Few days are missing to Autumn Agora Catania, and one of the most important decisions we will make, is to choose the best people for the Network Commission. Alin Georgescu has already worked as a NetCommie for one year and would like to dare again and commit himself to the Network. 

The AEGEEan: Who are you? For what do we know you?

Alin: Hard question. We don’t usually ask ourselves who we are, and if we do, we come with some cliché answers. I can say I let my actions say who I am (See? Cliché!) and I’m not concerned about this question to be honest. I can be consider a traveller, I like to explore places, people, thoughts, ideas, buildings, everything. So yeah, I can define myself as traveller.

You have already been a NetCom for one year, how would you comment your year as a NetCommie?

Challenging. I didn’t expect it to be so damn challenging, honestly. I hate bureaucracy, and as a NetComm you have a lot. But I don’t mind, we are a team and I’ve always found support when I needed. But overall it’s good, I say it is ‘cause my term is not over yet, I still have until December. I want to continue, I feel I didn’t finish with this. So if something makes you wish for more, that’s good, no?

What did you achieve in your year as a NetCommie? Why would you like to run again?

I was able to come closer to AEGEEans and European Bodies. But most importantly, closer to the members from many locals. I would like to run again because I need more time. I came to that point when I’ve met the difficulties that locals are facing, I want to change the way we see the Network Meetings as training courses. In NWM Debrecen I did it differently, it was a meeting between members, a space for reflection and connecting, learning and sharing. I want more of these events. I will do it in Cluj Napoca and hopefully two more times. I want to prove that it is possible this way and there can be an amazing outcome from it.

You wrote in your programme that you would like to stabilise the current state of the locals you’re responsible for, did you notice something else that might need your commitment after one year in the NetCom?

Isn’t it enough? The engine of our organisation is at local level. No matter how many new, awesome and life changing ideas or initiatives we have, we start at local level. We are a big organisation and we have an impact at European level because we have many locals. Unfortunately we forget that a big number is made by small numbers, our members and locals. We have to focus more on their REAL needs, strengthen their activities, management and resources. This is what I want to work on, for me this is top priority: the local level.

How is the Antenna Criteria Reform, approved during Agora Enschede, working?

Less bureaucracy, but there’s space for improvement.

In the Network Status Update email that the Network received there were many locals in danger, would you like to comment this and how you will work to change this situation?

Unfortunately this is the real state of the Network that we didn’t want to see for a long time. I will continue what I’ve done so far, building a good relationship between locals, trying to improve their activities, their recruitment process and members. Network Meeting will help. Also more thematic projects funded from different grants would do the work. Currently I’m gaining more and more knowledge on this and I’m planning to work closely with locals on applying for Erasmus+ funds. Also criteria should, and they will, suffer some changes, many locals are suffering and are on that list just because of bureaucracy.

Would you prefer a Network of few strong locals or one of many common ones?

Definitely more locals, we have to create the opportunity for as many young people as possible to join our organisation and our goals. A “natural” selection will always exist but we have to open our network for everyone. Maybe one member from a weak local can be the next President of AEGEE Europe, who can deny it?

Describe the features of “the perfect NetCommie”. 

There is no such a thing as perfect. There is just the will to constantly learn, improve yourself and never give up.

In your motivation we can read “During last months I came to the conclusion, there is more work that I have to do from this position so I want to continue”. Can you be more specific about what kind of work would you like to carry out if you are elected?

In my motivation I wrote this for the simple reason that almost no one is reading it. Yeah, some people can accuse me I’m too honest, but this is reality, jut few people are reading 70% of what we write in AEGEE. I will mention again the Network Meeting, the way I see it differently than what we do it now, a mix of trainings after which we get almost nothing, you are just tired and hungover probably. I need this time to proof that we can do way more and really use this events to strengthen our Network. I would also apply for grants, which needs time, and I will focus on planning and a good management. The locals that I’m responsible for need better strategy for recruitment, activities and managing their members. Some of them are even writing that “we need some magic to make the youth do something”. The lack of motivation is still a big issue in our Network and if you combine this with some bureaucracy (I think I used it too many times), you have locals endangered.

Why would we need to vote for you?

Because I can bring something new in AEGEE. Because I’m not perfect but I’m working on it. Because I constantly learn, reflect and share. Because I’m committed to this job.

Question from the Network:

You’re running for your second term in Net.Com. In your current experience as Netcommie what you consider the best goal you achieved and which you in the top urgent to solve or complete? (Consider your personal experience and your assigned locals)

Network Meeting Debrecen is the biggest achievement. Network Meeting Cluj Napoca is the next.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Lisa Gregis, AEGEE-Bergamo

Polar bears can not only be found in the Artic Ocean: in Aachen you can find many as well!
Board members of AEGEE-Aachen, Tim Mollenhauer and Katharina Hartz, tell us about the story behind their famous mascot, their ways of keeping members active, and much more!

The AEGEEan:  Could you tell us about the establishment and the current structure of AEGEE-Aachen?

