I Don’t Like Bye Byes! But Good Bye Bananas!

14.11.2010

Maastricht

Hello everybody!

At first I want to wish you all the BEST for 2011! A lot of success, health, fun and many wonderful experiences! I hope ,you will enjoy reading! Feel free and write comments.  Meanwhile, please listen this song while you are reading my post . I put this song here to remind our memories. Just take a breath and continue to read my post. It will be amazing for you :P

Actually, I want to clarify that my dear organizer Agnija pushed me to write this blog post even I am so sick. I was about to die but she doesn't care me, I am confessing.  So I am writing my blog post on my bed. If I died because of this blog post, you should know this fact. Anyway, I am just kidding :P

To be serious, I am assigned to write last day of whole CST but I want to express my ideas about whole event with your permission. At first, I was in Köln at 3 am in front of the hostel and ringed the bell exactly 30 times but nobody  did not hear me so I was getting colder like this innocent cat.

Fortunately, God sent me someone who is working in that building to open the door and I was saved. Otherwise, I couldn’t be among of you so I can say that I am so lucky!

Anyway, at first impression after joining the group,  I have been to so many events but I did not ever met with such a people who is  rapper, banker, engineer, student, designer, basketball player , civil engineer junkie :P

I thought that it is incredible opportunity to observe people and learn new things about them.

Mohammad’s superior sense of humor, the broccoli soup that I have paid 15 Euros in Brussels, snoring parties in my room, Efe’s laughing…  Lastly, I ate some cookies that is already separated as a gift for someone since then  my dear Lenny got angry with me . Afterward, she made up with me. We together even went to party: P

When it comes to content of event, in my side, everyone has tried to do their level best as much as they can.  As in every event, there had some tiny problems but we overcame I guess. To be honest, we couldn’t!  Moreover, we had to sign some contract not to behave improperly.  As far as I remembered,

It was including these matters:

·         Don’t laugh!

·         Don’t sleep! (especially for me)

·         Don’t leave out during workshop you are in.

·         Don’t be yourself just act like you are so serious and willing to learn something here.

·         Play well in banana dancing..

I think that it was so helpful to know each other’s challenges, traditions, behaviors etc. While we were getting colder at train station,  my dear Arabic friends was singing a song and playing. Actually, it showed us that Arabic people are so lovely and cheerful. They knew how to become cheerful even if  weather  was freaking cold. 

Acting: like in subway: Please change song to continue..Because other song’s time finished.

As one of the Turkish participant, I observed some interesting things while I was conducting a survey in streets.  Because most of Europeans like Turkish people in contrast to my prejudices, of course, nobody was  perfect but I was also thinking that nobody likes us here.  I have ever met people who said that “I don’t like any Turkish people, I hate them”. Their approach to this issue was so positive. On the contrary, they have said that I like Turkish people, I started to like you now, are you single, I am just kidding.  When I met with these kinds of people, I got rid of my some prejudices about people who are living in Europe.

Anyway, while trying to tell what I have observed, we finished CST Euro Arab.  Last day, some of my friends with Egyptian guys went to their country so we were alone. After a couple of hours, we went off from hostel to go to Aachen. After crying so much (this is big lie! Nobody was upset) Just look at this picture then understand me! This was last day: P that’s the proof…

 I just want to sum up whole event but it is to hard to say “bye bye”.  It was full of action and fun except of first day of me in Köln. ALL in ALL a really great time!  A great event with a lot of fun in Europe…

See the video!

Unfortunately, we have nothing to do instead of wishing to come together in somewhere in world.                                                                                             

See you all soon somewhere in world!

So leave me alone on my bed, I just want to sleep hehe

See you in Palestine

14.11.2010
Maastricht

Some of the participants have left already, and we said goodbye to our dear Egyptian participants at 1:00 am, we were awake to see them for the last time, hopefully we’ll see them in the next CST. In the morning we said goodbye to the rest of the participants, for we were the ones to leave now. We had a lot of mixed feelings, it’s not a good thing to know many people and start to love them and then you have to leave everything. 

