Yeah! Team Building 8 April
Old Fashioned
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Index Another element fun: this is what team building is all about after all!!!! In this editorial we will get personal! When I was a delegate and that was a long time ago (apparently I'm getting old; Manto is always fresh and young) I was intimidated with the idea of team building. It just felt awkward!!! Maybe the fact that in a committee of ten I was the only girl had something to do with it but anyway if I remember correctly I was shy!!! This might sound normal but in real life shy is the last adjective someone would use to describe me (I'm not always proud of this quality but I have happily lived with it for quite some time now). Well the thing is that even back then before growing fonder of team building I had fun or at least I was impressed and I thought of it as a challenge and looked forward to doing it again. Wonderful, lovely and so highly constructive experience... all these memories, all these thoughts just because I played some games or wasn't it just a game? Hugs and kisses folks, Manto + Mariela
Editors:
Mariela Apostolaki Manto Souvatzidaki
Editorial Assistants: Theodoropoulos Dionysios Papadogeorgopoulos Fotis
Journalists:
Goula Konstantina Gigelos John Grigoriadis George Koukou Katerina Mylona Emy Palma Gaia Ringstrรถm George Selmer Nina Cathrine Van Leeuwen Bas Vidvei Nini Mandersloot Mattho
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SOFIA ZAFEIRIOU... PRESIDENT OF EYP GREECE
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ITRE I
Do it like a Ninja! by Emy Mylona
Ready for action? Well, if that’s the case, join the amazing committee of ITRE I! Teambuilding, anyone? Yeah! So, name games were first on line and, definitely, one thing this committee shares, is the name Panos (three people after that name!). When everyone finally managed to call each other by his name or by name and a number, the delegates put on their ninja clothes. One could bet that Pavlos is a distant son of Bruce Lee as he eliminated two opponents in a row! The winner, though, was Ruslan, the Ukrainian delegate who sought for Greece’s sun and came all the way south. The teambuilding process went on with the same tempo and another thing delegates of ITRE I share is their hatred for Justin Bieber (well, sorry Julie, you‘re the only one) and, in their
majority, their poor drawing skills. Guys, you can vote me as the worst one, I accept it. This lovely committee also likes social networking, so they had their self-created facebook page and they completed their profiles while exchanging views about music, movies and hobbies. Check for adds later on, people. During the day, a delegate named Pavlos kindly answered some quick questions about the teambuilding procedure. He said that he didn’t, in any way, expect this kind of games and, honestly, he wouldn’t play them with his friends when not in EYP. At the end of the day, he feels nervous about tomorrow as far as Committee Work is concerned but there’s nothing to worry about, really! While the first day of the session is coming to an end, the two Panos, Nefeli, Ruslan, Pagona, Stratos, Pavlos, Nikos and Konstantinos and the extraordinary Chairs of the ITRE I committee seem like to have what it takes to provide a fruitful debate and form a strong-bonded team. Will they live up to this expectation? Tomorrow will tell…
INTA
Trading ideas on an international level by Bas van Leeuwen
. A group of eight wonderful people from all over Athens, gathered to discuss mutual interests on the concept of International Trade. Five boys, three girls, but the girls certainly projected themselves in the name-games during the early stages of teambuilding; their memorizing skills were absolutely remarkable. And some immediate comparisons between the delegates were found as well, Athony and Rigas, discovered that football was their favourite sport, and Magdalena is bound to be making sensible and meaningful remarks for her fellow-delegates have learned that she likes reading Philosophy, whilst Iosif has come to friendly terms with yours-faithfully for uttering the fact that he is interested in waterpolo! And these are just small examples of what you can learn from each other in less than ten minutes, and hopefully in a few days, the delegates in your committee will have become your friends for the years to come. However, teambuilding is special for everyone the first time, and might seem (kind of) weird, but at the end one will have great memories that will stand the test of time. Since you have to step out of your comfort-zone together with all the others, the members of INTA were thrown into the deep and had to rely on each other. They showed this via the means of trust game, where one delegate was blindfolded and being led by the other member, while sharing stories of their lives, to be presented to the other delegates; some top-secrets were revealed there. For instance between Magdalena and Georgia-Asimina and Anastasios and Iosif. They had to present 3 facts about each other, however, one was false, and the group had to pin-point the wrong fact through discussion and consensus. Aristeides and Anthony were the first to present their plan and introduce discussion to INTA, this took some time to get running but due to the guidance of the lovely chairs and the input of delegates such as Theodora everything was sorted out. Hence one can conclude that the teambuilding went really smooth, which promises a lot for committee work, INTA FTW!
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ENVI
my first day as their journalist was ENVIable! By Gaia Palma
like Michaela’s and Marianthi’s, and Nick, Spyros and Andreas didn’t seem to be happy about that! The sweet Christine was at first very shy, but she eventually managed to get comfortable with the rest of the team and enjoyed herself. There is one game that everyone has played at least once in their life and laughed to tears: Twister! What ENVI did was an innovative version, where instead of colours on the ground, used a tennis ball. Some were really challenging: Aphrodite put the ball as far as possible from Danai and called her name, and she, surprisingly, handled it perfectly!
We have been counting down the seconds to their arrival for one entire day and finally they are here… a lovely bunch of beautiful, beautiful delegates! In an incredibly short time the majority of us managed to go from being a scared lady to being a strong, muscular Greek God, Hercules, in the first game ever played by our beloved, new EYPers. The delegates made their first circle and had the chance to see how crazy EYP can be. However, let’s focus on ENVI!
After following my beloved chairs Lorenz and Despina to the “teambuilding base” we all moved to what is one of the most difficult and challenging parts of a session, that is to say… learning the names! To achieve this goal, the committee played different games, such as going in the middle of the circle and shouting their names while doing their best dance moves. Some of the moves where really girly,
The following game was actually the one which required the most cooperation between the delegates, who had to stay in a line and order themselves from the youngest to the oldest one. There were a few mistakes but, in the end, thanks to Melina and Eleonora, who proposed perfect plans, my adored delegates had a line with no flaws! And that is all for today from ENVI, I have no doubts they will be the best committee and I can assure you they will not let you down!
AFET
playing with the ‘’ Heroes’’ during the Team- Building by Constantina Goula
Once upon a time there was a committee under the hilarious name of AFET dealing with ‘’burning ‘’ problems of the international agenda. However, before setting them in the arena to fight, let’s try to get to know them. They have shared with us the secrets of survival from the Teambuilding games. To begin with, George has managed to overcome his difficulty in passing the ball, and he also knows how to kick it since he is a football player. Vasia believes that she has much energy because of all the food she eats. Luckily, she has a talent in burning calories. Antonis, characterized as a typical Greek, claims that the solution is hiding and relaxing in the cafeterias and Dimitra adds that music can affect everyone. Hercules, as the Greek mythical figure of power, can deal with everything and Panos can easily impose himself thanks to his frightening appearance. Thanasis, as a radio producer, has the unbeatable power of publicity while Chrisoula as a low profile person learns survival techniques by watching movies. On the other hand Rea believes that power is hiding in knowledge, so she is studying Japanese following the market trends. Maria relies on her communication skills. Konstantinos can seduce his enemies by playing the guitar and last but not least, Eleanna knows how to make them surrender as she is a fence expert. As for the chairs team, Alex the experienced traveler and Kostis the courageous karate player are the perfect combination of wisdom and inspiration. Although, as heroes they have some weak points, they are minor considering their abilities. I am sure that they will be able to ‘’ kill the snake ‘’ during the Committee Work, negotiate, cooperate and finally reach a consensus to be presented during the GA. Besides, heroes don’t find recognition only through victory, but learn how to activate their leadership skills and develop themselves through the struggle.
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TRAN
by Cathrine Koukou
Transportation committee: 9 lovely faces, nine lovely delegates and two amazing chairpersons. TRAN committee was ready to start its interesting journey. The meeting point was the Greek flag, everybody was on board and the first goal was set: Names. Getting to know each other’s names could be an interesting story to tell. Five young ladies: Altea, Anna, Christina, Elisa and Korina and four young gentlemen: Konstantinos, Dimitris, George and Stefanos. It was then that the TRAN committee found out that except for the Swiss Chairperson Dominic, it also had a half-native Italian delegate named Altea. As a train the TRAN committee then moved to another nice spot. Next station-goal: getting to know each other’s characteristics. It was at the adjective-name game in which Konstantinos revealed that he is boring and Stefanos mystique. Altea self-confidently enough presented herself as beautiful and Christina announced that she is crazy. Next station of TRAN’s train: the gym. It was in there that winter came and the delegates together with the chairs started playing a snowball fight. And the snow balls were eventually quite revealing. Souvlaki and pasticcio were the favorite foods of most of the delegates. But “tell me your favourite food” is not the kind of question that could make you blush. Instead “tell me the color of your underwear” really made the shy delegates blush. It was high time for them to move on: a train always moves. After a ten minute discussion, more facts (true and fake ones), they went outside. And here another journey started… If you noticed people changing places, it was the TRANian train which started its journey on that Saturday noon. Next station: committee work, final station: General assembly.
