N U T RI T I O N FAC T S : T H IS ISSU E CONTA INS 1 0 0 % NAT U RA L F IB R E A ND IS L OW IN CA LOR IES, SU G A R A N D FAT. F OR YOU R DA ILY D O S E OF F IB R E, SIM P LY EAT T H I S PA P ER . S E RVI N G S U G G E ST I O N : TA ST ES G R EAT WIT H S OY SAU CE.
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JOURN O BO O K “EYP I S MY L I F E ” ( I N T E RV I E W W IT H R ITA G RA N T ) REINVENT EDUCATION ON A GLOBAL SCALE THE C L A S H : D OW N L OA D I N G C HA I RS A RE H U MA N S T O O WH AT H AV E I G O T T E N MYS E L F IN T O SOCI A L N E T WO RK S : A N A L L Y O R A N E N E M Y ENC I RC L I N G SWI MMI N G W I T H O U T L E G S SESS I O N S U RVI VA L G U I D E
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JOURNOBOOK BERNET I blog, therefore I am. I am online again. How do I love Poland! Never expected they had internet connection everywhere, even on the bus. After today’s elections, our new Dutch government should take Poland as an example. They should implement the chocolate bars in our national flight company too.
KATARZYNA During the last three months I have been at home for only three days and after that I spent ten hours on a train trying to get here to enjoy the EYP spirit. After this session, apart from feeling PEDed, I will seriously have to start preparing myself for my studies. My future friends seem to be ready to choose the books instead of social life, not very promising at all.
KATERINA Getting on the bus line Prague-Poland-Ukraine, I had no idea what was going to come later on. I should have guessed that, when the stewardess returned my ticket in a cover written in Cyrillic. The 12-hour bus journey turned into an intensive Russian course, only sometimes disturbed by a child crying loudly on the seat in front of me. Thanks to a ceaseless movie screening I had an excursion into the film industry during the Soviet era. I learned that seeing Leonardo DiCaprio dubbed in Russian was a truly dreadful experience. The way home is certainly going to be interesting...
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Issue 1 KHALID Random Facebook-status? What about a random journey, to somewhere near the Himalayas, like Nepal, to teach, at a local school, in a remote village? You might be wondering why, I would say why not?! Every once in a while we get fed up with having to go to school, making homework, falling into this routine etc.. Taking random decisions like this can broaden your horizon in so many unexplainable ways, not to mention the tremendous impact you will have on the locals. I will leave you there, think about it ;)
MAJA Sometimes you feel like one decision is capable of changing your whole life. That is exactly what happened to me. From sticking to languages for nearly half of my life, I chose IT as my university course. I wished for an adventure and that is definitely, what I will get. But well… instead of enjoying myself, when I still can, I will be stuck with some nerds talking about the newest games. How fascinating!
NASTASSIA Your dad is having his midlife crisis. Wet socks. Having to pay €60 more for your favourite Ben Howard concert that you really want to go to. The fact that I will actually pay that. People with too many prejudices. Me being exactly that type of person. Magazines writing about the beauty of ‘curves’ and then use pictures of size zeromodels. Dropping your Iphone in the toilet, twice. People using their Ipads as portable cameras. ‘Going Dutch’. Your favourite show being cancelled due to an ‘incredibly important soccer match’. Fortunately, I am in Rzeszow now and I will, hopefully, not have to deal with any of these issues.
TOBIAS I do not want to sound kafkesk by saying this, but a metamorphosis for me is a natural as well as required process. It most certainly does not happen overnight, but it should be gradual. Maybe I am too biased to give an, in any way, objective view on the subject, but I hope you can understand that development has to take place. I do not oppose Liberals or Conservatives as both are seeking a change. And change is what keeps us going, what keeps us adapting and alive.
