FIRST issue
Y A D H T R I B A N A N A B Today ENVI II committee is having a special day not only due to the completing of resolution. This day is happy because Aleksandra Halichka celebrates her birthday today!
Dear Ola! The team of Odessa International Forum wishes lots of joy to you! We have a huge bunch of hugs and kisses to you which we tried to express through this short article. We want you to stay happy, healthy and beloved Banana! Let your strives embody, let your dreams come true! Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Joyeux Anniversaire! Happy Birthday! BANANA photos by HANNES HELLER
MY PATH TO ATLANDIDA a story based on real facts
It is said that
patience is the most durable quality of a person. Definitely it wasn’t said about me. So, after 13 useless calls on orga’s phone I was annoyed. “They might have been hanging out on the Odesa beach eating sea food, drinking sea drinks, having sea fun…” I collected my stuff and picked the first taxi to Odesa.
Surprisingly ,
the taxi driver appeared to be a very kind and cheerful person. Moreover he said that I was beautiful like a princess of Atlántida. I was embarrassed and tried to joke that when he would see a princes of Atlantida in Odessa again, he should give me a sign, I’d make an interview. But he responded mysteriously that I would see everything myself. Atlantida princess in Odesa! Popov will be banana of satisfaction!”.
After half an hour of jumping on each pothole like on the sea bottom I managed to fall asleep. Suddenly the car stopped. When I woke up I saw turquoise blue sky over my head that was very strange to see sitting in a car. I started, when I realized that the car was no longer a car, but a carriage. The horses
were breathing hot. Cold sweat appeared on my back. “No car. No driver. I’m alive… WHERE’S MY LUGGAGE?!” I got out from the carriage and ran twice around it. Nobody was there. Fortunately, all my stuff was at the back side of the carriage. I relaxed, set on the ground, and looked around. The trees were so high that could almost touch the clouds, bright birds were piping sweet songs, rare animals were jumping and running and laying everywhere. Neither
flora nor fauna were normal for Ukraine. “What the Banana?.. He left me in the Zoo?!” But then, among the songs of birds, and whisper of wind in the trees I could recognize that delightful sound of the sea... And the air here was so clear and fresh that it was impossible to breathe enough. I closed my eyes and imagined my childhood at my granny’s by the sea. Nowhere else, but in that pure place I felt magical calm and safety. And just in that moment I felt it again.
When I opened my eyes I saw two strangers in golden clothes approaching to me. I didn’t resist when one collected my bags and the other took me by the hand. I knew they were going to take me somewhere. I didn’t know where. The strangers welcomed me in Atlántida.
Lidiia Zhgyr
A T L A N T I S
As you must have noticed, our session has a couple of different themes. Topics for discussions were chosen carefully by the organizers. They are part of almost every format of an EYP session.
A
s the most visible holds the newspapers output of the session, together. It also helps every the topics are very reader remember their well thought through with a experience. Everything is common theme. Ecological connected, everything is problems worry every civilized associated. The Atlantis country, but they are even more is a mythological island current in Ukraine. Although that was supposed to be a the ecological situation has paradise. Although people changed immensely in most can picture their paradise post-communist countries, differently (and they have Ukraine still has much to do described the Atlantis in to deal various ways with its in the past), distressful we are trying The Atlantis is a past. While to focus on in Slovakia, mythological island that was the part C z e c h that the supposed to be a paradise. Republic Atlantis was or Poland most local ecological catastrophes were solved and extinguished, in Ukraine there is not even a full list of places of criticaldanger. Ecology here is one of the most overlooked topics. It can definitely bring a lot of thinking as well as a heated debate. Every EYP newspaper has a theme to help develop ideas for articles. It is a frame that
eco-friendly. It was an island with limited or no connection to its surroundings; therefore it must have been a Sustainable island too. ustainability is the key to ecology and so the two
themes go well together. The Atlantis has many stories just as Ecological issues can be solved in many ways. It’s only in people’s imagination. That is the only border that narrows down possibilities.
How did people live in the Atlantis? Were they rich, were they poor? Did they have a ruler? And how could they reach such a glory if they lived on a relatively small island? Can we, perhaps, use some of the ancient knowledge to help us deal with our modern issues? We are hoping that some of these questions – even if indirectly – will be answered in your resolutions.
