AEGEE-Maribor organised its 9^th NYE (New Year’s Event), one of the most amazing AEGEE events which were held between the last week of 2015 and the first one of 2016, thanks to a very experienced team managed by Petra Zula and to fifty participants who wanted to have a lot of fun. The journalist Matteo Lai took part in the event and he reveals his own emotions regarding it. We also spoke with Maja Bunderla, 24 years old, one of the most beloved female organisers, who tells us something about the NYE programme, the participants’ mood, love stories, and satisfaction concerning the event, as well as some information about the next NYE.

This magnificent Slovenian adventure began on 27^th of December with the reception and registration of the participants during the evening. After that, some Italian guests from AEGEE-Catania and I were invited to have a shower, dress quickly and have dinner with the other participants, in a restaurant very close to the gym where we would have slept for one week. It was not so cold, as there were 10 degrees in Maribor. I felt so happy

to take part in one of the most appreciated AEGEE events by the AEGEE-Cagliari members: historically, many love stories were born between Sardinians and Slovenians, in addition to a lot of new special friendships. Maybe it is not just a coincidence the fact that the symbol of AEGEE-Maribor is a red heart. After I had eaten a plate of chicken steaks in natural sauce with rice, and I had chatted a bit with some new friends at my table, there was the organisers’ presentation of the group – thirty guys from several countries all over Europe, as it follows: Petra Zula, Gregor Susanj, Maja Bunderla, Jan Viher (who was also a participant of AEGEE-Cagliari SU 2015: “Cagliarifornia”), Ajda Prusek, Dijana Samperl, Miha Cerovsek, Katja Yermak, Nina Pibercnik, Irena Loncar Zorman, Goran Hrovat, Tadeja Babic, Mateja Belej, Mateja Piciga, Sara Kaiser, Mojca Jeromel, Sanela Zahovic, Simona Bibic, Jani Dugonik, Aljaz Hericko, Matej Suman, Robert Sket, Nusa Pecnik, Ziga Cimerlajt, Bine Gegic, Lovro Rojko. It was clear that just eleven organisers were boys, while almost all of them were girls.

We spent the first party in a Latino club called “Fuego” where we danced until early in the morning. In particular, for that party (Traffic Light Party) we put on clothes in different colours and each colour had a specific meaning. For example, if you had put on green, it would have meant that you were single, or if you had preferred violet, it would have meant that you were up for a threesome. Monday 28^th of December was the first day allocated to the winter sport we had chosen before we went to Maribor. Some people had chosen snowboarding, while some others had opted for skiing.

Moreover, the event was also available for those who would have followed an alternative programme which did not include skiing or snowboarding. Anyway, we enjoyed three mornings in the snow in Rogla and Pohorje Resorts. The participants who still preferred skiing, beginners and hopeless cases like me, were supervised by three different teachers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: Ajda, Katja, and Miha. The first day in Pohorje was a real disaster but on the second day, I admit I had learned the basics in skiing, after about twenty fallings. I had taken much time to “make a plow” as the skiing teacher Katja Yermak requested. Those days in the snow were the perfect occasion to taste Slovenian warm white wine and to make many nice pictures with the organisers and the participants. It was not so cold and, in fact, there was artificial snow in the resorts. On the third day, I tried skiing while it was snowing.

During AEGEE-Maribor NYE, the European Night turned out to be the party which had completely broken the ice between participants. In particular, Gregor showed the tables of every country present at the event. The table which aroused more curiosity was the one of Slovenia. You could taste Lasko, a Slovenian traditional beer, o Cockta, a soft sparkling drink very similar to Coke, but without caffeine. About food, there was green “pumpkin oil”, a typical Slovenian oil you could try with a piece of bread. Dijana Samperl made the participants try a traditional drink called “Spricer”, which is prepared with white wine and sparkling water. The night continued involving participants in dancing some Latin songs such as “Macarena”, “El Taxi”, and so on. At the same time, the organisers came up with the very good idea of a “UV Party”, where you got painted and shiny under UV lights in a club (for that party, the participants should have brought some clothes that they would not mind to get dirty or ruined).

