LoVeRS
11th regional Session of EYP Latvia
#1
Editorial Beginnings. They are always thrilling, exciting, mysterious. They give you the feeling that everything can be done, that only good things can and will happen. Though it might be true that nobody can guarantee that nothing that can prevent your best intentions to realise will happen, we dare to say that you will never regret coming to this session and joining the European Youth Parliament. In EYP everything happens for a reason, even if it is a game that you find more embarrasing than useful, or if it is a task which you consider rather unintresting than challenging. There is always a meaning behind everything you do. In fact, this is actually what EYP is about, fiding hidden things, thinking outside the box, testing your limits. We encourage you to do that from the first day, until the last one. We promise that the great experiences will never cease. Yours, Andreia & Filips
P.S.: If you miss the session and the people after you get home just scan the barcodes with your phone. They will take you straight to the session’s Twitter account or Video Blog. You can download the application from: http://qrcode.kaywa.com. Until then, Enjoy the paper!
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The Opening Ceremony is the last moment to take a deep breath and get into the EYP spirit. This time it took place in the school hall, which astonished everybody with its simple but elegant interior. The happening was lead by the president of the session, Wim van Doorn. He perfectly managed to deal with all of his tasks. On the whole, he was an example in terms of attitude. The atmosphere was friendly and stress relieving. The usual circle of delegates and officals is a classical value that always works. It was proved also this time. The procedure in general was quite common, the introduction of the officials, presentation of rules and organising questions. Some funny activities called energizers were not missing as well. All the conditions went together perfectly making this part of session very enjoyable. For a casual passer it would look like some kind of a sect or secret community where people are standing in a circle,listening to those who stand in the middle or just acting crazy.That is why all of that is so
NEWS
any notable troubles. Later on the delegates were safely taken to their dwellings. Organisers managed to do everything without any reinforcements. According to the available information no luggage or people got lost and noone was injured. Dangerous magical creatures have not been noticed as well. All in all, the arrivals can be evaluated as successful and that is surely a strong foundation for a perfect session.
special. The master experienced a lot of positive emotions during the Opening Ceremony as did all of the other members of the session. Hopefully every moment of this event will be so classy.
The begining of awesomeness
The delegates have arrived!
The arrival of the first delegates is a point were the session starts. Months of preparing, hard work, sleepless nights and crazy ideas have turned into a wonderful EYP session. At this moment, everybody starts feeling the unique spirit of the event. Excitement, happiness and positive exhaustion, according to the delegates these were the leading feelings when they entered the session venue. This significant event has united more than 70 youngsters from different regions of Latvia. These young, brave people admitted that the trip was a bit tiring but everyone was full of inspiration and convinced that it was worth it. At about 10 a.m. the first arriving people opened the door of the school. They were greeted by positive and professional organisers. Each and everyone received a gorgeous personalized namecard. The process of registration went smoothly without
At 2 p.m. there was a lunch break in the canteen of the 2nd primary school of CÄ“sis. The tables were covered with food and the hungry session participants ate it all. No leftovers were spotted afterwards. The menu offered everything a brain using youngster would need. The so-called vegetarian soup was served as the first dish, though there were some rumours that meat was also an ingredient in it, which makes it a non-vegetarian meal. Anyhow, the second dish consisted of boiled potatoes with meat sauce. The potatoes were soft and melting in the mouth, the sauce was rich in flavour and the spices were in the right amount. Not too salty, not too tangy. No complaints about the meal were received. Of course, no lunch can be spent without eating bread; hands stretching towards it were spotted at the table number 2 which was lo-
NEWS
idents introduced 3 committees to a frog game in which delegates got very intimate and sat on each other’s laps. After that everyone shared a huge, massive energy ball in the street fighter game. Wherever our hot-spot reporters went, they saw cheerful faces, delegates running the trust run, taking a field trip over the swamp and cleaning the floors with their splendid, warm bodies. During the coffee break the action never stopped, some rectangular hunts and committee shouts were spotted. Anyhow, stay classy, LoVeRS. Cheers!
cated next to the window. The bread was fresh and the lunch was not lacking it. The foreigners could not understand what the pink half water, half juice drink found in the brown little cups was. In Latvian it is called morss which is a slightly sour drink, but perfectly fitting the whole combination of dishes that were served. The amount of calories you ate during this mealtime: soup-122 kcal, potatoes-68 kcal, bread-67 kcal, meat sauce-247 kcal. In total calories received: 504 kcal. No desserts were served.
The food at the session
Teambuilding news
On the 15th of March at 3 p.m. the teambuilding within committees started. The whole process began with the name games. Clapping hands, throwing balls and fighting with papers, these were the most frequent actions. However you, the delegates, got to know each other not only by your names, but by other details as well. Some games included random facts, characteristics, hobbies and childhood memories. Awkwardness was shared, inside jokes were made, and new friends were gained. The delegates met other committees as well and teamed up with them in smashing games. No injuries had occurred and no animals were harmed during the process. The delegates realised that a chair is more than a piece of furniture. At 3.15 p.m. Maria Pashi, one of the two vice-pres-
ACTA, PIPA, SOPA
What do they mean and why have they been brought out?
Sexuality and youth
In the light of online-piracy and crimes such as theft of intellectual property and illegal sharing of that property becoming more and more popular, the United States have come up with Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Along with the US, 31 countries have
accepted the agreements in the EU and beyond. Governments believe that online sharing of pirated materials will eventually be fatal to innovation in many fields such as entertainment and even health. With patents leaking and spreading all over the internet, it may be very harmful for the market and therefore the world economy.
But is the society ready for governments to lurk in our internetsurfing habits and go through our personal information? Isn’t that against human rights? Recent polls in Europe have shown that at least 5 million individuals, who have signed various petitions, are strongly against ACTA and the numbers are growing by the minute.
In conclusion, think about your individual downloading habits. When was the last time you downloaded a movie or a song? Do you ever think about the consequences? But most of all, how would ACTA affect your life and what can you do about it?
The worlds social norms are changing. Never plementation of a common sexual education has sexuality been exploited in media as much system in EU. On the other hand this could inas it is now. More and more advertisements terfere with the sovereignity of each member and movies have sexual themes state since they have the involved. Researches show that right to deal with this probthree out of four teens say ‘TV lem as they consider better. shows and movies make it seem We must also consider the normal for teenagers to have difference of mentalities, sex’. Moreover the young teens religios beliefs, school sysaged between 13 and15 rank tems and other aspects of entertainment media as the top various EU countries. Taksource of information about ing that into consideration sexuality and sexual health. This is a common sexual educacreates such problems as distrust tion framework really the in the sexual knowledge of other right choice? Are there any sources, because the media proother options to ensure safe vides „everything a young person needs”. These problems demand action. A possible solution could be the imCOMMITTEES
Who are we? This question has been asked again and again since the dawn of the world. It is amazing how many different answers one person can actually have. Let us say, each and everyone can choose to be an EYPer, lemur fan or a human rights activist. However when it comes to the issue of national and European identity things are not that simple. Maybe because it is something you cannot choose. You just get your nationality and European Membership because of some really important decisions that have been made in the past. Perhaps that is why it is such a significant part of our identity. National identity has existed for long time, formed and developed through time and different events. That is the reason why it is so strong and one of the main factors that affects the opinion of the society. To compare, European identity has started to form only when the EU was established. For each
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country it more or less begins with the joining of the EU. Then again, most of the people treat the EU as a political organization not as part of their identity. As a result distrust in the EU increases rapidly and ideas of nationalism become more and more popular. Some sources even claim that the EU is dying in a slow and steady death. One of the reasons of this situation is the change of generations, as young people do not feel such a strong necessity for guarentees of peace as those who have experienced war. Another big reason of distrust is the financial crisis. Everyone belongs to his country. Undeniable. But that does not exclude European Citizenship. Eventually we will have to remember why the idea of a united Europe arose in the first place. I guess it was not the desire for something that would restrict independence of the countries and make tensions between nationalities. We cannot call these arguments and thoughts
of the eurosceptics unreasonable. Something has gone wrong. The EU has to face a lot of challenges and the unity of Member States is required in order to deal with them. Right now the future is unclear. Eurosceptically disposed political forces become more and more powerful. The financial crisis is not over yet. There is a belief among europeans that each country could survive in the globalised world on its own. The balance is lost. The problem is born. And it has to be solved. Is a stronger European identity necessary? What should and could be done to reach this goal? These are serious questions that you - my dear CULT II - have to answer! Unicorns and holy lemurs bless you!
