In the occasion of the Youth Development month, the Youth Development Working Group reached out to four AEGEE alumni and interviewed them, with the intention to connect past, present and future of AEGEE. Here’s the first interview of the series: Berat Ezel (formerly) from AEGEE-Izmir.

YDWG: Hello Berat, can you introduce yourself a bit?

Berat: I am a volunteer, youth worker and consultant on training design solutions and recently I have been working with Syrian refugees and professionals who work with disadvantaged target groups in the frame of social inclusion. Apart from these fields, I am actively working on outdoor education, entrepreneurship trainings for youngsters and women entrepreneurs living in rural areas. I live in Bodrum,Turkey.

And when did you become a member of AEGEE? How many years did you volunteer in it and what have you done during those years?

Well, I became a member of AEGEE-Izmir in 2000. I was actively involved in local and European activities until 2008. Since then I have been supporting AEGEE locals or members as alumni member. When I was an active member of AEGEE, I had many roles in the Network. I was a board member of AEGEE-Academy, SUCT, DWG, Network Commission at the European level and I was a board member of AEGEE-Izmir, organising committee member of AGORA Izmir 2005, which was awarded “best event” and I was organiser of several Summer Universities.

What does AEGEE mean for you?

AEGEE means a big network and family which can broaden your life vision and give you many opportunities, more than a young person can ever imagine.

What was the biggest thing that AEGEE brought to you?

Obviously the reason of choosing my current job career and my lifelong friends from Turkey and all over Europe. Before being a member of AEGEE, I was involved in volunteering activities but I was feeling that something was missing. Then, after meeting different people from different backgrounds from all over Europe, I realised that youth’s needs and problems are not so different in different countries. And this network motivated me to step up to extend my competences in order to be more active as citizen. On the other hand, while organising social projects and activities for youngsters, I had the chance to meet amazing people who are willing to make a positive impact in society. Some of them are my close friends and some are my colleagues now. We have a strong connection thanks to the AEGEE spirit.

Which skills did you improve most during your very active years in AEGEE?

Well not only skills, but I would rather say I had the chance to develop knowledge and attitudes in my job and life too. First of all, I had the chance to explore civil society and its power for a change in the community. Intercultural learning, conflict resolution, active citizenship, volunteering, human rights and advocacy, and designing learning activities (LTCs, European Schools) are only some of the fields I got knowledge of. Surely event management, project management, FR and PR skills, how to run an NGO, how to manage volunteers and many other skills helped me to build my career. Working in the right field, with the right target group and with the right team helped me to develop my attitude towards my job. Sharing information and gaining knowledge became the vision of my life.

Did these skills help you to find a job easily? And what is your job now?

It was NOT so easy at the beginning. Including my friends and family, nobody ever believed that I could have a good future or good life by choosing social work. When I was travelling in Europe from one event to another, they mostly thought that I was just partying and enjoying life and that’s it. Obviously, recognition of youth work at the beginning of the 2000s was not so developed as much as today. So it was not so easy to find a job to work on. On the other hand, thanks to my social and organisational skills, I had the chance to work on large scale projects of national and international foundations and institutions and this helped me to start working as freelance youth trainer. I still am a trainers’ pool member of different European youth networks. But I work as project manager in an youth and culture centre in Bodrum, Turkey.

What would you say is the biggest benefit of AEGEE for young people looking for a job?

The biggest advantage of AEGEE for a youngster is being a member of huge network/family full of opportunities. Each youngster has skills and motivation, desires but mostly they think they are alone. For a young person, playing a violin in Izmir is nice, but if you tell him/her “there is an opportunity to meet different people who play different instruments from Madrid, Athens, Krakow, Baku, Budapest, Prague, Zagreb” and he/she can come together, meet, understand each other, work together, organise a concert together with those people and invite a whole European community to that, and if you tell him/her that it is not only a music performance but promotion of solidarity, unity and a better future for new generations with no prejudices through this event, then I am sure that youngster would say “It is impossible!”. Well, it is possible..I’ve seen it with AEGEE.

Lastly, do you have any advices for the newbies in AEGEE?

I don’t know if it is advice, but I would say I am very sorry for them. Because if they are already a newbie, that means they are already infected by the AEGEE virus. It will be following them entirely. [he smiles, ed.] AEGEE is like a simulation of life, both professionally and socially, and it is also life itself. So they should enjoy it and use it and gain from it. But they shouldn’t forget to give back to AEGEE as well.

Written by Batuhan Çarıkçı, Youth Development Working Group

Around the beginning of the new year, AEGEE-Izmir organised a postcrossing project with their twin antennae AEGEE-Moskva. Even though at the time there was political tension between the two countries, the project turned out to be a huge success, involving members of both locals in a cultural exchange. As a reward, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Julide Acıkara, Secretary General of the Turkish local, to find out more!

ACT: Congratulations! ​As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?
Julide: AEGEE-Izmir was founded in 1997. We have established a consistently growing association, about which we couldn’t be more happy! The last term, we had around 100 new members, which is a big growth compared to years before. We organise weekly meetings and we have working groups where topics likes Civic Education are discussed. Besides that, we also have two different conversation clubs (English and German) and a lot of other projects. In the past, we organised an Agora in 2005, a European Boards Meeting (EBM, now EPM) in 2012 and the Summer University Project School (SUPS) in 2014. Our Agora received the best Agora award! We believe that going abroad and being active should be amongst all of the young peoples’ goals.

How would you describe your local to others?
Our local is a local which is full of energy, speaks from the heart and is open to change. We are not perfect, but we do our best anyway. Our events are a mix of both hot and cold; they are complete opposites, but they are actually very similar and inseparable at the same time!

You have organised a postcrossing project between Russia and Turkey. Can you tell us more about your project?
As some of you may already know, AEGEE-Moskva is our twin local. Because of that, we are in contact with them on a regular basis. With the new year upcoming, we thought it would be the perfect time to give our members the chance to get together. The postcards were amazing by the way! Even though there may be political conflicts right now between Turkey and Russia, this does not mean that our hearts are not one.

Why did you decide to organise this project?
Isn’t writing to one another the best and easiest way to really connect? In a time where everything is done online and through text messaging, it is nice to prepare a project where we can go back to the old times and reflect on our traditional ways, by having something we can hold on to.

Do you plan to continue with your project?
The concept of postcrossing on its own is a wonderful project, but the aim of this project is to have members of two different locals come together and get to know one another. The project may seem small and simple at the moment, but wait and see what it will become in the near-future.

Why do you think the Action Agenda is important for the Network, and what would you say to other locals that are thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?
The plans and set paths in the Action Agenda allow for the locals and its members to create new and different visions in their minds. This year, we want to focus more on the Action Agenda and improve ourselves along with our members. We believe that locals who do so will benefit greatly, both for itself and its members.

Do you have any other big plans for the upcoming months?
Yes, at the end of April, we will be organising an exchange program with AEGEE-Moskva. We will host their members in Izmir, and our members will travel to Moskva in autumn. Besides that, we are preparing for our Summer University, as we do every year. We have a fantastic crew, so be ready for change!

AEGEE-Izmir has certainly shown to the Network that it can be an example to other locals. What would you say to other locals that want to be as awesome as you?
All locals are unique in their own way; they all have a different atmosphere! One of the most important things is to try our best and take opportunities. The rest will follow.

Written by Action Agenda Coordination Committee

In AEGEE-Moskva you can find a large board, which not only organises very interesting and original events during the year, but also is full of energy in order to carry out plans with the twin antenna, Izmir, and prepared an amazing New Year Event (NYE) in collaboration with AEGEE-Kyïv. We spoke with Maria Kochkina, 23 years old, External Relations Responsible, and the Board of AEGEE-Moskva who told us about how AEGEE-Moskva’s 24^th birthday was celebrated.

The AEGEE-Moskva board members are: Daria Lovkova (President), Christina Reshetova (Secretary), Maria Zharikova (Treasurer), Sergey Agaltsov (PR-Responsible), Anna Cherezova (HR-Responsible), Ekaterina Popova (FR-Responsible), Ivan Lukomskiy (IT-Responsible), Kirill Grigoriev (University Responsible), Maria Kochkina (External Relations Responsible) and Ekaterina Kalinina (Local Events Responsible).

Two of the current board members were in the previous board 2014-2015: Ekaterina Popova and Maria Kochkina as President and PR-Responsible accordingly. Most of Board members are quite AEGEE-experienced: “the most experienced one” – says Maria – “is our Treasurer with five years in AEGEE and the newest one is Kirill Grigoriev who joined our antenna in October 2015”. Almost half of the Board visited Agora-Kyiv, where Sergey Agaltsov won the Summer University photo contest.

The antenna is very diversified when it comes to studies, work or hobbies. For example, the President teaches English and the HR-Responsible both studies and teaches languages, meanwhile the Local Events Responsible and University Responsible study law and the FR-Responsible studies economics.

AEGEE-Moskva, currently composed of 116 members, has ot a mascot called “Zvezdun”. Its full name is “Zvezdun Grigor’evich”. “Zvezda” means “star” in Russian. The last part of the name is after its “father”, one of the members of the local antenna, Grigoriy Frolov. It all started a long time ago when an AEGEE-Moskva member bought a T-shirt of his antenna in 2012. That T-shirt has seen both Agorae in 2012, one SU in Greece, has been at the Baikal Lake with Transiberian Dream vol. 4 and also visited AEGEE-Moskva’s 21^st birthday party. “After that great AEGEE-spirit absorption”- adds Maria – “the owner of this T-shirt, Ksenia Lupanova, sewed it into our mascot – Zvezdun. Our current mascot is resewed, but it has the heart of the previous one, literally made out of that T-shirt full of AEGEE-spirit”.

About plans with their twin antenna, AEGEE-Izmir, the Russian antenna has already had monthly Skype-calls, made knowledge transfer and tried to get as much as possible from the relation. It started to organise some activities such as postcrossing and so on. Two of the AEGEE-Izmir board members already participated in the pre event in Moscow.

About the current bad situation between Russia and Turkey, Maria says, “we signed a twin-contract with the amazing guys from Izmir, but not with the politicians. So, nothing can stop us to make it real”. AEGEE-Moskva already made an announcement about it in cooperation with other AEGEE locals from Turkey and Russia. It was said that whatever happens in politics , whatever the media shows, AEGEE antennae will continue to love each other.

There are some perks of having a twin antenna like Izmir. According to Maria, the Izmir antenna is special because of the different way of thinking, for example. If you understand people’s minds, it will give you more power in organising events or just the daily work of the antenna. In their opinion, AEGEE-Izmir is good in fundraising, HR and social work. AEGEE-Moskva members were so much inspired by their colleagues, that they also started to try doing some steps in that area. For example, AEGEE-Moskva found a new general sponsor whose name is Teremok. It is a fast food chain of homemade Russian food. Teremok supported the antenna with its NYE Capital Cities # 2 and helped to present Russian cuisine to foreigners. AEGEE-Moskva got 35 certificates for NYE and every participant could enjoy their tasty pancakes and other food for free. “It’s a great achievement for us” says Maria.

AEGEE-Moskva members create a calendar with themselves almost every year and try to make them thematic; this year was no exception. This time they stuck to the traditional Russian style, which actually became very popular in their antenna last autumn. They also launched a Russian tea party project on their Agora Kyiv pre event. That’s why the calendar as well is full of members wearing colorful traditional clothes. About twenty people took part in the creation of the calendar and they chose the best shots to be printed.

A few weeks ago antenna celebrated its 24^th birthday. For this event, they organised a superhero party. “That was a crazy celebration” says Maria. They gathered in a cafe, had a presentation of their antenna’s achievements, different games and ate a fantastic blue cake (the birthday cake) which looked like an AEGEE star with the mascot Zvezdun on top. Everybody came in astonishing costumes including Winter Soldier from Captain America, Wonder Woman, Buzz Lighter and others. There were also some creative costumes like Captain Obvious. All the members wore superhero costumes and the award for the best one was won by Katja Sokerina: truly the most stylish.

Recently AEGEE-Moskva has organised an EDL for the third time. The name of this one was “La Pelicula” and, as it can be guessed, the theme was connected to films and movies. For example, during the coffee-breaks AEGEE members showed different TV-series like Friends and Scrubs and pieces of movies in corresponding languages. This time they provided lessons on French, Italian, Spanish and English. Most of teachers found with help of the members and the English language session were provided by the President Daria Lovkova. There were around 100 participants and it was really a fun!

About “The Market of Possibilities” which took place at The People’s Friendship University of Russia, Maria explains, “from the 30^th November till the 4^th December 2015, thirty young future leaders and specialists from Germany, Russia and Ukraine came together in Moscow to try to resolve current complications and discuss prospects of the trilateral relations. The highlight of the forum was an open panel discussion with experts from the three countries”. In particular, the Russian Local Antenna presented its organisation and participated in the discussion called “Two years after Euromaidan – Challenges and prospects for future cooperations”.

AEGEE-Moskva has already started working on the next Summer University (SU) and has a coordinator, Sergey Agaltsov. For now it has a general concept and theme of the SU, possible activities and budget. It is doing this SU for the 8^th time and gathering all the experience it gained so far, to try its best to make it really amazing. Keeping suspense about AEGEE-Moskva SU, it will have a history and culture thematic with great twists (at least 8 of them).

AEGEE-Moskva has organised the NYE of 2015 with AEGEE-Kyiv. “The last minutes of the year”- adds Maria – “are always special. We are all standing together, kissing and hugging each other”. In Russia they have a saying: “How you celebrate NYE will show how you will spend the whole year”. So, it means that the participants will spend New Year in the AEGEE family. In fact Europeans are still interested in Ukrainian and Russian experience. Maria does not exclude to make a NYE with an Italian antenna like AEGEE-Cagliari. According to her, it would be a really nice experience and an occasion to compare culture and share traditions. Also it would be great as we could experience cold and warm weather at the same event. “We are always open for new projects and ideas!” says Maria.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

“Nossa, Nossa assim voce me mataaa, ai se eu te pego, ai ai se eu te pego,”

If you do not know this song, then you must be living under a rock because it has been playing all over clubs and radios for some time now. And for sure, the same words uttered by Michel Telo’ may have come to many guys’ mind when they were confronted with so many gorgeous female AEGEEans making their way to the suit-up party at the EBM Izmir.

The AEGEEan has chosen to put a focus on the AEGEEans that set a high standard for the formal parties at the statutory events of our organization. After introducing you to the five guys that drew our attention at the EBM Izmir Suit-up party, now it is time to shift our focus on the ladies that made some heads turn in Turkey. The nominees are:

Denise:  This Dutch lady is 24years old, born in a city close to Enschede, and has been a member of AEGEE-Groningen since 2009. She is also a very active AEGEE member on the international level where she is one of the sub commissioners of the Juridical Commission. Three words to describe her? Ambitious, motivated and love (for AEGEE)

Mariella Rapa (first from the right): Representative from AEGEE-Valleta, this beautiful lady is 23 years old, and secretary general of AEGEE-Valleta and Vice-Chair. She has been a member of AEGEE for two years, and uses ABC to describe herself: Adventurous, bubbly, caring.

Maryana Semenyak: If you attended the EBM then you for sure saw this beautiful president of AEGEE-Lviv. She is 24 years old, and has been a member of AEGEE since October 2007. What three words describe her? That would have to be vivid, extraordinary, and amiable.

Müge Etcibasi (second from right): She has been member of  AEGEE-Izmir since for 1,5 years, 21 years old and currently secretary assistant of AEGEE-İzmir. A description in three words? Energetic, sincere, outgoing.

Sila (first one from the right): Another representative from AEGEE-Izmir. She is 23 years old and have been member of AEGEE for three years. She is not a board member but president of the supervisory of AEGEE-Izmir. Three words to describe Sila? Outgoing, smart, and self-confident. 

Which one of these lovely ladies deserves to win the “Best Dressed Girl Award” 2012?

Voting starts April 2nd, stay tuned!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

It is no secret that because of the revolution of Facebook we sometimes stumble upon seeing friends congratulating another person because of his/her birthday. This is normal, but what might seem less normal is when the same people post a “happy birthday” message on the wall of a stuffed animal. However, that is exactly what is happening on more and more occasions.

AEGEE-København has Gorm Junior, AEGEE-Lund has Pippi Longstocking, AEGEE-Madrid has Retirito, and the list goes on. They have Facebook profiles, they have birthdays, and they are hosting AEGEE events! It has become more and more common for antennae to have a mascot that they bring to different AEGEE events.

Other antennae have real animals as mascots. It might seem that this is due to the cute AEGEE-Izmir dog spreading love around the gym during EBM. This dog, which is named Arzu Lu, is however not the AEGEE-Izmir mascot but “only” belongs to AEGEE-Izmir member Simge Gizem. Actually AEGEE-Izmir does not have any mascot at all and for sure there are some people that think that they should have a stuffed look-a-like dog named Arzu II to represent them. Antennae that actually do have a real-life mascot are, e.g., AEGEE-Düsseldorf (a dog named Luna) and AEGEE-Piliscsaba (a cat named Cicus Pazmaneus whose story is elaborated further down in the article).