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“EYP IS MY LIFE!” MAJA ZALEWSKA KATARZYNA SOKOLOWSKA
A d e di cated E Y P- er since 2007. A Fre n c h s p e a ki n g h i s to r y student from Ireland. A lovely g i n ge r wi t h cu rly h ai r a n d fr eckl es . Meet R ita G rant, the P re s i de nt of t h e 9 t h Nat i onal S el ection Conference of EYP P ol a n d i n Rz e s z ów. Many people say that they have started EYP just because it looks nice on your CV. Was it also like that for you? No, definitely not. I do not even mention EYP on my CV, especially because it is truly hard to explain to outsiders what it actually is. I just wanted to challenge myself. What was your first EYP session? Frankly speaking, I attended loads of Irish sessions at the beginning, but the first one that actually counted was the 60th International Session in Stockholm in 2009. As it was the 60th IS, they had a massive budget and everything was kept at the highest standards. They even had a bar, all made of ice. It was a flamboyant and posh session. My Chair was lovely, people were incredible… It was simply the perfect session for me. Can you think of your best and
worst EYP memory? My best memory? That is a hard one… Probably the National Selection Conference of EYP Germany in 2010 in Wuerzburg. It was amazing. In the middle of nowhere, just us on a mountain. Don’t you have any bad memories with EYP then? Not really, but there was one embarrassing moment. As I was at the session in Stockholm, I was interviewed for the German TV and I didn’t know what to say at all, so I just blurted out ‘EYP is my life!’. Unfortunately for me, I am afraid you can still find the video somewhere online. What is your favourite EYP game? I love all of them, games and energisers are an inseparable part of the EYP atmosphere. However, if I really had to pick one I would probably go for street fighter.
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Issue 1 What obstacles did you have to overcome to get where you are now? When I first started, my biggest fear was definitely speaking in public. It was so scaring to express my opinion in front of so many people. The idea of a hundred eyes looking directly at you, overwhelming... However, it is easily banished by EYP, so now it is not a problem anymore to stand up and say what I think. How did you feel about being selected for the session just two weeks prior to the start? Really nerve-wracking. It was challenging to fit months of preparations into two weeks. Especially, since it is my first time as a President. However, I had all the officials to help me and Ola was a big support for me as well. I was getting emails every five minutes. It was a hard decision to make, but I am extremely happy to be here. What are your expectations for this session? I would simply like to live up to everyone’s expectations and I wish for everybody to have a blast. Have you ever experienced an EYP romance? Not yet… but I still have the upcoming four days of the ses-
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sion. ;) You might have already seen the Media Team website and our short introductions. We would like to ask you the same question: What would you do if you woke up as a potato? I would be so happy. There is nothing better than to be Irish and a potato. I will just sit there and be happy. During CJO’s teambuilding you mentioned that, even though you are yourself a ginger, you enjoy ginger jokes. Could you tell us one of your favourites? (giggling) W h at thing ries?
is the most unrealistic about Harry Potter sto-
It is that the ginger has two friends.
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REINVENT E D U C AT I O N O N A G L O BA L SCALE
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s. Peterson, I don‘t understand how to take the integral of f(x), could you explain it to me?” Ms. Peterson walks over to Suzy, rather annoyed as she had just explained it to the class. “*Sigh*.. Yeah sure, what you do is…(blabla). Do you understand now?” “Uhm…yeah I think so, thanks!” Suzy answers, putting on a fake smile. Obviously, Suzy did not get anything from that forced explanation by her teacher but she could not possibly ask her to explain it again, just imagine how that would make her look. We have all been there, almost every student is all too familiar with such a situation. For some it might not be too big of deal, it just means that they have to practice more, but others might be completely lost. Now what does this have to do with online education? Well, there are many ways one might study using the internet, but the focus of this article will mainly be on videos as an educational resource. The idea of online education is