REGI
Given the superhero spirit of the session, the first name game obviously contained superpowers. And as it seems, almost every delegate thought of themselves as super talkers. by George Ringstrom Chair Ilias will have to watch Nervous, excited, shy yet talk- out! He is apparently not the only one very fond of talking ative. Those were probably every second of every hour of some of the feelings most of the REGI-delegates had when every day of every month of every year. standing in Tiago’s “circle”. One by one they then walked Apart from the abundant up into the middle of the boil- talkers there were plenty of other talents. REGI puts pride ing hot basketball court to, in hosting math geniuses, nafor the first time, meet their ture lovers, problem escapers, fellow committee members. To everybody’s fortune we did smilers, ice cream monsters, information processors and not stay for long but quickly to the surprise of all even a moved into the cool shade. super-wet delegate. The rest Teambuilding could begin! of us are still a bit unsure of
Painful Ways of Making Friends
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what that power will be used for. Perhaps we’ll just drink him in the heating sun… The teambuilding proceeded from merely saying the names of each another to combining it with a flying ball – a challenge to most. I am afraid none of the REGI-delegates hold the superpower of ball sense. So it is a good thing we are going to discuss politics and not playing baseball. When we at last thought we would be spared more flying objects hitting our heads, the cruel chairs presented to us the next game – the newspaper. The poor delegates were now not only supposed to call out each other’s names, but the very aim of the game was
to hit the fellow delegates in the head with a rolled up newspaper! Luckily enough, for the rest of us, chair Ilias turned out to be the worst player of the game and consequently suffered the most blows to his head. We can only hope he suffered no severe concussion…
ITRE II
Experiences Teambuilding by Nini Vidvei
After half an hour of games with all the EYPers, the committee on … finally got to gather- for the first time. ITRE II proved to be a wonderful group of delegates. Since they were new to each other, their chairs, Costas and Dora taught them “The Name Game”. In this game, they were told to come up with adjectives that described them. Vasilis, who plays the violin, came up with “Vasilis, the violin player”. Caterina became “Caterina that climbs
trees”. Angelos likes airplanes and therefore the word he came up with was obviously “airplanes”. The game proved to be a success; the delegates both learned each other’s names, and got to know something about their fellow participants. Later on, they played a game called “Truth or Lie”. In this game the group went in pairs and shared three facts about themselves, two true facts, and one lie. Angelos and Dimitris had in common that they both liked
debating- which is a great skill to have when you’re an EYPer. ITRE II also had an energizer, called “The Jelly Fish”. “Haaaaaands up!!! Wrritss togetherrrr!! “They all seemed to enjoy it, although it’s a game that gets hard in the end. Afterwards, the delegates were asked to pick pieces of toilet paper. Then they had to tell as many fun stories as the pieces of toilet paper they had picked. Dimitiris told us that he was longing for summer
to come. Iro told a cute story about her 8-year old little brother, who came into her room, covered in chocolate. John, who had taken a great deal of toilet paper, told a funny story about a stay by the ocean. He had heard a funny noise in the water- unfortunately it was his own phone, ringing in the ocean. After several hours of teambuilding, the members of ITRE II have gone from being strangers to a bounded team, with a great success.
LIBE-love Nina Cathrine Selmer
During the first day of the session, the LIBE-committee had a teambuilding session to get to know each other in order to cooperate as well as possible. The chairs, Marianna and Thanos, led the teambuilding and it all started with learning the names, standing in a circle. Danai had the hardest task, and had to remember all the 15 names, but she managed it perfectly. Christina told us that she would not remember the names, but when
she tried, she also managed it elegantly. Then speed dating was next on the program, and Ilias, being the only boy, might have enjoyed this the most. The next task the committee had was to pair up and then think of two truths and one lie about themselves, and then they presented the truths and the lie of the other person in the pair to the whole group. Many stories were shared, some more extreme than others. Stefania smiled the whole way through the game, and it was easy to see that she enjoyed it. Lina told us that she does not like extreme sports, while Varvara loves it. Diversity is strength! Zafeiria told us that when Eleni was younger, she had a quarrel with her brother that ended in her brother going to the hospital with a broken leg. Fortunately, this was a lie, but the brother had ended up in the hospital with wounds in his face. We also learned that Reem is born in Nasaret, and that Nena (Eleni) wants to be a doctor in the armed forces when she gets older. The human knot was the next game, and a knot it was. Danae, Eleni, Krystallia and Varvara managed to loosen up their knot in no time, but the remaining delegates had some difficulties. All in all, we can be sure that LIBE knows each other, and maybe themselves, a bit more than they did this morning.