And The Bananas! We have tried to come up with many connections between bananas and our prese topics of the session. The truth is the banana theme was just as spontaneous as a theme can be. Vitalie, the big boss editor, called everyone banana in his introductory message to the journos and the idea simply caught up. In fact, if you do a small research onto bananas, you will find that almost everything about them is extremely non-ecological. They are a fruit which can even be used to model globalization. A couple of decades ago, you could never go to the
shop and buy bananas in winter. Now you can. This shows the possibilities of
globalizations
as well as its setbacks. Bananas are transported through large distances and connect distant parts of our world. Much non-renewable resources are used in the process. Bananas are cloned and they do not breed the same way they used to. It is quite possible they will disappear in near future. Bananas really show many aspects of our topics, but we really should care about only one. They are fun. So let’s keep it up, bananas! Have fun and enjoy your banana! MARTIN HABA
B A N A N A S
Ecohonesty WHAT IS BETTER FOR THE PLANET ?
HANNES HELLER
„ G r e e n “ , „ecofriendly“ and „good-for-theenvironment“; you can have it all. Companies have long respondedto the growing demand for “green stuff”. Almost any product seems to be available in a green edition for some extra cash. But what is behind these words and what do they really mean? We need to
face the truth.
Nothing we produce or purchase is actually good for the environment. Even if you build your own furniture with FSC certified wood and only buy 100% organic bananas, it will not bring the dodo back to life nor
will it make the forests grow. Everything we purchase requires resources and energy for production and transportation. A new chair in your room, one tree less in the woods; fish on your plate, one less in the water. What the misleading term “good-for-theenvironment” really means: “less-bad-for-theenvironment”. Things
can’t be green, just greener.
Environmental conscience is about damage limitation, minimizing the impact that we have on our surroundings. This is the most important insight we need for ecological awareness. It is always better not to buy anything at all than it is to buy a green product. It is far more ecological to keep your old TV than to buy a new energy efficient LED flat screen and the bestis to not own a TV at all. Better
than drinking EVIAN out of the chic superecological recycled PET bottle is to drink water from the region, from a tab where possible.
The simpler we live, the better for the planet. Better for the planet? This is actually another delusive term. We need to ask ourselves by what criteria we are judging “good” and “bad” and who we are actually making ecological efforts for. The planet just doesn’t give a banana about us, nor what we do with it. If the whales, the orangutans or mankind disappears, it simply doesn’t care. It was there before us and will be there after us, with or without plastic in the sea, a little warmer or a little colder, there’s really no need to worry about planet Earth. It only matters to us.
Can Cups Save the Ocean? Oceans are turning into plastic graveyards help us change it Nina Cathrine Selmer At this session, “eco-friendliness” is not only the session theme; we are also trying to implement it in the organization of the session. As you might have already noticed, the delegates will be given a coffee mug that they will use at coffee breaks instead of the plastic cups normally used at EYP sessions. And this is not only symbolic; the plastic that we use in cups, for example, is actually really damaging, not only to land but also to the sea.
If you put all the plastic
floating around in the Pacific Ocean together, it would be twice the size of France. In the year of 2000, 9.4 % of all waste was plastic, and more than a half of this comes from packaging. Unlike paper, plastic does not degrade in an outdoor environment fast enough, and that poses a serious problem in highly populated areas. Also, as already mentioned, plastic waste creates a problem at sea, and poses a great danger to the marine life. It especially affects the sea turtles and seabirds, but also the marine mammals and the fish. Often, they think that the parts from the plastic are food.
DID YOU KNOW...
That the banana industry controlled whole goverments in certain Middleand Southamerican countries? (so called “Banana Republics”
To prevent
this from happening, many means of action can be taken. For instance, as we are doing at this session, we can use coffee mugs instead of plastic cups. So, remember to bring your mugs to all coffee breaks, and contribute to making the ocean cleaner, and make the banana-journos happy. That is something to think about the next time you go to the beautiful beaches of Odesa… http://suite101.com/article/ environmental-damage-caused-bydiscarded-plastic-a113096
I’m sure all participants have googlemapped the hosting city. If you’re eager to learn more about the Odesa, please proceed. First of all, I bet I am not the only person who has wondered why some spell the name with two, some with only one “s”. The answer is that “Odessa” is Russian and “Odesa” Ukrainian. So even if in English and most other languages it is spelled with two, our Ukrainian friends sure won’t mind if you spell it the other way. You can look forward to some great architecture in this city. Apart from the world famous “Potemkin Stairs” you can’t miss the opera house. Most of the old city is built with the very material it is standing on. The result is a massive, 2500 km long labyrinth of underground catacombs. The history of the city goes back to the antiquity and since then many different tribes, nations and cultures have left their traces. Hot and dry. That’s the climate in this town of about a million people. You won’t have to wear too much clothing around this time of the year. Just make sure your colleges will still be able to focus on the committee work.
DID YOU KNOW THAT ? We eat almost exclusively a kind called “Cavendish”?
HANNES HELLER
For those who don’t know, the currency is called “Hrywnja” and one Euro is worth about ten “Hrywnja’s”. A Banana in Odessa will cost you about 15 “Hrywnja’s”. Not that I think you are all crazy about Bananas but that’s always a good price indicator. If you google “Ukraine”, the first thing to pop up is something like “Single Ukrainian Ladies”. It is not surprising that there is high international demand for feminine citizens of this country; I personally have only heard positive things... But just to warn you (even though you won’t have much time for such things), Odesa holds the sad record of HIV infections in Europe. Alright, there are only a few days left until the forum starts. Let’s hope we will get a chance to enjoy and explore the city and its people as much as possible beside the smoking hot debates and discussions. Odes(s)a, we’re coming
DID YOU KNOW THAT ? That there are kinds of bananas that you need to cook and that taste kind of like potato? (plantains)
During teambuilding on the first day of the session, the delegates acted in a strange way. We tried to find out why‌
guessed it was the sea air in Odesa, someone guessed it might have been the water they had used to brush their teeth, but they finally came to the conclusion that it had to be the bananas they all surely ate before the session. The delegates had really gone bananas!
So, what should the orgas do? They could not let the delegates act in
Delegates Go Bananas
The teambuilding
at this session might just seem like a teambuilding at any other EYP session, but in Odesa nothing is ordinary. At this session the delegates have gone bananas! Not only have they started to act in an extremely weird way, they have gathered up in teams to do so, creating unusual names such as EMPL, ITRE or AFET. D u r i n g teambuilding today, the delegates certainly acted in a strange and unusual way. They created weird formations, for instance
while holding hands and closing their eyes, and did weird rituals. Many of them also created lines, and their strange behaviour included an irrational fear of stepping out of this line. What created and motivated this behaviour? Was it bananas, or was it something else? The delegates continued acting in an unusual way, and it was clearly that they were influenced by something. What could it be? Some of the officials
this bizarre way. They figured that the best way to solve the problem was to give the delegates their own food; the food they were used to, as well as unusual food from other countries. Then the delegates would have another gastronomically interesting experience, which might balance out the bananas. And did it work? Well, we have to see during committee work if they are back to their normal selves‌
Nina Cathrine Selmer
Banana Puzzle DMITRII VYSKREBENTSEV
The time has come. We have been at this forum for a while and got the chance to get to know each other. The press team is offering a tremendous opportunity for everyone. Challenge yourself and check if you are good at memorizing little details. We are introducing the Banana Puzzle.
How well do you know your president? Valentina, the session president, answered 15 questions about herself. How well do you know her? How many of her answers can you guess? Can you get all 15? Find the answers at the bottom of the page. MARTIN HABA PETER Vyzinkar 1) Are you a good singer?
5 things you have to do at the session!!
2) Are you a good artist? 3) Do you like Facebook games? 4) Do you like to watch football? 5) Are you shy?
EYP is having lots of different types of sessions and its always hard to know what to do at a session, especially for those who are participating for the first time. Here you can find 5 good ideas what you should do to become an experienced EYP banana.
6) Do you like every animal?
1. Have pictures with all chairs while hugging them.
12) Do you eat... foreign
2. Point at someone and shout "Your one of those bananas!" Run and pretend to trip. Crawl away slowly. 3. Try to scare the official team by using a banana. Record it to get evidence. 4. Go to the beach and swim in Black sea with a mermaid. 5. Hug a tree and when people walk by you say "were having a moment".