AEGEE-Aachen board: AEGEE-Aachen was established 30 years ago. From then on we grew constantly, and today we count over 160 members working on many projects. One of our biggest projects at the moment is the orientation week for Erasmus students coming to Aachen for the next semester. However, we have much more amazing projects we constantly work on. For example, our Summer University “Extrem deutsch: How to say “Streichholzschächtelchen!”” which takes place in July, or our meeting with our great twin-antenna Lviv next weekend. Another project we are currently working on is our video project “Europe at Eye Level” where we interview people from all over Europe to get to know their personal stories regarding being a European citizen.

Which typical, local traditions do you have?

AEGEE-Aachen is a very tradition oriented local. The polar bear, our mascot, is pretty much present all over the network. For example, in our famous polar bear-costumes, in our bear-bags and bear-shirts and not to forget about our lovely stickers. The polar bear even has its own Facebook page!

What is the history behind the polar bear as your mascot?

Approximately ten years ago AEGEE-Aachen thought for the first time about having a mascot. At that time, real costumes were too expensive for our local, so we took an old, and rather undefined, costume from one of our members. The animal which was probably most similar to that costume was a bear and so our first mascot was born. In 2011, when the EBM in Riga took place with the motto ”Black and White” the board members of that year came up whith a very smart idea how our mascot could join the party even though its brown colour didn’t fit. They simply ordered a polar bear costume that was totally suitable to the party. Since then we never changed it back, so that the polar bear still parties with us on EPMs, and many other amazing AEGEE events until today.

AEGEE-Aachen organises a lot of different types of activities every year, like city trips, weekly meetings and tutoring workshops. How do you keep the quality of all these activities high?

Since we changed the structure of our working groups we have a committee that always has an overview over all our projects, besides the board. Moreover, we work on most of our projects during our working group meetings, which we have twice a month. In this way, people meet in one place for planning and stay informed about all the other running projects. Additionally, a big help is our well-structured Wiki and Google Drive cloud where we can look up nearly everything.

How do you persuade locals to join AEGEE at an European level?

Of course we advertise European events strongly in our weekly Monday-meetings and ask experienced members at the European Level to share their experiences with all of us.

How do you think it affects the organisation that a substantial part of the active members are Erasmus students?

Actually, not that many of our active members are Erasmus students so that it does not affect us that much. At the moment most of our new members are students in the first or third semester, who are going to spend some more years in Aachen. Because of this, the high fluctuation of Erasmus students is not really a problem for us. What we notice as an advantage of Erasmus student members is that they are highly motivated, Europtimistic and bring fresh and good ideas we did not think of before. And of course with their presence they contribute to this special “international AEGEE atmosphere”.

How do you try to keep members active within AEGEE-Aachen?

We try to keep our members motivated by organising engaging events and interesting projects in which members can participate, but also by giving our members space to realise their own ideas. Another thing that we focus on is improving the connection between old and new members. We do this by organising events that older members are still interested in as well, so that newbies can benefit from their experience. Connecting old and new members makes working together easier for everybody, and we keep having fun together and stay motivated.

If I had to describe my local in three words, they would be:

Polar bears, cheers!

Is there anything you would like to add?

Bear bags and shirts are still available! You are always welcome in Aachen – so come and catch some!

Written by Susan Nijsten, AEGEE-Groningen

It is already that magical season of the year! No, we are not talking about Spring and the rebirth of nature. Of course we are talking about the RTC season. RTCs (Regional Training Courses) are meetings among members and their aim (according to what is written on the AEGEE Europe member’s portal) is to prepare them to take responsibilities in board positions. We have asked for some opinions of the organisers of three RTCs all over Europe from the antennae of AEGEE-Lviv, AEGEE-Touluse, AEGEE-Pisa and AEGEE-Firenze.

All the hosts are very excited and for them this is a great opportunity to grow as antennae. AEGEE-Toulouse told us that “this RTC is one of the only events that will take place in France this year, it happens before important elections for us, so it is a great occasion to discuss the importance of Europe in French people’s life. We have 15 participants, our members will host them to allow the fee not to be too huge (because hostels are incredibly expensive in Toulouse). We really want to make this RTC unforgettable: we willl be chasing a treasure during our visit of Toulouse. The sessions will be, among others, about how to organise local events such as the European Student Festival of AEGEE-Toulouse, and about EVS!”.       

In addition, AEGEE-Lviv said RTCs are also an opportunity to create strong relationships between antennae from different countries that are part of the same Network. “Since we have become one network with Polish antennae, we planned to organise a regional event. By evaluating the abilities of our antennae we decided that an RTC would be the best option. Together with the other locals, we decided that the HR topic would be the most interesting for everyone. Due to a lack of applications, however, we decided that we would organise an LTC for our members and invite foreigners to it. We will make typical LTC sessions, but HR will still be a leading topic.” 

