eXpress08

new

rasmus

Countries:

in this issue:

Switzerland & turkey

y it il b a e g n a h c x E - Bologna 2020 y g o l a e n e g n s e - Erasmus 8th edition April 2010

Colofon Editors in Chief

Tajana Nikolic Simone Dalle Nogare

Editorial Team:

Ana Frangova William Sanger Julie Renaud-Koradi Ewelina Glocka Krzysztof Sabik Madara Apsalone Kalina Dancheva Marge Taivere Remo Ughini Stephanie Schwander Irene Forzoni Stephen Hube Eléonore Feuz Flore Bochet Ieva Vezbergaite Timea Németh Vassilena Valchanova Nikolas Spanoudakis Cihan Keskin Ausra Balandyte Peter Koekoek

Language editors:

Leo Smith Mariya Dineva Troels Frost Christensen

Design and Illistrations: Marc Janson

The theme of the next issue:

ESN in action If you want to write an article, please send it to:

express@esn.org

ESN International Rue Hydraulique 15 B-1210 Brussels Belgium

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EDITORIAL

by: Tajana Nikolic

The Erasmus programme was established in 1987 and in that 21 year period, over 1.866 million students went abroad through Erasmus. In 2007 it was a fist year when Erasmus became part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme in 2007-2013 and expanded to cover new areas such as student placements in enterprises, university staff training and teaching for enterprise staff. Recently the Council adopted a Resolution on a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field for the next decade inviting all the interested parties to work closely together to provide more and better opportunities for young people in the European Union. Soon the Commission will make a new plan for the next 7 year of Life Long Learning Programme. This is the reason why we decided to dedicate this edition of the eXpress to New ERAsmus. In this issue you can find the and the universities point of view through the story written by one of the employee in the international relations office at the University of Pécs (Hungary). We present to you ExchageAbilty project which aims to increase the mobility of student with disabilities starting with involvement of those student in the activities of the local ESN sections.

In the last issue we presented to you the brand new chapter of the magazine which gives the opportunity to ESN countries to present their country, their sections, activities, traditions, special events and how they deal with the international students. In this edition we are presenting to you Turkey the country organiser of the 21st Annual General Meeting and Switzerland, the country which this year signed the agreement on participation of Switzerland in the “Youth in Action” programme and in the action programme relating to education and Lifelong Learning (2007-2013).

Europe is a continent of many different cultures and many different languages. In every edition we are presenting to you a different language in order to promote multilingualism and cultural diversity. This time you have the chance to get to know Danish and Bulgarian.

You will find many stories of different Erasmus students and ESNers, presentations of several projects done in different ESN countries and Bulgaria shared with us the recipe of the favourite dish of Bulgarians “Banitsa”.

Enjoy the reading and we hope that together with your contributions we can make the magazine even richer and more diverse!!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXCHANGEABILITY

4 BOLOGNA 2020

20 Erasmus-ESN Genealogy

32 ESN EVENTS & ERASMUS EXPERIENCES

SHOW YOUR COUNTRY

13 SWITZERLAND XCHANGE UNIL EPFL ESN Zurich

ESN WÄDENSWIL esn winterthur ESN NEUCHÂTEL

6 7 7

come along and paint my world esnalia

8 9

lithuania says labas a new era is a must new erasmus italian national event

23

17 18 30 30

TRANSLATION

TURKEY

12

35 3

QUIZ

31

COLUMN

RECIPE

22

PHOTOS

ОТ ЕРАЗЪМ СТУДЕНТ ДО ЧЛЕН НА ESN 10 FROM ERASMUS TO AN ESN MEMBER 11

JEG <3 KBH 28 I <3 CPH 29

esn haceteppe ESN Koc esn turkey

esn isik esn bilkent esn kultur

FUN FACTOR

My erasmus experience you exchange how to beat an mid-erasmus crisis

PROJECTS & PARTNERS

exchangeability It’s doesn’t matter the disabilities we have, but the abilities we possess First ExchangeAbility Coordinators’ Meeting: Brussels, 5-7 February 2010

by: Ana Frangova Local ExchangeAbility coordinator for ESN Macedonia

PROJECT: EXCHANGEABILITY GOAL: A project that will allow

disabled students to be

fully involved in the

activities of the local

sections of ESN START: 2009

Being an exchange student is an interesting period, but also very tough. During this period, everyone is facing many difficulties. But can we imagine how much more difficulties are facing the students with disabilities?

For one day, through the various workshops we tried to learn how is it to be in their shoes. Through the trainings, led by professional trainers from the European Disability Forum (EDF), that were with disabilities themselves, we, the country coordinators from ESN, the representatives from UNICA and also Youth Agora have learned a lot- how does it feel to be a disabled student on an exchange programme at foreign University? How can we help them integrate better in the educational system? And how can we involve them in the ESN activities and give them the equal opportunity to feel the Erasmus and of course, the ESN spirit? But, there was one more very important thing that we’ve learned from Karina and Giovanni: the disabilities should not and must not be an obstacle in achieving our goals, and the people with disabilities can and must have the same opportunities!

“The session was truly an eyeopener and it was quite overwhelming.”

- Claudia Balla -

- ESN Semmelweis (Budapest, Hung

ary) -

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That’s a big problem in today’s world. Even if we exclude the system’s obstacles and imperfections, there are still so many prejudices and stereotypes that should be removed. The students’ conscience is still not aware enough about the struggles that their colleagues with disabilities are having every day. The main problem is also, that the students with disabilities themselves don’t always realize that, and allow their disability to stop them from having wonderful experiences with different people and cultures. We understand that, and our goal is to change that fact and to raise the awareness about the students’ abilities, and not disabilities, to make ESN accessible student association, with equal opportunities for everyone, because someone’s disability is not a measurement of his or her qualities.

Understanding this, with the enormous help and efforts of Dussia, the international coordinator of this project and also Marketa, Gosia and Tajana from the International Board, we are taking concrete actions to improve the situation. But first, we needed to understand the situation in all the 15 countries and 17 sections that are involved in the project. Approximately, the situation is the same in every country- the involvement of the students with disabilities in the students’ activities and programmes is reduced to minimum.

So, we’ve decided to take small steps at the beginning- small for

PROJECTS & PARTNERS

us, but huge for someone else- to raise the awareness of the students from the psychological aspect, to remove the prejudices that are in the students’ minds, which is probably one of the hardest and longest goal, because the prejudices are the biggest disability that we can have today. Through cooperation between the participant countries, we decided that we can make trainings, courses and workshops that are going to be leaded by professionals in this area,where we can work on this topic. But then, the bigger and more important step comes- to raise the awareness of the same topic between the students with disabilities, because usually their inner barriers are the crucial ones that keep them away from everyday challenges and opportunities they’re given. Involving them in the local ESN sections, and including them in the section’s activities will be a perfect way to socialize them and to show them the other side of the student life- the one they know about, but couldn’t feel it- up till now. In this way, they can also meet with the Erasmus programme, and to understand that this programme gives them more, and better views of life, and that they have nothing to loose.

That’s our long-term goal- to increase the number of the students with disabilities that are part of the Erasmus programme, because today’s numbers and percentage are really low. By showing them that they’re not alone and they’ll always have someone who will be there for them, and take care of them, and involve them in the social activities in their new environment, they can feel safe and comfortable to be an Erasmus, like the other students.

This is how the situation was presented, and this is how we made a plan to take some concrete measures in our countries. Our achievement of the short-term goals that were given, and their effects will be presented at the next ExchangeAbility meeting, that is going to take place in Ghent, in May, where we’ll observe the situation again, and will make a precise plan for the period that comes, in order to achieve our long-term goals.

For an ESNer all of this is not a big work, it’s not a big difficulty for the section too, but for the students with disabilities- it means the whole world. And we are all part of this world that is full of diversities that make it so wonderful, where the inner barriers are usually the biggest obstacle. Because, we have one important thing in common- and that is motivation and enthusiasm. And a dream to achieve big things. So, why don’t we start with Erasmus? Everyone. Together. No boundaries. Just Students Helping Students.

“It was a great start point for a great project! Now I hope than the whole network will be involved.”

- Lamine Diakité - AEIB (Besançon, France) -

About the technical side, we’ve also learned something really important and valuable- how to make our web-pages accessible, so the ESN members with disabilities can also have an equal approach to the information that are posted to everyone, and that is also one project that doesn’t require so much time, it requires just strong will and effort and the results are enormously effective.

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WANT TO KNOW MORE ngeability ha

http://www.esn.org/exc

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ERASMUS EXPERIENCE

my erasmus experience Prejudices might not be true!

by: William Sanger Exchange student from Canada International student club CTU in Prague They say that Erasmus is about discovering a new way of studying, travelling around Europe and making friends from several countries. They say that Erasmus is about networking and experiencing cultural shocks. They say that it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Well, it’s a lie. Completely.

It is 200 times more intense than this, Erasmus is where every limit of your mind and body will be taken further, amplified, discovered , seen fro, a new angle and marked yourself forever.

It may be seen as difficult and emotionally difficult from the outside.

Such « hard times », also called cultural shocks, are only the best opportunity to break this thick shield protecting a closed mind and to become open minded. Curiosity, willingness to expand your horizons, taste of unknown experiences through learning a foreign language, getting to know the hosting country, its people and their habits can take over sadness and the feeling of being far away from home.

A new home had been built, inside every Erasmus student, where each can rely on it. This open minded attitude is forging the new generation of tomorrow’s world. As a new decade of the 21st century and a new era of the second millennium are starting, new Erasmus will become part of the constantly changing world where we live, sharing their vision and spreading their experience around them.

Some people might think that Erasmus students are only enjoying this program to take advantage of easy classes, parties and cheap drinks. Some of the students do that. But only a few. For all the others, every occasion can lead to the discovery of a new wonder.

Dancing salsa, learning how to cook pelmini, taking the train with flatmates to any country abroad, seeing snow for the first time, being part of a Czech village’s ball or behind a mask during Venice’s carnival are only a few new experiences that will be part of the journey of Erasmus students. Every negative turn of this adventure will be blown away by hundreds of sparkles, each of them can be reached by anyone willing to share its culture and to welcome the one of the others.

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Integrating such a rich background change the point of view of any student. Important questions will be asked, few answers will be found, but in the end, Erasmus students will be completely different from before Erasmus life, they are marked deeply inside their flesh from their adventures. Boring people won’t come out of Erasmus, there is no place for usual, linear and a pre-planned future. Passionate and curious students will come out of this, they are the ones that will give the legacy and the taste of wonderful experiences to the next generations, evolving from and by Erasmus.

More than some European networks, a worldwide community is the final result of this experience. Organizations within hosting universities, such as ISC, the International Student Club CTU in Prague and other ESN sections, are doing their best to build the Erasmus family. Peruvian, Canadian, Russian, Czech and Costa Rican can share more than just a few drinks; they now have something in common, they have lived for the other ones, taken care of them, been worried about them, laugh with them, loved each other. And that’s what Erasmus is all about: sharing, experiencing, living, discovering, love. In other words: Together, we conquer the world!

William Sanger Exchange student from Canada International student club CTU in Prague

you ex-change!

ERASMUS EXPERIENCE by: Julie Renaud-Koradi ESN Besançon

I came into ESN thanks to the AGM2008 in Besançon. A student in Besançon, I let myself be tempted by an inviting public notice and took a leap into Pallomeri...Unbelievable ! It gave me the opportunity to meet students from all around Europe but also the french students who organized all of this !

At the beginning of the next school year I didn’t even think about it : I just joined the section !

I still remember the very first meeting, everyone was introducing themselves but I didn’t know what to say about myself so I just said the essentials : “Hi, I’m Julie, 18, a student of international business, I would like to take responsibilities, organize trips if it’s possible...”. I’ve been given the task and I haven’t been disappointed with it!

An “older” member helped me for the very first trip; then a weekend for 50 people in Lyon – second biggest city of France- had to be organized : everything was up to me. I had to organize it with just a few notes of what had been done the past year, that is to say from scratch.

Reservations, tourist guides, trains, young peoples’ hostels, phone calls, parties, bar, negotiations, prices, cancellations, inscriptions, emails, mails, faxes, letters with acknowledges of reception, handling the budget... This was a lot of things to manage, especially when you are in class ! But when the weekend finally came, it was magical. Amazing times during which I met real friends not only among Erasmus students but also among my team.

Then time passed, other trips to organize, parties, getting so many times fits of the giggles during meetings. Taking part in the AGM2009 in Utrecht but also working in teams, helping each others collaborating with other organizations, fitting budgets, to fix oneself new challenges, learning basic law, to work with several different companies, learn to negotiate, to pass on our skills.

I put a lot of myself into the organization but I’ve taken more out of it.. I’ve acquired a supplementary formation of my studies, self-confidence, trust from my colleagues, and access to a high responsibility tasks. But the most important is all these unforgettable moments, these extraordinary parties, and overall these irreplaceable friends.

Despite my youth I had the opportunity to prove myself. This is the ESN experience : you forget every social norm you used to live in, you change, in spite of the nationality or age of you colleagues you learn and pass on the most possible of your knowledges : you eX-change !

erasmus = EX-Change-ex-perience-exchange

how to beat an mid-erasmus crisis! by: Marge Taivere I’m at the half way point of my Erasmus year and a brick wall hits me. There are many reasons for it: most of my courses won’t be recognized, I’m out of my scholarship money, I’m drinking my time away and my private life went to a round zero.

My host country is Estonia, where I was working and studding full time, writing my BA thesis, ESNned for all the free moments and I also managed to train for a marathon. And now… I found my self doing hmm…. Well you know the exchange life. It is very easy to feel depressed and start questioning the entire point of being abroad, especially if you have 2 months of no school at all. Do not get me wrong- for me fun and optimism are like water for a fish, I cannot do anything without them. But just to give you an example of my situation in January (and the people who know me will find it impossible to believe) I went to bed at 10 in the evening, when a roomful of new friends were celebrating the publishing of MY first research paper.

I refuse to be sad, I deny depression and I decided to put into action following points.

1.

Stop facebooking= stop wasting time= stop feeling useless. Ok I’m realistic-just limit your time there.

2.

Read- Open a book. Open your eyes. Open your mind.

3.

Travel with your local friends. In most countries it is a challenge to make local friends, but once you are sitting on a Saturday lunch

table and eating homemade local specialties and humming a happy birthday in Czech language, you will see why the challenge is

totally worth taking. Thanks Linda!

4.

New actions. You changed countries for a reason! Try something new, even if you think you won’t like it. I got caught up so “badly”

with CZ hockey that missing a Brno Kometa match seems a crime.

5. (re)Connect with ESN. I don’t know many sections who would say “no” to a helping head. The input from an exchange student

is mostly valued. If you wanna aim it higher, you can always ask international board for tasks- there are tons of great projects going

on. I became a part of the sunniest and largest ESN event, better yet I am actually organizing it.

That should help… and if you have no idea what I am talking about then you probable out smarted me, but I am grateful to have hit this brick wall, after all, they are there for a reason…

See you on Ibiza, Greetings from Czech Republic, Brno

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projects & partners

come along and paint my world...

A look into the SocialErasmus Project

by: Ewelina Glocka ESN Olsztyn Every year the amount of children suffering leukaemia is increasing. Every year the hospitals and children’s wards are lacking beds for the suffering. But also, every year the number of willing to help is rising and loading kids with presents and sweets. However, most of us forget what is really important for kids fighting with such a serious illness.

Haematology and oncology children’s wards are places which we wish not to remember and not to visit. Nevertheless, these gloomy places are homes for many kids for many days and months. Without mummy and daddy, without school friends, and without favourite their teddy bear and toy many children fighting leukaemia, which not everyone can win. In our everyday life we do not realise the range and seriousness of the problem. Not many people would know how to answer the question: what is leukaemia? What are the consequences of this illness? How does everyday life look for them?

Erasmus Student Network Organisation in Olsztyn decided to brighten up this gloomy place. We first turned up at the oncology children’s ward more than one year ago. Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Erasmus program at University Warmia and Mazury we were promoting the bone marrow donation action, which gives a chance for many kids to survive. Many lectures and presentations drove many people into tears, so we decided to bring some colour and happiness to the kids that stay in hospital.

Volunteers and ideas about how to help were increasing every day.

The money collection with foreign students, Christmas party, three hundred handmade earrings, many sleepless nights and work of 20 people brought forward a big success. The money we have raised was far beyond our expectations. As a result we were able to buy colourful bedding, teddy bears and therefore, make some lives more pleasant.

This action gave us inspiration for further actions. ESN became an initiator and founder of hallway, which was named Erasmus Hallway. With the commitment of all sections from Olsztyn, we managed to invite students from Art Department for co-operation. The walls in the hospital became very colourful. Art students have painted the walls, for little patients, in fairy tale stories. We were working long hours and sometimes even all night.

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The official opening of the hallway took place on the 15th of December, and was welcomed with the great happiness of kids as well as their parents. You would think that the pictures of fairy tales it is not anything special, but in fact, it was an amazing present for ill children. The patients were preparing and waiting in the hallway all day. These kids, who were not too well, were observing everything through the glass.

Everywhere we can hear about actions for leukaemia suffering people. The actors are helping; athletes are helping; why not students? If people ask why do we do that, we do not know what to answer. But it is natural for people who are sensitive for others in pain. The answer for this question came from one little patient. One of the nurses told us that one of the youngest kids wished to say something in public. There was a little boy- Błażejek. He stood up and happily said: “You are amazing”. That is exactly what we do it for, to hear such words and see the happiness of others.

The goodness of the children is the highest importance.

Helping these kids we co-operated with their doctors, family, school and others. With such co-operation we can bring some amazing positive experiences for kids, and our satisfaction from this is unique and priceless.

projects & partners

“ESNalia” by: Krzysztof Sabik Koordynator Czesci Miedzynarodowej Juwenaliów Krakowskich 2010 - “ESNalia 2010” Countless meetings, hours of planning and millions of ideas. That is the brief summary of the last few months, when the whole of Krakow joined forces to organize a new project. ESNalia, because that’s the subject of the discussion, were formed from the initiative of all sections of ESN operating in our city, and also in this Project the University Students Governments from Krakow were involved.

But what is Esnalia exactly?

Well, the entire Project is divided into three parts: social, which can be considered part of the SocialErasmus program, promotion/ information and also entertainment.

In the first one since April, our students with the help from the international students will visit orphanages, gymnasiums and lyceums, to carry out such activities as team meetings, European lessons, competitions based on the knowledge of different countries, and as for visits to orphanages; teaching the national songs and performing artistic acts by the foreign students, and all this to explain to children and students the culture of other countries.

Then in early May, the promotion/information will take place, the purpose of that part is easy to guess. We do not limit ourselves to traditional forms of promotion; posters, leaflets and stands. We want the entire city of Krakow to hear about ESNalia –so an ESNcar will start cruising the streets- historic wolfsagen Cucumber, with the logo and colours of ESN will promote the entire event. In addition, everyone that will be interested will have the opportunity to participate in the debate: “Prospects for development through travel and international exchange in the European Union” in which diplomatic representatives of other countries, famous travellers, and people from the world of politics associated with international issues will take part in the debate.

The march will end with a concert where about 90% of the students in Krakow will be attending. At the end, in Rotunda club, a final gala dinner will be held. We will play the music of 60’s,70’s and 80’s – played by an excellent cover band.

For over a month we will be present in the cultural and social life of Cracow hoping that ESNalia will introduce to students the benefits of international travel and inter-student exchanges.

Once again, we will try to show that the ERASMUS program isn’t only concentrating on the parties and Pan-European integration, but also the wider approach to overcome the false perceptions of stereotypes and barriers in the minds of students. We want to prove and show that Cracow knows how to organize and have fun at the international level.

