Josefine

Denmark
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
At home
My next destination:
South Korea - from Sep 2025 until Nov 2025
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Description
Hi! My name is Josefine, I'm 19, and I love to travel and experience new things. I am half Greek and half Dane, so I grew up with two cultures, languages and countries to call home (although I mostly grew up in Denmark).
Later on in 20/21 I did an exchange year in Spain which really sparked my interest for getting to know other countries, cultures and languages!

Right now I'm looking forward to travelling to South Korea next fall (2025), which has been a dream of mine for many years. I'm currently learning Korean and I'm also interested in the culture and food, so I can't wait to finally go.
Interests
Movies & TV
History
Hiking
Sustainability
Cooking & food
Culture
Mountain
Fitness
Languages
Nature
Yoga / Wellness
Vegetarian or vegan
Music
Animals
Languages
Languages spoken
Danish: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Greek: Beginner
Korean: Beginner
More details about my language interests
As I stated in my introduction I am currently learning Korean, so I really hope I can get to practise my Korean during my stay :)) Furthermore I am conversational in Greek and I know Spanish and English quite well. I am always up for teaching/speaking those languages with others! Furthermore I am fluent in Danish, as it is my first language, so if someone is interested in learning anything, I'll be happy to help :)
Find a language buddy
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
Languages
Some knowledge of:
Animal Care
Helping around the house
Teaching
More details about your skills
-I have a positive attitude towards things and I'm a very a dedicated person, who is willing to give it my all.
- I have experience living abroad and I enjoyed it lot! I'm very excited to be a part of your community.
-I have always had animals, including cats, dogs, chickens, fish, rabbits, hamsters etc. so I have some experience although I know most about dogs.
-I have been a voluenteer for a non-profit organisation for 3 years (and still am). With them I've organised multiple events for young people and I have done some administrative work
-I'm a friendly, easy-going person, who loves to meet new people and make friends
Age
20
What else ...
Some of my other interests are:

-movies/series
-concerts
-nature
-food
-travelling
-learning languages
-sightseeing (historical places, musuems)
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements
  Vegetarian

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11 Nov 2024

Left by host (Non-profit animal sanctuary ...) for Workawayer ()

Josefine is half Greek and although she is only 19 years old, we were able to speak to her comfortably in Greek as she is fluent and we enjoyed our contact and conversations with her. She has an artistic flair as a stand-up comedian and a talent for punch lines, and likes to be given detailed instructions and to follow a strict schedule. She also… read more

(Very good )

8 Oct 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Non-profit animal sanctuary ...)

I spent 6,5 weeks at the shelter from the 13th of August to the 30th of September. Overall it was a great experience that has taught me so much about dogs and animals in general, but also a lot about myself. The dogs are angels (they don’t always behave like that but I love them regardless) and I will miss them so much. I formed great bonds with… read more many of them, and it made me especially happy to see shy dogs slowly warm up to me. The cats in the shelter are also adorable, and I will even miss the goats, although we had our difficulties (at least every other day haha…). I will also miss the other volunteers I lived with during my stay (thanks for many good memories!), we had a lot of fun and it wouldn’t have been the same without them.

During the first three weeks we started work at 6:00 am which meant I had to wake up at about 5:40 am. That was quite hard but at the same time nice because the weather was cool outside and we were done working before the sun was too high. Otherwise it would be way too hot, as it gets very hot in the summer. Working so early also meant I had the whole day to go on a trip to Kallikratia, relax, do laundry etc. before we went out with the goats at 19:30. The last three weeks of my stay the time schedule changed a bit because the days got shorter. We started work at 6:30 am during the week-days and at 7am on weekends, and we went out with the goats at about 18:30 or 19:00. The work is as described by the other volunteers, expect for the fact that we now (and for the next about 5 months, I think) also have to help hold a goat while she gets milked by Thomas in the morning, because she unfortunately lost her baby. I’m happy I got to try this as I felt like I got a closer bond with the female goats and it was a different task that I had never tried before. Although the working routine was the same everyday, I enjoyed it because I slowly got more comfortable with all the tasks and with the dogs. It was satisfying to see yourself get better and more effective at doing everything.
We usually had to work about 3 hours in the morning but very often when we worked with Thomas during the weekdays, especially when the other volunteer was on her days off, we worked more. That was a bit frustrating, both because the work is quite tiring and because I had plans to take the bus, which was sometimes hard, if we worked for 4 hours or more. I know that Thomas intentions were not bad though, he just genuinely wanted help, which is understandable but in the moment it was a bit annoying. In the evening we worked about 1,5-2 hours with the goats, and I got to see the most breathtaking sunsets!

