whileforth

United Kingdom
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
Description
Hello / 3aslaama!

I'm Chris. I'm currently travelling throughout Tunisia.

I'm an ex-teacher / software developer. I'm enjoying the lovely weather, good food and incredible people here, while I'm learning about Islam, the Arabic language, and building my own app for mobile phones.
Interests
Farming
Fitness
Gardening
Cooking & food
Music
Plant care
Technology
Nature
Culture
Astronomy
Sailing / Boating
Carpentry
Cycling
DIY & crafts
Animals
Languages
Languages
Languages spoken

English: Fluent Japanese: Fluent Polish: Fluent German: Intermediate Estonian: Intermediate French: Intermediate Swedish: Intermediate Arabic: Beginner Berber: Beginner Welsh: Beginner Spanish: Beginner Indonesian: Beginner Cornish: Beginner Malay: Beginner Portuguese: Beginner Russian: Beginner Ukrainian: Beginner Vietnamese: Beginner Chinese (Mandarin): Beginner
More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.
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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
General Maintenance
Eco Projects
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
Life at a Farmstay
Animal Care
DIY and building projects
Helping around the house
Able to teach about:
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Hospitality/Tourism
Languages
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Teaching
More details about your skills
Due to my professional experience, I can really help out with:

Developing a website / software application
Teaching English
Teaching anything to little kids
Running a hostel
Selling products e.g. at events / markets

I have experience with these things, and also, I'm eager to learn more!

Looking after farm animals (so far, chickens, goats, and other fowl)
Organic, sustainable or regenerative agriculture
Gardening
A little bit of carpentry / building with natural materials
Age
38
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements

Feedback

22 May 2021

Left by Workawayer (whileforth) for host (Learn to farm organically and ...)

As I was planning to set off on my first 'domestic Workaway' at the time of the coronavirus crisis, I didn't ever believe it would match up to the previous Workaway experiences I'd had. Each was a new experience in a new and exciting country, so staying in my homeland of England would be rather ordinary in comparison. Well, I was wrong about that!… read more My almost-three-months spent on Natasha's Farm were nothing less than an amazing adventure.

I'd start off by saying that this is not a normal organic farming experience. The routines might be very familiar to someone experienced with this kind of voluntary work, so take that with a grain of salt if this applies to you, but I truly believe you can learn things here which you can't learn elsewhere. Natasha has transformed, with many years of hard work, a small stretch of Norfolk farmland into a pastoral paradise. Here she practices regenerative agriculture—which is something way beyond just plain organic farming—that focuses on restoring health to the soil and sustaining biodiversity, allowing humans to co-exist with nature non-destructively. Natasha is an original thinker and not afraid to challenge the tenets of modern society, and she has developed her ideas to a very high level, particularly concerning nutrition. I'll say this now—in case you were wondering from the pictures—vegetarians are very much welcome here, but Natasha and her family do believe in eating naturally-farmed meat from their own livestock, and actually almost no part of the animal is wasted. And this is the interesting thing about staying here: if you come to the Farm, see some of the happiest animals running around you'll ever see, taste the quality of the food and understand the ideas behind this, you'll ask yourself: is what we are doing as a society really right? If the whole world goes vegan, like they tell us we should, is that really enough to save the planet, or is it just a misguided idea? Come and see for yourself.

Let me explain some details about the stay:

Workawayers live separately from the house in two static caravans. There's enough space for 6 people at the time of writing, in the winter fewer. We cooked our own food most of the time—I rather liked the caravan kitchens, and you can take some of the farm's delicious produce for yourself. There's a place to start a campfire outside as well.

When problems arose with the accommodation, Natasha would promptly set about repairing or replacing what was broken, which I really appreciated, even though it was not always straightforward to fix things! Someone came to take our two broken bikes away to and returned with five, which was amazing. The caravans are not the newest and might not be great for everyone, but I loved it.

Summertime days were truly idyllic—lovely conversations with the other Workawayers as we worked, tying vines underneath the summer sun. When we weren't working, by evening we could swim in Natasha's lake, by day ride one of the farm bikes round the serene Norfolk flatlands.