Democratic Crossroads In today’s multicultural Europe it is increasingly hard to find a balance between the rights of different groups. Concerning language, the situation has been handled differently all over Europe. Some countries have many official languages, some only one and are very keen on preserving the monopoly. Still the question remains whether minority languages should be established as co-official languages or not. In Latvia’s case the answer would be no, because of three main reasons. Firstly, this is the will of 74.8% of the Latvian population, proven by the recent referendum. Secondly, as the Russian presence in Latvia goes back for centuries (although most significantly for the last 60 years), most Latvians
COMMITTEES
can actually speak Russian. Therefore I personally do not see an urgent need to establish a new co-official language. Thirdly, Latvia is a small nation-state which means that the sole purpose of the state is to preserve Latvian language and culture. If Russian were to be added as a co-official language, a threat would rise towards the conservation of Latvian culture, therefore endangering the very grounds of the state. Of course the Russian minority has the right to preserve their own culture, but this is the most difficult problem we face today – how to achieve a just balance between the rights of different groups. Unfortunately there are no right answers. The only way is to make a compromise. A tough decision has to be made about what to sacrifice in order for democracy not to lose its values. This is a true ordeal – whether democracy lasts is up to the people shaping
Arab spring
For the past few years the states of the Middle East and Northern Africa have been troubled by conflict, uprisings and even civil war. Most of the countries such as Lebanon, Tunisia and Syria are currently trying to fight dictatorships and establish an early form of democracy. Basically, these uprisings are organised by the youth which in most occasions consists of people that are deprived of education. They are new to the ideas of human rights and civil liberties. What the EU could do is give them initiative. Give people insight on how to set the foundations to their own stable democracies and how to make the average person interested in politics. The EU could take features from Member State democracies and introduce them to the
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Arab world countries in order to get them started. In my opinion, the EU should not force integration further than necessary. The European Parliament is based on principals of freedom, integrity and individuality. If the guiding and counseling is more than necessary, the most probable thing to happen is that the states of the Arab world wouldn’t be able to develop their own democracies but the ways of the EU would be forced on them instead. All in all, I think the best way to handle the situation would be just to give them some initiative and observe their growth without too much interference.
Voting age:
What is the right way to approach it?
There has been a lot of debate on how to approach the increasingly willing and powerful youth in order for us to be represented properly. There are motions like “Vote 16� with the idea to lower the voting age to 16. Arguments are that young people are certainly becoming more mature and knowing nowadays because of the availability of information. However, young people do not enjoy reading newspapers or watching the news. It has always been this way. What has changed? Why do people suddenly think that youngsters over the age of 16 should have the right to vote? How come are we perceived more mature and knowing? It seems that internet is the biggest contributor along with technology that allows us to read news and follow politics in a very convenient, interactive way. We have applications on phones or tablets that allow us to follow exactly COMMITTEES
what we are interested in. So now that the youth read news and we have non-governmental organizations that inform us about the possibilities that youth we have, we want more. Many politicians agree that young people should have their say and many across Europe welcome the potential expansion of democracy. We as the youth are happy that we have the possibility to express and support whatever we believe in. However it seems that many people have forgotten why the age limit is there in the first place. Let us say we get the right to vote. The youth could finally express their beliefs and the leaders of states would be elected by an expanded electorate. So you could actually vote. Now imagine you are at school: look around. Would you say that the majority of the 16 year olds should get the right to vote? Would you agree that they
know enough about politics to make informed and well-argued decisions? I asked around and most of the active youngsters said that people under the age 18 should not vote. Then again why not? They are definitely smart enough to make decisions about different aspects of their lives. A lot of them are employed, some even pay taxes. Is all that responsibility not worth representation? Why not? To conclude, we have a small part of 16 year olds that are informed enough to vote. Their peers have the capacity of understanding and perceiving the information, but they are not informed enough to have solid argumentation behind their voting. What can we do to change it? That is up to the capable, informed committee of AFCO to find out.