Thomas and Diamanto are really sweet people who only want what’s best for the animals around them, and it’s admirable how hard they work. It is stressful to run a shelter though, so especially Thomas shouts quite often and the vibe can be a bit tense sometimes. Us volunteers never get shouted at, so it’s not necessarily a problem, just a little uncomfortable sometimes. With that being said I generally felt welcome at the shelter, and I had good communication and conversations with both Thomas and Diamanto.
I especially appreciate the many great talks about dogs, historical things and about life in general that I had with Diamanto during my stay. It was nice to have someone check up on you and just have a laugh with, especially about the goats or some of my experiences in Thessaloniki. On top of that I’m half Greek, so I’m also really happy that I got to practise my Greek with both Diamanto and Thomas!

Another thing I really liked about my stay is that my days off were in a row, so I could go to Thessaloniki and spend the night there. I highly recommend going to Thessaloniki as there are endless of things to do; going to museums, visiting historical sights, shopping and eating delicious food (my favourite thing). Also it’s great to stay at a rental for one night to sleep with less noise and without earplugs (I highly recommend bringing earplugs to the shelter). Another great thing about a rental is how clean it is, which the shelter is not really. Generally it’s really nice to explore the surrounding areas like N. Kallikratia, the town (Lakkoma), Petralona Cave (a recommendation from Diamanto that I highly recommend too) etc.

Although it was quite hard, I definitely recommend volunteering at the shelter if you love dogs and animals, and you want to make a difference for them. It has been amazing to be surrounded by dogs everyday, they are truly the sweetest!🫶🏻

(Very good )

11 Nov 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Animal welfare charity on the ...)

I stayed one month (October) and overall it was a great experience. I learned a lot about animals and their behaviour, for example how to approach and handle stray cats and how to work with nervous dogs etc. I especially learned a lot from the vet nurses who volunteered at the shelter.
The work was quite flexible but mostly we had to do the… read more evening and/or morning shift (and sometimes lunch shift) which can be divided into the cat shift and dog shift. When I volunteered we were 4 and later 3 “ordinary” volunteers and one vet nurse. Therefore we would split up the morning shift so one did the cats and the other one the dogs. The work consisted of cleaning the kennels and outside areas (when doing the dogs), feeding them and giving them attention.
The work takes a little while to get used to, especially with the cats who constantly come and go from the cat house but once you got used to it, it was pretty nice. I usually worked more than the 5 hours agreed on Workaway because the work took quite long to do thoroughly. Most days I didn’t mind too much, but it could be a bit frustrating sometimes. Also we had two half days off (one morning off and one evening off) and one full day off. It was pretty nice to sleep longer or be off in the evening, but I would've preferred to have two full days off, since I sometimes worked almost 5 hours in the morning on my half day off anyway.

I loved all the dogs and cats (even the "rebellious" ones) and I will miss them a lot! It’s lovely to be surrounded by animals everyday.

About the location, Kos is a nice island with many cute places to visit and with great weather overall. But it is a very touristy island, so it can be hard to immerse yourself In the Greek culture and have a local experience. Since it’s a very touristy island, also keep in mind that when the tourists slowly leave the island, the island quiets down a lot, which of course can be a nice experience.
I shared the living room area, the kitchen and the bathroom with 3-4 other girls/volunteers which was generally super fun. We quickly became friends and spent a lot of our free time together. With that being said, if you are a person who needs privacy, like me, it can be a bit overwhelming at times to be constantly surrounded by people and having to live together and share responsibilities like cooking and cleaning.
Another little “obstacle” was that I got bed bugs during my stay which was a rough start…I apparently cannot handle their bites very well… luckily I got to sleep somewhere else after we found out, and after a few weeks my bites slowly disappeared.

Volunteering is not always easy but it is without a doubt very rewarding, and I would definitely recommend volunteering here if you love animals :)

(Very good )

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