THE DAILY TRACTOR
Editorial
Dear reader,
We have been having a great time for the last four days, and unfortunately like all the good things, this session also has come to an end. We haven’t had the time to meet you personally, as we were isolated in the Press Room for nearly the whole of the session. Though, we got the privilege to get to know at least a few of you at the Farewell Party, and from what we’ve seen, we are quite sure that the future of EYP Germany is in good hands. We as, the Press Team, have been doing our best to make this session unforgettable by these issues, articles, pictures and videos. We hope that you’re inspired by our work and stay involved in EYP in the future. See you around in Europe in the future! Onur & Olivier
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Table of Content It’s All About Teamwork//Tim Backhaus MAGRI a Difference//Kira Lange Epic Travelling for EYP//Tim Backhaus EMPL I: Cookers or... Architects?//Monica Maurelli
Interview with Maria Pashi//Silja Tuovinen Europe as Seen From Ahaus//Kira Lange Richness of Languages, Deepness of Thoughts//Monica Maurelli Your Future in EYP//Gustaf Westin & Silja Tuovinen Towards to the End of the Session//Emre Örendil & Lauri Lahtinen Tricky Games in EYP//Gustaf Westin A Letter to ITRE//Emre Örendil
This Issue was brought to you by: Emre Örendil (TR) Giz Belkaya (TR) Gustaf Westin (SE) Kira Lange (DE) Lauri Lahtinen (FI) Monica Maurelli (IT) Silja Tuovinen (FI) Tim Backhaus (CH/FI) Olivier Rostang Rejdvik (FR/SE) Onur Can Uçarer (TR)
It’s All About Teamwork
The dynamic team of AFCO has gone through hard obstacles that their chair Ioanna has set for them. Everyone of them has participated equally and have added their own personalities to the actions. While playing blind animals, the whole committee was giving everything and especially the Pigeons were noticed. By the awesome teamwork and a bit of cheekiness they managed to get through the Spiders’ web. “If clothing touches, it’s not a fail.” said Ioanna and suddenly all comments during the game were “It was only clothing!” While playing swamp, the delegates did not learn only direction skills, but also how to co-operate mutely. Building game was a small competition for those who could build the tallest tower ever in two minutes. Obviously a very easy task! The committee was divided in two groups of four and both teams had a very different approach on how to complete the task. In the end only one group wins and they had their winning moment.
Tim Backhaus
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MAGRI a Difference!
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs had a quite awesome day of teambuilding. Most of them screaming very loudly during street fighter, showing all the other committees located on the field how much SWAG they have inside of them, they seemed like a very active committee right from the beginning, exactly as their chairs Anna and Ya’gel, who really heat up the atmosphere and encourage the delegates to participate. Only minor mistakes where recognisable meaning that AGRI consists of fast learners who have the urge to actually work and try to figure out a way to properly maintain agricultural goods. My impression was strongly supported during an epic game of Dwarfs, Wizards and Giants when they already showed everyone how it’s done and celebrated their victory after only four rounds. How is it even possible to be the side catching every time? I suppose it has something to do with a great cohesion in the team, which they even shared with the members of the Committee on International Trade. When decorating their committee room very beautifully, the AGRIlicious delegates came up with some AGRI related words and sentences. 15 funny papers were hung up and made clear that “cocks tend to appear a lot in AGRI” (not to be mistaken obviously)! They actually changed agriculture in its meaning to a place of safety and fun with the delegates showing no fear of facing committee work. After all they are ready to make everyone AGRI with their resolution!
Kira Lange
Epic Travelling for EYP!
Tim Backhaus
I have been in the EYP for a bit more than three and a half years. After many different kinds of sessions in different roles, this session is my 14th one and first time being a journalist. After Ahaus I am going to International Istanbul Youth Forum (IIYF) in a week. It is also my fourth session almost in a row in two months. Having a gap year basically gives this opportunity to do these crazy EYP years.
I just talked to Lewin, the Delegates’ Support Organiser of this session and he is basically also doing a large EYP session combo. We will, for pure coincidence, meet again in the same Chairs’ team in IIYF. He is also doing an EYP session in between in Russia, before that one. He also told me that Istanbul Youth Forum will be his fifth session in two months. Session after Session, you would think that travelling is not cheap. Well I can surely say it is not. Before Ahaus, I went to the National Session of EYP Luxembourg and for that session I used almost every kind of transportation; buses, trains, a ferry, airplanes and cars. From Finland the flights are in general not cheap at all. Especially to Luxembourg, which might be a place where people normally do not fly. Direct flights are of course not available, so naturally expensive. So I started to look options how to travel there. This is how everything took place: I left on Saturday noon from home, getting by train to Western side of Finland to Turku, to get a night ferry to Stockholm. Early Sunday morning arriving to Stockholm and then spending time there, before getting a bus to a small lowfare flight airport; Stockholm Skavsta. Flight leaving at 18:30 to Brussels Charleroi and then being there late evening and still waiting for a cheap bus to leave to Luxembourg arriving there just right after mid-
night. After the Session I got a bus early morning to Frankfurt-Hahn low-cost carrier airport, and then having a flight afternoon to Tampere, Finland. It was still 1,5h away from home and then a friend of mine picked me up from Helsinki to get me to the final destination. Even for this session I flew first to Belgium via Munich on last Saturday, staying four nights there at a friends’ place and then on Tuesday travelling almost five hours by train to get here. After the session we are travelling with the other Finnish journalists Lauri and Silja first to Amsterdam and then spending two days there. When we are flying back home, we are having a stopover at Munich. We are lucky to have these low-cost carriers who make it possible to travel to these amazing events, which are happening all the time. Still, I have to say that even if that trip was an adventurous one with five countries, you will start value more the direct flights. All in all, I will not leave this wonderful organisation, because I am always travelling to sessions to meet old and new friends. I just have to make sure to have the money to be able to travel later on as well!
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EMPL I: Cookers or... architects? Marshmallows and pasta: every normal human being usually eats them, but the committee of EMPL I can do much more with these two foods rather than devouring them gluttonously. As you can see, yesterday, during Teambuilding, they built a wonderful high and stable tower out of pink marshmallows and delicious spaghetti. Surprising, isn’t it? Of course yes, especially because these delegates are not only great architects, but also memorable champions at Number Crunch: thanks to their strong team cohesion, they succeeded in touching all the numbers enclosed in the square in an outstanding record time - 14 seconds!
After the admirable skills showed in Teambuilding games, EMPL I continued working hard and well concentrated. As soon as serious stuff came over, Florentine, Marvin, Jana, Kira, Lennart, Lars, Velijko, Oldrich and Nils proved their bravery to speak their minds freely, gathering lots of great ideas and different opinions. Together with their dynamic chair Arriana, perfectly able to organize time in order to fully use every single minute, they started a productive and efficient committee work, dominated by a relaxed atmosphere; they have been focusing the whole day on a complex topic, using words attentively to deliver their own thoughts and cooperating in such a way
Monica Maurelli
to end up producing a coherent, concrete and clear Resolution. Florentine, one of the delegates of EMPL I, had already participated in another international association, the Model United Nations, before entering EYP for the first time two days ago. According to her, the comparison between the two is quite difficult to define, since EYP and MUN adopt two different work schedules, but for one thing, EYP sessions seem to be funnier, even if more challenging! Good luck to this awesome committee for the GA debates!
Work in progress!
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Interview With Maria Pashi Silja Tuovinen
Experiences are what matters.
Delightful Ms. Maria Pashi is feeling excited and happy in the beginning of the first day of GA. Her calm and secure way of presenting herself creates a unique atmosphere, easy for everyone to enjoy. The witty way of joking around about a documentary that’s being made of her is a nice add to the session spirit, and a clear sign of the good leadership skills that she beholds. Pashi started in EYP in the usual way, as a delegate, in the first National Selection Conference of EYP Cyprus in 2007. She had the honor to be selected to an International Session in Dublin, after of which she was active in EYP Cyprus for three years before her carrier in EYP really kicked off in
2010, when she got into the board of EYP Cyprus and started being internationally active. One of the most memorable moments of Pashi’s EYP carrier was in the Iberian Forum in 2011 where she attended as a chair. In the Eurovillage she started a food fight which ended up turning into a water fight as well. Pashi says that this was one of the moments when she felt completely comfortable with where she was and the people she was with. When it comes to staying involved in EYP, it’s not just because of food fights or because it’s something fun to do. The main reason for Pashi to contributing to EYP is its’ educational aspects and for instance the communicational skills
-Maria Pashi
you gain almost without noticing. You learn not only of academic issues but also a lot about yourself as a person, which is something that Pashi values highly. Everyone who attends a session, a delegate, a chair or the president, goes beyond the limits that they’ve been used to, made even harder by the sleep deprivation. Pashi says that she has gained a lot of confidence, knowledge and skills through EYP experiences, which have shaped her personality to a relatively big extent. The friends she has got to know through EYP continue being in a big role in her life to this date and beyond. Pashi respects EYP as an organization because of the people that contribute to its’ activities. She
says that these people, who are not trying to get any personal gain, other than a learning experience, and who free willingly take part in the activities and organize sessions, are what makes EYP special. After a short while of wondering, Pashi admits that yes, Ninja is her favorite EYP game and she enjoys it very much. This mustn’t come as a big surprise to anyone, since there is a big Ninja tournament to be organized in the session, where the Master of Ninja will be crowned. I wonder if Pashi dreams of that particular title to be written after her name.
