Back to December (Annii's Version)

Let me get one thing straight: This is not my thing. I dislike December and winter in general. I am and forever will be an autumn person who enjoys Sweater Weather and quiet time. Everything Christmas is not. However, this was not like every other December I've experienced so far- so let’s see what spending this month in Georgia changed for me, shall we?

Völlig losgelöst von Deutschland

We kicked off this month strongly by hosting the “German Cultural Evening” at the Scout Centre. After an initial shock about an unexpected large amount of people showing up, we held a small presentation about what German culture means for us. Which was a challenge. I had to scratch together every dusty memory of actually experiencing my own culture and make a presentation out of it.. which is why it featured “Pumpernickel” (German Black bread that is truly not of importance to anybody).

Afterwards, we got to the actually important part: Tasting the food. We tried our best and managed to serve simple plain potatoes (amazing), Pumpernickel, Kartoffelpuffer (essentially potato pancakes), Haribo and between all of that Vanillekipferl. Vanillekipferl are German Christmas Cookies, that my mother used to make every year and lately also in a vegan version. 

Although I claim to dislike Christmas, all those traditions, and my own German Culture- baking Vanillekipferl with my mother’s recipe actually got me hooked on the holiday feeling everybody always romanticizes.

 

THKS FR TH MMRS

The whole of December went by really fast and therefore feels like a complete Blur to me. It is hard for me to distinguish between the different activities we did, but the most important things is: I remember making some good memories.

We had a Day Camp, a school’s visit and in addition to that a Camp in Manglisi. Especially the camp gave me a good boost of motivation, simply because the kids were really fun to be around and great to do activities with.

For the camp I prepared an Escape Game. I had never done such a thing and no idea if it was going to work, but it turned out to be a really fun experience for all of us. However, there is one aspect about this activity I can't shake off. Apparently, some teens today have never seen post cards? Since they had to be found to solve the Escape Game we ran into some problems- but nothing we couldn't manage in the end. Still, I cannot believe it and I am seriously questioning if post cards are out of fashion now...

Abandoning my post card confusion I spontaneously decided that energizers are my thing now. I really enjoyed making up games just to get kids to wake up and laugh really hard as the first thing in the morning. That’s honestly the best job- why did I not discover that earlier?

Anyways, while the planning phases were stressful, the activities and Camps were equally rewarding. I haven’t found the promised “work-life-sleep-balance” from Ikea yet, but I am Running up that Hill in the right direction (I cannot distinguish left and right from one another).

 

Merry Christmas, You Can't Call

Spontaneously (untypical for me - but worth it) I decided to come along with a friend of mine, Lisa (another international volunteer), to go to Armenia for Christmas. This meant: No internet and phone calls for the duration of Christmas. An old-fashioned Phone-Detox. At least I thought it might be like that.

We were makin’ our way by hitchhiking, which was not only a first for me, but also a very eye-opening journey.  Seriously, I am still blown away by the amount of people who will actually stop to take you along. We never waited for longer than 10 Minutes and I learned to value my life just a little more that day when one guy nearly killed us while swinging his car to the rhythm of the music.

Our destination was a small apartment in Gyumri, in which we cooked and celebrated with other international volunteers, who definitely did not all fit into the apartment. I learned how to make Gnocchi and almost got into a fight about German politics. It was a beautiful, chaotic mess. Don’t get me wrong- I love my team back in Rustavi, but just meeting some other people and exchanging our experiences was a nice change of scenery. 

However, later that night my social battery was slowly running low and I knew I would have to try to get back home the next day. And I believe this might’ve been the point when things went just a little downhill…

 

Highway through Hell

I had a plan for getting home the next day. According to the interned (very reliable source) there was supposed to be a Marshrutka from Gyumri to Tbilisi at 8AM. With three hours of (no) sleep, four dogs chasing after me and five percent battery left for the downloaded version of Google Maps - I walked through a dark and cold Gyumri. Somehow, I made it to the central bus station. Of course, the Marshrutka I was hoping for did not actually exist. I learned this by eventually asking a random Marshrutka driver who shook his head compassionately at me and bought me a black coffee. Which is probably the only reason I am still standing. Yeah Yeah Yeah.

That left me freezing, caffeinated and with no internet connection at a random point in Armenia. I managed to ask two other Marshrutka drivers, who both directed me towards the taxis implying that there was no hope left for a cheap way back. Gathering all my extrovert energy (which does not exist) I found a taxi driver and tried to explain to him that I needed to get to the Georgian border. That might seem easy, but it is seriously complicated when you neither have internet for a Google Translator nor the ability to speak Armenian, Georgian or Russian. Somehow, we communicated and established that I needed to give him more money than I had originally planned on. So, we did the obvious thing: Drive to a closed money exchange, give some very dubious looking dudes Euros who give the driver (hopefully) the equivalent amount in Dram.

And then we started driving.. for five whole minutes. Suddenly, we stopped and I could see the glint of an amazing plan in this guy’s eyes. I had no idea what he just thought of but he speed-dialled some random number and got onto the phone with someone. Minutes later he passed his phone to me, and I was greeted by a women explaining to me what just happened: 

First:  Apparently, I was responsible for this guy waking up a whole family. 

Second: He was going to drive me to their home where they would take me over and drive me the complete way back to Rustavi. He had seemingly called the only English speaking person he knew, and I just got damn lucky because they happened to be a Georgian-Armenian-Taxi-Driver-Couple.

They turned out to be the most generous and nice people. They taught me about Armenian culture, bought me food, explained to me how they met and how all of their children are currently doing. While I was socially exhausted, I felt really happy spending five hours in the backseat of their car just enjoying a road trip.

Although it turned out to be a somewhat wholesome experience, I was happier than ever when I finally saw Georgian fonts on the buildings again. Long Story short: I survived – made it back safely and needed a few isolated days afterwards to charge my social battery again.

 

New Year's Day

The same procedure as every year: When you’re already exhausted from Christmas there’s still more coming your way. I almost forgot about it but we had a New Years to celebrate. I still hadn’t completely arrived in 2025, but apparently it’s already been 12 months.

While the German population was probably enjoying their tenth “Dinner for one” Episode, it had already turned midnight in Georgia, because time zones are incredibly confusing. And the New Year was just there. Hallo 2026!

I had my New Years on a bridge in Tbilisi with British, German, Indian, Japanese and Georgian People, but why not? It was an international meet-up to which my friend Mao- another one of our volunteers- took me along. It was a night I do not remember in all its facets, but it was surely interesting to hear from other international people why they came to Georgia and what made them stay. A cultural exchange at midnight on a bridge with fireworks in the background. Actually Romantic…

 

Begin Again (Annii's Version)

I hope you enjoyed my Supercut of December. This year was a rollercoaster for me and I am glad it is finally over. Still, there are so many moments I want to cherish forever. I completed one amazing voluntary service this year and it led me through a chain of coincidences to Georgia and volunteering for the ISCR. I consider myself incredibly lucky and although, I am scared most of the days (because that is just who I am) I’m really thankful to my past self for taking the chance.

Let’s enjoy 2026! I will hold onto the memories, and they will hopefully hold on to me.

Just like we held on to Vincent in this absolutely breathtaking group picture.