Educate I think everyone who has ever studied in high-school knows the frustrating feeling just before a big test when you realise that you have enourmous amount of facts to memorise by heart in order to pass it. And you start to wonder: why do we need to study all these facts without really analysing the information, without really understanding why and what you are learning? Unfortunately the curriculas often times do not leave
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to
Create
time for teachers to elaborate all the topics. So how could the education system be altered in order to encourage and recognise creative thinking and understanding among students? How could schools embrace different aspects of intelligence and wisdom and not only the education we can get by learning books by heart? The questions that I raised might not seem relevant to all the educational systems and it is true that
the scale of the problems vary in different Member States. However, these problems increase the number of early high-school dropouts, especially among the students who feel that their skills and personal differences are neither recognised nor appreciated and they do not fit in. Without reforming the educational systems in several Member States, the future citizens won’t be able to adapt properly to the new
information era. More than ever media, especially the Internet, feeds people enormous amounts of unbiased information and students do not always know how to filter it. We live during times when individualisation has reached its maximum, it is only logical that individual qualities should be more appreciated in order to raise tolerance. And what is a better a place to start than school?
From DOOM to DOORN Wim, the president of the session, is not a simple EYPer. He was destined to join the ranks of this organisation and here is why: although he was selected to attend the national session, he never made it due to a national sports contest, so he did not have the chance to get selected to an international session. However, destiny would not let this happen – someone dropped out from the delegation due to mysterious reasons and Wim was The One to be invited to take his place. This is where it all began. In a year’s time he had become a head-organiser. Over the following few years he chal- Then suddenly a sunray beamed right onto her face, revealing lenged himself in various positions and became a cosmopolitan. During her eyes for the first time. This these years he understood that EYP is was the moment when Wim not always about debates and disagree- understood that in his greatest ments but rather challenging yourself enemy he had found his greatand being able to compromise or agree est muse. Pashi, seeing the love in Wim’s eyes, realised how to disagree. With all these acquired skills he proved worthy of presiding pointless this battle had been. LVRS. Despite all the experience, he was caught off guard right before the session. In the daytime he is still an ordinary EYPer but when the night falls, Wim van Doorn perishes and Win van Doom rises in order to defeat his archenemy. The night before the session Win van Doom unexpectedly encountered his nemesis Thrashy-Pashi. An epic battle started, which lasted until the dawn. INTERVIEW
From the inspiration of the moment, Wim regained his long lost ability to teleport, which he instantly used to get them both into his Audi R8 that they drove together to the session.
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Hobbies
Hobbies
Hobbies STORIES
There is no doubt that every person is fascinated and pleased by something different. Someone might like hiding his friends socks in the bushes, another may enjoy watching grass grow. But what is vitally important is that this hobby has to make you feel like your flying. It should be something you can do
again and again without getting bored. In fact there is a difference between just a pleasant action and a hobby. The second one is not easy to be found thus it is much more valuable. As EYP events gather a lot of extraordinary, unique people it was not hard to find delegates whose hobbies were a bit unusual.
For instance, DÄ vis Suharevskis is an active,intelligent youngster. His hobby is swinging on the chair. He discovered this passion about four years ago during a lesson of physics. Since then he swings regularly about five hours a week. Although he had experienced some falls and insignificant head injuries he is still covinced that he will never give it up. Nothing can stop him, neither his parents and their anger, nor friend warnings. He cannot imagine his life without chairs and swinging anymore. When asked to describe what he experiences during swinging time, he claims that it is the unique soulful pleasure which has become an addiction. Even if it sounds a bit too much that sparkle in his eyes makes me dream about my personal strange hobby which could make me that happy.
As to KÄ rlis Gustavs Fokrots is a young male who has six favourite activities, five of which are serious sports. What makes him outstanding is that although he has so much to do besides schoolwork, he still has enough time left for volunteering in the Red Cross organisation. He says it makes him happy whenever he can help people in need. As for the sports part he also enjoys rowing, skiing, wakeboarding and football. He loves being socially active and has fun doing it.
