From the 11^th until the 14^th of December, AEGEE-Dresden organised their very first Regional Training Course (RTC), which was also their first international event since they were re-founded. Adina Letzguβ, one of the participants, wrote a report for The AEGEEan about her experiences during her four days in the German town.

What is the result of 16 participants, three trainers and 5 organisers spending four days of workshops and leisure program in the beautiful city of Dresden? An awesome and unforgettable experience full of AEGEE spirit, self-development… and of course lots of fun!

This four day training course started with a great three hour long city tour through Dresden held by a former president of AEGEE-Dresden, Stefan May. As he is a Dresden-born, student of history he not only showed us the most popular buildings in Dresden, but also told many interesting stories about them and the history of Dresden. Due to the chilly German weather, the cold crept into participants, but that wasn’t a problem for main organiser Jorge Sánchez Hernández (president of AEGEE-Dresden): “Guys, leave all your bags on the side and come close together… closer … and now: let’s play the rabbit game … (he started jumping forming his hands to small paws, shouting) rabbit attack, rabbit attack, rabbit attack,…” Simple but very, very effective and funny. From then on, the rabbit attack was a running gag of this training course (by the way, you can also vary the game playing penguin attack, hamster attack etc. – lots of fun and warmer feet guaranteed.).

Continuing the program with a stop at the important Striezel Christmas Market, participants had the opportunity to get “infected” by the pre-Christmas atmosphere in Germany and of course to try the typical German and Dresden Christmas specialties like Glühwein, Bratwurst and Dresdner Christstollen. After driving to the accommodation, the evening ended with a ‘soft party’ giving participants and organisers the chance to get to know each other better. The next two days contained many different workshops under the topic of self-development. The sessions covered a variety of relevant fields and topics about the subject and many, many opportunities to exercise them.

Starting with workshops about communication and intercultural communication the next sessions gave attention to feedback processes, time management and storytelling including many practical parts and opportunities to directly train the new gained knowledge. Thematically the first day of workshops ended with an improvisation course consisting of many practical and funny exercises. The main topic of the second workshop day was public speaking which included not only courses about how to build and deliver a speech, but also about the visualizing part of a speech, a simulation of a job interview and a session about non-verbal communication. As completion of these two very instructive days, the participants could implement their new knowledge in a final speech which each of them had to hold at the end of this day.

Besides this quite serious program – which anyway included a lot of laughing and fun, especially during the practical training parts – the organisers created a perfect leisure program. After the first evening out at the Christmas Market the second evening ended with a costume party. As a result of the choice of two mottos for the costume – animal or space – interesting creatures like space cats were dancing around at night. Finally there was European Night during the last evening, but I think there’s no further comment needed for that, except one special drink the organisers prepared directly in front of our eyes: Feuerzangenbowle, a traditional German drink during Christmas time.

In contrast to the big variety of outfits at the costume party, during this evening everyone was asked to wear a white T-shirt. Not for starting a wet T-shirt contest or something like that, but to be written on by the others with comments, statements, pictures etc. Thanks to that, everybody now has his personal and unique souvenir of this event. Besides the program, the surroundings did the rest to make this event super awesome: perfect accommodation and really, really delicious meals cooked by Ingo Kaiser (AEGEE-Dresden). And unforgettable: the all-morning wake up song Salsa Tequila by Anders Nilsen! This song gave energy for the whole day!

But in the end one thing has to be clearly highlighted: this was the very first international event of the new antenna AEGEE-Dresden and it was a complete success. It was an awesome event from the very beginning. Thanks for doing such a great job, AEGEE-Dresden! Some quotes:

“Our participants were just perfect. That’s what made our RTC so good.” (Jorge Sanchez Hernandez, Main Organiser, AEGEE-Dresden)

“It’s amazing when you realize that you need less than 48h to develop your communication and presentation skills” (Sonia Herrera, participant, AEGEE-Thessaloniki)

“Great blending of valuable workshops and epic party nights” (Daniel Fonseca Pilzecker, participant, AEGEE-Dresden)

“Salsa, Tequila, Corazón… and awesome food!” (Eileen Gioia, participant, AEGEE-Bamberg)

Written by Adina Letzguβ, AEGEE-Mannheim

Even though AEGEE-Brescia is considered a small antenna in the Network, having almost fifty members, that doesn’t mean it’s an inactive antenna. Right before the Agora, the antenna organized a successful Network Meeting (NWM), gathering 35 participants in the north of Italy. Next to that, they set up initiatives like European talks and leadership courses, proving that an antenna can be very active with only a small number of (active) members. The AEGEEan thought it was time to find out more about AEGEE-Brescia, and spoke to Mattia Scandella, the current treasurer of the antenna.

The AEGEEan: First of all, tell us a little bit about your local. When were you founded, how many members do you have and how many of them are active?

Mattia: AEGEE-Brescia, born in 1997, was founded by Patrizia Menchiari in a small office of the university of Brescia where it remains active. Through the years it has grown more and more until today, when we have almost 50 members. The current board consists of fifteen active members.

What makes your local unique in the AEGEE Network?

Even though we are a small antenna, we still organize interesting events, both on the local and international level and for our members and all the students in Brescia. From the Summer University, having fifty participants and organizers involved, to the Network Meeting, European talks, leadership courses and other internal activities targeted to reinforce our group.

In October you organized a NWM. How do you look back on the event?

The NWM was good, although we know some things could be organized and managed better (but this is normal for every event, we like to look at our mistakes to make it better for the next time). Our favourite moment was the European Night in which everybody had fun, especially because it was organized in a private area.

What tips do you have for locals who want to organize a NWM too?

Find a way to keep the attention during the sessions (both of participants and of organizers) even in a less serious way if required, but always keeping the right aim at why a NWM is organized.

What are your plans for the upcoming months with AEGEE-Brescia?

Leadership courses, regional and internal meetings, maybe a spring break and the next Summer University.

Is there still a dream you have for the local that you would like to fulfill one day?

To increase the number of members and organize something important like an European Planning Meeting!

Last summer, you organized a Summer Course. Will you be organizing a Summer University/ Course again this year and what will it look like?

Yes, as every year we are planning to organize a SU. It will probably be really similar the previous one, but introducing some changes based on the feedback given by participants of the past three editions. The main change we want to apply is to accommodate participants in a gym instead of the comfortable hostel we used till today, because we would like to get the real AEGEE feeling!

The Rainbow Network is known for being really close. Do you cooperate with other Italian locals?

Not yet, but we have good relations with the antennae close to us. We would like to cooperate with one of them in order to organize an event together, like a Travel Summer University!

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen