Balkan Beats 5 Christmas Edition

United Societies of Balkans is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people.

The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern European region and under the need for the creation of a better social environment. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production (web radio, videos, documentaries).

Main goals of the organization: -To promote the values of non formal learning, volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth.

-To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity.

-To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe.

-To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies.

-The break down of prejudices and stereotypes between Balkan countries.

United Societies of Balkans, Alamanas 9, Agios Pavlos, 55438, Thessaloniki, Greece. (+30) 2310 215629 E-mail: info@usbngo.gr Radio: usb-onair.gr Facebook: United Societies of Balkans Twitter: @USBngo Youtube: United Societies of Balkans NGO

General Director Aristodimos Paraschou Authors of the Issue Diego Domínguez García Doruk Işıkçı Ignacio Prados Ansede Kristin Kindermann Maria M. Petkova Olga Karageorgiou Riccardo Rossi Designer TODGUZEL

balkan b e at s fıfth ıssue christ m a s edition NOVEM B E R DECEM B E R 2013

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Character of the Year

The Authors

Winter Wonderland & Interview

Kristin Kindermann

Weihnachtsplätzchen Receipt

Kristin Kindermann

CHRISTMAS TREE FAIRYTALE

Maria M. Petkova

Predictions for 2014

Ignacio Prados Ansede

Spanish Santa Klaus

Ignacio Prados Ansede

12 movies you will watch IN 2014

Ignacio Prados Ansede

Unbox Festival

Ignacio Prados Ansede

Movember

Diego Domínguez García

12 tips for 12 trips in 2014

Diego Domínguez García

World’s biggest Christmas tree WHAT IF?

Riccardo Rossi Olga Karageorgiou

Character of the year 2013 Who would you think is the person that got more importance this year? I am sure you all have a different answer but these are the ones that some of our writers chose. Do you agree?

LGBT Community 2013 has been a key year for LGBT fight. Gay marriage has been approved in France and US Supreme Court abolished Section 3 of DOMA, but the situation in Russia and India has gone even worse.

Ignacio Prados Ansede Malala Yousafzai Malala, who survived an attack by the Taliban in 2012, being then chosen 2nd important person of the year by the Time magazine and in 2013 nominated for the Peace Nobel Price, reminds us of what is essential to maintain peace: education, equality and love.

Kristin Kindermman Alberto Cairo He is the head of the ICRC’s physical rehabilitation in Afghanistan. He has helped an estimated 100,000 Afghans disabled by landmine explosions and other accidents not only to recover motion but dignity.

Riccardo Rossi Miley Cyrus She deserves the title of “Queen of 2013” because as a singer her last two singles reached more than 800 million visits on YouTube and as a character she appears always in all the updates.

Diego Domínguez García The protestor Among crushing crisis in authority there is only one hero and that is the protesting man. The protestor represents many faces: students, journalists, lawyers, doctors, architects, punks, mothers, fathers, children, homosexuals... your friends, my friends, people with morals. “Protesting people” is ourselves and change will eventually come from us.

Maria Petkova Thamsanqa Jantjie He is the fake sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Apart from his vague translation, it could be understood that he doesn’t have enough English knowledge. While he was located behind many politicians and leaders, he became one of the men of the year. Maybe today people don’t understand his message but next generations can do.

Doruk Işıkçı

Maria Petkova

Won Räuchermännche

WINTER WONDERLAND It might seem funny to you. But there really is a Winter Wonderland where children’s eyes get brighter and wider every day approaching the Holy Night. You don’t believe me? Just write “Weihnachtsland” on Google and see for yourself. You will find a magical place called “Erzgebirge”, the mountainous region that the Czech Republic shares with Saxony. I can hear some of you calling me pretentious. Come with me; let’s have a closer look then.

W

e will leave the warm oven there in the corner, the cozy snuggery.

Let’s step out into the crisp cold, the incipient dark and find out what this Winter Wonderland actually is. While we are wandering through the alleys the snow is creaking underneath our soles. The tiny houses look as they are powdered with a glittering sugar cover, adorned by chains of icicles. In the gardens we can find Christmas Trees decorated with baubles, candles, tinsel and most important, the tree top ornament. As we pass the street lanterns accompanied by brushwood and red silk ribbons, our senses

Winter nderland Kurrende

are regaled by an intense scent of essential oils exuded by the conifers seaming the streets. Further smells ascend our nostrils, luring us towards the old city, those of roasted almonds, baked apples and mullet wine with cinnamon, clove, anise and citrus fruits, inviting us to come closer to the stands of the Christmas market.

