Elina

Travel information

I am currently

Description

I enjoy outdoor life, both working outdoors (garden, agriculture, forest, maintenance of hiking trails etc) and hiking & bicycling. I enjoy working with others while I am independent in my tasks and also happy to work on my own. Cooking - and eating - and learning about local cuisine and use of local ingredients is one of my interests. I read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction, in particular history and society, like seeing theatre and films, and love discussion on a wide range of topics.

My last autumn experience in the Puglia olive harvest (and doing other garden work as well as helping in the kitchen of the agriturismo) was very positive (4 weeks via WWOOF Italy). In addition, over the past 2 years, I have been working on a camping site in Bretagne (3 times, 4-5 weeks each: gardening, renovation, cleaning, maintenance. Organised myself, a reference letter available). I will be volunteering in Iceland next June (Thorsmärk natural park, volunteer work organised by the Forest Agency of Iceland, the assignment confirmed).

I have visited Italy often due to my work and hobbies and I have several Italian friends. I have been hiking (Piedmonte, Valle d'Aosta, Alps, Dolomites) and bicycled (in Lazio, Toscana and Puglia) and enjoyed the museums in many cities. I find Italian history and culture, including the cuisine, fascinating. Volunteering is to me a good complement to travelling and meeting friends for learning more about the country, habits and culture. As I have been more in the north, I now wish to learn more about Mezzogiorno and in particular Sicily.

I left my day job two years ago. The main reason for retiring early was to stay abroad for longer time periods, enjoy hiking and learning new things by volunteering when I still am in good physical condition. I loved my work for the European administration was the possibility to contribute to the protection of the environment and human health while working with great colleagues from all EU Countries.

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Finnish: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
German: Intermediate
French: Beginner
Italian: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I would like to learn Italian by using my basic, beginner knoweldge. I am able to support others learning English (and Finnish and Swedish) e.g. via discussing, however, I have no formal teaching experience.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Life at a Farmstay

Helping around the house

Charity Work

DIY and building projects

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Eco Projects

Hospitality/Tourism

More details about your skills

My working history of 35 years, and in particular the last 20 years in the international environment, has taught me a lot on how to ensure good common understanding on the goals of the work and on how to organise the work in practice. I am able to adapt to the different working cultures and to the needs of the situation. My university degree is on engineering.

It my free time I have been helping with setting up and maintaining vegetable gardens. I have been doing forest work (planting trees, cutting trees for fire work) at my cottage in Finland. I also like picking berries and mushrooms as well as fishing.

My mother tongue is Finnish and I am fluent in English and Swedish. In addition I speak some German and French. I would very much like to improve my basic Italian.

Age

62

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements