, while moving gave me new energy and motivation to keep going. Creating my own space by decorating my room and adding furniture helped me feel settled. Living closer to the tram also gave me more freedom and flexibility, allowing me to be more active and feel safer returning home at night.

Sharing a flat with new people became one of the most positive parts of this period. Daily life with them transformed challenges into laughter and good energy. We shared meaningful moments such as celebrating Adventsonntags, buying candles that reminded us of each other, watching trashy movies while eating homemade lasagna, or simply spending time together talking and enjoying Anastasia’s cakes and pancakes.

During this experience, I slowly started to see a new version of myself. Now, looking at it from a broader perspective, I can truly say that I see a more mature and confident version of who I am. These deep internal changes came from situations and people who challenged me.

The difficult part was that I was not used to dealing with this type of behaviour in my daily life, but I learned to protect my energy. I understood that I am stronger than other people’s actions or words, and that I am the one who decides how their behaviour affects me. Instead of reacting, I chose to learn from those situations and leave them behind, because some people are simply not worth spending your energy on.

Through these challenges, I developed a sense of serenity, resilience and stronger self-love. I discovered that this strength was already inside me, and this experience helped me recognise it. Now challenges no longer feel like challenges in the same way.

At times I felt that my biggest learning was personal rather than professional, but when I step back, I can see how much I learned about the organisation and my work environment. I gained a better understanding of how an organisation functions internally and learned more about Youth Exchanges and Training Courses. Even when I worked mostly in the background, I paid attention to details and observed how processes and projects were developed.

I had the opportunity to organise the Christmas Party and attend events such as Feuerspuren and Kids in Action. Visiting Precious Plastic Bremen was especially impactful because it allowed me to understand how complex recycling processes actually are. Even though we could not see the entire process, it changed my perspective and made me more aware of sustainability challenges.

One of the work experiences I enjoyed the most was attending the training course It’s Up to Me, which focused on becoming a trainer. My main responsibility during this time was creating social media content, but I found great value in observing the work of trainers and discovering a professional field that could be interesting for my future.

Relationships with friends and family also played an important role during this period. Some of the memories that stay strongly in my mind are the road trip with my family in Croatia, nights at Waterfront just enjoying the views, and when friends from my hometown came to visit me one day before my Master’s exam. I was really stressed the days before cause I didn’t had enough time to study but with them everything came easier. They stayed with me while I was studying, and in that moment everything felt easier, I just enjoyed studying, and of course taking many breaks to update ourselves, gossip and laugh.

Another very special memory was meeting my girls in Paris, when one of them invited us to an Erasmus boat party on the Seine. I remember that at some point we were far away from each other and didn’t even know where the others were. But when a song from our Italian artist started playing, we left everything behind and tried to find each other so we could dance like crazy together.

This is the fourth time I have lived abroad, and my previous experiences were extremely intense and transformative, full of people and experiences. But of course, they were not meant to last forever; they were too intense to be maintained. This time, however, I experienced something completely different, but exactly what I needed. Bremen gave me stability and calmness rather than emotional intensity. It allowed me to develop in a more balanced, deeper, and more genuine way.

In many ways, Bremen gave me nothing while giving me everything at the same time. It arrived exactly when I needed it, and I feel deeply grateful for that.

Knowing that I only have three months left in Bremen makes me feel sad. Even though I still do not know what my future will look like, I feel comfortable with that uncertainty and ready to continue discovering what comes next.

P.S. I saw my first northern lights from my terrace in Bremen. It was pure magic in the sky.