not new and has been a subject of interest ever since the birth of the internet. It simply has not manifested itself enough to gain worldwide attention. However, over the past few years, as technological developments have presented the world with new possibilities, online educational videos have become more accessible e.g. Youtube. Throughout the world, concerns have been raised over failing educational systems, think about standardised testing or the ‘corporate attack’ on education. This has led many students to seek for help using the main information resource available to them, namely the internet. As students, successfully, began to use educational videos to help with their studies, for example Khan Academy or MIT ‘OpenCourseWare’, it started to draw interest of some rich and influential people and institutions. These people and institutions include Bill Gates, Google, and many US Colleges among which are Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley. Once convinced, Bill Gates has
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been a fanatic supporter of Khan Academy, founded by Salman Khan, and donated several millions for its development to an online school free to use by anyone in the world. As Harvard and MIT saw one of their Alumni, Sal graduated both universities, set up such a profound organisation, they could not possibly stay behind. This lead them to come up with edX, a platform which allows everyone around the world to follow online courses at both universities earning them a certificate. As we have been babbling on about online education for quite some time now, you might start to wonder what the actual advantages are over the physical resources? Well, here goes: self-paced learning, interactive exercises, quick reviews, track of progression, insight in study, pearto-pear teaching, no insecurity and resource accessibility. All factors which are in advantage over the physical means when looking at virtual ones and there are some more. However, the opposite is true as well and in some
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cases the physical means receive preference. One huge difference is the real-time interaction with the teacher and fellow students, which contributes highly to one’s social development. Another is the resource aspect, real-time books etc. are acknowledged by educators before they are used to teach students, on the internet, however, one can upload whatever he or she wants, which might turn out to be completely wrong. By now, you should have a better understanding of the position of online-education tools, the possibilities, the risks and its potential implementation throughout the world. It is rather evident that there are still many things that need to be overcome before education can be put online and made accessible on the web for everyone. However, as you have all gathered here to talk about the challenges we face concerning the web, we have already taken a step into the right direction. Continue walking and make sure to reach for the full potential online education harbours.
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THE CLASH NASTASSIA WINGE
I n o r der to s ave the lives of artists s om e t h i n g mu s t be d o n e abo ut downloading at once.
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or hundreds and hundreds of years Europe has been developing its own unique culture. With twenty-seven countries, all writing their own history and living their own special traditions, Europe is ‘United in Diversity’. Over the past decades, Europe’s rich culture has almost been growing out of proportion and culture is, and has always been, vital to our daily lives. The creative sector is a unique source for growth, both economically and socially. However, funding these artists is getting increasingly difficult and artists are being forced to stop the work they are passionate about. All due to one simple, but serious problem: downloading. Finding an individual in this ‘wired society’ who has never downloaded is like looking for a penguin in the Sahara. Down-
loading has become a daily activity, whereas people do not understand what sorts of horrifying consequences these simple mouse clicks have. To put it simple, every time you download a piece of art you are actually stealing someone’s salary. You might just steal their little son’s bike while you are at it. Culture is essential to our image for the rest of the world. And if we want to stay this way we must be able to support those who create art. As the Vice-President of the European Commission said: ‘Art feeds the soul. But who feeds the artist?’ Well, not the ones who download. Culture has a special place in our hearts and we should do everything we can to retain that special spot. Small, starting artists may never have a chance to actually fulfil their dreams, simply because nobody buys there albums. If you actually care about the artists you are listening to, then think about them and their son’s bike twice, when you decide to download their new album.
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Issue 1 T HE FI RST DI GITAL G ENERAT ION IS A LR EA DY G ROW I N G U P I N T H E E RA O F IN T ER NE T P I RACY. W H AT COU R SE OF AC T ION SH O U L D W E TA KE T O E D U C AT E TH E NE WBORN S INT O ET H ICA L P IRAT ES OR S H O U L D W E D O N O T H I N G AND LE AVE TH I NGS J U ST A S T H EY A R E? NA STA SS I A A N D KAT E A R E H E R E T O DISCUSS TH E ISSUE.