Being active in any way is nothing to be ashamed of because it is actually refreshing. The more hobbies you have, the wider your horizon is! So go crazy and fill your time with useful activities.
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Let’s Happy faces, excited people, smiles, instructions, signatures and lost delegates trying to get around. That sounds like a proper EYP check-in. That was exactly the process going on this morning throughout the halls of the 2nd Primary School of Cēsis (which I still cannot pronounce correctly). Just by hanging around the entrance I met some interesting people with all kinds of stories and adventures. At first, since he is probably the most important figure of the session, why don’t we start off with our beloved president? His arrival was delayed a bit during the first day due to some mishaps that occurred during his trip. Just by a couple of short questions that I managed to ask him it became clear that his story pretty much unraveled for itself. Losing his notes was the first thing that happened to him and it just triggered a series of events amongst which, a laptop purchase, a really mysterious flight delay with possible involvement of terrorists. Anyhow, since he arrived here, all is well!
STORIES
Another interesting tale I stumbled upon is one that really depicts how creative people can be when facing boredom combined with excitement. It was somewhat like this, a few people from the same region, gathering in a bus station and waiting for their ride came up with a dance of their own. There were actually a few reports concerning weird people dancing around here and there, but I think they were just trying to entertain themselves and the ones around them. I actually got to hear quite a few interesting stories including a unicorn, a giant horse, magic vacuums, storms, earthquakes and car crashes all gathered within the region. Unfortunately the people that experienced these situations wanted to stay anonymous. Although it is just a guess, I believe that natural and supernatural phenomenon is going crazy because of all the positive energy and excitement that is gathered in one place. In other words,excitement level was over 9000!
In a session I went out and there were 10 people talking in a circle, so I went and introduced myself. The awesome thing was that each and every one of us in that circle was from a different country.
Niks, Journalist
In a session, where I was a delegate every one of us was made a greek god in our commitee. I was Aphrodite. The best feeling was when I received an Aphrodite statue form the commitee members.
Katrīna Šuvajeva, Juror
After the GA was over, one of the delegates from the committee I was chairing We had a girl and a guy who performed at the thanked me in tears and she told me that euroconcert with the song „7 nation army” by the session was the most awesome experience she ever had. the white stripes. It was wild. Everyone was acting like on a rock festival!
Karin-Liis Lahtmae, Juror
Andreia Moraru, Editor
The session which I attented had a themed party about the 60s. The best moment was when there was a band making a tribute for the Beatles.
Ieva Freidenfelde, Chairperson
The Best Moments
We have all had our magic moments. The do not last forever. Use this environment to moments that we all cherish and remember unlock your full potential. If you do so this in our lives. EYP works like a massive magnet session can change your life. of those moments. No doubt, this session will Outstanding years are made by outhave some magic moments that you will take standing months. Outstanding months are with yourself even when the session is over. made by’ outstanding weeks. Finally you Here is a compilation of the awesome mounderstand that an outstanding life is made ments experienced in EYP from the LVRS’12 by outstanding moments, so do not be afraid officials. to have an outstanding life! Start Now! As you can see EYP is about having fun and experiencing the moment. And this is what I encourage you to do as well. Seize the moments, because they make your life worthwhile. Live in the moment, EYP sessions STORIES
Food has obviously been a part of our lives since the first bacteria evolved on planet Earth. The frustration of a growling empty stomach mostly leads to headaches, nausea, loss of concentration and even worse - gas. Did you know that apples are more efficient than caffeine at waking you up in the morning? Or that the same chemicals that give tart cherries their colour are believed to be a better pain relief to humans than aspirin or ipubrofen? I bet you also didn’t know that cabbage is a member of the sun f l ower family and apples and peaches are members of the rose family. Pretty cool, huh? Let me blow your mind some more. A pack of chips takes 3 days to digest. Popcorn has been around for about 6000 (yes, six THOUSAND) years. Carrots were originally purple until the 17th century while coca cola was originally green. There are actually more chickens in the world than people. If you ask me what’s my favorite food, I’m 100% sure you’d
be very surprised. My personal favourite is salted buckwheat porridge with milk poured over it. As a child I used to make a fortress out of the porridge and pour milk in the centre so it slowly filled up the sides surrounding the fortress. I must be honest with you though – I still do it now as I am all grown up. Now I want you to think about your favourite food and what are you willing to do to get it. Be creative and do not lie to yourself. N o w that I got your attention on delicious food, wait patient ly for the next foodbreak and enjoy the best cuisine of (the venues name). After the session go home and grab yourself a nice sandwich or have fun experimenting with salad recipes! Don’t let hunger take over your body but I highly recommend you to watch your menu. After all, summer and bathing season are coming!
Love in
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PASSION
Travelling through life
Travelling. What do most people mean by that? Generally the definition is simple: getting from one place to another. Getting from A to B. But often times, traveling is associated only with the destination. And I must admit, usually it really is the destination that gets me (and probably many of you) excited, the possibilty to go to a new place, to explore a new culture, to meet the oh-so-large variety of different kind of people in the world. Nowadays in Europe with Schengen and lowcost airlines the act of “travelling� in terms of getting from one point to another, has gotten easier than it ever has been before. Although traveling has always existed, it was not more than 500 years ago when adventurers of the old world started exploring beyond the borders of mainland Europe. When new advanced boats and techinique let them sail in search of the treasures of the Indies. When they accidentaly bumped into a whole new continent. During these times travelling, as a process, took years traveling and was considered the bussiness of the crazy PASSION
men who felt that they had nothing to lose. The proof is that most of the new lands where discovered by pirates, or impovered aristocrats who were hungry for fame and glory. Or in a more romantic point of view, they put their lives on stake to widen the old worlds horizons. So not only the destination, but process, being on the road is what is surely important when it comes to travelling. There´s nothing better than the feeling of getting on a plane/bus/train and feeling the excitement of getting somewhere new, of getting out of your routine in your natural habitat. That certainly involves getting out of your comfort zone which can be frightening at times. Looking back to all my journies, the ones I remember the best are the most spontaneous, the ones I have had to leave my well-acquinted environment and forget all my prejudices. Getting on a random train in a foreign country, striking up a conversation with a local , getting picked up by a car in a most unlikely place. Doing this kind of a bit extreme travelling can be done on lower budget that the traditional
way, especially with helpful websites like hitchwiki.org. Undoubtedly is the destination and the way you experience it very important as well. My best advice would be to adapt to local customs. As the saying - when in Rome, do as the Romans. It might sound as a cliche, but it really works. So instead of hotels and hostels I prefer to stay with locals (with the help from my EYP friends and websites like couchsurfing.org). Instead of dining in big corporate fast food chains like Mcdonalds in the city centre, I ask around local youngsters about nice authentic places a bit outside of the touristic centre, where the food is generally better and cheaper and the environment a lot more friendly. Looking back at my young life I realised that the moments on the road are when I feel the most alive. I hope that feeling never goes away.
The Tale of the Golden Cheesepot Once upon a time on a meadow far far away there lived a young cow who was called Moo-Moo. From day to day she would happily roam about the grassy plains of Mooganda, eating grass, playing with other young and cheerful cows just like herself and being milked every morning at sunrise. This is how the days used to roll by until one day during milking Moo-Moo felt a funny tingling sensation she had never felt before - as if a tiny drop of milk was trying to avoid being milked out. „Don’t be scared, my little friend,“ the cow mildly said. „But it’s so cold outside!“ the Milkdrop squeaked. „Don’t be silly,“ Moo-Moo replied, „there’s very warm where you’re going. You are going to become a pleasant delight to many people!“ „What do you mean?“ the Milkdrop asked. „You’re going to become cheese!“ Moo-Moo said encouragingly. „But what does that mean?“ asked the Milkdrop in confusion. „Oh, this is the best thing that could possibly happen to you! At first they are going to put you in a big kettle and warm you up to about 45°C and add some bacteria. This is how curdling is started, which means that you will become solid, although very soft. Then the curd will be cut into little pieces and you will be stirred in a calm manner for a long time. It’s actually almost like a SPA!“ „What’s a SPA?“ the Milkdrop wanted to know.