We want to invite everyone to visit our website www.esnalia.pl, where we will keep posting information on the progress of preparing this event, and where all foreign guests will be able to look up and book a place in the hostels that are cooperating with us. To everyone who will decide to participate in our great event – we will provide discounts in many places but also we will ensure protection and a party guides.

The project will undoubtedly echo not only through Cracow but throughout the entire Poland. Now, the most fun part of Esnaliaentertainment. We will start off with an event held in one of the most popular clubs in Krakow, a party from the Traffic Lights series with the music played by leading Polish DJs and a foreign star. We will be also seen in the epic march of students “kolorowod”, with the mark of international accent, about 1,000 foreign students with their flags of their home countries will promote the international integration among the thousands of Polish students dressed in costumes.

PROJECT: SOCIALERASMUS GOAL: Involvement of Erasmus Students in the local society START: 2010 (internationally)

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WANT TO KNOW MOREasmus cialer

http://www.esn.org/so

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lost in translation

От Еразъм студент до член на ESN История за промяната

by: Kalina Dancheva ESN Bulgaria

Kalina Dancheva

Пристигайки в Холандия, единственото, на което се надявах, бе да има ESN секция и в града, където отивах - Леуварден. За моя радост, имаше и бяха много активни. Смразяващият фризийски вятър не им попречи да посрещат всички студенти още на гарата. Същата вечер беше организирано парти по посрещането на Еразъм студените. Вярвате или не, партито мина с „много бира, нови запознанства, разговори за багаж и за пътувания”. Звучи някак познато, нали? Още на това първо парти най-силно впечатление ми направи същият този Еразъм дух, дори и на 2000 км. разстояние. Последваха множество партита и екскурзии, но най-хубавото бе, че във всеки един момент можех да звънна на някого от организацията и да го питам за всичко, което ме вълнуваше - както за неща, свързани с квартирата, така и просто за компания за кафе. Дотук всичко изглежда в реда на нещата. Странното е, че противно на очакванията ми, се сближих много повече с членовете на ESN, отколкото с останалите Еразъм студенти. Междувременно, организаторът в мен започна да се обажда и докато се усетя, вече бях част от организацията на 3 партита - изненада. Накрая дори помагах в акциите по напомняне на студентите за записване на специални ESN събития и екскурзии.

предстои, успокоявах притеснени момичета и момчета и се опитвах от сега да ги заредя с Еразъм ентусиазъм. Дадох им всичките си координати – за връзка и за помощ, а и защото знаех, че когато се върнат, веднага ще поискат да станат част от ESN България.

Vassilena Valchanova &

Скоро щях да замина за Холандия по програма „Еразъм”. Получих e-mail с тема „Erasmus student network”. Помислих си „Поредният спам”. Любопитството ми обаче не издържа и реших да видя за какво става въпрос. И добре че го направих. Писмото беше покана за парти на студенти заминаващи по програма „Eразъм” и за моя най-голяма изненада бе организирано не от университета, а от бивши Еразъм студенти. „Най-накрая някой ще ми обясни как да събера всички дрехи и книги в 20 кг. Багаж!” Помня, че толкова се ентусиазирах, че дори им писах обратно. Отидох на срещата с нетърпение и жажда за информация от първа ръка. Срещата мина с много бира, нови запознанства, разговори за багаж и за пътувания. Някак изведнъж всичките ми притеснения, свързани със заминаването, изчезнаха и бяха изместени от пеперудите в стомаха, появяващи се, когато знаеш, че те очаква нещо непознато, но много вълнуващо и хубаво.

Връщайки се в България, бях вече пристрастена. Исках още 10 Еразъм програми и в същото време прекрасно съзнавах, че изживяването „Еразъм” е толкова прекрасно, именно защото се случва само веднъж в живота. Имаше само един начин да продължа да приемам редовна доза Еразъм дух. Не се и замислих. Почти веднага, след като пристигнах, написах мейл на ESN България с въпрос дали приемат доброволци. Те пък взеха, че ме приеха. Вече бях от другата страна. Запознах се със структурата на ESN и цялата мрежа, което още повече ме запали. Разбрах, че да си член на ESN е всъщност много повече от посрещане и ориентиране на студенти. Това е мрежа, изградена от искреното убеждение на всички членове в силата на междукултурният обмен, в пътуването като част от самоусъвършенстването и в диалога като начин за разбиране на другия. Още по време на моя Еразъм-опит тези ценности вече бяха станали мои лични убеждения –промяната беше факт. Дойде и първото парти. Този път аз бях в ролята на бившият Еразъм студент и обяснявах на заминаващите какво им

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Kalina Dancheva

TRANSLATION

lost in translation

From erasmus to an esn member

How my Erasmus changed my life

by: Kalina Dancheva ESN Bulgaria I was just about to leave on my Erasmus exchange in the Netherlands. I got an e-mail with a subject “Erasmus Student Network”.

“Just the regular spam”, I thought. But, burning with inner curiosity, I decided to check it out. And I’m still so happy that I did it. The letter was an invitation for a party for future Erasmus students. To my greatest surprise, it was not organized by the administration of my university, but by former Erasmus students. “Wow! Finally somebody will give me some tips of how to pack all my clothes and books in 20 kg of luggage”. I remember that I got so enthusiastic that I even e-mailed back. I went to the meeting filled with impatience and the need to finally get some first-hand information.

Vassilena Valchanova & Kalina Dancheva

TRANSLATION

The Outgoing party was great – beer, meeting with lots of new people, small talk about luggage and trips. All of a sudden, my fears and worries disappeared and were replaced by the butterflies in the stomach that always appear there when you know that something unknown, but exciting and nice, is going to happen.

When I arrived in the Netherlands, the only thing that I hoped for was to find an ESN section in the city where I was heading – Leeuwarden. Fortunately, there they were – the ESN people. And they were very active. The freezing Friesian wind didn’t stop them to welcome every student at the train station of Leeuwarden. In the evening, there was a “Welcome to Holland” party for all Erasmus students. Believe it or not, the party went with “beer, meetings with lots of new people, small talk about luggage and trips”. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? From that first party, the thing that impressed me the most was that same Erasmus spirit even at 2000 km of distance. Many more parties and trips followed, but the greatest thing was the fact that in any moment I could call anybody from ESN and ask about everything – from accommodation issues to going around for a cup of coffee. Up to here, everything seems normal.

The funny thing is that, despite my expectations, I created closer friendships with the ESN members, than with other Erasmus students. Meanwhile, my inner event manager came out and before I knew it, I’d already taken part in three surprise parties. Finally, I even started reminding the Erasmus students to sign up for special ESN events and trips.

When I came back to Bulgaria, I was already addicted. I wanted to have 10 more Erasmus exchanges and at the same time I perfectly realized that Erasmus was such a great experience because it happened once a lifetime. There was only one way to continue to take a regular doze of the drug called “Erasmus spirit”. I didn’t even hesitate for a moment. Almost immediately after I got home, I e-mailed ESN Bulgaria with a volunteer request. Happily, they accepted me. I was now on the other side. I got information about the ESN organizational structure and the whole network, which got me even more enthusiastic. I realized that being an ESN member is actually much more than meeting and helping foreign students. It is a network, developed but the pure conviction of every member in the power of intercultural exchange, the belief in travelling as part of self-fulfillment and dialogue as a way to understand the other. Over the course of my Erasmus experience these values had already become part of my own beliefs.

Then came the day for my first ESN Bulgaria party. This time, I was in the role of the former Erasmus student and was explaining outgoing students what to expect. I also gave them my contacts – to keep in touch, as well as because I knew that they would need it afterwards – I’m totally sure that after they return, they will immediately want to become part of ESN.

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photopage

photopage

DO YOU WANT YOUR PHOTO HERE? Then send your photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to:

photo@esn.org

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Show Your Country is a new type of article you will find since the previous issue on in the eXpress Magazine.

The main goal is to give ESN countries an opportunity to introduce themselves to the rest of the ESN – present their sections, activities, traditions, special events and way they take care of international students. In each eXpress, two ESN countries will present themselves – and this time we have the following ESN countries: Switzerland and Turkey. Enjoy getting to know the other ESNers!

show your country

SWITZERLAND Switzerland is a calm and little country in the centre of Europe. At least we consider ourselves as being in the centre even though we are geographically speaking far away from it.

A bit more than half of the country is covered by the Alps. Actually we fail to call the highest mountain in Europe, the Mont Blanc, ours only by a few kilometres. In the flatlands, in between admirable lakes and rivers, some of the most beautiful cities in Europe are situated.

When it comes to beauty only Portuguese cities can compete with them.

You can imagine that, having such a beautiful country, we are a very happy people and do not see a big need in dealing with things outside of our country. So in history the Swiss have been quite self- centred and maybe even a bit ignorant to all things happening around their country. However this strategy has proved to be remarkably well working in the past and till today. As you might know we have four official languages and thus we don’t even have to leave our country to hear people speak Italian. The Swiss have generally a strong attitude to live and let live, which some people might rather call neutrality and privacy is highly valued here. This and our direct democracy, enabling us to interfere with everything decided by politicians made Switzerland to one of the very few countries to successfully manage keeping together so many different cultures and languages peacefully in one country.

However nowadays the waves of globalised and increasingly cross-linked world are not just absorbed at our border anymore and the Swiss, or some of us, have started to accept that there is more outside our borders than a market for home-produced goods. Step by step Switzerland approached or was approached by the world surrounding it. Most steps proceeded by vigorous discussions and public votes. It is a slow but progressing process; the future will prove if it is sustainable.

PASSPORT capital: Bern language: German, French, Italian, Romansh area: 41.284 km2 population: 7,8 million government: Federal State EU accession: Bilateral agreements

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show your country

ESN Wädenswil by: Stephanie Schwander Welcome to ESN Wädenswil - a small section in a quiet city near the Lake Zurich!

Currently the section only consists of one person, who is in charge for the buddy coordination. That comes due to the fact, that the Department in Wädenswil of the University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) only host around five to ten Erasmus students per semester. Unfortunately the other Departments of the University are too far away to work together on a weekly basis. Therefore there exist two ESN Sections – ESN Wädenswil and ESN Winterthur – both belonging to the same University.

In comparison to Wädenswil, the section in Winterthur is quite strong and active. To make life for ESN Wädenswil easier, provide successors and to foster intersectional cooperation, we worked out a new concept consisting of an active buddy system, governed by ESN Winterthur.

As the last semester showed, the concept works and the feedbacks from the Erasmus students were pretty satisfying. For the upcoming period ESN Wädenswil hopes to keep alive this good cooperation with ESN Winterthur, so to make the Erasmus semester for further incoming students in Wädenswil as much pleasant as possible.

ESN W

intert

hur

by: Irene Forzoni und Stephen Hube ESN Winterthur consists of 25 members, hosts about 180 incoming students per year and is one of Switzerland’s largest sections. Our goal is an active exchange with other sections on the national and international level and providing help and exciting activities for our incomings.

Recent activities included a trip to Pilsen to establish a relationship with the local ESN section, an international dinner for the Give20 Event, where our exchange students presented food from 20 different countries, and an exchange with the TAMK from Tampere.

In November 2009, four of our members and four political representatives visited Pilsen, a twin town of Winterthur. Our members were welcomed by four members of ESN Pilsen, who had organised various events and activities for us, such as a tour of the city, visiting the university and a trip to the famous Pilsen brewery. In two workshops we exchanged know-how and helped each other by suggesting ways to improve our infrastructure and organisation.

At the end of November 2009 a delegation of four students from Finland came to Winterthur to get new ideas on how organise their buddysystem and their events to welcome the international students in Tampere. Once in “Winti” they discovered both our structure, our activities and our “Winterthurer Fondue” in a typical Fondue-tent.

However, our main focus is our international guests. At the beginning of each semester we do our best to introduce them to our reality in Winterthur and step by step to the Swiss culture. During the winter semester, for example, we went with them to the capital: Bern. We got in touch with the nightlife of Bern and the following day we visited the beautiful town with bears. In November we visited the Christmas market of Basel and last but not least, we spent the Chlausweekend in a hut on the mountains, where we sledged night and day and where Santa claus came visit us with nice gifts. But the best gift for ESN was the endless gratefulness of our “babies”: we can’t wait to start with the adventures of the spring semester!

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show your country

ESN Neuchâtel by: Eléonore Feuz ESN Neuchâtel was officially founded in June, 2007. Neuchâtel is a small French-speaking city. Its size and location – between Lake Neuchâtel and the mountains – make it an enjoyable place to live. Beyond the landscape, the city also offers a vast cultural life with cinema and music festivals, as well as theatres, museums and bars. The Old Town is also known for its beautiful architectural features and narrow streets. Currently, around 4,000 students attend its University, which makes it one of the smallest in Europe.

Our ten team members are active in organising social events for exchange students coming to the University of Neuchâtel. Before each term, new international students get the opportunity to attend a welcoming week. Besides French courses, a visit of the city, parties in local pubs, visits of museums and fun activities such as sledging or hiking are aimed to give students a first impression of life in Neuchâtel can be like. During the semester, our team tries to elaborate a varied programme of social, cultural and sportive activities which would encourage international students to get to know Switzerland and its culture better.

This summer term we are going to make students discover typical Swiss institutions by visiting the Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern and eating fondue, for instance. Regional craft industry will be highlighted with the visit of an absinthe distillery and of underground water mills.

The Lake of Neuchâtel plays a great role in the inhabitants’ life. We will picnic, have barbecues, and will chill out on pedalos as soon as the weather warm and sunny is! Our pubnights are a good way of bringing international and local students together! At our traditional After Ski Party, mulled wine will warm up everyone after sledging and skiing down the stairs.

To bring all these wonderful memories home, we especially designed T-shirts as the perfect souvenir! Neuchâtel is a great student city and we would love to make you feel at home here!

Xchange Unil EPFL

by: Flore Bochet

Many people probably choose Lausanne for their Erasmus year because of the beautiful location of our campus on Lake Geneva in front of the Alps, but once they get here they realise they made the right choice because there is so much more to offer here. We have a great student population that offers us many volunteers for our buddy system.

In Lausanne we have two sections, one from the university and one from the polytechnic school (EPFL) and we organize common parties every Wednesday (pub nights). Sometimes they are themed and at a different bar every week. We also organize other big parties together such as a Christmas ball, an autumn and a spring fest, a welcoming party which we organize also with other associations of the campus.

And who could forget the classic international dinner where students can show everyone the specialties from their country.

We organise an excursion at least every 2 weeks. Luckily because of the perfect location of Lausanne we are able to access different areas very easily. We try to allow Erasmus students the chance to discover Swiss traditions. So we visit, for example, a chocolate factory, a cheese factory, ... We also go hiking in the mountains, go snowshoeing, sledding, and skiing in the colder seasons. All this is just a train ride away.

We are also conveniently located next to wine country so in the fall there are different wine festivals every weekend to visit. And in May we’ll organize the Swiss National Event.

Of course all this would not be possible without a motivated team. Each year one or two members of our committees are Erasmus students and most of our members have already done a year aboard. We are involved in international projects, last year we have actively participated to the Give 20 project. We also always have a big delegation at ESN Events and two members of the Swiss National Board are from Lausanne.

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show your country

ESN Zürich - We love exchange by: Julia Svozil It‘s a sunday afternoon in a building of the ETH Zürich. Ten extremely tired students are cleaning... It was an amazing weekend with ESN, none of them got enough sleep but all of them got to know many people from all over Europe. It is the last day of the WEP and everybody is happy and sad that it is over. There were so many participants and organization was challenging but fun as well.

Almost three weeks later on a friday evening the same people and many others are meeting in a small bar, the party is slowly beginning, pizza was bought, the atmosphere is easy, there‘s laughter and the beer is tasty. It‘s the party for the organizers and helpers of the Welcome Party, the biggest party for exchange students in Zürich each semester. The party was a success and the concept was working well. Exchange students got to know each other, met ESN Zürich and other Swiss people. But that‘s not the topic of the particular evening.

The ESN team members are talking about the end of the semester, the fun they had on events with the exchange students. The last two events of the semster will be in the following week, a Fondue night and a pub evening.

However some of them are restless, they have to catch the train to Ljubljana. It will be an amazing week in Slovenia, travelling about the whole country, visiting the sights and meeting people they know from the various ESN sections in Slovenia and at the end of the week, attending the SEEP. Although the end of the semester was experienced in distinct ways by the members of ESN Zürich, the secret observer understood ESN Zürich as a team working together, having fun and experiencing all the good stuff about exchange. They are excited about the upcoming semester. It is worthwhile being part of ESN Zürich.

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Erasmus events

ESN Lithuania says LABAS

[HELLO] for all of you!

by: Ieva Vezbergaite (ESN Vilnius University) Ausra Balandyte (ESN KTU) We want to meet you, we want to be with you and we want be as good as you! :) ESN Lithuania is ready for new challenges and new opportunities!!!

Lithuania is becoming a favourite Erasmus destination – more and more students are coming here every year and today most of our higher education institutions (HEIs) participate in the Erasmus programme and nearly every HEI has student initiatives to take care of incoming students! The year of 2009 was very special for ESN Lithuania! The only “oldie” section finally had many young sisters and brothers! Just in half a year 6 sections joined the ESN Lithuania network and now we have the magic number – seven sections are working across the country! Indeed, any number for us is magic! And all the time we are ready to expand our horizons!!!

ESN Lithuania experienced a lot of evolution and now is full of brand new people, who are very motivated, hard-working, inventive, crazy about ESN and want to share their experience with you as much as they can! The ESN name became well-known in HEIs and our National Agency expressed its support! The year of 2010 is our new era! We stepped into the year 2010 with clear vision – be active and keep Pallomeri spirit forever! We participate in Social Erasmus, PRIME, Exchange ability projects, we made ESN Diary and we are ready for much more! We had our first successful national event – professional training about team-building, leadership and success, where many ESN’ers gathered all together! For ESN’ers it was nice experience because the lecturer inspired us always to seek our aims, don’t be afraid to plan everything for the longer period of time and use all the possibilities! And, of course, we had a great after-party with many various games in order to know each other better… After that it seems like we are all old friends and met long time ago… :) Even if there were snowstorms and -27˚C outside, it didn’t stop us gathering together, so who can stop us?!

We plan much more – now we are working in order to organize national ESN summer camp and we hope that a lot of our ESN’ers will attend this! Moreover, in the near future we are looking forward

to organize an ESN international event in Vilnius!

Of course, our rapid growth had small “side-effects” and communication within our network is becoming more complicated, but we hope to find a cure - to establish the National Board soon. We already have our dedicated national team, which is trying hard to help us and keep us informed. Also, we are preparing legal documents and we hope to establish association very soon! We have so many dreams and we wish that one day all the desires come true!

By the way, thanks for ESN which united us! The new era began for ESN Lithuania! :) Let this era never end!

Below you’ll see thoughts about ESN and its power from various sections of Lithuania: ESN VU: mentorship rocks! let’s get rocked!

ESN KTU: ESN - for a world without borders…! never stop going forward! :) ESN VMU: we are astonishing and always unique! :))) ESN MRU: ESN keeps you connected...

ESN SU: we’re frikin’ brilliant mentors and we have each other :) And... the „Oscar“ goes to...

ESN VGTU: Faster than Superman, More fun than Borat, More helpful than 112 – The VGTU Mentor! :) ESN Lithuania is getting much more power than before and we‘re proud of having ESN here. Now we can‘t imagine our life without it! :)

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erasmus experience

A New ERA iS a MUSt Subtitle

by: Timea Németh

To have a better understanding about the Future of the Erasmus programme we need to look back at recent political issues regarding its Past. In Lisbon in March 2000 and in Barcelona in March 2002 the European Council agreed to set a strategic goal for the European Union to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy and society in the world by 2010, to make the education and training systems of the European Union a world quality reference by 2010 and to create a European Research and Innovation Area. In March 2008 the European Council agreed on the objective of removing barriers to the free movement of knowledge by creating a “fifth freedom” which would involve increased cross-border mobility of researchers, as well as students, scientists and university teaching staff. In November 2008 the Council of the European Union concluded that “every young person should have the opportunity to take part in some form of mobility, whether this be during their studies or training, in the form of a work placement, or in the context of voluntary activities”. In July 2009 the European Commission published a Green Paper on “Promoting the learning mobility of young people” to open up a debate with a wide range of stakeholders on how to increase the prospects for young people in Europe to expand their knowledge and skills by studying, working, living abroad.

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by: Marius Nosewicz

We can see from the above that a clear consensus exists at political level to expand mobility opportunities and Erasmus has been there for this purpose for the students, teachers and recently even to the administrative staff of higher education institutions across Europe since 1987. The programme has become a driving force in the modernisation of European higher education and inspired the establishment of the Bologna Process. Several studies have proved that a period spent abroad enriches students’ lives not only in the academic field but also in the acquisition of intercultural skills and self-reliance. In today’s globalisation an international education is a must-have for talented young people and European companies have made the whole Continent their roaming ground. They seek for mobile, flexible, cosmopolitan-minded and multilingual staff, which they can find partly attributable to mobility programmes such as Erasmus. Simply having Erasmus on one’s Curriculum Vitae is seen as being a very positive fact because that one word explains the whole experience of studying abroad. Therefore, those who participate in the programme are considered more employable than those who do not. For many European university students, the Erasmus programme is their first time ever living and studying abroad. Hence, it has become a cultural phenomenon and is very popular among European students. Some academics have contemplated that Erasmus students will prove to be a powerful force in creating a pan-European identity in the future. Political scientist Stefan Wolff, a professor at the University of Bath, UK argues that what he calls as Erasmus generation are the founders of a first

erasmus experience time ever seen European identity. He also claims that “…give it 15, 20 or 25 years, and Europe will be run by leaders with a completely different socialization from those of today”. Wolff truly believes that in the future there will be “…less national wrangling, less Brussels-bashing and more unity in EU policy making – even if that is hard to picture today”. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former French President, shares the same view by claiming that the idea of Europe is in transition and therefore a different generation of leaders is in demand. Werner Weidenfeld, Director of the Centre for Applied Policy Research in Munich has a clear vision of the new generation that thinks European, lives in Europe on a daily basis and has new opportunities as opposed to the previous generation.

So we have those young people for whom mobility and having the Erasmus experience is almost innate, however, in my experience in Hungary there is also another new generation growing up that some sociologists have already named as „Hotel Mamma” referring to the fact that they are absolutely IMMOBILE, cannot leave the safety net provided to them by their parents, enjoy living at home, start work as late as possible, not to mention their perception of establishing a family: “the later the better”. Although the Green paper addresses the issue of even more learning mobility in the future, one fact needs to be faced: what about those who are simply NOT MOBILE EVER? The notion of internationalisation at home has been around for quite some years now and it needs further elaboration and implementation all over the continent as in my view this might be the key to bringing up a new European generation with a cosmopolitan mindset and international background, knowledge and skills. Erasmus students and alumni should also play a primary role in it by sharing their know-how and expertise with those who prefer to live the Erasmus experience from the safety of their home. In my understanding this is what a New Erasmus demands.

by: Marius Nosewicz

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new erasmus

Bologna 2020

The Next Decade for Student Mobility in Europe? by: Madara Apsalone, The National Representative of Latvia The Bologna process started nine years ago in the Italian city of Bologna to create the European higher education area by making academic degree and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe. 29 Ministers of Education singed the declaration back in 1999, while 46 countries had joined the voluntary process to reform and improve their own education systems by 2009. With many positive aspects and significant achievements implementing a three-cycle structure and increasing the quality, Bologna is still just on the way to achieve its goals, originally set for this year. Commission and social partners, such as the European Students Union (ESU), agreed that time has come to focus on national policies and concrete implementation of reforms in all the participating countries. With more focused targets and new agenda, Bologna process has started a new decade. Does it also mean better perspectives for international education and student mobility in Europe?

Mobility was initially defined as one of the core areas of the Bologna process. Reviewing the progress made from a student perspective, ESU however concluded that no substantial progress has been made and mobility is still out-of-reach for many students across Europe with challenges particularly related to finances, recognition and even student motivation to be mobile (Bologna With Student Eyes 2009).

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Defined to be an opportunity for all, mobility is still commonly believed to be more accessible for students from advanced financial backgrounds (by ESU, EC and many others). Mobility grants have been criticized for not taking into account the indirect costs (of student, for instance, losing his/her income at the home country, while taking part in mobility), in several countries also for being insufficient or not counting properly for the living costs in the host country. Addressing mobility funding, Bologna puts much responsibility on the national level, thus even with a new and better agenda it brings in a challenge for adequate national support by all countries in times of economic crisis and not increasing already existing opportunity gap between West/ North and East.

Even more concerns address recognition issues in mobility. Recently finished research on the Problems of Recognition in Making Erasmus (PRIME) by ESN uncovered many problems concerning the compatibility of study programs and calculation of course credits. Even majority of surveyed students had their course recognition agreements in Bologna promoted European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), doing research we came over many cases of ECTS implementation, calculation or transfer problems.

PRIME also met a challenge of a common understanding of the recognition concept: student respondents in certain cases had to pass all their courses or re-take exams returning to home institution despite receiving a â&#x20AC;&#x153;full recognitionâ&#x20AC;?. Being involved in international education debates for a couple of years, I have even heard comments of Bologna actually creating obstacles for student mobility by squeezing study programs and not allowing students enough flexibility to complement their competences and gain new experience aboard: might be another issue to look into for 2020.

new erasmus

Bologna according to WIKI The purpose of the Bologna Process (or Bologna Accords) is to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention. It is named after the place it was proposed, the University of Bologna in the Italian city of Bologna, with the signing in 1999 of the Bologna declaration by Ministers of Education from 29 European countries. This was opened up to other countries signatory to the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe; further governmental meetings have been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007) and Leuven (2009).

Student motivation, last but not least, might be an issue closely related to the quality, added value and social recognition of such a long term study experience aboard. How much care does Europe take of its international students in terms of practical, non-discrimination, equal right and legal (such as visa) issues? International student mobility and exchange organizations (as ESN, AEGEE and others) have contributed to identify the main social challenges and started to address them under the students for students idea, but is this seen as a priority on the national education agendas? Another comment on the language teaching and student pre-exchange preparation, as motivation is somehow also about the confidence of being able to find ones way in a new environment.

European Commission has set the aim high at 20% of student mobility by 2020. Discussing mobility of 2020 with an ESU colleague during a meeting of the European Youth Forum in Torino, we came across an issue that we do not even have a common measure system for mobility – countries define and count it according to their statistical abilities and preferences. Believing in more quality and accessibility of international student mobility, I am curios, whether the EC, Bologna participating countries and higher education institutions will manage to make mobility a rule rather than an exception, and looking back from 2020 we will be able tell it as a success story for the rest of the world.

Before the signing of the Bologna declaration, the Magna Charta Universitatum had been issued at a meeting of university rectors celebrating the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna – and thus of (Western) European universities – in 1988. One year before the Bologna declaration, education ministers Claude Allegre (France), Jürgen Rüttgers (Germany), Luigi Berlinguer (Italy) and the Baroness Blackstone (UK) signed the Sorbonne declaration in Paris 1998, committing themselves to “harmonising the architecture of the European Higher Education system”.

It is a common misconception that the Bologna Process is an EU initiative. The Bologna Process currently has 46 participating countries, whereas there are only 27 Member States of the EU. While the European Commission is an important contributor to the Bologna Process, the Lisbon Recognition Convention was actually prepared by the Council of Europe and members of the Europe Region of UNESCO.

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receipe

Banitsa

The food of Bulgarian heroes by: Vassilena Valchanova ESN Bulgaria OK, the heading might be a bit misleading, but banitsa (pronounced BAH-nit-sa) is truly the favourite traditional food of Bulgarians. In short, it’s a kind of salty pastry prepared with white cheese and although it will be a bit tricky to prepare it abroad, there still is a way – if I was able to make it all the way up in the Netherlands, so can you, no matter where!

The dough This is the trickiest part of the recipe. Banitsa is made with veeeeery thin pastry sheets (just a few millimeters thick), prepared from average flour-egg-water dough (you can get the recipe anywhere). You can make the dough sheets at home by using a rolling-pin. You can also get them from a shop. It is known as phyllo dough. Although there are very few Bulgarian shops across Europe, you can get dough sheets in Turkish shops which are easier to find. Just ask for “baklava dough sheets”.

The filling For the making of one banitsa you will need: - 3 eggs - 400 grams of yoghurt (plain, not fruit or sweet flavored) - 400 grams of Bulgarian white cheese, which can be

substituted with Greek feta cheese - A teaspoon of baking soda - A tablespoon of sunflower oil

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Crumble the cheese into small pieces, mix it with the other ingredients, stir and you’ve got your filling. In case it’s a bit runny, you can put some flour in to get the water out.

Preparation Put some oil on the bottom of a pan. Put a dough sheet at the bottom. Don’t worry, if the sheet is larger than the pan – just fold the edges so that it fits. Then put a few drops of oil on it and put another dough sheet. Then spread a few tablespoons of filling, so that it covers the sheets. Put a dough sheet, then a few oil drops, then another sheet. Put some more filling. Keep on going, until you run out of filling or sheets. Distribute the filling evenly between the double sheet layers. End the thing with a dough sheet on top.

The pastry is then baked at 200-250 degrees Celsius. At the end, it should have a crunchy brown look on top and the filling inside will have dried enough, so that when you poke it with a toothpick, the wood will come out without any filling on it. After you take the pan out of the oven, you can sprinkle a bit of water on top and cover the banitsa for 10 minutes with a clean towel. This is not obligatory, but it softens the top layer of the banitsa.