Our work consisted of: A morning and evening tour of looking after the animals—our every day routine—with four hours of much more varied farm work in between. Breaks are long, but sometimes it can feel like you're working most of the day. We split into two groups, one working with the chickens / assorted fowl and the other working with the goats. I stayed with the chickens for most of my stay, which was particularly fun as we had to chase the mummy hens home in the evening, though some of them never seemed to remember where they lived!

After a month, it did start to feel like proper work, but I'm very glad I stayed on and pushed through as not only did the most interesting experiences await toward the end of my stay, but it took me some time to really take on board the message and acquire new points of view about life.

The other Workawayers were great, and you have a chance to meet some really friendly and interesting people in a place like this. I enjoyed talking to Natasha's two sons and their friends as well, particularly Nick who made every effort to ensure that guests were entertained.

Thanks, Natasha, I'll never forget the things you taught me at the Farm.

(Excellent )

4 Jul 2020

Left by host (Come and help with building ...) for Workawayer (whileforth)

Chris spent more than two months at my place - the longest workaway so far.

Chris is really hard-working. He got an incredible amount of work done! And work done well. He was always thinking how to contribute more and how to do things better and enjoy it at the same time. He did hours of picking on the quince field, listening to audiobooks and… read more finding enjoyment in this rather tedious job. He also helped a great deal around the house and in all other tasks we undertook. I cannot be grateful enough for his help in the farm. It was a very successful workaway indeed!

Apart from his willingness to work and always help out, Chris is also a very pleasant person. It´s always a pleasure to talk to him and spend time with him. We discussed many things during this time. He is a knowledgeable, intelligent and open minded guy with an incredible ability to learn. I and my friends who met him were really impressed with his ability to learn languages. Estonian is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers, fact. Chris learned to use this language in a mere 2 months! It was amazing to witness - 2 months of constant learning and he was able to sell products at a fair, talking to people in Estonian only! He is a language genius. In addition to Estonian, he also speaks Japanese, Polish, German, French, and I don´t know how many other languages.

One of the things I was amazed about is his knowledge of the culinary world. He is also a great cook. I am usually very hesitant to let anyone cook in my kitchen, so I mostly cook myself. I´m really serious about cooking and have really high standards, so earning my trust is rather difficult unless you´re a Michelin 3-star chef or a Gordon Ramsay. Chris´s knowledge and skills are impressive, and so far he´s been the only Workaway guest to cook in my kitchen more than once :D We had so much fun with cooking and organized an amazing feast (talgud=work+food+drink) which will be remembered by everyone who came. Towards the end of his stay I was able to relax and just enjoy when Chris was cooking, which is a big thing for me. I am not saying these things lightly. Chris without a doubt a skilled chef and I learned a lot from him.

So, those who have read all of this - don´t hesitate accepting Chris as your guest. It´s not every day that you meet people like him.

(Excellent )

2 Jul 2020

Left by Workawayer (whileforth) for host (Come and help with building ...)

I had the time of my life in Estonia with Lehari and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him as a host to anyone.

I got in touch with Lehari as this looked like a chance to have a quiet, low-key Workaway in Estonia. That wasn't exactly how it turned out! We had some quiet times, and we had some crazy times.

Lehari is the kind of fellow who is very… read more

(Excellent )

21 Aug 2019

Left by host (Gardening in the beautiful ...) for Workawayer (whileforth)

Chris stayed with me for a week. During this time he was always up for help, he would enthusiastically help with wood, making food or taking care of the guests. Being with him is very easy, he is flexible to all the experiences that are coming his way also motivated to learn what he doesn't know yet.
He is a kind and a lovely person, I am happy I… read more

(Excellent )

20 Aug 2019

Left by Workawayer (whileforth) for host (Gardening in the beautiful ...)

After visiting Milda's place, life will change a lot. Already, I've stopped swearing at things—rude drivers or the little accidents we have every day—and instead, like Milda, I'm saying "It's okay". When I'm hungry on the go I won't rush to the nearest restaurant, but I will think how easy and satisfying it would be to gather fruit, fresh from… read more

(Excellent )

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