On the last day of 2015, the participants spent the night in a hall very close to the accommodation, where they were provided with a DJ-set, a professional photographer and a delicious dinner. Then, we should not forget the “Fairytale Party”: for a night, you could have become a princess, a prince or whatever fairytale character you wanted. Maja Bunderla, one of the youngest Slovenian organisers, gave her opinion about this NYE. She has been in AEGEE for almost three years, considering it one of the best decisions that she has ever made. Although she was not the main organiser or a Board member, Maja was one of the most sought-after female organisers. Regarding her teaching skills in snowboarding, she got positive results which made her extremely happy. The first day was really terrible and hard for her because people were not able to even stand on the snowboard. “We were just two teachers for a group of 13 people without any experience. But on the last day (out of three), I was really astonished to see the participants actually doing the turns and everything. They got rid of the fear and that day everyone went to the most difficult slope in Rogla Ski Resort. It was a very nice and positive experience for me and I would be happy to do it again”, says Maja. Before the event, Maja had been responsible for the parties and decorations (with the help of many people), while during the event she was a snowboarding teacher. She was also helping with the ice breaking games and leading the night with “The Best of” prizes. As Maja confirms, Maribor is a place where you can easily make a lot of new friends, but also meet some people from previous Summer Universities.

For AEGEE-Cagliari, AEGEE-Maribor is the antenna where the most beautiful love stories among AEGEE members are born up until now, such as the one between Yu Tang and Anastasia Kosmacheva. Regarding the participants’ mood, “I think participants were extremely happy with the event. Lots of them told us the last day that it had been the best event for them so far, so I think this is the best thing you can get from an event like this. Nice words and satisfied people”, adds Maja. The organiser tells us she appreciated the amazing people who took part in the event because they were friendly, funny, patient, relaxed, and thankful folks. She admired the motivation and persistence of the people who were skiing and snowboarding for the first time, as they did not quit even if they were all covered in bruises the next day. Maribor NYE ended with a visit at Bled Lake where you could have thrown a coin and made a wish. I reveal my wish: to live another Slovenian adventure! In Maribor, personally, I met very interesting people, not only funny guys whose English accent I did not always understand like Rob, and hearty eaters like Guillermo, but also nice and smiling girls like Katja, Tamara, Julia, Katty, Dijana, Coral, Maribel, and “party animals” like Yolene.

AEGEE-Maribor does not lose time and is already preparing the next Summer University. Without any doubt, it will be at least as amazing as this NYE . About the overall satisfaction of the organisers with this NYE, “There is always something to improve. Sometimes things do not go as smoothly as in theory. But we were trying to do our best and I am sure every next event will be even better”, admits Maja.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari

Posting pictures of the sleeping beauties of the Network or uploading quotes on what an AEGEEan never would say are recent popular trends on Facebook for AEGEE. Joining the two there is now a new trend posting pictures making fun on what is happening in the organisation of AEGEE. The AEGEEan interviewed the people behind “When you are in AEGEE” to get to know the reasons behind the idea.

The AEGEEan: Who are you? Can you reveal your secret identity and experience in AEGEE?

Only Iron Man gave his address in an interview, and look what happened… We would like to keep our secret for a while which will let us all enjoy the posts without any conspiracy theory.

And just to quote another superhero who hid his face:

“How does one man protect an entire city? By making sure the shadow he casts is long and wide… so that its reach can embrace – or engulf – all that walk here. So that every man, woman and child (…) can feel its touch. If you are good, the shadow’s wings are a welcome, protective blanket. If you are bad, you know its touch as a black splinter of fear.”

It is hard to believe that not everybody can go to ZarAgora

How did you come up with the idea for the page?

It was a boring Sunday and none of us were at a Summer University this weekend, so we gathered together to create something which is not entertaining only for us, but for the whole association and this is what has been born out of our boredom.

It is a recent trend that we have sleeping AEGEEans, what AEGEEans would never say and now your page. What is your plan to keep it trending?

We try to keep it continuously updated and react on the recent events as soon as we can. Luckily we have enough posts in the drawer currently, more than published posts actually, so the AEGEEans don’t need to be afraid that they don’t get their daily portion of “When you are in AEGEE” fun.

Moreover, everyone can contribute to this tumblr! Just drop us a message with the gif and the proposed title on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/whenyouareinaegee) and we will post it!