Cut into pieces and enjoy! And you can drop me a line to tell me how your cooking experience turned out! ;)

PROJECTS & PARTNERS

TURKEY Turkey is a Eurasian Country which is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Turkey is the successor state of the Ottoman Empire. It is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with an ancient and cultural heritage. It’s political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of Ottoman Empire as the result of World War I. During antiquity, the land of Turkey was Asia minor and was part of the Greek civilization, then in the middle ages it was the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantium. And from 1071 it’s Turkish...

Turkey has a significant geostrategic importance by separating Anatolia and Thrace with the Sea of Marmara and Turkish Straits, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Thereby Istanbul is considered as western gate to Turkey, it’s the link between Europe and Asia. Istanbul is a wonderful, gigantic city of 17 million inhabitants from different cultures and religions. Istanbul is the meeting point of nations, fashion, trade and not only for 2010. It is the Capital of Culture for hundreds of years.

PASSPORT capital: Ankara language: Turkish area: 783.562 km2 population: 72,5 million government: Parliamentary Republic EU accession: Candidate

That multicultural history of Turkey proves that it always was the part of Europe and ESN Turkey’s position in ESN shows that Turkey is a great part of European family.

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show your country

ESN ISık Our adventure begins with 2 Erasmus students who came to our lovely little town Şile to Işık University. With our first attempt and right after being a section of ESN Turkey, ESN Işık started being active with light speed ar every level and we started to grow together...

Every member of ESN Işık is an enthusiastic, unstoppable person who aims to help all Erasmus students in Işık University besides all Erasmus people in Istanbul area. Together as a Team, ESN Işık organized parties, sightseeing tours, hiking and camping activities, holiday tours and so on...

Even though we have a small amount of Erasmus students; our energy was enough for every section and beyond. We organized an unforgettable event Cultural Medley 2009 in Şile. We spent 4 days with 40 ESNers who were accommodated in extremely comfortable dormitories with a fascinating view of Black Sea. It was spectacular with sightseeing tours, hiking, chilling on the beach and of course with eurodinner and parties. We got many positive comments both from participants and the IB. Obviously it was not enough!

We organized our last Turkish National Platform and surprisingly ESN Turkey awarded us for our work and activeness within ESN Turkey with a plate, which was the very first time in the history of ESN Turkey. We are honored and even more motivated for achieving more. With gathering our members together and recruiting new ones we are ready to do more for ESN and be sure you’ll hear more from us soon!

ESN Bilkent It’s not easy going to the farthest eastern edge of Europe and then some more. Disorientation, displacement and a harsh, desert climate full of robed, camel-riding thugs await those who dare to make the journey. Or so people think anyway.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

ESN Bilkent might be the new kid in the network but we’ve been helping out and learning from exchange students-Erasmus or otherwise-for almost a decade. We do everything from picking them up from the airport and helping them pick classes that won’t melt their brains to going on bar crawls to provide the best cure for jetlag.

The Exchange students have a lot to adjust to. For one, the pure awesomeness of a wrap you came to know and love as “doner” is called “döner” here and it doesn’t have sauerkraut or that weird sauce in it. There is also the 5AM call to prayer, mandatory attendance for classes and a very depressing preference for instant coffee over French roast. We do our best so the international community is too busy to notice the disturbing differences-the lack of Guiness for example-and instead enjoy the cultural diversity Turkey has to offer. We organize trips to the sunny beaches of Antalya for the fall arrivals and excursions to the strange rock formations of Capadocia in winter with a lot of day trips and downtown adventures in between.

Ankara might not be by the sea or have Gothic castles to boast of, but it has Roman baths, Ottoman walls and is only a bus trip away to a world of evergreen forests, ruins not yet explored and gorgeous seas. The only negative feedback from students we got was that we were too much fun and we made it too difficult to say goodbye.

Hope you enjoyed this small glimpse of what ESN Bilkent is about and we hope to see you all in İstanbul for AGM in April!

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show your country

ESN kultur Istanbul Kultur Universıty Erasmus Club was founded in 2005 and became a full member of ESN in 2006. We have organized plenty of formal and social activities for our exchange students till now and we organized SEEP 2007. We managed to organize that great event only with €30 participation fee. Even though we had severe problems with accommodation we managed to have a nice event. Considering the hostel prices in Istanbul, €30 was a great deal. The head of SEEP 2007 OC says; “SEEP 2007 was our first child and we managed to do our best even though it was really hard with a participation fee of only €30. We promise we will make it up to you in AGM 2010 Istanbul.”

ESN KULTUR, has gained considerable strenght by its studies in international and national dimensions. It has succeeded in tripling the score of Erasmus with the support of University administration and in addition it is the more preferred one day by day.

We have been also been organizing special cocktail parties and activities for Erasmus students except for the support provided by orientation programmes. This year, we have made our student show around Turkey hereby the trips including cesme kapadokya and abant providing very low prices. Apart from that we have decided to participate in the national activities like ESN hiway hand in hand with our fellow ESN Isık.

Ultimately we have decided to be main sponsor and host for AGM 2010 Istanbul with the support of our university. As ESM kultur and ıst kult. unı. It is a pleausre for us to host you. We are looking forward to your arrival.

ESN HACETTEPE Hacettepe University is a state university located in Ankara the capital city of Turkey.There are two main campuses(Beytepe and Sıhhıye Campuses) , 26000 students and 92 student groups which are formed by students of Hacettepe University.

One of these groups is Exchange Student Society (ESS) formed by students working in International Relations Office. This society works in cooperation with Hacettepe University IRO. ESS took part in Erasmus Student Network(ESN) in October 2008 in Turkey who has 22 sections now.

ESN Hacettepe has 5 board members, 102 active members, 110 incoming and 356 outgoing students this year.ESN Hacettepe Board consists of president- Mesut Türkmen, vicepresident- Nurcan Sarıkaya, Activities Coordinator- Şirinşah Murat, Treasurer- Mehmet Ali Darendeli and PR Coordinator- Serkan Onar , all of whom are students at Hacettepe University and part-time employees as well of Hacettepe Univ.

IRO. As board members we meet regularly , discuss upcoming agenda items and evaluate former activities.

This year we firstly started to ‘ Buddy-Mentor system’. As everyone knows the system, each of our exchange students has two mentors .With this system we intend to help their adaptation to Hacettepe University and a new culture. Furthermore, we provide Welcome Pack,the costs of which are covered by International Relations Office. The pack includes T-shirts which were designed by us,phone cards,public transportation tickets,our contact details, some necessary information, Hacettepe University presentation materials, a city map and of course an ESN Card. With this card our exchange students have special discounts in several places such as cafeterias,pubs etc…

We organize lots of activities such as tournaments (bowling,billiard,football…), cultural trips and contests to encourage the students to meet each others. For example, ESN Hacettepe logo was created by one of our exchange students.We arranged this contest through our website and with the online votes we determined the best logo.As an award the winner received a free New Year Trip to Antalya-Olympos from ESN-Hacettepe. At this time we have a photo competition which is called ‘Best Moments in Turkey’. After the competition we will collect all the photos and publish them on our website.

Everyday we come up with new ideas to make our exchange students feel more comfort and happy.

And then we always say together ‘ ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ERASMUS ’.

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show your country

TALE OF A RENEWED SECTION ESN Koç, was founded in 2006. Since then, it never stopped to growing and improving. Compared to the few numbers of exchange students that we began with, nowadays we welcome around 100 exchange students from all over the world every year. This year ESN Koç has refreshed itself with the new executive board, the main concern over 80 exchange students regarding the active participation to ESN has been reintroduced. Frankly, the exchange students we had, they were much more settlers than guests. Besides, they were the main concerns of ESN Koç events; they also planned and organized special days and nights for us.

As ESN Koç 2009, there have been some unique events that have been organized as well as the traditional ones. Fall Semester has started with annual ‘The Welcoming Party’ followed by a typical ‘Halloween Party in Turkey’ which was a major success with the extraordinary costumes of our dear exchange students. ESN Koç continued its’ events with a bike trip to Princess Island, Karaoke Night, Thanksgiving Dinner and many more. The last event we planned was Farewell Party, which took place in a small but warm pub unlike stereotypical night events.

In return our beloved exchange students have organized a Christmas Dinner to show their appreciation towards our hardworking team. It was some of us’ first Christmas Dinner, and was pretty remarkable.

This year we are aiming to strengthen our relation with the ESN Family. Regarding this goal, ESN Turkey has accepted our humble request of organizing pre-CNR in Koç University. (www.ku.edu.tr).

We are looking forward to welcome you in our lovely city, Istanbul. Especially as ESN Koç we are working really hard to organize an unforgettable event of CNR just for you!

ESN TURKEY ESN Turkey has started its journey in 2005 with its very first section. In four years ESN Turkey grew from one section to twenty one active sections with hundreds of devoted members.

ESN Turkey is a unique success story considering the amount of enlargement and every project have been done by ESN Turkey and its sections.

ESN Turkey has been organizing many different events for exchange community in Turkey. The diversity in these events is something we would love to take your attention. We have been organizing cultural events inside Turkey and neighboring countries as well as sensational parties we threw in extraordinary places like Istanbul central train station with more than 2000 participants. So far ESN Turkey organized one SEEP (ESN Kultur) and one CM (ESN Isik). Currently all ESN Turkey family is working on the biggest ESN event organized by ESN Turkey; AGM 2010 Istanbul. We are working day and night to organize the most memorable AGM ever for all ESNers from 33 member countries.

We are very proud of our activities but probably our biggest achievement is ESN House Istanbul, a building with 17 rooms and ESN Turkey Office. I name it our biggest achievement since it is at the heart of the city and providing us a free office and a cheap accommodation option for exchange students. In the future we are envisioning an ESN House with 60 rooms, a conference room and workshop rooms.

Ne need to mention we are aiming to be a larger and even more successful family every year. We are always aiming higher achievements for ESN Turkey and hope to see you all in AGM 2010 Istanbul where the continents meet.