Bright faces of young and old smile at us while we are passing numerous booths offering goodies, wooden toys, candles, woollen and above all, countless woodcarvings which are only waiting for being arranged in your household, such as the Nativity Scene including the stable with the Holy Family, Ox and Ass, the Three Wise Men with their camels, the Angelic Choir and the shepherds with their flock. Every child here will confirm us that Baby Jesus must not be omitted in your Christmas decoration. But what is that over there? The vender lights some candles underneath a weird propeller-like construction connected to a round wooden attachment with comic manikins on it. Slowly the propeller starts to move, of course not provoking a prompt take-off of the strange item, but suddenly making the figurines, which actually look a bit like Harry Potter with a black sailor’s hat, run as if they were followed by a herd of orcs, around the a little

church which is part of the system.

The salesgirl tells us that the Saxons call it Pyramide and that the guys racing around the famous church in Seiffen, are the Kurrende, a children’s choir with their traditional costumes.

Totally dizzy after having watched that spectacle, we are getting peckish.

Let’s move on to the promising shack over there and try some cobs and walnuts. The man behind the counter is opening them with a nutcracker that looks like a lordly aged king, looking quite stiff though, with a golden crown and a sword in his hand. While we are enjoying the treats he offers to us, he lights an incense cone and puts it into a wooden something having a slight resemblance with a night watchman.

R

ealizing that the figure has a hole as a mouth we watch the little man smoking when suddenly rhythmic music sounds from afar. The singing is accompanied by fanfares, cymbals and drums. The chattering around us falls silent. By and by, people are joining in the so called “Steigerlied”, the overman’s song performed by a brass band during the traditional minor’s parade.

The atmosphere gets immediately so exhilarating. We can feel that the locals are badly proud of this

distinguishing peculiarity. Guests and inhabitants of the town are seaming the path that the musicians are taking. They pass by unhurriedly but peremptorily, striding towards one of the medieval town gates, eventually vanishing in the night.

Families and couples are strolling back home. And we should actually follow suit. We are perambulating the pitch black night, staring at the stares above. But this is not the only glint we see. Every single window is illuminated by umpteen lights, neither stuck in the hands of a wood carved angel and his companion the minor, reminding us of the parade we saw, or gracing an arcuated candle holder symbolising the minor’s desire for brightness depicting the former essential bread-winnings of the region: mining, woodcarving and bobbin lace-making. We cannot take our eyes from them, craning our necks our glances go from left to right and all around. We find ourselves dandering home as children would do, totally in love with the haimish and yet celestial mood in the air. Once again I have proved myself that my home really is Winter Wonderland.

P.S.: OK, I admit and confess, sometimes there is no snow at all around Christmas here because it has already been spoiled in November.

Apart from that, it is pretty much it.

Kristin Kindermann

The Winter Wonderland “Erzgebirge” is full of surprises as we have seen.

I have the honour to talk to Mrs Kindermann who happens to be my beloved mother and to know everything about traditions and rituals in the Ore Mountains. Today she tells us what her Christmas is like.

Mrs Kindermann, thank you for being here with me for this Christmas interview. You come from the Saxon Upland but feel belonging to the Ore Mountains. How can you explain that?

My family is pretty musical. During our gatherings we used to sing the old traditional tunes form the Ore Mountains, of course in the typical dialect which differs a lot from mine.

Besides, since we could not travel far, we would visit the localities up there, as Seiffen which is famous for its handicrafts.

Is your bond to those places crucial for the perception and definition of your Christmas?

Let’s say, it complements the religious conception of that day. In former times we used to sit together on one of the Advent Sundays with our pastor who would read out stories from the Ore Mountains, for instance.

The word Advent reminds me of the word “anticipation”. Is it really the nicest sensation as sung in one of the German Christmas songs?

Especially for children! Every morning they open one of the 24 doors of their Advent calendar.

And every Sunday we light one candle more on the Advent wreath.

Most important though, our annual Christmas-cookies mission, when my niece and daughters come over in order to make a mess of my kitchen.

(Ms Kindermann laughs.)

How does this anticipation, the Advent, influence your current daily life?

I sing a lot. My schedule is full of rehearsals for the Christmas Oratorio

by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also for the Christ Vesper and the Midnight Mass.

Saxony has recently been luring many tourists because oft the miner’s parade and handicraft. What else is so special about Christmas in Saxony compared to the rest of the world?

The “Kurrende” is rather typical here in Saxony and Thuringia. A further symbol for our musical tradition.

With their coats they might look a bit like wizards for the visitors.

Do you remember any peculiarities of your Christmas as a child?

In the afternoon of the 24th the first Stollen of the year was cut. Then we went to the Christmas Vesper, my mother singing in the perish choir,

and I usually played Maria or the Archangel Gabriel during the Nativity Play. After the traditional dinner with potato salad and fried sausages the tension rose. We were told Christ Child must have been there. When the door of the living room finally opened, the spruce glittering and shimmering, my mother rang the little bell for the gift exchange.

Could you save some of those customs to the present?