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Watch OUT Empl Coming! by John Gigelos
I would like to introduce you to the best committee in EYP: EMPL! Today the teambuilding games took place so that delegates could get familiar with each other. My favorite two chairs Achilleas and Maro started to break the ice so people can get to know each other’s names. The first game was shouting names so everybody SHOUTED his name to his next person. At first the delegates were a bit shy so the shout was quieter than a whisper, but things got a lot better. The next game was throwing the ball to each other and calling their names. There was a bit of confusion at first but people got to know each other’s names. After that our committee was transferred into winter
times (which seemed really strange considering that today is a really hot day) by playing snowball games. The delegates wrote their names, favorite lessons, ice cream flavors etc on a piece of paper which turned into a snowball! I shouldn’t possibly forget to mention that our committee is really rich. In the next game we were supposed to pair up and try to sell our partner. After getting to know with each other prices went up high! People were bargaining at prices like billions and trillions but I would say that those kids are invaluable! Last but not least, before leaving my committee, we played pass the orange where people hug each other and try to deliver an orange to each other. This was the
most romantic moment and I could see that love was in the air! To sum up, today’s teambuilding achieved its goal! Delegates got know each other and I mean it (even me the mister forgiving guy remember Dimitra, EllI, Thanasis, Christina, Pinelope, Irine, Thodora, Alexis, Theodoris, Panagiota, Pelagia WooF!), cooperated and above all had a lot of fun. I can foresee that in the days to come our team is going to be really strong and effective so be careful committees out there.
JURI
starts to rock! by GeorgeGrigoriadis
At first sight, seeing all delegates out of their committees, you can think that they are lost. Different names, unknown people, crazy games… strengthen this feeling. They are probably saying: What I’m doing here? But things are starting to change during teambuilding… And what could reduce this feeling of embarrassment? Of course name games!!! Jonathan and Irida started to ask delegates’ names over and over again. But delegates weren’t afraid of that. Maybe they are plenty (about 11) but they have a very good memory. Since the second round of orange game they could remember the most of each other’s name. Of course JURI is not a boring committee. I think it’s crazier than it looks like. And that is proven by the delegates. In chairs’ question: “What do you randomly do and it is crazy?” you can hear many and strange answers. For example, Vasiliki dislikes strawberries (and I’m asking you: who doesn’t like strawberries??). Moreover, Myrto hasn’t ever drunk coffee in her life, difficult but possible! And what about Anna-Maria? She watches scary movies and she laughs. Strange things…. After the name game it was time for the “appointment game”. Delegates had to make a big clock, to arrange appointments, to be on time and to discuss on several topics. Did they get the point of the game? I think they did and they will prove that to the committee work too. Being punctual, being social, talking with each other, exchanging information and ideas are crucial for EYP. And not only that… Having fun and making friends is a part of EYP spirit too. JURI understood all the above and from my point of view they will be a special committee. JURI keep on going ;)
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{ PostEYPDepression:
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end of the session and now you can cry!!! Imagine that this session is over. If you are exhausted, sleepless but missing everyone and you realize that you can’t imagine your life without EYP, then you suffer from Post EYP Depression. PED is the typical syndrome spreading after the end of each session, provoking the tremendous and unbearable sentiment of loneliness and emptiness. Exaggeration and hyperactivity are both characteristics of the EYP and especially when we talk about PED; any extreme reaction is acceptable and appropriate. Just in case that you are still skeptical, listen to Gaia Palma’s experience and kit on how to survive : ‘’My first session was 4 weeks ago. When I went back home I was extremely thrilled and sad at the same time so I cried myself during the night. The next morning I realized that the only way to get over my depression is to go to an EYP session again, so I applied as a journo for this session’’ . Besides, PED is the proof that the more you get involved in EYP, the more obsessed and sentimentally dependent you become.
EYP Mysteries by George Ringstrom & George Grigoriadis
The first-time delegate Jumbo wakes up in the morning. He feels a little strange but he cannot remember why. He goes to the bathroom; he washes his face and eats breakfast. Jumbo is 17 years old and that is why he immediately after breakfast sits down in front of the TV and plays PlayStation. That he does until one o’clock when he suddenly remembers that today was the start of Athen’s 25th National EYP Conference. Quickly he runs to the venue of the session, but to his great misfortune he has already missed the introductory talks and the first games of teambuilding. The committee chair is furious and she cries out, “Jumbo!!! You are late! Punctuality is the key for everything at an EYP session. We are on a super tight schedule and the president will be angry if we run late!” The chair then continues teambuilding by explaining the next game. She asks everybody to stand in a circle. But since Jumbo missed the introductory speech, he has no idea how to form a circle (he has problems with geometry). Jumbo tries and tries, but all he achieves is triangles and squares. Eventually Jumbo, through his social skills, manages to become a part of the once unfamiliar committee and makes the chair love him. However it still remains a mystery to Jumbo how to form a circle… Later that evening everybody in Jumbo’s committee gathers for the opening ceremony. To his bad luck, Jumbo does not have any formal clothing. What is he to do!? Desperately Jumbo asks the President to let him enter the conference hall, but the President refuses. However, the President has some extra formal clothing lying around that Jumbo can borrow. The evening is saved! For now… To be continued.
by Constantina Goula & Gaia Palma
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THE HISTORY OF EYP GREECE The European Youth Parliament is an institution first established in 1987 in Fontainebleau, France. It consists of a network of 35 European associations and organizations one of which is European Youth Parliament of Greece. Greece started to participate in EYP in 1989. In 1992, in Thessaloniki, EYP Greece became the formal representative of the European Youth Parliament. Since then, its main to goal is to prepare and select people aged from 16 to 23 years old from Greece to participate in international and/ or regional EYP conferences. To accomplish that, two national conferences are held annually, one in Athens and one in Thessaloniki. The procedure includes three parts: Teambuilding, Committee Work and General Assembly. Since 1992, 24 national selection conferences have been held all in great success! This is based on the fact that each year more and more delegates participate and the community of EYP Greece grows bigger. Furthermore, four international sessions have taken place in Greece, the first one held in Thessaloniki in 1989 (3rd International Session), and the other three in Thessaloniki in 1997 (24th International Session), in Athens in 2000 (33rd International Session) and the last one just last year (66th International Session). In addition, two regional sessions have been held to satisfy the increasing number of applicants, beginning with the session in Kavala in 2008 and with Naousa’s summer regional in 2010 being one of the most enjoyable sessions of EYP Greece. The latest activity organized by European Youth Parliament in Greece was the very first Alumni Weekend which took place in Naousa in 2011. During these three days, most of the active members of EYP spent some quality time and imparted each one’s knowledge with fellow members. What anyone engaged to EYP for quite some time could state, is that it has evolved in many aspects. But, who is more appropriate to share with us in what ways EYP Greece has changed over the years apart from already experienced alumni? Stay tuned for more… by Emy Mylona & John Gigelos
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Which Superhero Are You? Everyone hides a superhero deep inside them. Let us help you discover your alter ego! 1. a) b) c) d) e)
A delegate is tripping in the stairway, within your reach. What is your reaction? you calculate where she’s going to land, and you manage to catch the delegate in the last second (5 points) you fall as well, so that she falls on your arms rather than on the edge of the stairs (3 points) you dodge her so that she doesn’t fall on you (1 point) you’re tired, and not in the mood for saving someone (2 points) your instinct warns you and you give her a heads up (4 points)
2. a) b) c) d) f)
You see an organizer carrying heavy boxes clearly too heavy for him: it`s his job, he has to be good at it (2 points) you lend an iron hand (3 points) which orga? (1 point) you immediately create a bag and drag them for him (4 points) you lend him a hand, made of steel (5 points)
3. a) b) c) d) e)
A journo wants to have an interview with you, you answer: Sure, just let me wear something more comfortable first (1 point) I’m a journalist myself (4 points) Okay, be quick. (2 points) Why not, I love being in the spotlight (3 points) As long as my identity is kept secret (5 points)
4. a) g) b) c) d)
A chair is looking for a lost delegate. You decide to: Continue your pleasant conversation (2 points) Use your X-ray vision to locate the missing delegate (5 points) Get your friends to help you (4 points) Not help, you’re busy saving the world from robots already. (3 points) You say “meow”, you’re too cool to help anyone (1 point)
5. a) b) c) d) e)
You get friends by: Amazing others with your elegant cape (5 points) Bringing them to rooftops of skyscrapers (4 points) Dressing to impress; in tight leather suits (1 point) Offering them a coffee (2 points) Showing of your hi-tech gadgets (3 points)
RESULTS
22-25 points --> Superman: You’re the ideal superhero. Everyone’s looking up to you. You’re strong, intelligent and have a legendary red cape. 18-21 points --> Spiderman: You’re eager to help, humble and caring. “With great power comes great responsibility.“ For your information you have the DNA of a spider. 14-17 points --> Ironman: You are a billionaire, a genius and a philanthropist. You save the world every now and then. No big deal. 10-13 points -->We haven’t recognized any super powers in you yet, however, you just need help to discover them. You know where to find us (Nini and Dionysis ). 5-9 points --> Cat woman: You enjoy imitating cats, don’t you? You think you are the best, but in fact you’re just too afraid to face yourself when you’re alone.
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