7) Do you like video games? 8) Do you like pets? 9) Are you selfish? 10) Do you think you are beautiful? 11) Are you laughing a lot? objects? 13) Have you ever made money illegally? 14) Have you ever waken up somewhere and not remembered how you'd got there? 15) Were these questions interesting?
DID YOU KNOW... That Ugandans eat per average 250 kg of bananas a year and that they have the same word for “food” and “banana”? (“matooke”)
1) no 2) no 3) no 4) no 5) no 6) no 7) no 8) yes 9) no 10) yes 11) yes 12) no 13) no 14) no 15) yes
DID YOU KNOW... - In 2001, Britain recorded 300 incidents of injuries related to bananas. The majority of these involved people slipping on banana peels.
Sharing and celebrating
Eurovillage
DMITRII VYSKREBENTSEV
Eurovillage is one of the essential EYP events which everyone is looking forward to when coming to a forum such as this one. As a matter of fact the Eurovillage that took place here, in Odesa, did live up to the expectations of the officials as well as delegates. One of the most eye-catching tables was that of Georgia, they had a really tasty cheese pie. Moldova greeted everyone with lovely southern fruit such as grapes. Turkey was there treating us with Turkish delights. Polish sausages conquered everyone’s heart as well as their drinks. The not-sovegetarian aspect of Eurovillage was supported by Sweden, wonderful meatballs were available at their table. The Italian delegation brought a reasonable amount of cheddar cheese and ham to prevent everyone
from starving. But the biggest table of all was the Ukrainian one, which, in fact, had four sections – north, east, south, west. Everything you can come up with when thinking of Ukrainian dishes was there. So little by little everyone’s mood started changing from “totally exhausted” to “I am full and happy”. At that exact moment the hosts of the Country Presentations night declared it open. Needless to say, one of the brightest performances was brought to us by the girls from Belarus, making the evening a really memorable one. Norway was presented by Nina the journo who was dancing like banana on the stage, with everyone singing along to Alexander Rybak’s Fairytale. Georgia surprised us with a special act from Temo the dancer. It also wrung our hearts with a truly southern song by Nino and Rusudan. Russia was presented by Dmitry the journo, who asked all the Slavic brethren to help him out with the renowned song Katusha. All in all, the Eurovillage and country presentations were a success helping everyone to share cultures diverse as they were, showing to everyone the values of getting to know something new which is out of one’s comfort zone.
Feature interview EYP parents? Anzhelika Lachikhina tells us what it is like to be an EYP parent.
DMITRII VYSKREBENTSEV
We all realise that organising is a really tough call. But shall we take a look at what is happening behind the scenes? Everyone knows one of our headorganisers Anna Lachikhina (left), but few are aware of the fact that her mother has contributed a lot to make this session possible. Anzhelika Lachikhina (right) kindly agreed to do an interview for The Bananas. Q. What is your attitude towards what your daughter is doing as an EYPer? A. Generally, I really like the activities that she is involved in. I can see the result which is experience, new friends, new connections, as well as the growing awareness among youth of the problems that Europe is facing. All in all, I am extremely proud of what my daughter is doing as an organizer. Q. How did it all begin? A. It all started when Anna was three. I would teach
her some simple English words and phrases. As she grew she became fonder of English. So when she joined EYP her language skills proved to be a rather valuable asset to her. She would always come up to me and say that I was so right having taught her this foreign language when she was a kid. Q. What is the future of youth movements in Ukraine? A. I am pretty sure that such initiatives will continue developing in
Ukraine. As long as we have such active people like we have at this forum, young, active, interested, such projects will live on. I also believe that things will even further improve regarding the legal environment, and people will become more open towards such initiatives. The journo team on the behalf of all EYP would like to thank such devoted parents as Anzhelika significantly facilitating the organsing process of such events as this forum.
Passage: challenge yourself Lidiia Zhgyr The
building
of
Pa s s age H o t el
Ancient history of this place has made an indelible impress on it in dozens of paint layers on windows and doors, smell in bathrooms and even on chambermaids. It has gone through the haze of century with all its perturbations and shocks.
appeared in 1900 on the place of the house which was visited by Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Pushkin’s brother – Leo. And it doesn’t make me surprised that after a year of existence the hotel went through a fire and was damaged badly. It was renewed after some time and equipped with unexampled t e c h n i c a l wonders –
electrical lighting, steam heating, telephones and ‘lifting machine for public conveyance’ – elevator a.k.a. “time machine”. Today the visitors of this hotel have incredible honour to use those conveniences in their original state. As you have noticed yourself,
steam heating is especially expensive nowadays, so only the elite have opportunity to have hot water in their apartment. The interior of the building deserves special words. The combination of late soviet style and early Empire makes it easy distinguishable among modern glamour luxury hotels.