Actually everything, just as that the family goes to church together, my husband playing the organ, or the consumption of poultry with “Grüne Klöße“ (dumplings made out of raw potatoes), “Rösteln” (roasted bread cubes), sauerkraut and red cabbage on Christmas Day. Apart from your family traditions, what is your personal, individual Christmas about?

I love watching the old fairy-tale films from the GDR, Soviet Union or Czechoslovakia, like „Tři oříšky pro Popelku“ (lit.: Three nuts for Cinderella). On Christmas Eve in the night, when everyone goes to bed, I will sit down and read or meditate a bit.

Thank you very much Mrs Kindermann for having dedicated your time to USB and our readership.

Merry Christmas!

Recipe from granny Else:

“Weihnachtsplätzchen” Knead a dough out of; 240 g sugar 2 eggs 500 g flour 200 g butter 1 sachet baking powder some milk Roll out the dough (adding some flour if it is too sticky) Cut the biscuits into forms (by using cutters) Put yolk on top Add whatever you like (jam, almonds, nuts, raisins, chocolate sprinkles...)

Bake them until they receive a decent golden colour Take them out of the oven before they are dark brown or even black Say “Mahlzeit!”, “Schmecken lassen!”, or more polite “Guten Appetit!”

Kristin Kindermann

CHRISTMAS TREE FAIRYTALE

W

hen the little tree felt the first strokes of the John’s axe, the whole sadness of the world started melding in his small needles.

Powerless he started swinging: left and right, but could not be saved.

Many other trees had gathered around, but none stood up for it. They sat quietly and rolled their eyes, with their shrunken needles, not in pain, but because they did not want to listen to its moans.

The tree opened his eyes and knew immediately, he was alive - it was real! Yes, indeed! There is a legend that says that due to the Christmas spirit when the trees are hewn down their little souls will stay alive until Christmas Eve. It was the first time that the tree could see so much of the forest, everything around was new to him, the small birches and the ancient beech that he had only heard about.

He was eagerly waiting to see the city now.

At once a group of birds perched atop and they started gossiping about the world. The birds said that during Christmas the city is decorated with shimmering baubles and on the top of every tree there is a shining star.

Oh, how happy he felt then! Then hearing about strange creatures that are sometimes good and sometimes bad. You can never count on them, “people” are called.

Then a truck stopped. The tree caught his breath, waiting, waiting for his adventure to begin. He could feel John’s rough paw on his stem. Then he hurtled right to the ground, lay there for a few minutes and John stuck two crossed sticks in his stem so that he could stay upright. He looked around and recognized some of his friends from the forest who were also there.

Three hours later, still sitting on the same spot the tree began to worry because he wanted the adventure to start as soon as possible in order to finally see the glimmering city. There was only one day till the Christmas enchantment would be over. Several people passed by the tree, taking always one of his neighbors instead of him. The little tree did not even

dare to imagine that if by the end of the day no one would have bought him what would happen.

John would have thrown him into his backyard, where he would burn all the unsold trees, as he used to do every year.

John rubbed his hands, counting profits, looking at his watch and starting to throw one tree after another onto the trailer. The tree did not understand what was happening, why they had spent the whole day without a walk, without seeing anything, and now… The road to John’s house was winding through a small birch grove. The birds looked at the small Christmas tree and wept, knowing what would follow...

John started to unload trees in his yard. He accumulated them one upon the other and put his hand into his pocket looking for a lighter. With slow steps he went to the unsuspecting trees, crouched down and snapped the lighter.

“John, oh,oh! Where are you?”

Someone was shouting. The voice came from behind the fence. It was Tom, the neighbor.

“John, oh, oh! Are you there?”

“I’m here! Stop shouting.”

“John, Merry Christmas, neighbor!”

“Merry Christmas to you!”

“Today I promised my wife I will get her a Christmas tree, but I was in a hurry all the morning and I forgot about it. Do you have one?”

“Wait, maybe I can help you. What about this one here?”

“Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, you saved my life, brother!”

“No problem...”

The little tree was so happy that John chose him. Then Tom grabbed him and carried him to the neighbour’s yard. At the door it was welcomed

by two kids, who immediately pulled out two boxes stuffed with Christmas decoration and started to adorn him. He felt a tickling when the tiny hands stroked all over his body. How happy was he then. When they had finished and the tree looked into the mirror, he could not believe his eyes. He was really beautiful and he even had the glowing star on his head, so the birds had not lied.

In the evening the whole family had dinner together and admired the tree.

“Mom, mom, isn’t it beautiful?” They asked.

“Yes, it is fascinating!” She answered.

In the evening the children went to bed. Tom, the father, came last, knelt down, looked into the tree’s beautiful eyes and put some things down to his legs. Those were the gifts.

“Thanks.” Whispered the little tree.

Maria Petkova

The crisis will be over.

But just for one day, like summer for Northern Europe.

Greece will approve gay marriage.

After all Antonis Samaras and the Archbishop of Athens have the right to legalise their relationship, don’t they?

Loreen will be the winner of Eurovision for a third year in a row.

Does anyone ever remember who won the last edition?

Miley Cyrus will become a Catholic nun.

Catholics are sexier and you know it.

We will not meet Ted’s wife.

Accept it, he is a single father thanks to a surrogate mother.

Megan Fox will wake up from her threeyear-nap.

It is the only explanation to her disappearance after being called the “Next Big Thing”

George R.R. Martin will kill a beloved character of yours.

Deal with it.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian will have a new baby.

And his name will be South.

Pope Francis will accept all the crimes of the Catholic Church.

But we will forgive them cause they are sexier and Miley Cyrus will be one of them (Prediction 4).

Christmas will arrive even earlier this year.

We have always been jealous of Australians spending their Christmas in the beach, haven’t we?

All the USB’s EVSeres will speak Greek fluently.

Thank you, Despina!

New Year’s Eve will be a Friday 13th You saw it coming.

Spanish Santa Claus S

pain is not one of the main destinations of Santa Claus, the fat man in red that visits every house during Christmas’ Eve to give presents to the children (and not only children). Spain has a different and ancient tradition for Christmas presents, the Three Kings that come from the East to leave the present in our Christmas trees during Epiphany (6th January) like they did to Jesus when he was a newborn.

Nevertheless, this is not the only tradition Spaniards have for giving presents during these holidays. Three regions of the country, concretely Catalonia, Basque Country and Galicia, have their own legendary character who give presents to children instead of the more popular worldwide Santa Claus.

Caga tió Catalonia is on the spot of the news due to their independence process.

A wish of splitting up that is justified by several cultural traits that make Catalonians feel quite different to the rest of the country, being one of them the existence of caga tió, a anthropomorphical log with a barretina (traditional Catalonian hat) that during Christmas days is shitting candies to children if they feed them.

Caga tio is so popular in Catalonia that they even have a song for helping him in his process (in case he is constipated).

Caga tió, caga torró,avellanes i mató,si no cagues béet daré un cop de bastó.

Caga tió! (translation) Shit, log, shit nougats,hazelnuts and cheese,if you don’t shit well,I’ll hit you with a stick,Shit, log!

Olentzero The olentzero is a Basque Christmas tradition with high popularity among all the Basque speaking regions of

both France and Spain. The olentezero is a giant man who lives in the mountains and leaves his house only during Christmas’ Eve to drop off presents at children’s houses. The olentzero has a huge appetite and thirst so children prepare their arrival leaving food and drinks for him to help him during the busy night he has.

Apalpador Last, but not least, in Galicia we can find the apalpador, another man who lives alone in the mountains and only leaves his house during Christmas’ Eve to check if the children have eaten well by touching (apalpar in Galician) their stuffed bellies. If he is satisfied, the apalpador will leave sweets under the pillow and keep on his journey from home to home. This character, traditional from the mountains of inland Galicia, has enjoyed a great resurgence during these last years due to the action of several cultural associations.

Ignacio Prados Ansede

12 movies you will watch this Cinema is one of our main entertainment activities. At home or going to a cinema hall, it is weird not to watch some movies to enjoy your free time in a relaxing way or in a exciting one if you prefer to watch action and adventures films. And this 2014 will come full of new stories that will be shown in the best cinemas and the best laptop screens.

Robocop It was 1987 when Paul Verhoeven presented “Robocop”, a science-fiction story that achieved a status of cult movie that remains until today. 2014 will be the return year for this cyborg cop, this time under the direction of the Brazilian Jose Padilha and the interpretation of Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”) Pompeii Paul W.S. Anderson is the director of this historic film that narrates the catastrophe that desolated Pompeii during Roman times. It is expected to be an approach of the story with a ‘Titanic” touch so we can expect some love thanks to the couple made by Kit Harington and Emily Browning.

300: Rise of an empire Noam Murro is the director of this new stage on the epical saga started some years ago with 300, a movie that depicted the victory of 300 Greeks over a whole army of Persians. This time the story will be focused on the naval battle between the Greek fleet commanded by Themisclotes (Sullivan Stapleton) and the Persian one leaded by Artemisia (Eva Green). This is Sparta!

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson is one of the most famous directors nowadays.

With films like the tender “Moonrise Kingdom’ or the animated “Wonderful Mr. Fox’ he achieved to have a huge group of fans that enjoys his peculiar story-telling. This times Anderson travels to the Europe between wars to tell us a story about the theft of a painting.

2014

Divergent Hollywood is not tired of adapting youth novels and this time it is the turn of “Divergent”, a novel set in a dystopian Chicago divided in factions that live in harmony until some problems start. Shailene Woodley will play the role of Tris, a key character in what is going to happen in this future.

Anna Paquin, Peter Dinklage… are only some of the actors that will be under the direction of Bryan Singer for this anticipated movie. Set in two different times, “X-Men: Days of Future Past” will deal with the struggle of the mutants to be accepted in the human society.

Maleficent

Marvel does not stop, and 2014 will be the year of their most patriotic hero, Captain America. This time Chris Evans will be in screen with a huge star like Robert Redford in his attempt to be the biggest American hero.

The name of Angelina Jolie may be enough for some of you to justify the inclusion of this movie in this list, but apart from that, “Maleficent’ keeps with the trend of adapting fairytales in a darker environment and giving more importance to the evil characters than before. Will Ellie Fanning be a good Aurora in front of the megastar Jolie?

Rio 2

Sin City: A Dame to Kill for

There is always space for animation in our agenda and maybe “Rio 2’ will be a good choice to watch alone or with kids that surround you. After its first chapter, ‘Rio 2’ is here again to amaze us with its colors, its music and its funny story. Don’t miss it.

Robert Rodríguez and Frank Miller will be back with this second chapter of the most dangerous city you can imagine. Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson and Jessica Alba are some of the actor that will commit their sins in this dark environment.

The Amazing Spider – Man 2

Gone Girl

Andrew Garfield will be Peter Parker for a second time, again under the direction of Marc Webb. This time Spider – Man will have to face Electro, portrayed by Jamie Foxx, and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) will be his teenage love.

Ben Affleck will play the role of the husband of Rosamund Pike, a woman that disappears the day of their 5th wedding anniversary. Based upon a bestseller novel by Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl” promises to keep us stuck to our seats while we discover what really happens in the home of this married couple.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

X-Men: Days of future past Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman,

Ignacio Prados Ansede

“How could you have a soccer team if al were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?”

Desmond Tutu, archbishop of Cape Town during apartheid times and freedom activist, gives a message with this quote that is quite similar to that given by Tandem organization during their first Unbox Festival. Differences, no matter what, disability, foreign origin, sexual orientation, should not be an obstacle to the complete acceptance and equality in our society, because in some way differences enhance our world.

This festival, held in Athens the last 17th December, was intended to gather funds for Tandem organization

and to give visibility to their work, focused on the volunteering in the former ΠΙΚΠΑ centre, an institution that hosts children with disabilities that have nobody to take care of them.

A festival prepared during the last months that supposed the first huge project of this organization in order to get known by a the big audience.

T

he Hub Events was the place chosen for this huge event and in its facilities the assistants could enjoy different activities for both children and adults. Kids could enjoy creative games during the morning, a theatre play with clowns

that made them have a great time and they had the chance to decorate a Christmas tree with their own creations while having a dance party.

On the other hand the grown ups had different activities like awareness games, projection of movies, a dance performance or the most expected, a concert with the irreplaceable band The Burger Project, that made people dance until quite late by night.

However, what is more important of this event was to check the commitment that the volunteers of this organization have with the cause, sacrificing their free time in order to provide these children a better future and to make people

conscious that there is a group of our society that needs more attention that it actually has. Maybe thanks to their efforts and their echo on media, appearance in radios, websites and TV channels, society will finally be aware that there are people that need a little help from all of us to live their lives with dignity.

Cause no matter what makes us different, dignity is what really makes us equal.

UNBOX F E S TIVAL: S U P PORTING DIFFER E N C E Ignacio Prados Ansede

Movember

M

ovember (Moustache + November) is a social movement and event that takes place every month of November. It consists of growing up your moustache in order to raise social awareness about male diseases like prostate and testicular cancer, for instance.

This event, lead by the Movember Foundation, began in 2004 with the only goal of raising social awareness about male diseases while having fun.

“Mo Bros”, as participants are called, have to shave completely their beard at the beginning of the month and grow a moustache during the month of November. While growing the moustache, the Mo Bro has to interact with the society involving them in the cause and trying to collect money for the organization. This money will be used for awareness, education and research on the topic.

The rules of the event are clear and easy. If you want to become a Mo Bro just sing up in their page (movember.com) and follow these steps: • Each Mo Bro must begin the 1st of November with a clean shaven face • Every Mo Bro must grow and broom a moustache

• There is to be no joining of the mo to your side burns. That is considered a beard • There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin. That is considered a goatee • Each mo bro must conduct himself like a true gentleman The foundation offers you a social network where you can upload the pictures of your moustache, where you can share your feelings and where you can meet other people and even join them in teams to make it more social.

In this social network (movember.com) you can meet Anastos Koloniaris, a Greek Mo-Bro living in Sweden who will help us to better understand this event.

What does Movember mean to you?

I have always been interested into being active in our society and the idea of Movember offered me the perfect chance! It is very important in our days to have the courage and the will to just put aside all the everyday thoughts and help by such a simple action and by being an example yourself. For me, Movember combines a good idea (such as growing and grooming a moustache is) with a good aim! Furthermore, it is fun to participate as you can play around with different

moustache styles, check your rankings in a small or large scale and win different e-budgets for your Movember profile.

When did you discover the Movember movement?

How did you discover it? t was last year (2012) when I heard about it from some classmates.

I was full bearded by that time and I said to them that I decided to shave. It was then that one of them suggested that we should participate as a team, and so we did! We formed a mo-team in our university department with a goal of growing our moustaches and raising as much funds as possible. We even convinced our professors to donate for our team!

I

How can you encourage people to become a Mo bro?

Men should be more aware of health issues that men face nowadays.

Unfortunately, discussing health issues regarding “private” body areas is still a taboo. So why do not you show that you recognize these issues by doing something simple? Just think that sometimes it is not only about how you look, but also about how you feel after doing something good. Supporting and participating in such activities is a great feeling, and what could have been

better than doing that by being an example yourself, an example-guy with a moustache! Finally, there are many fun activities and it is a great chance to meet mo-bros that share the same goals as you do, or even mo-sistas that adore men with moustaches… who knows if it is your lucky day?

Do you think that this event really helps to fight against male diseases?

If you take a look at the official movember web-site (movember.com), you can find many projects that have been funded with the help of the Movember Foundation. I believe that it does help and support in both a financial and ethical way. At least it reminds you every November to keep in mind that men can face important health issues and why not discuss these issues with a friend, visit a doctor for a checkup, or better grow a moustache!

What about Mo sistas? Can they also be part of this?

Yes! We need the girls to be active and to support us!

Unfortunately, the fashion trends do not agree with the moustache growing experience and this might prevent somebody from trying. However, if girls support their friends/ dates/boyfriends, then all together can keep the good spirit up! Moreover, I have seen many girls

participating in the fundraising process by selling items or cookies in moustache shapes and donating the earnings on movember.com or by simply donating to a participant man (who of course is growing a moustache).

You are currently living in Sweden. How do they celebrate Movember there?

Is it well known?

I am studying in Gothenburg (Sweden) and I must admit that ovember is definitely better known here than in Greece. It is nice to see that men of all ages participate and support the movement independently or by forming teams in universities and companies!

Since Swedes are socially active, they do not bother if their moustache fits their style or not. They just enjoy this one month, from the very early stages (clean shave) up to the last days of the month where you can feel proud of your nice groomed moustache! In addition, there are many events organized, such as pub-nights for mo-bros and even free grooming in some barbershops around the country!

M

And last but not least a word for the ladies: I know that most of you are not fans of the moustache and you complain when your man grows one, but hey, dare to try something different, dare to change this generation, in which all we care is how we look and what others think of us.

Diego DomĂ­nguez GarcĂ­a

It is time to say good bye to 2013 but hey, 2014 is waiting for us with many things to do! Have you already thought about where to travel? No worries, we have done a list with 12 ideas for the next year that you will enjoy!

• Thessaloniki This is an easy one. Thessaloniki will host the European Youth Capital 2014.

What does it mean? It means that you do not have any excuse to not visit the Balkan city that never sleeps.

Activities, concerts, art galleries, sports, youth, films, food, parties...

Seriously, what are you waiting for?

• Athens Athens, eternal Athens. If you are planning to go to Athens this is your time. Why now? Here is our advice: during the winter months (until the 31st March), the entrance fee for the Acropolis on Sundays will be free!

Take your camera and enjoy the visit!

• Maribor This Slovenian city hosted the European Youth Capital 2013, so you will still taste the flavour that young people from all over the world have left there. In addition, visit the castle, the wall, the city park, the cathedral and drink some wine. You love it, but you still do not know it.

• Danube by bike This is our special proposal. There are many green routs all along the Danube. Take your bike with your family or your friends and enjoy the second larger river in Europe. Choose your departure point and your

destiny. Be aware of your abilities and enjoy this healthy way of travelling.

• Cluj Finishing with the European Youth Capital cities, Cluj will host this event on 2015. Go there, talk to the locals and feel how they are getting ready to leave speechless the young people.

Moreover, take a walk throughout the city and enjoy the Unirii square, the Regele Ferdinand Avenue or the National Theatre.

• Sarajevo Have you ever thought about going to Sarajevo? Well, buy the official equipment of the national football team and go there on June to enjoy the FIFA World Championship. It is the first time that this Balkan country qualifies for the finals and the streets will be crowded and full of energy!

• Varna Varna is the largest city (and resort) in the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.

