EDITO RIAL by Samuel Muhsin (CZ)
Finally the fourth issue from the Cray Media team has been published. It is filled with articles reflecting the encounters between you and your journalists. As you will see this special issue is very simple, almost empty compared to the previous ones. But that is the point: to relive your memories from the session while reading the words written by your journalists, while not being restrained by any pictures or illustrations. This belated issue is the last emission from the Cray Media team. With this belated token of nostalgia we say our goodbyes and are looking forward to seeing you at future events that the European Youth Parliament has to offer. With no further ado I leave you to enjoy the following words put together by my beloved knights of journalism.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Martina vs. Matěj / 4 The big bosses / 6 Panel debate: the presence and future of the Czech state leaving exams / 8 The show will go on / 1 2 Status update: PEDed / 1 4 Nick's approaching people / 1 6 EYP Stories / 1 8 Fair played / 20 Game of EYP thrones / 22 cray cray lastissue issue3 || 33
AFCO
Awesome, Fantastic, Creative, Organized by Milica Simeunovic (SRB)
Four days, four nights, one day of teambuilding, one and a half days of committee work and a whole day for the GA. That actually seems a lot, but don’t worry that is definitely not a lot, that is not even enough .The worst thing about these EYP sessions is the fact that they end too soon, they end in the moment when you realise that actual fun has just begun. Real nostalgia begins when you realise that you are back to your everyday life, when you step into your house and realise that that is not the room in your accommodation, when you step into your school and you see that there is no classroom that you had your committee work in. And of course, the most depressing thing that you have to face is the fact that at this session you met a lot of awesome people that you probably won’t see again. If you feel the way I just described it means that you suffering from PED - post EYP depression. That is the exact way I feel at this moment; huge amount of sadness because there is no time left to continue the exact thing that you have been doing for the last four days. 4 | cray last issue
Vasek, chairperson from Czech Republic and Mathilde, chairperson from France were responsible for the great time this committee had. They guided them trough all parts of the session with their best efforts and as we can see, that turned out great. I hope and I think I succeeded in helping them to understand idea of EYP and I hope that papers were useful and fun for fulfilling their free time. AFCO committee, I have to admit one of the most quality committees that I have seen so far. They are all different; they all have different opinions, different attitudes, and different stories. This differences are actually the thing that made AFCO committee so unite and unique. I saw how they succeed in solving the problem even when it looked extremely impossible, I saw how they managed to find a solution no matter how hard it actually was, I saw how they enjoyed the games and I saw how confident they were at GA; I saw how they became a team.
AFET
Mind-fornication games with AFET. by Nick Matusevich (LV)
The committee of AFET during committee dinner receives the legacy of EYP that are the mindfornication games. You can paint beautifully or terribly if you play the paintbrush game. But sometimes there are two ups or one down. Furthermore, sometimes we listen very carefully and can tell everyone who it is. As innocently as always the chair of AFET, Niks Bērziņs, decided to torture the minds of the committee with the ‘open or closed box’ game. The most impressive feat was achieved by Gregor, who got the pattern on his third try. Niks jaw dropped just after mine. However, now if you do not know these games, AFET members can teach you. And by teach you I mean do it in front of you, refusing any explanation till their listener either gets it or strangles them. The worst side effect of these games is the terror of not knowing. During the whole lunch Martin and Jan, after countless attempts to explain the patterns of paintbrush failed to do so. They will have to live out the rest of session not knowing because there is a pledge
between all those, who know, to only allow the victims figure out these mind-fornication games themselves. It is wonderful how the chairs pass the torch further on. Into our 3rd game after fifteen minutes, Karolina took over the paintbrush game to enjoy making her committee members miserable. Olga, the second chair of AFET entertained the delegates over dinner with a pleasant Texan accent. She disclosed that, having spent a year in America, Bill Gates visited her in the hospital and she didn’t even notice. During dinner, the committee of AFET choired a song called ‘Size matters’ dubbed as their committee song. Invoking the chorus of this song immediately can bring up several other voices that will join in. To conclude, as first as delegates, but now as a committee, AFET has been tortured but brought closer by the dark humour of Olga and Nick’s off-hand chairing. Session well spent. cray last issue | 5
From: Alpha To: Cray Subject: Target identified It is a matter of European interest that you put this committee under maximum surveillance. Have a journalist blend in and order him to observe the members of the committee closely, take as many photos as possible and gather all information that might be useful for the headquarters. We believe that a vital information is going to be exchanged during the Rakovnik NSC. The goal is to extract it from the target. Do keep in mind that this operation is of crucial importance. Should the agent be compromised or revealed, you know what to do. From: Cray Section CULT I To: Alpha Subject: Operation Preparation Alpha, the situation is even more complicated than we have expected. According to the in-depth background check that has been done, all members of the committee are so awesome that it is going to be truly difficult to obtain any relevant intelligence. Also, I consider the risk that the operation will get out of control very high. We received clues that foreign agents