Christian, Andre, and Lenny got us to Aachen, it was a very cold day, and because I loved Maastricht I was looking at it carefully to keep the last picture in my mind. Luckily, we had Nazif with us, and Anan was really getting crazy that Nazif couldn’t sleep in the train, lol.. Bushra was afraid all the time to get lost, but with Lenny, Christian and Andre’s guidelines we finally reached the airport. I want to thank the three of them for coming with us and taking care of all of us. We had fun during our trip to Palestine, especially when we were in the plane from Istanbul to Jordan, because at 00:00 it was Aman’s birthday, and we sang for her, and people were singing with us. It doesn’t happen every day to have your birthday in the sky between clouds!

It was a special day because I recognized that I was in love with all of the participants, I remember now an Arabic song that says “love doesn’t know its depth till the moment of separation”.

Finally, I hope that the period that we spent with each other was longer, and I highly believe that this project should proceed in Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. I can say thanks to facebook which keeps us connected.

Beyond the CST

13.11.2010
Maastricht

Saturday, 13 November. The last day of the programme of this study trip. One of the participants said: “I thought it will be hard to remember everybody's name, now I am finding it even harder to forget any of you.” And yet, today we have to say goodbye for the first time, as some of our friends are already leaving in the morning. We all know what this means: tears, hugs, goodbye notes and promises to stay in touch and visit each other across Europe and beyond...

In the rain we set off to the location for our last workshop, the creation and discussion of follow-up projects and activities. In the rain we waited for the man with the keys. In the rain we went to the AEGEE office instead, since he didn’t show up. Yes, it rains a lot in Maastricht, hadn’t you heard?

Damp coats draped on chairs and wet umbrellas spread on the floor of the small attic where we huddled together for a presentation of the Youth In Action programme and an overview of the EuroArab-projects still in the pipeline. After a short brainstorming session we split into groups, based on our interests.

The first group brainstormed on a PR-strategy for the EuroArab-project as a whole, with the aim of creating a EuroArab brand which can be used by future projects such as the CSTs to Palestine and Egypt, or the final conference in Ankara. A second group discussed the study trip to Egypt and a third group looked at the trip to Palestine. The programme for this last project is currently up for funding approval and therefore we focused on a number of ways to optimise the value of the study trip for both organisers and participants. We talked about how to incorporate the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the programme and agreed on the principle of the glass of water covered with a layer of oil. While we can choose to only look at the oil and therefore turn away from the glass, we can also choose to look through the oil, which is after all only a layer underneath which the pureness of the water can still be found. This metaphor also helped to solve the argument whether to organise a study trip on global challenges to Palestine at all―as it was argued that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories would be too peculiar to be of any relevance to the discussion on a global or even regional level. Turning away from the oil-covered water, however, would exactly play in the hands of the occupying aggressor. Therefore, it was settled to focus on the Palestinian challenges regarding Education, Water and Gender Equality―as caused or aggravated by the Israeli occupation―but to extend the scope of the discussion to the regional and global levels as well. Also the profile of the trainers and moderators was discussed, as their knowledge and experience would be of paramount importance to the success of the workshops and discussions in the volatile and passion-inspiring situation that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Once all groups had presented the results of their discussions, we returned to the hostel to prepare for the final evening, the moment we had all been awaiting for so long: Arabian Night. During dinner on the second day in Maastricht, the Arab participants had discussed the organisation of this evening of food, music and dance, in which we divided the tasks, appointed responsible for the different aspects of the programme and drafted grocery lists for the organisers. The aim of this elaborate meeting was to assure a perfect evening and though we started off with some hiccups―such as the loss of one of the Egyptian food bags―we can state that the evening was a full success! Sheltered from the heavy rain in the kitchen of a cosy students building, the Arab cooking team produced dish upon dish of delicious Egyptian and Palestinian specialties, such as kushary and makluba. On the beats of traditional Levantine music the Palestinian participants taught the rest of the group some dabkha moves and when delegations from AEGEE Maastricht and Aachen―including the AEGEE Aachen Bear―joined us, the party was complete...

Delicious Arab Food

13.11.2010
Maastricht

Leaving behind that today is our farewell day, I must say that it has been a good day. We have been in Maastricht University and we have been working in groups according to our interests. It's true that more than one of us would like to take part in more than one project, but anyway...

There have been a group for the CST in Palestine, another for the CST in Egypt and another called 2 young 2 give up and mine. They have presented their ideas according to some guidelines provided by the trainers: 5W+1H (Who, What, Why, Where, When and How), SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bordered). My group has been the EuroArab Public Relations Working Group. We have been thinking about how to promote EuroArab and we are working on it! You  will see...

After that, we are free! The project has been finished, and we have had the Egyptian & Palestinian night with costumes, Arab music and, of course, delicious food! What else can we ask for? It has been great!

Hello green rainy Maastricht!

12.11.2010
Maastricht

Maastricht part was the best for me!
Waking up on such a view and spending two days in that great hostel “StayOk” I can say that I was more than “OK” and ready to be involved in any activity. The special day started in doing the surveys, I took the chance, along with my partner Aron, to explore the city. In fact, observing people’s nature and the way of life was more interesting to me than doing the surveys. However, talking with people and asking them to fill up the surveys gave me some hints about their behaviors and way of thinking. I should say, actually, that the mall wasn’t a very good place to talk to people about global challenges, especially after we were kicked out from the place! Then, we had the idea to stop people and ask them in the streets, but it wasn’t really practical to do so, people in Europe are very busy and always on a hurry! 

The lecture we had on poverty and social exclusion afterwards by an expert professor was quiet informative. I was really shocked of some facts about Netherlands, especially when I knew that the Dutch family who doesn’t have a laptop is considered to be poor. We were able to compare at some points between our economical situation as Palestinians and European economy in general, what a comparison!
Later on, after getting wet because of the rainy weather we went to a small restaurant to meet some people from Maastricht and had a delicious hot chocolate.
The day finished with a very good chicken sandwich and Dutch fries which I love.    

Chocolate with Spirit

10.11.2010
Brussels – Maastricht

On the last day of Brussels we were getting ready to leave from Brussels to Maastricht to spend the last 4 days of our trip, so we had the chance to go around the city to discover its amazing art and architecture as well as some of its history. For me one of the best things about Belgium was its chocolate that had a taste filled with spirit. I was also amazed with its beautiful streets and buildings to the extent that on every corner or every street we go, I see something different and more beautiful than the one before. Other things as well that I loved about Brussels were, first the waffles, which were simply perfect and second was the bar that had more than 2000 beer brands from around the world. For me I tried some of the best beers I have never tasted in my life, specially the fruity flavored beer (Wish we had that in Egypt). It was very different for me to be in a country like Belgium. We also enjoyed taking pictures everywhere, and enjoyed the beautiful sight seeing around the city. Being able to speak their native language, which is French, was great for me as I was able to practice one of my language that I hardly practice in my country. It was simply one of the best days of the trip.

Generally speaking, I have spent some of the best days of my life in this trip. Its timing was perfect for me on the personal level. The sad part was meeting the right people, but in the wrong place or time as it would have been very different for all of us if we lived in the same country. I guess that we would have stayed as united as we were in this amazing trip. Our group was one of the best things in the trip. For me, I find that the trip was very successful as we had a strong integration between different cultures. I was very happy to meet such great people as each one was unique in his own way. Finally, I really wish that all of us would be able to meet up again, which might be possible in the near future, hoping that CST-Egypt and CST-Palestine would come to light.

Changing of your world in an hour

10.11.2010
Brussels-Maastricht
 
Welcome to 10th of November

Imagine that your train has delayed and it had to stop somewhere in the middle of the way! Let's say that the outside is freezing and you have no idea where you are. When you look around in the darkness, you see the group of young people who have all different faces- lookings and are singing a song where none of the words are similar to European languages. Which questions may come to your mind? Let's get closer to those people...

"We were in our 10th day during trip so we have spent all the time together for 10 days with sharing our past experiences, discussing about global challenges, trying to understand each other. I know the sound is nice even it may have many difficulties in it. Until this day we all stayed together with the whole group in Cologne and Aachen. But at this moment we were in Brussels which referred as capital city of European Union. It's such a busy city, is not it? That was the reason why we were in Brussels... To understand how European Union works, to feel a bit closer to working life style of the Europe, to meet people who are actively involved in this life. We were so excited to learn a lot as usual, to ask questions and to tell the different stories from other (our) countries...

We started the morning meeting with half of the group, the other half stayed in a different place since groups were divided into two.
Honestly, it was the longest time when some of the people could not see each other...Therefore we had a happy and smiley morning even if we felt so tired. Then, our first visit was to the European Youth Forum which aims at increasing the participation of young people and youth organisations in society, as well as is involved in decision-making processes and work actively as a youth organization.

After presentation we had a discussion which mainly focused on how to build sustainable youth NGOs in all around the world and how to create cooperation between each other. After having so productive talking, our stomachs were ringing the bell "lunch time!”
Let's try French Fries??Let's try waffles?? Let's try special chocolates??Or let us have all of them :) That was our exact lunch!

Afternoon was the time for enjoying Brussels with our lovely tour guide in spite of rainy weather. When you are in Brussels and if somebody asks you “what is that building?” try to give the answer: “wauw, it may be a parliament building” .You may be right 50% since there are many, many parliaments in Brussels!
Time to say goodbye to Brussels…We arrived at the train station almost one hour before the time of departure despite having many people from Mediterranean countries! There was a simple explanation: our organizer was from the Netherlands. After a long waiting which was strange for most of us, we took the train and got ready to change our country.”

Welcome to our beginning point: a train which has delayed…I hope you are now a bit more familiar with us. :)

Time:                             18.00                                   19.00
Country:                         Belgium                               Holland
City:                               Brussels                              Maastricht
Spoken Language:      French-Flemish                  Dutch
People:                         serious/busy/suit/orderly      Relaxed/young/jean/funny faces
Buildings:                      very high                             lower and cultural
Mean amount of a meal:   10€                                 7€

                                                                   
City Facts for Brussels

Not to do;
•    Do not choose a restaurant which is close to the center of big cities!
•    Do not trust the Belgium trains!
•    Do not buy chocolate from the shops ( cheaper in super market)
•    Do not forget to carry all the time your coats and umbrellas for in any case
•    Do not forget to go the pub that has any kind of beer in world( more than 100 kinds)
•    Do not waste money for French Fries ( mothers can make even better)
•    Do not forget to try free chocolates from the any kind of shops ( yes; it’s free to try)

                                                                                                                                                                            If;
•    If you need to make international callings , try small shops which has special phone box ( 30 cent per min. for most of the countries)
•    If you need chocolate immediately, enter special chocolate shop and ask them " can I try your special tastes?"
•    If you need to leave your luggage to somewhere, try the boxes in train station since hotel may not allow you



EU institutions, foreigners and lost in Brussels subway maze

09.11.2010

Brussels

A Geography teacher once asked a student “What would happen if Columbus didn’t discover America?” The student answered “That would have been a relief; we wouldn’t have to study a whole big chapter in Geography!”

That’s exactly how I felt every time there was a presentation to explain to us the dynamics of the European Union. What was for the Europeans (well, not everyone but most of them) common sense about the history of the EU was to me absolute fiction.

Very hard to grasp all these treaties on the foundation of the Union, the different entities and their development as well as the differences between existing institutions like the European Commission and the European Council.

Yet it remained very hard for me to tell the difference until the day we visited the Council in Brussels. Then I finally knew it! the European Commission is the more fancy building across the street from the Metro station while the Council is on the same side!

The visit to the council went quiet well; although it was the 3rd attempt for a presenter to make us understand any other difference, other than that one mentioned above, between the council and the commission. But egoistically speaking, I was happy being in the European Council wearing a full suit and listening to a presentation and using the cool microphones they’ve got there to talk and answer questions.

Moving from Aachen to Brussels in a train that took around an hour, from one country to another, from German speaking Aachen to French speaking Brussels; We didn’t have to show any passports, and even when I asked my friend Mathieu, the Belgian, if we are already in Belgium he was unable to answer me for sure!

It was pretty interesting and to me I was wondering then why can’t each and every European speak at least 4 European languages if it’s only a matter of an hour by train to be among a very different culture and language!

What was very shocking to me is the large number of Arabs present in Brussels and the foreigners in general that at one point in the metro station everyone who was walking, buying AND selling were merely Arabs (I surely was very interested in knowing the reasons but unfortunately we had to leave the city on the following day)

All in all, the 1st day at Brussels was extremely amusing. None of those who stayed at the hostel (aka. Hostel people) can never forget our adventure to go back to the hostel on our own after having dinner at the AEGEE house.. They were 2 and half hours of pure fun to have around 13 people from different countries and cultures lost in the Brussels subway MAZE.

The hustle and bustle of Brussels

09.11.2010
Köln - Brussels

We have reached the middle of our educational trip. Regarding the 9th day of the EuroArab case study trip, there were so many things that did not go according to the schedule. In fact, besides the waking up process and the departure on time, in order to arrive in Brussels, the rest of the day was full of transfers from one place to another, while it was raining, and some unavoidable delays, because Brussels is a big city and the weather was awful. The bad weather conditions did not help us conducting  our surveys, either. So, by the end of the day we were completely exhausted. All in all, there was a lot of tension and confusion during that day, because of a lot of misunderstandings caused mainly by the fact that we did not know where and when to go next. I guess that after more than one week of intensive workshops and activities we tend to  exaggerate in our reactions. Perhaps, if there was a local organizer from Brussels we could rely on, like in  Cologne and Aachen the situation would have been better. I think that spending only two days in Brussels were not enough. However, visiting Brussels and the European Commission was definitely an interesting and worthwhile experience. I am sure that for the Egyptian and the Palestinian participants in particular, it must have been a good introduction to the European policies and institutions.

Standing in Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands at the same time

08.11.2010
Aachen

Okey!!! Where should I start? The days are going so fast. Today like the other days. We had many events and activities. We walked a lot. We talked a lot. We discussed a lot. Many „lot” things. But anyway it was fun.

So if I should start from the beginning. After breakfast we went to a conference which was about gender equality. The presenter gave some informations especially the examples from Germany. I think, I learnt some important examples from Germany. It was quite good session.

After the session, we had lunch in University mensa. It was good to be there in lunch because it was easy to pass another event which is city surveys. By the way, I can say the city survey activity was not good for me generally. Why? Because it was hard to communicate with the people and not because of language but especially because of most of the people were not interested. Anyway because we were in University, that city surveys was quite easy.

The most interesting part of the day was our excursion trip to „Dreilander” which was quite funny trip. The place where we went was interesting and special to have three countries border. To reach there for us was not easy but it was funny. We walked a lot and also we missed to short cut. So it was funny that the people who were coming before us, they reached the point before we reached it. When I reached to place, I was quite disappointed because the maze was closed. But anyway it was good to be there with other participants. When we decided to go back it was already night. And it dark and the weather was so cold. And we were alone at top of the hill. It was quite scary at the first sight but again it was funny and exciting.

So as a conclusion, again we talked a lot, we discussed a lot, we walked a lot. But as a matter of fact it was a good day.