Europe As Seen From Ahaus Interview with Mayor Felix B端ter By Kira Lange
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How are children and teenagers integrated in the political life of Ahaus?
How do you evaluate the delegates’ work and would you take it seriously?
For numerous years we try to get into discussion with youngsters on various levels. We have had a whole series of events, where for instance youth policy issues were on the agenda, to which all teenagers of the city were invited to to participate in the debate. Furthermore I have children and teenagers in the city hall on a regular basis to experience small parts of political processes. Moreover, partly because we are a smaller city, Ahaus consists of a tight community, through which we get many ideas, young people are interested in, to subsequently actually make them real, if possible.
I cannot directly assess that, since I have not been involved in the committee work, but I know of previous work coming from the EYP. Originally the thought was to write resolutions as a measure to get young people together, to strengthen communication, but I believe that they are so strong in their content that it is worth giving these resolutions to every European politician to at least think about adopting them into real life decisions.
What is it like, having that many people from different European nations in front of you?
Ahaus is open for both youth and the world. I consider this a very important aspect. We still have many centers of conflict and if we don’t succeed in having young people letting go of borders this situation won’t change in the future. Because that cannot be the goal, it is an important task and I can say that I would definitely approve of an inquiry asking to host another session in Ahaus.
It is something special indeed. In this context three things came to my mind: Firstly, with what amount of discipline these young people involve themselves for four days, you can almost say all night as well. That way four days can easily feel like two weeks. I was really impressed by that. A second aspect I noticed is that it obviously was successful here in Ahaus to bring young adults, who didn’t know each other, close together in order to be able to discuss difficult political questions. And the third thing basically is that one doesn’t have to worry about our country’s or even Europe’s youth, with the kind of perfectionism this event was put together, which was great.
Did you gain some experience with the European Youth Parliament before? Yes, there are activities by the Alexander-Hegius-Gymnasium for a longer time now, taking part in the EYP. Those young people from the AHG have been to other countries as well. There has also been one or another event here in Ahaus and additionally the COMENIUS-programme covers the EYP as well, in this respect I was familiar with what the EYP does.
Is another session of the European Youth Parliament possible in Ahaus?
Are you involved in European politics yourself ? As mayor I naturally am in contact with members of the European Parliament, if it is about questions concerning us. For 25 years though we are having a partnership with the Netherlands. Although it is not that far, it is about the European thought and said cooperation is really intensive. We are together regularly and also do European journeys to look at European institutions as the European Parliament. I am quite interested in it.
Are there a few last words for the delegates regarding their involvement in Europe? I think, that really is already fine which leaves me only being able to say: “Keep it up!”
Mr. Mayor delivering a speech to the participants of Ahaus Regional Session at the Opening Ceremony.
Richness of languages, deepness of thoughts Monica Maurelli How do you think the philosophical thought of a deaf-mute person could be?
Answering to this question is a hard task, since our own vision of the world depends on the way we communicate with the others. Our body is the first mean we have to express ourselves, but is it sufficient to reveal the entire wide range of emotions, feelings and opinions that we have inside? How could we communicate our thoughts without using a language? Most of all, how could we develop a thought without using a common spoken and written language? Abundance of words and broad array of vocabulary are the tools thanks to which our mind build our ideas and shape our opinions; the profundity of our thoughts necessarily requires a richness of linguistic skills. The words we use to deliver an opinion influence the opinion in itself: words make things. Being a journalist during an EYP session teaches how the ability of using words is essential: the difference between an ordinary news story and a great one is often not based just on the facts included, but on the way in which
those facts are told. Studying foreign languages actually provides people with a greater knowledge and an enhanced capability to fully use the potentialities of the brain: learning a new language means broadening the horizons of the mind. Moreover, each language is a vehicle of a particular culture and a mirror of a specific way of behaving. This is clearly shown in proverbs and riddles: the former, for example, have two meanings, a literal one and a metaphoric or cultural second significance. When literally translated into another language, a proverb frequently loses its meaning. Language is an integral part of the structure of culture; it in fact constitutes its pillar and means of expression par excellence. Its usage enriches the individual and enables him to take an active part in the community and its activities. Depriving a man of linguistic skills is likely to depriving him of his identity; language can serve, in all spheres of social life, to bring people together or to divide them. Great linguistic competences are
inextricability linked to improved human relationships: the more linguistic tools you disposed of, the more people you can approach to. European languages represent an extraordinary wealth of human creativity, since each of them reflect a certain vision of the world; together, they contain and express a complex ‘pool of ideas’ nurtured over time through heritage, local traditions and customs. From this point of view, EYP events are vital: they can be compared to the way out of the “cave of ignorance” described in the allegory of Plato. Every session offers the opportunity to talk in different languages: a part from English, you can freely practise your French linguistic abilities as well as the German or Spanish ones. On a European background, linguistic diversity becomes the symbol of cultural diversity, and the maintenance or revitalization of language signals ongoing or renewed validity of the culture associated with that language.
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Your
Future in EYP
Start as a delegate...
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Follow the lines. Find your future in EYP.
Regional and National Sessions in other countries.
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The Chairs Team is the academic body of a session.
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The biggest achievement as a delegate!
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The Media Team documents the session by writing articles, taking photos and making videos.
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be an orga at... Chair
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an International Session!
Gustaf Westin & Silja Tuovinen
Towards to the end of the session... by Lauri Lahtinen & Emre Örendil
Ahaus, the city that is known for its bicycle riders. It may have caught your attention that there are plenty of people riding bicycles and the city is designed with large bicycle routes between the pavements and car ways. Though Ahaus is a small city, it has big green parks and impressive historical buildings. It might be a city we would not think of dropping by for most of us, especially for international participants. However, by the courtesy of EYP, we all have discovered and experienced a new city by four days full of fun and hard work. It is my disappointment to say that this beautiful Regional Session has come to an end, too. We are going to miss each other; many of us will suffer from PED (Post-EYP Depression) and will look for another session to participate. Looking forward to see each you in these sessions, somewhere around Europe! Once again we wanted to be your voice in this newspaper and let us see how some of the delegates responded our questions that were carefully selected. 1) 2) 3) 4)
Please summarize EYP in three words Do you know what “varavirtahepojenhoitajanpäivä” means? What have you liked the most about this session so far? What do you think about the war between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union?
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-Finally I like (Nick – AGRI) -Fun, tiring, education (Robert – ECON) -Interesting, exciting, fun (Ferdinand – CULT) -Fun, tiring, great (Pauline – CULT) -Interesting, new, fun (Conlin – CULT) -Discussion, stressful, interesting (Felix – ENVI) -Stressful, fun, interesting (Greta – ENVI) -Teambuilding, resolution, international (Joel – ITRE) -Politics, fun, sleepless (Mikael – INTA) -The most frequent three answers are fun, interesting and stressful/tiring.
1 2
3 4
-People (Nick – AGRI) -I really liked the teambuilding and sleeping was also great although I could not get much of it. (Pauline – CULT) -I enjoyed teambuilding and committee work but especially GA. (Conlin – CULT) -Talking about political issues and teambuilding (Felix – ENVI)
-Very dangerous, it may change the balance in Europe. -It may be eradicated by the help of EU like sending military aid. -I think what Putin doing is dangerous. -Expansion of Russia is a threat and it should not be as same as the past. -EU should definitely handle the issue. -Those two do not exist anymore. -I had never thought about it. -I am not well informed about this issue. -It’s serious. (laughs) There’s no war.
Tricky Games in EYP Gustaf Westin
”This is the pointing game, listen very carefully and tell me who it is.”