Development of AEGEE Awards 2012

The AEGEEan is working hard on organizing AEGEE Awards 2012 and the idea of rewarding the antenna with the best mascot came up. For this reason, The AEGEEan made a poll on our Facebook page last month in which we asked which ist he cutest mascot. Many AEGEE members pitched in and five particular mascots became the nominees for “Cutest mascot 2012.” And the nominees are:

The famous badger

If you have attended an event with AEGEE-Eskisehir you will most likely recognize their mascot on the picture to the left. It is featured on the sweaters from the local and their stickers too. Stickers which they, as any other antenna, put everywhere! Its name is Masagor which is a combination of MAScot and AGORa because it was designed for the Autumn Agora Eskisehir 2007. The European badger, whose birthday is October 1st 2007, was chosen as a symbol for the antenna because Eskisehir has a river in the city center which is very famous in Turkey. This river is called Porsuk which is the Turkish word for “badger”. “Also important to mention is that badgers are lovable and brave animals,” says Engin Ergezer, president of AEGEE- Eskisehir. The mascot itself is not a stuffed nor a real life animal, but a costume ready to wear.

Leoncio and all his brothers

Leoncio celebrating Christmas in Italy

It is to no huge surprise that Leoncio, the mascot of AEGEE-León, was amongst the popular mascots in The AEGEEans poll since he is one of the most famous mascots out there. There is a Leoncio in Denmark, a Leoncio in Italy, and of course a Leoncio in León but most likely other European places, too. The original Leoncio, although no one knows where he is today, was “born” in 2008. As some of you might guess, the name derives from the name of the city, which also the reason why it is a lion. León means “a lion” in Spanish and moreover it is the symbol of their city.  AEGEE-León is very generous and shows its appreciation to people whom the local cherishes (and who value AEGEE-León) by giving them a Leoncio. It started as a way of promoting the local when the antenna was small and members wanted to gain fame in Europe. “In all manners, Leoncio is like the precious ring from The Lords of the rings, it always comes back to its owner. Leoncio always has sad eyes, he is only happy whenever he is in León,” fundraiser for the Youth Unemployment project David García Rodriguez says about the mascot of AEGEE-León.

"Uca's" t-shirt

The notorious Spanish cow with her own t-shirt

Another Spanish mascot in the race to win the award is Uca, the mascot of AEGEE-Santander. She was born a little after the antenna was founded back in the summer of 2008 in connection with their first Summer University. According to her Facebook profile the birthday has been set to be the 23^rd of August. She was named Uca because UCA is the Cantabrian way of ending words. All Cantabrian words always ends with –uco or –uca. The choice of having a cow representing the antenna is because cows are amongst the characteristics that are part of the landscape of Santander. Uca ALWAYS comes along whenever AEGEE-Santander is travelling with Erasmus, going to a local training course (LTC) or a Network meeting (NWM). She also travelled to the Agora in Skopje etc. The T-Shirt of AEGEE-Santander will be launched soon and Uca is of course the main feature on it.

An addition to the Greek family

Sofoklis is one of the newest mascots in the network. He belongs to AEGEE-Thessaloniki and was added to their family just before their last NWM back in October 2011. He got his name from his godmother, the secretary of AEGEE-Thessaloniki, Konstantina Katrimpouza who named him Sofoklis because of its beautiful eyes that emit wisdom. The Greek antenna chose an elephant because it is the most faithful animal to its family. All members close to AEGEE-Thessaloniki treat each other as if they were blood-related so they could not have chosen a more appropriate mascot to add to their family. He is eager to travel, but always return to home. Sofoklis is too young to have T-Shirts, brothers, or legendary stories – but AEGEE-Thessaloniki cannot wait to release him in Europe and they are sure that he will gain interesting tales rather sooner than later.

The Hungarian university cat

His name is Cicus pazmaneus and belongs to AEGEE-Piliscsaba. The University of Piliscasaba is catholic and therefore all its buildings have Latin names, even the university bar got a Latin name invented by the students, so it was a no-brainer that the cat should have a Latin name too. He belongs to everybody and hangs around the university spending his time begging for food and listening to presentations. At night he is locked inside the building which causes trouble for the security guards who has to hurry to the university whenever the alarm system goes off only to find out that it was caused by Cicus Pazmaneus strolling around the building. In this case the mascot of AEGEE-Piliscasaba was not invented by the antenna itself. He rose to fame on Facebook, after a mysterious guy created a Facebook account for it, and the cat then became a real star. People tend to post photos on his page where he is in funny situations e.g. in a flower pot or in front of a computer in the computer room.