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„You’ll find out soon enough. But this is not all! You will make many new friends – different bacteria and herbs who will help you become a better cheese. You will already have met the bacteria during curdling. The herbs will be there later. After you’ve been stirred long enough all the liquid – whey – will be removed and only the curd will remain. The curd will be pressed together in a pot to form the cheese.“ „But won’t it hurt?“ „No, of course not, you silly Little Milkdrop. You don’t even have nerves!“ cried the Cow in laughter. „So what will happen after this pressing?“ the Little Milkdrop asked, with a hint of fright in its voice. „You will get to ripen – you will be left on a shelf for many months, maybe even years so the herbs and bacteria can really work up your taste. This is the best time a cheese will ever have!“ „Is all of this true?“ „Of course! So there’s no need for you to worry, my friend. Get out there and become the best cheese you could ever become!“ The Little Milkdrop decided to trust Moo-Moo so he went on an epic quest of cheesemaking. He became the most delicious cheese in the world. Even now, long after these events, cows still have legends of the Golden Cheesepot. During their long walks on the meadows, they still long to encounter this treasure, so far with no success. Maybe you will find the Cheesepot?
WON’T YOU HUG ME? Hugging someone is such a simple action yet it is fully enough to make someone smile, to show that you care or just to share positive emotions. As I regard hugging as one of my hobbies and passions it is simply my responsibility to encourage as many people as possible to join this wonderful movement. But it is never enough with just saying:’’Do it!’’. It must be explained why. Here are the answers: Hugging helps to „break the ice” between people. With the first hug the feeling of awkwardneess fades away. It can lead to nice chatting, successful cooperation or strong friendship. According to researches a human being needs at least 8 hugs a day to feel happy. I am sure you want to be cheerful as well as you want people around you be satisfied with life. All you have to do – hug! Stress is one of the main problems of modern society.Guess what? Hugging can also help with this issue. As you see no matter what kind of problems you may have hugging is a very multifunctional solution. If you have ever watched or seen meerkats you should have noticed that these lovely and undeniably smart creatures use hugging quite often too. How to do it right? Actually it is almost impossible to hug wrongly. Except the situation if you are very strong or heavy. In this case you should be more careful because you can cause some injuries. A broken spine or asthma attack is not the best possible result, to say the least. And one more important thing. Be respectful. If a person does not want to hug you do not be offensive. There are different types of hugs. Naturally the amount and variety of them is enormous but this time I will take a quick look just at the most common types: Hug of squirrell. It is quick, light and usually used by hardly known people when situation requires to hug. This type of hugs does not have any healing qualities. Hug of lemur. Comparing with hug of squirrell this one is stronger and can really possitively affect your mood. Characterisc for rather close friends. Maybe the most frequently used hug. Hug of gorilla. In this hug people put in a lot of strength and emotions. Used by soulmates or simply very obtrusive people.This hug has magical qualities. Should not be used too often.
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Basketball
How to survive in the competition
Basketball as a sport was invented around 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a physician in Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Naismith was in charge of a group of gymnastics athletes. The story goes that one day the weather was too cold for them to practice outside and so they went on to train in a nearby fruit warehouse. Once they were there the Dr. noticed that his athletes could compete in a game that consisted of throwing balls into fruit baskets. The winner was the most accurate one. Nowadays, basketball has developed into a popular sport played all over the world in minor and major leagues by both male and female players. However, even if it is the same game, there are different things one should watch out for. Well, if you are a boy, then most chances are that you have already been in this spot more than a few
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times through primary school, middle school and high school. Probably, if you were good enough back then, you are still playing now and don’t need any instructions. Though, if you do need some it means that either something is wrong or you are just not cut out for sports. But still the best thing I can tell you, if you do not already know, is to do as the other guys do and try not to be really awkward. As far as girls are concerned, there is actually a slight chance you are good at this but you would have probably known it by now. If that is not the case then, what could come in handy is to listen to the guys on the team and follow their lead and instructions (watch out for “Go long!”). A good suggestion would be to try and protect parts of your body that may get hurt, easily bruised or, let us say, hair and make-up that you might want to keep in a good state. Chances are
that these things will get ruined, but do not worry! I am pretty sure you can make it happen! Well, no matter what happens, either you are a boy or a girl, either you touch a ball for the first time or not, no matter how severe your loss or how glorious your victory, the only thing this sport was even created for, is fun! (It was created for meaningless male competition as well, but that’s another story). So, why not have some? Enjoy!