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PROJECTS & PARTNERS

ADVERT

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translation

JEG

KBH by: Sofie Jakobsson Ny dansk nationalrepræsentant

Jeg er vokset op blot 30km fra Danmarks smukke hovedstad, København. Jeg er dog ikke opvokset som dansker, men som svensker, i den svenske region Skåne! Hvis jeg tog min cykel cirka 15 minutter ned af vejen, kom jeg til stranden, hvorfra jeg kunne stå og se ud over Øresundsstrædet til København. Jeg vidste intet om de folk, der levede der; jeg havde kun en masse forestillinger fra historier, jeg havde hørt, som f.eks. at alle danskere er fede af at drikke for meget øl, spise for mange flæskesværd og wienerbrød.

Ligeledes troede jeg, at de kun gik klædt i rødt og hvidt, at de talte mærkeligt, og at de viste underligt TV for børn, fordi vi kunne se dansk TV. Jeg mente i hvert fald, at de var et meget anderledes folk.

Jeg ved, at mine forfædre højst sandsynligt var danskere eftersom min region blev annekteret af Sverige ved Freden i Roskilde i 1658.

Svenskerne overtog Skåne og tvang alle danskerne til at enten integrere hurtigt eller dø! Meget brutalt. Så jeg er glad for at leve i 2010. For at integrere danskerne hurtigere, oprettede man dog i 1666 Lunds Universitet, hvor jeg startede min akademiske karriere og min ESN karriere!

Jeg må dog indrømme, at selvom jeg så over strædet mange gange, havde jeg kun besøgt København få gange. Tæt på, men stadig langt fra. Faktisk var det først med Erasmus, at jeg begyndte at udforske den smukke anden side af sundet. I august 2007, efter to år på Lunds Universitet, besluttede jeg at tage et Erasmus-ophold på Vrije Universiteit i Amsertdam! Og takket være ESN VUniverse og deres fantastiske events og velkomstdage, fandt jeg hundrede nye venner på Facebook, venner for livet og en dansk kæreste!

ESNs engagement i os udvekslingsstuderende fik mig til at kigge efter en sektion, da jeg kom hjem, og heldigvis havde mit universitet en. Jeg meldte mig ind, og jeg må sige, at jeg havde et af mine sjoveste år nogensinde i ESN Lund; alle de ture, vi arrangerede, ESN SeaBattle, NPer og alt muligt andet med gode venner og en gruppe seje udvekslingsstuderende.

For et år siden fik jeg min største drøm opfyldt: jeg kom ind på medicin på Københavns Universitet! Nu bor jeg her og er begyndt at integrere, selvom det tog lidt anstrengelser at overvinde det danske bureaukrati. Ikke desto mindre har jeg forelsket mig i København og danskerne. Jeg har selvfølgelig meldt mig ind i ESN København og fået en masse nye venner. Jeg har også fundet ud af, at flæskesværd er vildt ulækre, og wienerbrød er fantastisk.

Da ESN Danmark manglede en ny NR, opstillede jeg og vandt. Nu føler jeg mig mere integreret end nogensinde før, så jeg er glad for at det er 2010 og ikke 1658, så jeg kan finde min egen fred. Jeg ser frem til at udforske ESN i det næste års tid, øge min kærlighed til ESN, København og Danmark og repræsentere mit nye ”hjemland” på bedst mulig vis!

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TRANSLATION

Derudover begyndte jeg at udforske København. Jeg fik den anden side at se og lærte den endda at kende! Og jeg elskede det.

Jeg fandt ud af, at ikke alle danskere spiser flæskesværd, de er ikke alle fede eller spiser wienerbrød, men jeg ved, at de drikker for meget øl! Der er dog et fantastisk kulturelt aspekt også. Dansk møbeldesign er verdensberømt, og deres mode er fed og har altid et underligt tvist over sig. Nogle gange tænker jeg, at de ikke har sans for mode, indtil jeg indser, at det ER mode! Festmiljøet er særdeles godt med koncerter, arrangementer, festivals og alle mulig ting på samme tid. Byen er levende, og folk er virkelig søde og åbne.

translation

I

CPH

TRANSLATION

by: Sofie Jakobsson New NR of Denmark I grew up only 30km away from Copenhagen, the beautiful capital of Denmark. Though I did not grew up as a Dane, but as a Swede, in the county of Skåne! If I took the bike down the road for 15 min, I would reach the beach and I could stand looking over the straight of Öresund to Copenhagen. I didn’t know anything about the people living there, I just had a lot of presumptions from stories I had heard, like that all Danes are fat from drinking too much beer, only eating porkscratchings and Danish pastries and I also thought they were all dressed in red and white and that they spoke weird and had weird children’s TV shows since we had Danish TV. I did, after all, think they were a totally different kind of people.

I knew my ancestors most likely were Danish, since my county was annexed by Sweden at the peace of Roskilde in 1658. The Swedes took Skåne and forced all Danes to integrate fast or die! Brutal! So glad it’s 2010 now! Though as a step in integrating the Danes and to make them feel more Swedish, they founded the University of Lund in 1666, which is were I started my academic career and that is also where I started my ESN career!

Well, I have as I said looked across the straight, but few times I have actually visited. So close, but so far away…

It’s actually thanks to Erasmus I started exploring the beautiful place on the other side. In August 2007, after 2 years at the University of Lund, I decided to go on Erasmus exchange to Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam! And thanks to ESN VUniverse and their great events and introduction days I found hundreds of new facebook friends, friends for life and a Danish boyfriend! ESNs commitment to us exchange students made me look after a section when I got home and luckily my Uni had one! I joined and I must say I have had one of my most fun years being in ESN Lund with all trips we arranged, ESN Seabattle, NPs and everything else you do with very good friends and a group of awesome exchangers!

Also I started exploring Copenhagen. I got to see the other side and even got to know it!! And I loved it! I found out that not all Danes eat porkscratchings, they are not fat and living of pastries and I now know that they do drink too much beer. I have discovered that Denmark has a great cultural side to it, Danish furniture design is world famous and their fashion is awesome and always has a weird twist to it, so sometimes I think they don’t have a sense of fashion and then I realise that that IS the fashion! Their party scene is great, there are concerts, arrangements, festivals and thing going on all the time. The city is alive and the people are really nice and open minded! A year ago I got my biggest dream fulfilled, I got accepted to The School of Medicine in Copenhagen! I have moved here, I live here and I’m starting to integrate, although it took a lot of effort to beat the Danish bureaucracy. Nonetheless, I have fallen in love with Copenhagen and Denmark and the Danes. I have of course joined the ESN Copenhagen and I found new wonderful friends! I have also learnt that porkscratchings are totally disgusting and that Danish pastries are wonderful! When ESN Denmark needed a new NR I ran and I was elected! And now I feel more integrated than ever, so I am happy it is 2010 and not 1658 so I could find my own pace.

I am looking forward to a year of exploring ESN, increase my love of ESN and Copenhagen and Denmark and represent my new “home country” in the best way possible!

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erasmus experience

new erasmus Hello ESNers!

by: Nikolas Spanoudakis ESN Ioannina section member

The central idea of this Express issue is New ERAsmus. So what are we talking about? In 2013 the Erasmus programme will be evaluated and decisions will be taken about its future. Somebody would expect me to come up with proposals about the future of Erasmus but this is not my intention. I feel unable to propose what the future of Erasmus will be, plus I always think of Socrates’ motto “I know one thing; that I know nothing”. Anyway I really enjoy posing questions. Do you feel ready to give me some good answers?

Many of us have already lived the Erasmus experience. We have faced several problems concerning the academic environment, the accommodation, and the living conditions in a foreign country. Thus we can describe how the Erasmus programme could be improved, how it will become better and friendlier to the students. But let’s consider enough what is said for the programme itself and move to what ESN should do in order to ameliorate it.

ESN conducts on regular basis two researches; ESN Prime and ESN Survey. As our president Marketa Tokova recently stated at cafebabel. com the most important result that came out of the last edition of Prime is that only the 66% of Erasmus students benefit from full recognition of their participation in the programme. What is more ESN is a partner of the European Commission in the educational field so it should have some proposals about the future of the Erasmus programme based both on the results of its projects and the experience accumulated by its members.

Consequently this is the point where your contribution can be crucial. ESN as democratic network must be able to hear the voice of its members. You, as an ESN member, must be able to state how the Erasmus can be better. So will you let us know about your opinion on how Erasmus will be the most exciting programme ever?

italian national event Every year since 2003, Erasmus Student Network Italia has organized the most popular event of the year: the “National Event” of ESN Italy!

All the Erasmus and other exchange students studying in Italy have the opportunity to meet in a “Village Resort” for four unforgettable days.

Every year the event is held in a different location in Italy. This year, it is organized by the section of Catania (Sicily): ESN Catania Ase. Thus, it is with great pleasure that ESN Catania is happy to present the great National Event 2010, which will take place May 13 through 16, 2010.

The event will be held in Kastalia, a village in the province of Ragusa in the southern coast of Sicily, and it will be preceded by the Italian National Platform scheduled for May 11-12, 2010 in Catania.

Our young association is proud to have been entrusted with this task. We are going to do our best to ensure that all participants will hold great memories of this event!

For this occasion, ESN Catania has chosen a very modern location in Sicily: the village of Kastalia, where respect for nature is matched with maximum comfort. Crystal clear sea waters, beautiful beaches, Sicilian colors and fragrances will be fully enjoyed under the sun of this mythic land. Our recipe for this event will be a mixture of celebration, the discovery of our beautiful land, and a union of cultures, something which, as the ESN World knows, develops spontaneously on such occasions.

We have designed a program to give participants the opportunity to visit local attractions. Kastalia village is surrounded by many magnificent, different beaches, and by naturally beautiful places of high artistic and cultural value, like the beautiful castle of Donna Fugata or the town of Modica - UNESCO World Heritage and a strong example of a picturesque Sicily, where different cultures from the Baroque to the Byzantine, and the Gothic ages have always coexisted and mixed together.

ESN Catania looks forward to this event. Even if close to home, it will still be a travel for us. An opportunity to grow and meet new people awaits all of us. Every member of the OC will be responsible for a different area, based on his/her expertise, in order to create a great and unforgettable party for everybody.