are operating in the area, too. Therefore, I request that Force 21 rebase to Rakovnik and that the Cray Journo Room receive access to all local CCTV cameras as well as live cover of the Rakovnik area, preferably from a geostationary satellite with infra-red capabilities. From: Alpha To: Cray Section CULT I Subject: Hostile Agents Section CULT I, Force 21 is currently performing a mission on another continent which means we cannot provide you with the special forces cover. You must face potential crisis situations yourself. Furthermore, we suspect that the chairpersons are, in fact, dangerous renegades. We need you to identify them and, if the result is positive, eliminate them without leaving any traces. From: Cray Section CULT I To: Alpha Subject: First Encounter I managed to take the chairpersons’ fingerprints and found out that the hostile targets are probably somewhere else as the results were negative. The chairpersons are willing to cooperate. With their help, I was able to obtain a large volume of coded information, which I am yet to decipher. The teambuilding part was very exciting but very difficult in terms of intelligence gathering. They are all very capable liars as I could see in the 2 truths 1 lie game where they also revealed their worldwide networks a bit. Then, I was unexpectedly 6 | cray last issue
confronted with a crisis situation when a delegate left the room allegedly in order to make a major financial transaction, which was very suspicious. Sonic boom game was a challenge, too, and I noticed slight deviations that could be actually important. Yoga Tree (instead of Yoga/Yoda flame) could be the code we are looking for. From: Alpha To: Cray Section CULT I Subject: Committee Dinner Well done, Section CULT I. The headquarters is very impressed by the crayness of the committee members. Awesome and friendly they might be, do not forget your mission, though. We need you to make their detailed psychological portraits, use Game of Thrones and Star Wars to reveal their character. From: Cray Section CULT I To: Alpha Subject: Giant Fridge I really enjoyed today, Alpha. The organisers brought boxes with suspicious content, which I was studying very closely together with the delegates. The Committee dinner was particularly great. I noticed more clues there. I received yet more suspicious content of similar nature as the lunchtime one. One delegate got a tremendous amount of green stuff for his dinner. I wonder what it all means. I had a great time with them, though. What is more, I reckon that the hostile agents are trying to sabotage my mission with giant refrigerating underground machines causing the local temperatures fall sharply. From: Alpha To: Cray Section CULT I Subject: GA You are not supposed to be enjoying this, agent. You must observe the GA and finish the mission. After that, you will be withdrawn to the headquarters. Ah, we thought that our infra-red satellites were broken. Minus thirty-five had not seem as sensible data at the first sight. From: Cray Section CULT I To: Alpha Subject: The End I was quite surprised with CULT I performance at the GA. It turned out that their resolution was very strong, they defended it invincibly and the overall impression is just stunning. By the way, the code is Tiger Application. P.S.: I am enclosing the approximate future hourly GPS coordinates of all CULT I delegates so that the Special Forces can extract them all ASAP.
CULT I Tiger Application by David Radosta (CZ)
CULT II Secret diary of a delegate by Pavlína Krausová (CZ)
We all have been through this: being a delegate can be pretty awesome. The chairs challenge you with bizarre tasks, the organizers make sure you have plenty to eat and throw the best parties, and the journalists make you feel like a rockstar. But even if it may seem hard to believe, the delegates are also human beings and have their hopes and fears. With a help of my friends from the committee on culture and education, you have a unique opportunity to peep inside a private diary of a delegate. Allow yourself to emerge into a fascinating world of the delegates soul, maybe it will bring back some of your old memories. Dear diary, I’m little afraid that the discussion during our committee work will take too long and that we won’t be able to find some clear solutions. Maybe I won’t be able to defend my opinions, or express myself clearly enough. Maybe I won’t be as good as the other delegates; no matter how hard will I try. Some of us may even lose patience and attention, get angry and rude. What if we’ll be too tired, or too loud, we won’t care about the committee anymore. And I haven’t even started to think about the general assembly, open debate seems to be pretty scary. Honestly, I really don’t enjoy the open debate; what if I will forget everything I wanted to say? Just dropping all papers on the ground... What if my pants slip down? Maybe I won’t even want to
defend the resolution, because it won’t be worth all that effort we have put in. Will our resolution pass? But whom am I kidding, maybe we won’t be able to finish at all. And the last minute scratch will be so chaotic that it won’t even make any sense. But I still keep my hopes up high. I hope we’ll all pay attention during the committee work, and that we’ll listen to each other’s opinions. I hope we’ll have a lot of fun, and we’ll enjoy a great session. Our committee won’t be just a room full of strangers, but by the end of those few days, we will become friends, talking to each other freely. Hopefully everybody will be happy with our resolution, ready to defend and protect it through the whole GA. Of course it will be finished on time! And we won’t see our work only as a competition, but as a unique opportunity to learn from each other and be proud of something we had manage to do as a team. Because we’ll be able to realise that it’s not only about the outcome, but mainly about the process. Facing the failure or the success, we’ll know we did our best, and we’ll enjoy the time we got to spend together. And finally, I hope that we all will learn something about ourselves. And after we’ll get back home from the session, we’ll find a little sparkle emerging out of nowhere, mysterious electrifying feeling telling us that it was all worth it.