There are so many cool pictures already and people love them. How do you come up with them?

AEGEE, as many other associations, has its unique culture, if you bring back the memories what many AEGEEans have experienced, it is already a key to success! Besides, there are many gifs and memes on the internet which are extremely popular for our generation, we just grabbed a good moment to create such a blog!

Do you have any personal favorites yet?

It is difficult to choose only one, all the posts bring back a nice memory, but we really like the one when the Agora ratifies a decision with acclamation. (Such a relief all the time, isn’t it?)

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Koebenhavn

Why should we accept “fun” not as a collateral damage, but as a legitimate method of European integration, and how this could even improve AEGEE’s external image?

“Sex, Drugs, and European Nights – and, uhhm, what else is AEGEE about? Oh yeah, we do exchange. And projects. And mutual understanding stuff, and actually even peace-building, they say! We have an office in Brussels and a Comité Directeur working there, telling European politicians to pay more attention to young people. Now that I think of it, I feel kind of proud that I am also part of that. But here at home, in my antenna, I am working hard to organise my events where I will have a good time with European students, and European students with me. And I love AEGEE because it gives me the opportunity to do exactly that!”

Does this sound familiar to you? 

This is the rough transcript of a conversation I had with one AEGEE member during my trip to South-eastern Europe this summer. And in fact, I have heard this story many times in the past few years, or even better: I have seen this story unfold before my eyes, time after time. Many of our members are in AEGEE because here is where they find the positive experience they were looking for. Travel! Have guests and be good to them! Dance! Feel! Love! Europe means a promise to them, a very personal promise of freedom, self-development, friendship, solidarity, understanding, and maybe even love – and AEGEE fulfils it. Unconditionally.

Unconditionally? So what about this annoying demand coming from the “European level” that we should be “serious?” That “fun events” are not appreciated, and that some “content” is mandatory? Of course – if the European Commission thinks that the only thing AEGEE does is called “party,” they may not feel very tempted to give us money in the future. We have a lot of intelligent members with a lot of great ideas, and in order to bring these ideas to the European surface, AEGEE needs to maintain its credibility. We need to show our real value to the external world. But does that mean that we should hide the fact that “organised celebration” is an important factor of our work?

Where does this ambiguity come from?

I believe that the main problem is the following: To the outside, it is not visible whether this or that thing we are doing is actually “serious” or “fun.” On the one hand, AEGEE-Europe is trying to promote everything we do as “serious” because this is the impression that AEGEE-Europe wants the rest of the world to have of us. On the other hand, among our antennae we find different approaches. In fact most of the “local level” promotes AEGEE as “fun,” simply because they believe that promoting it as “serious” will scare new members away. So the Network prepares Summer Universities that are “fun,” but are promoted elsewhere in AEGEE as “serious,” and vice versa. Similarly, the Network organises events that are “fun,” but sells these events to the Events Committee as “serious,” so that it will appear in the AEGEE-Europe Events Calendar, which according to AEGEE-Europe contains “serious” events. What a mess!

The result is that many people are disappointed by AEGEE, year after year: People who wanted to travel and party, but ended up in a group of nerds talking about project management all day, and people who expected to discuss the European elections, but instead found themselves under the kitchen table surrounded by bottles every morning. AEGEE’s offer to the world – meaning to our external partners as well as to our fellow European students and potential future members – is like the Box of Pandora. You can never know what you will get. And this has to change! 

What can we do to make this change?

Basically, we need to do two things: 1) classify our events as “serious” or “fun” (or a few steps in between), so that everyone knows what to expect; and 2) make sure that events, and I would like to stress that this includes the Agora in particular, will meet the expectations that are raised by this classification. Because after all, “being serious” is not about forbidding the party, not at all. Credibility means that you simply deliver what you promised. If you promised party and you deliver party, everyone will be happy – as long as you at the same time deliver respectable discussion where you promised respectable discussion.

If you have any suggestions of how we could achieve such a change, please feel free to start the discussion!

Written by Thomas Leszke, AEGEE-Köln

Photos by Léa Charlet, AEGEE-Paris & Dasha Onokhova, AEGEE-Moskva