“We chose him as our mascot because we wanted a real showman cat who is the most likely to bring us luck,” Kata Szabó says about making Cicus Pazmaneus mascot of AEGEE-Piliscasaba. However, the Hungarian antenna has realized that they cannot bring him for AEGEE events around Europe. The solution to this is that they are right now are looking for a stuffed look-a-like cat, not to replace him but so that they can bring his spirit whereever they go.

The final voting for the “cutest mascot” award will begin, alongside with the voting for the other categories, Monday 2^nd of April 2012.

The final voting for the “cutest mascot” award will begin, alongside with the voting for the other categories, Monday 2^nd of April 2012.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Thanks to Anil Kacan, Kata Szabó, Engin Ergezer, Ilenia Gurnale & Eleni Buni for contributing with pictures for the article.

Over the years the flag stealing game in AEGEE has developed to a battle in between locals in stealing not only flags, but also mascots and toilet paper belonging to other locals or their members.

Pre-Agora Skopje 2011 participants with the stolen AEGEE-Sofia flag

If you ever consider taking the risk of stealing a flag or another valuable item from another antenna, there are a few things to consider at first. The base of the game is that the aim is to steal a flag or an icon from another local in order to bring the locals closer together, but it is not as simple as it sounds, there are rules.

The basic rules of the game

You can steal everything from the presidential hammer, flags and receptions books till mascots, things with logos etc. when it is publically exposed. It does not count if you take it from personal belongings or in the house of your host which happened when AEGEE-Madrid mascot Retirito was stolen. It had to be given back, without any punishment, because the game has to be done in fair-play.

Faruk is trying to steal AEGEE-Lund/AEGEE-København flag

Now you have the possibility to identify what you can steal, the next step is to know how. First of all, one of the main rules is that you have to steal the item unnoticed/leaving the room without getting caught or you will have to give it back. This is the part where you analyse your opponent and the nearest exit.

During EBM Izmir 2012 Faruk Sayin, President of AEGEE-Canakkale, seemed to have analysed the exit but forgot to analyse his opponent Ilker Bildircin when he tried to steal the twin-flag of AEGEE-København and AEGEE-Lund. Faruk started running towards the nearest exit but Ilker caught up with him and tackled him in true American football style, which is exactly what Ilker practices in his spare time.

A good excuse to enjoy some beers

If you actually do manage to escape with the flag, it is time to come up with an idea for the punishment. The rule is that you are allowed to come up with a punishment that the local has to do in order to get the flag back, as long as the antenna agree to do it.

AEGEE-Budapest in flag-stealing action

This is what happend when AEGEE-Budapest  representative Gábor Pető stole AEGEE-Passau flag during an AEGEE conference with social business as a theme in Passau.  During the event AEGEE-Passau put the flag up everywhere in order to promote AEGEE, but Gábor had something else in his mind. It was an event full of new AEGEE people who were unaware of the flag stealing game, so Gábor found a co-partner in crime from Passau with whom he managed to steal the flag after one session.

Gábor explains the story saying:  “We stole the flag after a session on the last day, but it was quite adventurous. That day it was put in the biggest conference room and it was always crowded. When we almost took down the flag a girl came up to us asking whether we liked the program of the event etc. Later we found out that she was the president of the local, but she did not notice that we are about to steal her flag, which was quite funny because the flag was literally in our hands.”

The flag was returned at the Agora Skopje in which a beer-drinking competion was held between AEGEE-Budapest and AEGEE-Passau because of the interest in Bavarian beers. This all proves that it actually do bring the locals together.

A flag about to be returned to its owner after being away from home for many years

Another succesfull story contains AEGEE-Izmir legendary members Berat Ezel and Ufuk Bal who stole the AEGEE-Europe flag one month before Agora Izmir in 2005. AEGEE-Praha had organized AEGEE’s 20th year celebration event “The Happening.” The flag was stolen in the Czech Senato Building where the workshops and the plenary meetings of the event took place.

AEGEE-Izmir’s member  Tunca Ayyilidiz tells the story with a smile: “The way they stole the flag makes the whole story even funnier, because the two guys recognized that the flag was on the table in the plenary hall and there was only one person from AEGEE-Europe next to the flag, doing some things

AEGEE-Izmir revealing the punishment for the CD house during EBM Izmir

on the table. They asked him for a “scissor” and the guy was so helpful that he gave it to them. But the thing is that they asked for this scissor to cut the strings which attached the flag to the table. So in a blink of an eye, while he was not looking, they took the flag and ran out of the plenary hall.” The flag has yet to be returned to the CD house and the punishment was actually given during EBM Izmir ’12 which requires the CD to send a historic and symbolic item from the CD house in Brussels to AEGEE-Izmir and then the flag will be returned.

AEGEE-Peiraias looking forward soft accomodation during Agora Enschede ’12

These are only two examples of numerous “crimes” that have taken place in our organization, and the creativity regarding the punishment task is indeed wide. AEGEE-Oviedo’s representative Juan Sordo Barriero had to speak negatively about Asturias in a duration of five minutes during the Network Meeting (NWM) in Porto after the WDEE flag got stolen.

Others are more experience flag-stealers such as AEGEE-Peiraias representative Manos Valasis who was responsible of two punishmnets during Agora Skopje. He managed to steal the AEGEE-Enschede flag when it was left ungarded before the opening plenary which required AEGEE-Enschede to sign an agreement that they will provide lucky AEGEE-Peiraias members with up to 12 members

Proof of AEGEE-Enschede's signature on agreeing to provide 12 beds for AEGEE-Peiraias

with beds during the upcomming Agora, in order to get it back. Another flag that Manos had managed to steal during a visit to the CD house in Brussels belongs to AEGEE-Zagreb. CD member Marko and other representatives from AEGEE-Zagreb had to entertain the Agora participatns with performing “I just had sex”, which they succesfully managed to do and got their flag back.

The last case includes Chair team members Yvonne Antonovic and Percin Imrek who entertained a full plenary room during Agora Skopje with their cover version of the Danish pop plague “Barbie Girl” after the Where Does Europe End flag was stolen.

In the end, do not be scared to bring mascots and flags to AEGEE events but hold on tight, especially during Agora’s and EBM’s.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Main Photo courtesy of Tunca Ayyildiz, AEGEE-Izmir

Thanks to Tunca Ayyildiz, Dasha Panther, Deby Gabisson, Hara Kogkou and  Gábor Pető for providing pictures. 

Smiles and fantastic organizers surrounded more than 250 participants who attended the EBM in Izmir 9-13^th of February 2012

Three guys from Izmir, three presidents, and, most importantly, three very good friends were eager and motivated to organise an EBM that would go down in history due to its greatness. My personal judgement: Mission completed! Right from arriving in Bornova, Turkey, where the EBM took place,  I could easily see that everything went smoothly and that the EBM was going to be as successful as the organisers had promised. I myself arrived in the middle of the night with other participants from AEGEE-Çanakkale, AEGEE-Istanbul, and loads of other Europeans after participating in the Pre-EBM. After very few hours of sleep, as always in AEGEE events, it was ready – set – go and four days of craziness, learning, and hard work began.

The EBM took place at Ege University where every meeting point for breakfast, lunch, dinner, gym, plenary halls, workshop rooms etc. were placed within close distance and there were absolutely no excuse not to show up for the things planned in the programme. Another reason to be actively participating at the whole event was that the program was packed with skilled speakers for panel discussions such as Dr. James Skelly, professor of peace studies Magee College, University of Ulster, Peter Matjasic, president of European Youth Forum, Prof. Dr. H. Gül Turan, president of EMI Turkey and much more. Furthermore, there were workshops about social inclusion, Where Does Economy End? & “An undefined adventure of direction: Turkey” concerning Turkey’s application to become part of the European Union- and the list goes on.

I would say that one of the main reasons for me enjoying İzmir so much was that it was impossible not being affected by the energy that came from the participants and organisers. The whole event started with music, laughter, and dancing in the opening ceremony in which the participants had a difficult time staying seated – all they wanted was to laugh and enjoy the opening entertainment which was filled with Turkish music and dancing. Throughout the event the organisers were visible 24/7 with their red organiser sweatshirts and with their huge smiles. They never showed any sign of exhaustion, even though they probably did not get much sleep, they were always there to wake up the participants, answer any question, and provide coffee, chocolate, Red Bull and much more (for free!).

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Photographs by Stephanie Müller, AEGEE-Heidelberg

See more photographs from the event below.