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ENVI I Why so ENVIous? by Alžběta Rybáková (CZ)
During the awesome voyage on the EYP ship I was given an opportunity to stop at the 1 5th National Selection Conference of EYP Czech Republic in Rakovník. Our journey started on Thursday morning, when the delegates sailed off the harbours towards their hometowns. If you travel for a while, it is necessary to get to know other people, to discover who is with you on the board so you can make your journey as enjoyable as possible. I am really flattered I had the opportunity to spend fabulous days with the committee ENVI I, whose members are erotic, naughty, vicious and irresistible. If you spend your time with bunch of those, you will never forget. I will never forget the moment, when I saw you, the obese people, for the first time. I believe, this is the experience I cannot get rid of. You believe you can persuade people not to be fat. Believing is one of the most important things you can do. If you believe, you can achieve whatever you can think of. As I was talking to you, collecting your experience a just re2alized it is too hard to pick one. So, I decided to put all your memories in here. “The strongest experience was probably speaking Russian with Milana and also learning some slang Russian words. “Petr was just sitting in his bed and writing an Attack Speech, when he fell asleep in front of his computer.” “The amount of awesomeness in EYP is too damn high!” “It’s a pretty hard question to talk just about the strongest moment of the session. It’s my first time on the National Selection Conference, so I was really surprised by the huge amount of those extremely funny teambuilding games. Probably the most unforgettable moments were while playing the game Honey, tell me that you love me and you just cannot stop laughing. 8 | cray last issue
There were another pretty strong moments like writing speeches at 3 am while being totally exhausted or partying with all those people in crazy outfits. I guess the whole conference was an overwhelming life experience.” “The unique sense companionship, friendship and randomness when suddenly shouts: Rio! Wapa-pa-papa. Pa.” “Moment I enjoyed the most was during playing Street Fighter with the edition. I just love it. And from the chairing perspective I am really proud of the issue tree, everything was structured and visualised and it helped everyone at the end.” “Words cannot describe this experience. So, I guess this smiley :-) can. “I wanted to speak German, but I was not able to remember the word. It was totally amazing feeling. And finally, I did get the Pointing game. “You think you come here to have fun and to work. It is amazing when you realize that the working part is actually fun as well.” “We were in our room in that good mood, feeling so comfy, the majority of us fell asleep.” “What was the best moment? We are the most ENVIous committee at all. The whole session was super-awesome.” And what about me? I cannot even express how awesome you are. I am glad, that I could be your journalist. I love playing the games with you, even when I was horrible at it, sitting in the committee room and listening to your debate and eating with you at the committee dinner. Together, we went through the Green glass door, pointing at the others and visited many places in the world. This travel lasted 4 days, full of enjoyment, fun, laughter, relaxation, but also work and stress. I hope, you enjoyed it as much as I did. You met plenty of new people, who can stay in your life forever. It is only up to you, if you want to burn your ship now. But - I would not do that. I would be very happy, if you continue travelling with the EYP ship all around the world. You cannot estimate how many times you will be sailing with these people again, if ever. However, every EYPer has an own travel plan, and it is only up to, where you want to cross him or her. I would like to remind you, that the sea is not the only place, where can you meet. The coasts works as well. The last, but not least words I want to tell you: Honeys, I do love you, but I just cannot smile. Do not forget that.
