How do I even begin writing about Eulenhof? I do not know if this experience can even be captured in words, but nonetheless, I will try. That was actually a common thing at Eulenhof, it was full of trying so many new things. I always heard Ulli telling me to “Be brave!” anytime I tried something new, and I still do anytime I’m nervous to step out of my box. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting in to. I have never WWOOF’d before, and I hit the jackpot. I have to admit the other reviews made me more comfortable about just showing up to this new country with no prior knowledge of these people, but now completely understand them. As my friend Clementine states in her review, it is so easy to see why people return now, and I too hope to come back in the coming years.
When you are there, you are completely a part of the community. Ulli and Markus do an incredible job of including all of the WWOOFers in local activities, as well as their own personal excursions. Every week we had an abundance of fun things to do. As the activities manager, I took these events very seriously. We did everything from playing volleyball and boule to having movie nights, fun cookouts with everyone, and even going to festivals – both the town festival and a Jazz festival. Markus was always right there for every activity (Ulli also enjoyed a few with us). I will never understand how that man does everything he does, and still have an abundance of energy. It must be the power tea he drinks (I 100% recommend the power tea).
As for the working, that was rewarding all in itself. I have never known so much about plants, the earth, and organic sustainability before now. I looked forward to work every day. I grew to love weeding and hacking (mainly due to the hacking playlist we all put together on Spotify). I was lucky enough to harvest and work alongside Markus many times. Sometimes we found ourselves in the field, just the two of us, discussing everything from plants to politics. He is an incredible teacher, and was always willing to stop and take a break to teach me about how certain bugs help the plants or how some flowers just appeared, even though he never planted them. He is so enthusiastic and has such a zest for life, learning, and teaching. He even took one evening for two hours to teach me how to drive stick shift (manual). I had never done so before, and after some basics he immediately let me take the wheel. We drove through the town and the patience he exhibited was incredible, seeing as I was not very good. At the end he even treated us to some drinks at a Biergarten on top of a beautiful hill, overlooking pastures (no worries, I only drank cola). He also taught me to drive the tractor. The amount of things I have learned from him in one month, could fill up years of schooling.
Now on to Ulli. She is the fastest woman I have met. It started with the quick response I received when first applying to the farm, to buttering her four slices of toast in the morning and her quick herb picking. I never see her slow down. She does so much business for the operation and being able to observe and contribute was exhilarating. Also, she pushed me further with my German speaking, more than anyone else there. I will miss our long talks in the sauna every week. She was generous with sharing her experiences and even her book recommendations. Ulli was always willing to teach and share, if I showed the interest. I am lucky to have a presence like her in my life. I feel as if I have formed a lifelong bond with her, as well as Markus and the other WWOOFers on the farm. I cannot speak more highly of her. She is one tough cookie.
I guess this has turned into a pretty long review, but I could probably go on forever about my time at this farm. As much as I would like to tell all of my stories here, I will just leave this with one final thing. Thank you Ulli and Markus, for the life changing time at Eulenhof. I am counting down the days to my return.