They say there is a ghost strolling in the corridors chilling blood in visitors’ veins. Ghost of the Soviet Union. Possibly, this is the reason why all the delegates live in Zirka hotel, which cannot be compared with this fabulous place.
Et le soleil se levait sur Odesa... Je m’appelle Gilles et je viens de Strasbourg, la Capitale de l’Europe . Pour moi, c’est les vacances. Je suis en voyage en Europe de l’Est et ai fait un court passage en Ukraine à Odessa. A cette occasion, j’ai pu me joindre au groupe du Parlement Européen
des jeunes en tant qu’observateur priviligié. De l’extérieur, çà s’agite. Tout le monde s’organise. On crée l’évènement à l’intérieur de l’évènement. Les jeunes font connaissance, se regardent, s’observent. Il règne une ambiance de détente et d’amusement autour de jeux d’équipe qui créent la cohésion. Les journalistes s’activent. Il faut filmer, prendre des photos, rédiger. Tout cela prend du temps mais l’équipe est soudée et tout le monde se donne à fond pour atteindre chaque objectif fixé. Les cultures se mélangent ; chacun partage un peu de sa richesse culturelle autour de musiques et plats traditionnels de chaque pays. Et là est l’essentiel. Le plus important est sans nul doute l’état d’esprit de chaque participant.
Le respect, la tolérance, l’écoute et le partage sont les maîtres mots pour décrire cette atmosphère propice à la découverte de l’autre. Une expérience riche en rencontres qui peut vous enmener jusqu’au bout du monde ou peutêtre juste ici, quelque-part en Europe... GILLES SAURET (GUEST)
French is all over the place! Mathilde Pascal (CHAIR)
moldave préféré, Vitalie. Et j’en oublie sûrement, sans compter les délégués. J’aime participer à des sessions PEJ entre autres pour avoir l’occasion de parler anglais, mais le destin semble l’entendre différemment. Odesa, ma première expérience de chairing à l’étranger, grouille de Molière en herbe ou confirmés :Dawid, notre cher viceprésident polonais ; Lena, notre adorable chair ukrainienne ; Hannes, notre fort sympathique journomade in Switzerland ; Ira, notre organisatrice si attentionnée ; et bien sûr, notre éditeur-banane
Alors, forcément, on se demande. Faudrait-il que le français ait plus de place dans les sessions ? Doit-on encourager les participants à s’exprimer en français, que ce soit pour le teambuilding, le travail en commission ou l’assemblée générale ? Les résolutions devraient-elles être systématiquement traduites ? En tant que Française, je réponds oui et non. Oui, parce qu’il est toujours intéressant pour ceux qui le peuvent/veulent de s’exercer à cette
langue qui fut un temps internationale. Non, parce que, d’une, ce système lèse les non-French speakers (cet article participe d’ailleurs activement à cette discrimination) ; et de deux, parce que cela n’incite absolument pas les Français à faire des efforts pour parler correctement anglais. Ceux d’entre vous qui ont rencontré des PEJistes français à l’étranger pourront peut-être en témoigner ! Bref, il est temps de mettre fin à la tyrannie de la langue française au PEJ ! And enjoy the session in whatever language you wish to speak!
Support for this video/publication was provided in part by the FLEX Alumni Grants Program, which is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State (ECA) and administered by the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. The opinions expressed herein are the author's own and do not necessarily express the views of either ECA or the American .Councils for International Education _____________________________________________ Данный материал создавался частично на средства Программы Грантов для выпускников FLEX. Программа Грантов финансируется Бюро Образовательных и Культурных Программ Государственного департамента США (ECA) и администрируется Американскими Советами по :международному образованию АСПРЯЛ/ АКСЕЛС. Данный материал не обязательно отражает мнение ECA или Американских Советов по международному .образованию