ENVI II
The nine little horses also known as ENVI II by Peter Pölzleithner (AT)
Once upon a time, there was a group of nine little horses. Due to mysterious circumstances they somehow got lost in the Forrest of Rakovnik. A Forrest full of obese ponies, juice-drinking mooses, funky chicken and a whole lot of other cray creatures. The little horses were very scared, frightened and overwhelmed by a level of awkwardness previously unknown. All of sudden, a brave knight and a beautiful princess showed up as well as a little dwarf from Austria with a camera and a laptop. They tried to protect the nine horses from all the strange creatures of Rakovnikforrest and took the lead of the group. Now things became way less scary to the nine horses. Not only did their newly found and powerful leaders give them selfconfidence, but also their own war cries like „Haiduken“, „Sonic Boom“ and „Tiger uppercut“. Things really changed drastically for the nine little horses as they gradually started to like the fascinating Forest of Rakovnik, which had seemed so awkward at first. However as they gradually started to get comfortable a group of very menacing monsters invaded the Forest. After their invasion questionable food standards as well as a lack of transparency in the food industry came to Rakovnik and a sense of despair was all over the forest. At first the nine little horses really did not know what to do. The monsters just appeared to be so diverse and very difficult to fight. Luckily enough the strong knight and the pretty princess led them in the right direction. They gathered at one of the nicest places the
forest has to offer and started their strategy in fighting the monsters. After several hours of blood, sweat, tears, discussions, brainstorming, phrasing and arguing, the nine horses finally came up with a credible plan of saving Rakovnik forest from these terrible problems. The creation of a EU wide control organisation, a EU food quality stamp as well as the introduction of more sever punishments for companies failing quality controls were just some of the well-thought methods they have come up with. Despite their lack of sleep, the nine horses were really proud of their plan and very confident it would literally kick the monsters out of Rakovnik forrest. Luckily their actions proved to be efficient, the monsters really did not stand any chance and would be kept out of Rakovnik forest for years to come. And all lived happily ever after. Seriously all fairy-tale symbolism aside, throughout the last couple of days I have had the pleasure of accompanying 9 remarkable young men and women on their journey through this incredible session. They worked hard, they went out of their comfort zone and really earned my respect. I had a lot fun being their journalist and I would gladly do it all again. So dear committee on ENVI II, no matter if your resolution passes or fails (that does not matter anyway), I can assure you that you have done a fine job and you have got every reason to be proud of yourself.
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INTA
10 people, 1 problem to be solved by Natálie Dostálová (CZ)
Betty, Marek, Táňa, Markéta, Jacob, Martin, Veronika, David, Fasih, Petr. 1 0 people, 1 problem to be solved – is it now the time to create a free trade area between the US and the EU? Let’s get back to the first day. INTA is just getting to know each other starting with various ways to remember their fellow delegates’ names. The following activities reveal their hobbies, ideas, opinions, and personalities. By the evening everyone knows their committee pretty well; there is a guy who plays in a band, girl planning to study Japanese or another one scared of elevators. It’s such an interesting group of young people that it is no surprise when I bump into them during Eurovillage standing in a circle with Pilsner in their hands and talking to each other. That is the example of a great EYP power – how often does it happen in your life to chat casually with people who you have just met few hours ago? Here comes the 2nd day. The funny part is behind the delegates; the tough part is yet to come. They should be quite stressed out. However, it feels as if they do not admit the weight on their shoulders. They start to share their knowledge concerning the issue they prepared for before the session and then they generally 10 | cray last issue
talk about important aspects of the problem. In the evening, their smooth discussion comes to the end with the main points for the resolutions already prepared. On 3rd day there is time and space to discuss every single detail of the resolution that could be misunderstood. The chairs look pleased as they observe the debate without many interruptions. The debate still remains fresh, which is pleasantly surprising after two exhausting days. 4th day and here comes the general assembly. Even though the farewell party made an impact on the state of delegates, everyone is coping very well. However, INTA is confident about their resolution and they are ready to defend it. Despite a few minor disagreements, other committees express their support with INTA’s resolution. The fact that it passed was not surprising. Everyone seems relieved as they sing along I.N.T.A as loud as they can. To sum up my thoughts, it was really nice to spend time with these inspiring people. I hope that the 1 5th National Conference in Rakovník will remain as memorable for them as it will remain for me. INTA, it was nice to meet you.