KATERINA ZEJDLOVA
D ow nl oadi ng has b ecome an inevitabl e p a rt of ou r s oci ety. To l egal i s e the illegal or not to l e g a l i s e , t h at i s t h e q u esti on…
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h, there’s a new album out?” Click. Download. We have all been there, haven’t we? Downloading music or movies from the internet has become an almost automatic action for our generation. For most of us it is so self-evident that we do not even recognise a crime in what we are doing. People got used to downloading because it is the easiest and quickest way to get the material they want. They claim it is their right of free dissemination of information and that they are doing nothing wrong. The big companies who own the copyrights of these materials are lobbying in the governments to stop this practice. Are we indeed the criminals? Is it only us to blame? The way I see it, widespread ‘illegal’ downloading did not just come out of the blue. It was a result of a certain evolution of society, where media companies have simply failed to keep up with the trend. They kept on selling records or DVDs while you could easily get a movie online straight away in the
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cosiness of your home. Once this was finally realised, it was already too late to stop the hype. Therefore even selling it online did not prevent the majority of people from downloading their media illegally. All because it has become a habit which proves hard to get rid of. Nowadays, companies are increasingly pressuring governments to accept treaties such as ACTA, which are not really the solution we are looking for. So let’s face it, almost everyone is downloading and is going to be doing it. This will continue until a reasonable and balanced solution is found to redress the mistakes made in the past.
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CH AIRS ARE H U MA N S
TOO
BERNET MEIJER NASTASSIA WINGE KATERINA ZEJDLOVA
S om eti mes it is hard to imag i n e , bu t you r own Ch air, once, has also b e e n a cl u m sy, ner vo us and conf used f irst-tim e de l e g ate .
WOJTEK
DORA
During one of his first sessions, Wojtek was confronted with the toughest problem for an EYP-er: explain what you are doing in EYP. While he and his committee was playing some kinky games, like Pass The Orange and The Coin Game. His friends were shocked: did these people call themselves the European Youth Parliament? ‘My friends thought it looked like we were in a mental institution.’
It took Dora her whole first session to actually understand EYP. The theme of her first session was ‘Destination Unknown’. The first speech from the President elaborated on the theme. She talked about the future, the delegates’ personal futures and how we influence it. During the opening ceremony it was confusing, during closing ceremony it all made sense.
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Issue 1
OYKU
LYUBOV
FLORIS
‘I did not know anything about EYP when I went to my first session’. Oyku’s first session was in Greece. The enormously helpful and patient Chairs were the best part of the session. ‘We started with the human knot game. Everybody knew it, but I had no idea.’ Because of her extremely competent Chairs she got comfortable with the games right away and she admits that it was her most memorable session.
The terrifying experience of the start of teambuilding, being three years older than her Chair and having two interruptions of policemen during parties and committee work made her first session unforgettable. After the eventually terrific session, there was the issue of getting home. ‘My boss left without me, my visa was expiring and I had to make my way back to Ukraine through twisted ways’. However, it never kept her from coming back.
Belgians tend to have the reputation of being pleasantly crazy and Chair Floris definitely lived up to this standard at his very first International Session. His Chair would shout ‘rodeo’ every other hour and every delegate would try to jump on his Chair’s back, like an actual Spanish torro. However, crazy Floris did not always feel this comfortable. After his very first speech he collapsed and, fortunately, got to the bathroom just in time…
MARIJKE ‘It left a big impression on me to have a great Chair and to afterwards meet up with her and just chat like normal people.’ In the end it is not the awarded certificates and alumni-statuses that make us stay in EYP. It is the personal connections. ‘I would have never continued if I did not have such an amazing chair’.
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ULLI Here, we find our Chair Ullrich, better known as Ulli. A quiet delegate with a stammer problem who did not feel comfortable to talk in front of an audience. Eventually, he made his very first point, which made his teacher shed a tear out of pride. The glory did not last long. The next session Ulli woke up one morning, to discover himself nicely decorated with beautiful fuchsia nail polish and red lipstick at places where the sun never shines.
MARKO “At first I was really sceptical about teambuilding and I did not really see the purpose of it,” says Marko, “I didn’t want to take part in it, but in the end I realised that, surprisingly, I actually liked it a lot.” And what is the essential benefit of EYP, among other things, according to Marko? “You get to know many special people, many of whom become your really good and, perhaps, even life-long friends.”
LUKASZ Lukasz is the perfect example of a small little caterpillar blossoming into a beautiful butterfly. After five minutes of teambuilding Lukasz decided just not to say one more word during teambuilding, doing his utter best to completely disappear into its surroundings. Eventually, he found his EYP romance and with that and a little experience our Lukasz transformed into the beautiful butterfly Chair he is today.
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Issue 1 TOBIAS SATLOW
W H AT H AV E I G O T T E N M YS E L F INTO?
Fa c t s, facts , facts
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bviously, all of you have experienced a very interesting first day here at the session. However, like most of the, by now, experienced officials, you are still wondering what you have gotten yourself into. The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a non-profit organisation (NGO), currently active in 36 countries across the European Continent. In over 100 events each year, motivated young adults discuss current topics, explore the world of politics and experience different cultures firsthand. In addition to the rather dry and formal attires, following actual procedures of official European institutions, EYP also facilitates socialising and group dynamics in order to increase the quality of its events. National Selection Conferences, International Sessions or Regional Forums are just some of the events organised by the EYP. Especially, in recent years a wide range of new activities and events has developed. Each year, the Euro-
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pean Youth Parliament involves up to 20 000 young people, from Portugal and Great Britain to the newly formed National Committee of Azerbaijan. Due to its size, EYP has to be managed internationally. The Board of National Committees (BNC) meets twice a year to discuss policy changes, much like the European Parliament does. The Governing Body (GB) consists of EYP-ers who have long gone past their active career and instead meet in order to discuss and propose policy changes. Lastly, there is an official Office of EYP in Berlin, led by the Executive Director Ville Vasaramäki, responsible for a professional representation of EYP. However, the European Youth Parliament is not merely a parliamentary simulation. Long-lasting friendships, personal growth and leadership qualities are just some of the things that delegates learn and experience at a session.
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SOCIAL N E T WO R K S AN ALLY OR AN ENEMY KATE ZEJDLOVA
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as a mere result of evolution. Are not all major breakthroughs faced with suspicion and labeled bad at first too? Is it somehow different
Naturally, this might all be seen
this time? There are simple reasons why this particular invention has become so popular. The expansion of the internet, instant messaging and, consequently, social networks sparked a revolution in means of communication to such an extent that has never been seen before. The connections, a few decades ago unimaginable, suddenly seem quite easy to maintain and breaking news is spreading with the speed of light, shaking up the world. It has
e all know it. The awkwardly familiar sound announcing that someone just messaged us. The red number in the corner saying somebody wants to become ‘friends’ with us. The ‘thumbs-up’ button called ‘Like’ which helps us maintain social relations with people quite remote from our lives, reminding them of the fact that we still exist and care about whatever they just posted on their ‘wall’. And all the other activities that have become just a mindless routine in our everyday lives. Yet imagining this scene would have seemed strange just about a few years ago. We have integrated social networks in our lives as a natural activity and logging into Facebook or a similar website from time to time to check what is happening has become as automatic as brushing our teeth before going to bed. Was this a wise step though, displaying our lives online?
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Issue 1 brought the world much closer together and nowadays, this parallel universe connecting you to the rest of the world is just a few clicks away. How easy is that. Yet nothing is ever that simple and every coin always has two sides. Social networks are also very easy to be abused. As we start to feel more and more comfortable with the internet we do not realise how much information we voluntarily give away. Let alone do we understand that not every trace we leave behind in the virtual world can be erased later on. Due to the unclear privacy policy we are usu-
ally not aware of who we actually provide with our personal data as well as where, how and for what period of time this information is stored. Another potentially controversial issue is the new scanning software Facebook recently launched in order to monitor chat conversations and look for something that would look suspicious, therefore, potentially criminal. While serving the web for a good purpose now, I cannot help myself asking how a tool like this could
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develop in the near future. Should we really be careful about every word we type into a chat window? It seems harmless, but you will be surprised when at some point in the future this information, which we thought was not stored, pops up when it is absolutely inconvenient and could cause a lot of trouble… One of the things an average user might also dislike is the fact that Facebook is slowly, but continuously pushing us to ‘get more social’. This means that it encourages us to provide more and more information about our lives through innovations such as ‘timeline’. The result is that every person now has a personal page that tracks their personal life from the day they were born until the resent day. One might wonder whether Facebook will eventually invent a way to find out whether we died and post an announcement about that on our wall… All in all, the truth is that we are trapped in a world that is very hard to escape from because it has silently become a part of our society. Social networks are a good servant, but a wicked master. The internet gives us incredible opportunities and almost an absolute freedom. However, there is a price to pay for every bit of freedom. Yet how much privacy loss is unlimited liberty worth?