It is a perfect destiny for your summer holidays since the average temperature during summer is 30oC. Varna is a city that sounds like music since it hosts many festivals like the Varna Summer International Music Festival or the European Music Festival. You can enjoy this sound while taking a bath in the lovely Black Sea! • Islands cruise Do you own a sailing boat? Yes? Bravo, take it and enjoy the Aegean Sea. However, if for any reason you do not have one, take a look at some cheap cruises and enjoy the Greek

islands. Mykonos if you like to party hard, Santorini if you want to enjoy an island itself and Paros to finish this Bermuda triangle.

• Las Vegas Viva Las Vegas! It is September and summer is coming to an end. Do you feel a little bit depressed? Take everything and bet on red. Maybe it is not the cheapest trip of all, but maybe you become a millionaire there. And remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

• Chania It is time to move now to Crete and to enjoy this beautiful town in western Crete. Our advice: get lost in the middle of the town. Enjoy the small streets, the marina, and the promenade in the sea front and find out that Chania is the most beautiful city you have ever visited. Amazing!

• Couchsurfing Couchsurfing is more than a trip. It is the biggest travelling community.

Meet new people, new destinies and, why not, find yourself thanks to this network. Log in, find the city you want to know and connect with your host. It is a nice way to meet natives all around the world.

• New Year´s Eve in Belgrade You deserve a New Year´s Eve in a big cosmopolitan European city, and this is Belgrade. It counts with one of the best nightlife in Europe. In addition, if you wake up without any kind of hangover you can find lot of history through its streets.

Diego Domínguez García

“World’s biggest Christmas tree in a tiny town”

In a tiny medieval Umbrian town called Gubbio, built on the Mount Ingino slopes, something special happens each year on 7th December –the Feast of the Immaculate Conception´s Eve. As soon as the night falls, a whole crowd of onlookers, many of them amazed children, assemble in Gubbio´s main square to look at the switch on of the giant Christmas tree stretched across the face of Mount Ingino looking the town.

This installation became part of the Guinness World Records in 1991, and from then on it is known as the “World’s biggest Christmas tree”.

The Mount turns into a giant Christmas tree shaped by linking a massive array of some 1000 twinkling lights bulbs, through more than 10,000 meters of cable, spread all over the Mount. On its peak, a glowing comet of 250 light bulbs, with its dazzling tail, covers a kilometre long area.

This huge multi-coloured “tree” has an ecological forward-looking, as the light bulbs were built out by recycling plastic bottles, and since 2010 solar energy power has been used.

In 1981, a group of volunteers led off the first tree installation, becoming part of the World Guinness Record.

Later on, they decided to create a committee of volunteers called Comitato Albero di Natale più Grande del mondo. Each year, hundreds of volunteers have to carry out an intensive three months working prior, which consists in checking out all the lights, unwinding cables, connecting plugs, and chopping the woods on the Mount in order to put the lights implant in the outline.

Nevertheless, this effort is not a burden for them. The volunteers and all the locals (who are called Eugubini) do not only see the tree as the representation of the Christmas spirit, but also as a glorification of their Saint protector, Saint Ubaldo, whose relics can be found in the Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo, located on the top of the Mount, just where the comet is set every year.

Two years ago, under the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Christmas tree, Pope Benedict XVI lighted it up from his Vatican apartment by using a tablet. For

that occasion, RAI UNO, the main Italian national channel, broadcasted the pre–lighting ceremony, which concluded with a countdown at 18h30, and the long awaited moment of the switch on. This year, the honour to light the tree up has been given to Don Francesco Soddu, the Director of Italian Caritas, as a special recognition for the work he has done with the organization.

Now that I am no longer such a young boy, my memory goes to those times when my family and I took a long trip –just because of our wrecked car, a yellow Citroen Dyane 1983– from Perugia to Gubbio, wrapping around spiraling curves as we approached the town. Then, once we arrived to the place with the best views of the tree to see how it was switched on, we used to take and sip something hot to make the waiting agreeable. I will never forget the image of that child completely frozen, with his runny nose staring delighted at that incredible show as the Gubbio Christmas tree is!

“BUON NATALE E FELICE ANNO NUOVO A TUTTI” “ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΤΥΧΙΣΜΕΝΟ ΤΟ ΝΕΟ ΕΤΟΣ ΣΕ ΟΛΟΥΣ” Riccardo Rossi

WHAT IF?

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ell now I have filled out the application.

And now what? I will be waiting for an answer… What if I get a positive response? What will I do if they choose me? Am I ready to leave home even for just one week?

Am I speaking English well enough to communicate without a problem?

What if the course will be too difficult to understand anything? And what if they ask me things I cannot answer?

All these questions, and even more, were on my mind when I had just filled out the application for participation in the Training Course in Armenia. It was my first time I ever thought of taking a short course in another country. I had never been in a non European Union country before. And... after a few days I had the answer. ‘We have chosen you to participate in the training course ’ Oh, my GOD! So I am going to Armenia! I am taking part in the training course! Wow! What should I do now? I should better get some more information... pack some clothes and get ready for the trip. Could it be dangerous to leave my country? What if something happens to me while I am travelling? What if I don’t like that place? Or the course…?

Before I even knew it, and although I worried a lot about traveling in a country that was sooo far away from my country, I was in an airplane flying above Greece all the way to Russia and from there to Armenia.

When I arrived, after 25 hours of traveling, I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open.

I was sharing the same room with two other girls; one from Ukraine and one from Switcherland. Two girls that I will never forget. “Ok then, maybe this is my chance to meet new people”, was my first thought.

And that was the truth, since in this program young people from many countries participated. Armenia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Portugal, Slovakia and Switzerland created a multicultural community in a village far away from home. The village was called Dilijan. But from now on I am going to refer to it as Dilijanjan, which in Armenian means ‘dear Dilijan’.

But what happened there and made me change my mind and forget all my fears? Well, the first reason was called Lorenzo Nava. And the second one was called Georgi Kakulia. Those GREAT people made me forget and believe. Forget all my fears and believe that in this training course, in this place I can learn many things and have lot\ of fun. Although I had slept for only one hour, I couldn’t let myself lose not even a word of what they said. They were our trainers and they were great at their job and with us. he topic of the Training Course was really related to what I want to study in the future.

Therefore, I was excited to get to know more.

Their knowledge was pretty good and their way to transfer it to me, at least, was even better. Their knowledge on the subject was extensive and the way they communicated it -to me at least- was perfect! During that course I had the chance to learn more about ‘Democratic Movements and Social Media’. Some information was already known to me, but there were some others that I had never heard about before.

Democratic movements all around the world supported and promoted by social media, the power of the new technologies, the desire of people to be free and equal, new ways to communicate and to interact in a way that we never knew before… all those and even more were some of the things I had the chance to learn and think about during this course.

In addition, I came back home with a pack of notes about other democratic movements and social media applications that I would like to search more about. Even though the

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Training Course lasted only one week, for me the new paths to knowledge that I got taught there, will last forever.

But was it only about learning new things on this subject? Of course not!

We had the chance to use our “tools” in practice. We created the Media ab Session were we were working in groups in a hypothetical scenario about some democratic movements of the past and what would it be like if they had the chance to use the social media of today. It was a great experience for me, because, for the first time in my life, I was able to combine theory, practice, history and fun. Lots and lots of fun! And there comes reality to support our hypothetical scenario. Euromaidan, a democratic movement in Ukraine became even bigger while we were taking the course in Armenia. On the Ukrainian participants’ initiative we created a video supporting the movement. http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Tl3KYA9mClg . It was a real time practice of the course.

We were learning and practicing and in the meantime we had the chance to get to know each other.

We all had great things to share and to communicate. We were all young people with dreams and hopes for our future. We all had plans. We all tried our best to have fun. But among us, there were some people that had more plans about us: the great Armenian spirit of the NGO YCCD (Youth Cooperation Center of Dilijan) https://www.facebook. com/YCCDNGO and our kind hosts Artur Ghazaryan and Mkrtich (call me Mack) Dallakyan. These people were responsible to make us have fun.

The truth is that they managed to do it almost perfect, except… the food!

Different traditions and different eating cultures were the main reasons why we didn’t all enjoy the food to the same extent. But except that very factor, everything else was just fine for us to have fun.

To cut a long story short, I had lots of fun and I had the chance to get taught by excellent trainers, to chat with very interesting people from all around

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Europe-and not only- , to learn more about NGOs from different countries, to make new friends and to interact via social media for democracy and equality.

When I came back home, I had so many experiences to share with my friends, so many to stories to tell…

But still there was something changed that I couldn’t explain. There was something inside me forcing me to search for more training courses, for more volunteer positions and in general for more participation. It was the loss of the fear. There were no more ‘what if’ questions in my mind. here was only longing for life.

That was the greatest lesson I took in this training course. Not to allow anything to block my longing for life. And now I am filling out many applications, I want to travel all around the world and I want to communicate with different cultures.

Maybe the next time, just a few minutes before my flight,I will be thinking about the same things. But this time I’ll have my friends from the Training Course ‘Democratic Movements and Social Media’ in Dilijan to support me and ask me ‘What if you hadn’t come to this course?’

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Olga Karageorgiou

All the sheep from USB gathering ‘round the Christmastree, lolling there, bleating a song in different languages all night long, grazing Stoll’n, Pandoro, pie the taste of it making them sigh stuffed with food and full of love staring at the stars above thinking of family and friends far and near wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kristin Kindermann

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS THESSALONIKI, GREECE, 2013 The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European Youth in Action programme, Action 2 - European Voluntary Service. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.