Registrations will open on March 1, and the fee will be 150 euro, including accommodation in the village, all meals, transportation to and from Catania during arrival and departure days, transportation for day trips, and animation (we are going to surprise you!)

We are currently working out the best and cheapest way to arrive here for all the participating sections. ESN Catania is looking forward to hosting you here and we are already dreaming of this great event at Kastalia village with all of the Italian sections!!!

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peters column

A new era for Erasmus

DELIRIUM EDITION

by: Peter Koekoek

“Geertrui, we seem to be out of Camembert again, could you please make sure that we have plenty in stock in case Nicolas decides to come over for drinks again tonight?” It is 7am on a dreary Brussels morning; Herman van Rompuy is inspecting the contents of the fridge in his modest house on the outskirts of Brussels. A steaming cup of coffee in his hand, the President of the European Council is wearing the terrycloth bathrobe he got on Saint Nicholas’ Eve last December. “I was already planning on getting that darling,” replies his wife Geertrui, before pecking him on the cheek, “I’ll get the low fat kind, I know Carla insists on it.”

It is a big day again for Herman; summit day. Later today, the twenty-seven leaders of the Union’s member states will gather in Brussels for an extraordinary summit about the future of student exchange in Europe. Herman has made a habit out of organizing his summits anywhere but in the depressing Council building, and today will be no exception. The Erasmus student exchange programme is up for evaluation, and Herman has come up with a very suitable location. With a naughty twinkle in his eyes, Herman puts an arm around his wife and takes a sip from his coffee, “I can’t wait until they find out where we meet this time.”

Located on Impasse de la Fidélité, a discreet alleyway in the inner depths of Brussels’ tourist restaurant gauntlet, just north of Grand Place, Café Delirium offers a stunning 2004 different kinds of beer. It is usually teeming with students and backpackers, but today is far from usual.

Angela Merkel walks with a confident pace through the alleys, dodging the obnoxious restaurant promoters and sheltering from the drizzling rain under a stylish black umbrella held up by an aid. “Turn right where?” she barks slightly annoyed into her Prada ladyphone, “Herman I think it is great that you are experimenting with new summit locations but we have to be able to find it, verstehst?”

Moments later, Angela descends the stairs into the 18th century basement that houses Café Delirium. “There you are Angel!” charms Silvio Berlusconi, smiling profusely, wildly gesturing his arms, “you look absolutely wonderful as always!” Slightly blushing and with a schoolgirlish look on her face the German chancellor accepts the stool that Silvio pulls up for her. With Angela’s arrival the Council is complete, all government leaders - as well as the President of the Commission - have taken a seat at the bar with President Herman working the beer tap, a tea towel nonchalantly draped over his shoulder. “Great to see that you’ve found us Angela,” smiles Herman, “The usual Hefeweizen I assume?” “Women and getting lost…” sighs Gordon Brown. Angela gives him a deadly stare and Gordon quickly averts his eyes and takes a sip from his pint of English lager.

“Great, now that we are all here we can start the summit,” says Herman, as he passes Angela her Erdinger beer, “Nicolas, I believe you prepared a short presentation?” “Absolutely my dear Herman,” says Nicolas Sarkozy, giving the EU President one of his charismatic looks. “I have thoroughly googled the matter and found out quite a lot about this Erasmus thing. I came across the Erasmus Student Network’s website, an amazing organization that has miraculously managed to unite local sections in student towns located all over Europe. It is truly inspiring to see how well students from across the continent have organized themselves in a democratic organization, and work together to… “ Nicolas is suddenly interrupted by Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, “Working together to do what?” asks Jan, who is getting a little bold after finishing his second Belgian beer, “I agree that it is great to see students from all over Europe get together, and that they are striving for the best exchange experience possible, to enjoy Europe’s cultural richness and diversity to the best of their ability, but what ever happened to the spirit of student uprisings like the one in Paris, in 1968?” “Egalité! Liberté! Sexualité!,” cries Nicolas with a broad smile and a sarcastic smirk on his face. “Now now, Jan, take it easy, let’s not idealize ordinary riots,” Says Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, “but I can see where you are coming from .“ Many Council members, raising their drinks, nod in approval. “I think what Jan is trying to say,” says Donald, “is that many big things have happened in recent years, some of us have participated in wars, the international monetary system has collapsed on top of us, the Lisbon treaty has been adopted, and all of us have been challenged about this - to some extent - in our home countries. But we as the European Council get a free pass to rule the continent and do as we please! Perhaps it is time for European students to wield their power a bit more at the European level.” “A new era for Erasmus,” summarizes Herman, “Where all Erasmus students realize that they receive their Erasmus grant from the European Union, but at the same time aren’t afraid to bite the hand that feeds them.”

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new erasmus

Erasmus-ESN Genealogy How ESN evolved... by: Simon leBon

Have you ever heard about The Erasmus Programme? Study at a foreign university, get to know a different culture, make new friends, learn another language? Yes, and probably many of you took part in the project. With this article I would like to have a look at the history of the development of this program from an ESNer’s point of view.

NAME Desiderius Erasmus Born October 28, 1466, Gouda (NL) WORK The Praise of Folly LEGACY Erasmus Programme Erasmus University Erasmus Bridge But let’s start from the beginning. The Erasmus Programme was born around 20 years ago but the idea that is at its base was born much more in advance, almost 5 centuries ago: Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466, Rotterdam - 1536, Basel). Someone called him an humanist, someone else a Catholic priest and even a theologian but I prefer to think of him as an “International Student”, as one of us! Like young people usually are, he was a reformist and he fought against the doctrine of predestination with the doctrine of free will. During the renaissance the scholars probably did not have to cope with “Learning Agreement” or “Orientation Week”, but his life was spent learning around Europe (Paris, Leuven, Cambridge and so on) and the fact of having left his fortune to the University of Basel, made him become the pioneer of the mobility grants which now bear his name.

The Erasmus Programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) has been established in 1987 by the European Commission. In 2007 ESN celebrated the 20th anniversary of the programme going around ESN sections all over Europe with an “Erasmus Van” to promote Erasmus and international mobility. The Erasmus Programme, together with a number of other independent Programmes, was incorporated into the SOCRATES Programme established by the European Commission in 1994. The Socrates Programme ended on 31 December 1999 and was replaced with the Socrates II Programme on 24 January 2000, which in turn was replaced by the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 on 1 January 2007.

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The objectives set up by the Commission for ERASMUS student mobility for studies are: • To enable students to benefit educationally, linguistically

and culturally from the experience of learning in other Eu ropean countries: study and party in another language; • To promote co-operation between institutions and to en rich the educational environment of host institutions: you’ll

learn a new language and you’ll teach your to others; • To contribute to the development of a pool of well-qual ified, open-minded and internationally experienced young

people as future professionals: go abroad and you’ll come

back richer!

new erasmus

How is ESN connected to Erasmus? In 1989, 2 years after the beginning of the project, the Erasmus Bureau invited 32 former Erasmus Students for an evaluation meeting in Gent, Belgium. This meeting was a starting point for Erasmus Student Network. The problems that became obvious in the evaluation were the main tasks for the founders of ESN to work on. Behind all this stood the idea “students helping students”, which is still the most important motto of ESN volunteers. On 16th of October 1989, the first section using the name Erasmus Student Network, was founded in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Following that, ESN sections were founded in various European universities, and with financial support from the EC, in October, 1990 the meeting for the official founding of ESN International was organized in Copenhagen, Denmark with 49 participants from almost all member states of the EC. ESN International became a legal association.

Today ESN works for the creation of a more mobile and flexible education environment by supporting and developing the student exchange from different levels, and providing an intercultural experience also to those students who cannot access a period abroad (“internationalization at home”).

What about the future? The European Commission is working on the new Erasmus programme for the years 2014-2020. ESN, thanks to 2 of his best projects in the international education field - Survey and PRIME - is trying to suggest at the European Commission how to improve and make a better Erasmus.

To conclude let’s go back to Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.

What would he say about ESN and the Erasmus programme? For sure, he would be proud of the efforts made by the European Institutions and by the ESN network towards the students’ internationalization. As Erasmus was going around Europe criticizing and trying to make a better Church, the ESNers and the international students have the opportunity to meet-crash against different cultures highlighting the differences as an opportunity to grow and to create a better Europe.

Be ESNer, be mobile!

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comic

34

QUIZ

QUIZ Fill the vertical lines (beginning with the first letter from the top and going to the bottom) with the replies from the questions 1 to 14! The horizontal marked line will give you the result! How much do you know about ESN?!?! Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s see..

If you solved the puzzle, please send it to us, the first answer we receive will get a price!

Send it to: Erasmus Student Network Rue Hydraulique 15 B-1210, Brussels Belgium

10 13

3

11 4

1

8 6

2

5

9 7

14 12

What is the name of the online radio embedded on the ESN sectionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; websites launched during the AGM in Utrecht?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

How many Stars of ESN awards will be rewarded at AGM? Which is the European city of culture for 2010?

How are former ESN members called?

What is the name of the country that entered in the ESN network in February 2010?

What is the name of the present President of the European Commission?

What is the first name of the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth?

How many issues of the eXpress Magazine have been published?

How many ESN sections do we have in Montenegro?

Which is the present European country holding the presidency of the European Union?

What is the name of the website that has been recently released to help the ESN section with the IT tools?

How many countries are participating to the Erasmus Programme?

Which country has the most ESN sections?

In which city did the winter Olympics game 2010 took place?

Are we going to have the PRIME project also in 2010?

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THANKSforthewonderfulyear ticforstartingwiththemaninthemirrorfor askinghimtochangehiswaysforbelievingyoucanflyforbelievingyoucantouchtheskyforthinkingaboutite v er y nightandda y f orspreading yourw ingsandfl ya wa yfor beingscumforbeingm y sonforcomingun donefordoingitagainfor pla y ing w ithm y heartfor gettinglostinthegamefornotbeingthatinnocentfor y ousa y ingnononofor themusicforthesongs y ouresingingforallthe joytherebringingforgivingittomeIgottafeelingthattonightsgonnabeagoodnight!

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