LIBE
Disco LIBE tinga linga ling
by Katarzyna Sokołowska (PL)
Do you know this state when you do not sleep a lot for a long period of time and at some point the reality starts to mix up with the nocturne illusion? I have been experiencing such a sleepless parade recently and today I have had an unexpected nap during the day. And I had a dream, surprising and fascinating. I was dreaming about a group of random people that were stuck together in one room for a couple of days. At the beginning the only thing they were thinking of, was to discover a way out. They were overwhelmed with the presence of each other. They just wanted to open the door and run as far as possible. But after some time they actually started to like spending time together, it became bearable at least. They still had their own, real life tough and they wanted to come back. And suddenly something changed. Being a really funny bunch of people, they started to do some cray stuff to kill time. They were flying in the air, peeling bananas, making definitely inappropriate things with an orange... This is how they spent the whole day. But after a while they realised that they have to start working because otherwise they would never be able to come back to their own life. They sat in a circle and started to discuss. And they discussed, and discussed, and discussed. They came up with various solutions and agreed on them. They were free to go.
What happened next surprised me even more than the beginning of my dream. After accomplishing the task, they did not want to go home any more. They did not want to come back to their real, boring reality without this group of awesome people they have met. They reached the LIBErty and now they wish they had not been so productive. Some of them were crying, some just hugging each other with this strong belief that the arms of a friend can actually protect you from the sadness. And then... ...I woke up. I was still sitting in an armchair; the sun was trying to show its lovely face. I started to think about what happened. It did not have any sense. How can you like somebody so much after having spent together just three days? I started to wonder if I could feel in a similar way. And then I froze. Do you remember when I said that sometimes the reality might seem to be a dream and the other way around? It was not a dream. Although it seems like that, so perfect it was. There is this small and lovely city lost somewhere in the Czech Republic called Rakovnik. In this small and lovely city there is a school, and in this school a room called "LIBE Committee Room". This is the place where the coolest bunch of people spent three days in a row making friendships and sharing their opinions. Having time of their life. And giving me the time of my life. cray last issue | 11
THE ART OF
CRAYSOMNESS
Just a few words from the editorial assistant to her fellow crayers by Klára Scholleová (CZ)
Dear Milica, you should know that your fondness in cutting people off photographs which you share with them is not wrong at all. With you in any photograph, there is too much awesomeness in that particular picture already, so it is only logical to cut the others off :-) Dear Nick, try to sing Adele’s Skyfall like this: instead of every “skyfall”, sing “Skype call.” Awesome song now, is it not? Anyway, I really hope that you will become a video editor somewhere – there is some great talent in you, man! :-) Dear Bětuška, besides my wide family of gadgets, I currently have two favourite toys: an amazing tool for drawing beautiful geometrical pictures and a pretty, badass, fast’n’furious car on a flywheel… Well, it seems like I got all of my favourite non-electronic toys from you… :-) Dear Pete, my dear Austrian gentleman, I must confess something: I really do believe that the face on Kinder Chocolate should be replaced with yours. No one else’s smile makes other people smile as well, as yours does; and you are definitely far more badass than the current guy :-) Dear David , of course that we would not tell you face to face, but… actually… I really admire and envy you your effort… It is really great that you work out! Dear Pája, I think that poor guy Voky made a mistake and shot the wrong person – you are not mean at all, you are actually one of the kindest people I have ever met :-) And BTW, your cheeseroll on the first was really delicious…
Dear Natálka, have you noticed that we got to the session without any serious travel complications? Only one small rail lockout? Well, it could have been because our muscle guy was our companion this time… but still… high fiiiive :-) Dear Katarzyna, I have a hot message for you, a message that will make you happy, a message that will make you stop crying finally… Your dog has not died in a plane crash, they have rescued him! We must not believe everything Sammy says :-) It was great fun with you when we were trying to make you cry! … Dear Sammy, I hate being a copycat and that is why I slap myself every time I catch myself saying ‘Draamaa!’ However, I cannot help it (cannot stop saying that); anyway, I just do not have the right voice you have for true drama… And after those five days spent with you, I find myself less resistant to tell people offensive jokes – ‘thank you’ for that, too! Dear CRAY Media Team , you indeed are crayzy and craysome. You really were a dream team, you really, really, really were. It was a great pleasure to put your great articles together in issues; you kept making Sammy and me really proud. I hope that I will meet you again somewhere :-) I miss our cosiest press room in the world so much! Thank you. P. S. And thanks to all those amazing people whom I had the chance and joy of talking to, despite the fact that I was imprisoned in the press room for most of the time.
P. P. S. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING PARTS OF SUCH AN AMAZING SESSION. THIS IS REALLY THE END... 12 | cray last issue