HOROSCOPE
Aries You will meet a lot of new people. Your Disney figure of the day is Ariel. Taurus Venus is moving closer towards Mercury, creating temporary con- fusion on Earth. Forming a circle helps to clear your mind. Gemini Your left side will gain the ability to never part from your right side of the body. You will become Siamese twins. Cancer You are diagnosed with allergy to cancer. Leo You gain the ability to melt ice by staring at it for some time. Virgo You discover you have the ability to predict rain when you see rain clouds. Libra You might feel an urge to write a book. Scorpio Long car rides help you to discover new things about your self. You realise you can change traffic lights if you concentrate long enough. Sagittarius You try out new sports and discover that you suck at archery. Capricorn You find a sudden interest towards corny humour and horny peo- ple. Aquarius You fall in love with a firefighter. Pisces You get a job offer at Jurmala Aquapark. You will have great ca- reer as a fish in the aquarium.
FASHION POLICE We love the wine-red dress with a lace cleavage with black opaque tights and dark blue peep-toe ballerina shoes. A very classy yet special outfit for day and night. You won our full approval! Keep up the good work!
Our most stylish official is Karin-Liis with a quite original boho-look. The braided headband adds funkiness to the otherwise simple and careless haristyle. Her sweater has an original pattern and goes really well with the pleated polka dot skirt. Good job pleasing the Fashion Police! ENTERTAINMENT
A very bold yet casual choice of clothing. The flower-patterned leggings are a nice touch next to a simple shirt-belt combination. It is very clever to wear a tank top under the shirt, so that you do not to feel cold, and match it with same colour socks. Extra points to the leggings which bring the spring feeling right into your heart!
Foot massage
After a long day of even longer walks, there is nothing more enjoyable than a foot rub. Raise your partner’s legs up in the air one by one (as shown in the picture) in order to improve the relaxing effect of the massage.
Lower back massage
After a hard day at work or training, possibility is that the lower back is most painful. A good technique to an efficient massage is to bend your partner over, kneel just behind her and rub her lower back with slow circular movements. That relaxes the muscles and relieves the soreness. After that your partner must stretch the back like a kitten.
Outer thy massage and stretch
This one is very tricky and also for the hardcore trainingfans. After a long run lay your partner down on their back, stretch the legs up and lay pressure on them with your upper body weight. It stretches the outer this quite well and if that is not enough you can continue with classical massage for the thies.
CLEVER MASSAGE TIPS Neck massage
Inner thy massage
After you have finished with the foot rub, turn your partner on their stomach and raise their legs up one by one just like with the previous position. You can support the leg on your shoulder in order to perform the best inner thy massage they have ever received.
ENTERTAINMENT
After a wild party or sleeping in a wrong position the neck can get very sore. What you can do is let your partner sit on the floor or on the bed and you sit over their lap, facing your partner. When you have reached the correct position start rubbing their neck using mostly your fingertips and palms until the pain is gone.
Lower back and buttocks massage
If your partner is a bit more hardcore and prefers jogging to walking, the LoVeRS massage department suggests you lay your partner on their stomach and sit on their lower back (see picture above). By applying pressure to the whole lower back you can thoroughly work the buttocks while gently moving upwards until you have covered the whole
ENTERTAINMENT
Hug 5 people who come in your Committee room, who are not from your committee
Make a photo with Find out who is you and someone the drinking coffee tallest member of Tellus
Participate in a group hug (more than 8 people)
Find out what is Tellus
Get your chairs autograph on your body
Troll someone
Tell Daniels that his pink shirt is awesome
Take a picture with Find out the name 3 people you didn’t of the President of Participate in the Compliment Wim know before EYP Latvia Euroconcert (President of this session)
Learn how to say Come 3 minutes good morning in 3 Hug an organiser High five 3 journos early from a coffee languages (Learn break new ones!!!)
Niks Bērziņš
Ieva Pastare
Diāna Reinika Greta Elva Edgars Spudiņš
Achilleas Platanitis Kaarle Varkki
Triin Heinla