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ENCIRCLING Closing in all arou n d
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he European Youth Parliament (EYP) is all about circles. To the world of EYP, which you are now a part of, they are worth more than all other geometrical shapes. Circles are not necessarily natural, but for sure more than handy. As with many other things one motto is valid: The bigger (the circle), the better. The great people around you, your committee, will play the leading role throughout the session. At the beginning of teambuilding, the others standing around you will probably be glancing at their shoes. Rest assured that this awkwardness will soon be replaced with happy chitchatting. In case you have not had enough of these people after the first impressions, you will be able to spend whole nights talking to them. At these times caffeine in any form will prove to be your best friend. Next, during committee work, it is the time and place to sit in a circle and challenge you both academically and socially. Being a delegate
will require many things from you: flexibility when confronted with opposing opinions, willingness to work together as a group, to reach consensus and finally enjoying a party after committee work. Furthermore, the session will allow you to find more than just a new circle of committee friends; there will be over 70 delegates present for reasons similar to yours. All of them accompany you through the stages of a session. All those people who were a little bit edgy in the beginning have been smoothed through this wonderful, most perfect shape imaginable, a circle. The end of a session, as you will notice, always comes too quickly. However, thanks to your new circle of friends, you will have many places to visit and floors to sleep on. Any session you go to will make you ravenous for more. Be eager to widen your circle and encircle your surroundings.
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Issue 1 BERNET MEIJER
SW I M M I N G WITHOUT LEGS
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his summer billions of people voluntarily locked themselves up in their homes, which they preferred to enjoying the weather. They were only focused at their television screens, which displayed the Olympic Games in London. However, from the 29th of August to the 9th of September, the greatest part of the audience continued watching their daily soaps again. We often forget that the Olympics have even more to offer: the Paralympics. One of the legends of the Paralympics in the wheelchair marathon is the 33-year old David Weir from Britain. This year he won the gold medal, his fourth gold already. Weir said it had been the toughest race he had ever taken part in. He crossed the line in 1 hour 30 minutes and 20 seconds. Sitting volleyball for athletes with just one leg was a neck-to-neck race. Finally it was the men’s team of Bosnia and Herzegovina who claimed gold. One of the most spectacular events during the Paralympics is swimming. Again it was Britain to run off with the golden medal. Jessica-Jane Applegate set a Paralympic record in the 200 meters freestyle with 12.63 seconds. Her teammate Ellie Simmonds is one of the other most remarkable athletes in swimming. Next to athletes without legs or no left arm, the 17-year old girl with dwarfism made an unforgettable impression while gliding through the water. Watching the Paralympics can be at least as exciting as Usain Bolt’s 100m sprints. Hopefully, in a few years, the world will also be stuck to their screen while seeing a man with a golden wheelchair crossing the finish line.
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SESSION S U RV I VA L GUIDE BERNET MEIJER T O P 1 0 T I P S T O L E AV E R Z E SZ OW H A P PY A N D ALIVE.
1. We do not prosecute people whose English is not perfect. Therefore, speak. 2. If you do not know something, ask an official. They do not bite. 3. Remember that nerves are perfectly human. 4. Do not bother about Facebook, E-mail or any other social contacts from the outside world. 5. Force a smile on your face. 6. Do not bother about sleeping. 7. Carry a watch. 8. Socialise as much as you can. Meeting new people will provide you with loads of adrenaline. 9. Drain yourself with coffee. Put some coffee powder in a sock at breakfast and carry it with you, always. If necessary even cold water will do. 10. Treat others the way you, yourself, want to be treated.