The delegates sat there, stunned and amazed. The mysterious and dashing journalist obviously had some trick, but what could it possibly be? At this point no one knew. Was it the rhythm of what he was saying? Did it have to do with the syllables
in the sentences he had been uttering about 15 times now? The intonation? Was it the fourth person he was pointing at? The fifth? The person next to the fifth? Was he just making it all up? The completely ordinary round of “The Pointing Game” had left the
small Chinese restaurant filled with an air of confusion, but the committee was still determined to find out the answer to this seemingly unsolvable riddle.
Some games in EYP can leave us feeling very confused, not only games such as the aforementioned Pointing Game or “What does the emperor like?”; difficult riddles that could easily take up an entire committee dinner (and the walk back to the venue), but also games that are tricky simply because they are difficult to understand.
ring there are two people: the virgin and the pervert. The pervert tries to catch the virgin, and the virgin tries to run away. If the pervert succeeds, the virgin becomes the pervert and vice versa. The virgin can become safe by linking to someone in a pair around the ring. The person in the pair who did not get linked to now becomes the virgin and is forced to run away. Sounds complicated? Often this game never works in the first round; people get confused, more than two people end up in the ring, and you end up with two virgins or perverts.
Then there are the games that may not be very hard to understand, but still very hard to accomplish, often because they’re so tedious. “Magic stick” is a good example of a game like this. In Magic Stick, the delegates have a long stick, which they must try to move horizontally up and down, only using the underside of their index fingers. The stick must be kept horizontal at all times, and everyone’s fingers must touch the stick at all times. This requires a good deal of concentration and coordination in the group, and teamwork is essential.
An example of a game like that is the “Virgin and pervert” game. In this game, delegates stand in a circle, divided up in pairs and with arms linked to each other. In the middle of the
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My Dearest Committee ITRE, I could not imagine that much of fun could be here in Ahaus. The organization, academic and press teams are consisting of great people. Though, this session would not be as vibrant as it is now without you, dear delegates. Eight enthusiastic delegates; Franziska, Ulysse, Jonas, Charlotte, Thuy, Frederik, Joel, Kryštof have come together to form the Committee on Industry, Technology and Research, or namely ITRE. Our beloved chairpersons, Clémence and Fatih, have provided a basis in which the delegates could easily interact with each other. They have become familiar and learnt much about them by the courtesy of entertaining teambuilding games. During the snowball game, we have learnt the most interesting facts about them. Franziska and Kryštof have chosen interesting destinations to visit: South Africa and North Korea respectively. Also, Thuy has a dream of visiting Mexico with Will Smith. Jonas had an intriguing experience as sleeping in his school on the last school day. (Not very different than us since we all are sleeping on the desks or on the floor of the gymnasium, too.) Frederik would like to be a fox if he was an animal, whereas Joel chooses to be a monkey. Ulysse’s favourite song is Papaoutai by Stromae. Charlotte has a problem as going to school a bit late most of the days, which creates troubles for her. At the end of the first day, we have achieved to be one body despite our different personalities. That’s what the gist of EYP is; it bridges between the gaps caused by our divergent thoughts, provides unity within diversity and blends variant personalities of each participant to them to create a harmonious whole. The following day was the day of working, working really hard. All the delegates had only one day to analyse the problems, look for possible solutions to them and come up with a concrete resolution. Since they were all well-prepared for the session, it was not that difficult for our committee to finish committee work. To tell the truth, these eight delegates are really cool because they had done it much earlier than estimated time in the schedule. They were now ready for the GA. On the third day, we were all excited for the five debates would take place. Each round was challenging due to points made by the other committees in a diplomatic manner. The debates have finished now and we are looking forward to our turn to take the floor and present our resolution in the beautiful Baroque Palace of Ahaus. As my very last words, I would firstly like to deliver my appreciation Clémence and Fatih for allowing me to visit the committee whenever I want and also for making me feel as a part of ITRE by integrating me into the committee. Also I would like to thank eight of you for being one of the factors that turning this session into an unforgettable memory.
With lots of love, Emre
ITRE at Committee Work
P.S. Our Committee Song! It’s going down I’m yelling ITRE! You better move and clap your hands Let’s go and write a resolution To be the one you won’t forget
supported by:
Volksbank Gronau-Ahaus eG RC Gronau-Euregio