RTCs are also an amazing way to became closer to another antenna. For instance, AEGEE-Firenze and AEGEE-Pisa have decided to organise an RTC together. “We decided to apply for hosting an RTC because both the boards of AEGEE-Pisa and AEGEE-Firenze knew that the new members needed an opportunity to learn more about AEGEE, the possibility to join the board, organise international events and the overall structure of the association.” They also gave us some spoilers about their programme: “We will start with a double session about the structure of AEGEE: one for the newbies, one for more advanced members. Then we will talk about the organisation of European events, teamwork and conflict resolution. The next session will be about managing a local: recruiting, fundraising, how to organise thematic activities and management of a local in general.

The “European events organisation” workshop will be held by AEGEE-Pisa founder, honorary member of AEGEE-Firenze and current member of Les Anciens Paolo Santoni: “This is going to be a huge opportunity for all the participants. But let’s talk about the serious stuff: the programme will be filled with the Regional Night (which, with all the nationalities of the participants, will actually be a real EN) and we are organising games and party also for the second night”.

Written by Paola Letizia Murru, AEGEE-Cagliari

The Network Commission, the commission in charge of caring about the antennae in our Network, is always trying to find new ways for locals to cooperate and grow stronger together. Locals can find their twin antenna and organise exchanges and activities together. There is also the Mentorship System, in which stronger locals can help and advise smaller ones. Lastly, there is a new app called tWinder, which places your local just one click away from the perfect couple. We asked some questions to NetCom Kristina Reshetova (AEGEE-Moskva), who is the current project manager, and former NetCom Mario Galea (AEGEE-Valletta), speaker of the Network Commission Agora Asturias-Agora Kyïv, who created the app.  

The AEGEEan: What is Twinder?
Kristina: tWinder is the matching app run by the Network Commission in order to facilitate processes of finding twin souls, mentors and also exchanges for your antennae.

How does it work?
Mario: After some fast SWOT analysis, locals can start to build their “profile” highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and what they are interested in, they send a group photo and a “pickup line”, and they submit it to the database. When a good number of lonely hearts are wandering in the database, then the Network Commission gathers over an informal video conference (because it is much funnier and more bonding than an algorithm) and starts trying to match the profiles. The ones who clearly match in what both are looking for are contacted directly (and we do not limit ourselves to only couples: the more, the merrier!). The others, who still do not match with anyone present in the database, would have their profile photo with the pickup line, some appealing strengths and availability, posted over a dedicate section of the Network Commission Facebook page, as available and looking for. In this way, other locals can swipe through these pictures and if they find someone they like, they can try to match by submitting their profile and highlighting the crush they now have. Inspired by dating sites and Tinder (which was in vogue at the moment), tWinder brings some spice to the NetCom projects and aims at bringing all locals closer to each other in a fun way, because after all, twinning, mentorship and exchanges, apart from being an opportunity for the development of the locals, are of great fun!

Why did you decide to create such a method?
Mario: As part of our work plan, as always, we wanted to promote more the NetCom projects which were obscure for most locals and difficult to get started with in general. Usually, connections are created between board members during some event, which they later expand to their respective boards and antennae, and they work to evolve it into a twinning. However, this mostly happens with the stronger locals who have lots of active members and capacities, while locals with fewer resources, who would be getting the most out of mentorship especially, find it much harder.  In fact, twinning and mentorship are like romantic relationships, and in today’s fast paced globalised life, society created alternatives for those who cannot afford an intense social life and came up with dating sites. Therefore, in a cold beginning of February 2015, with Valentine’s day looming ahead, I decided to revamp the previous unused form into a funnier and more interesting “dating site” style form which would have created a database of antennae looking for action. Since, as normal, not everyone is ready for long commitments, I decided to include also exchanges as an option, which can either be the first step leading to a more stable relationship, or can just end there, like a one night stand, leaving everyone happy.

tWinder was launched on ANNOUNCE-L early in December. How is it going? Any successful “dating” so far?
Kristina: As it was mentioned, this project was launched some time ago. For this term, I am the new Project Manager, that is why we decided to promote this awesome tool again! We got some applications and we are planning to match them in the upcoming weeks!

What is the importance of having a tWinder antenna?
Kristina: First of all, it can give you priceless experience. You will have an opportunity to exchange your knowledge and experience with another local and also learn something from them. Moreover, having a twin antenna means having a new family and the closest of friends.
Why should a local fill the form?
Kristina: To change their lives! To organise awesome events together, to learn, to share and to have fun! Who knows, maybe you will meet THAT someone through this experience?

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Every month, many antennae around the Network organise activities that are related to our Action Agenda and Strategic Plan. Some of these locals become ACTive Locals of the Month, but often there is more than one outstanding activity taking place. One of these activities is the project “If I were in your shoes” by AEGEE-Kyïv and AEGEE-Berlin, which took place last October (Kyïv) and December (Berlin) and was related to the Youth Mobility Focus Area. We spoke to Iryna Sheremeta, President of AEGEE-Kyïv and the main coordinator of the Kyïv part of the project, to find out more!

ACT: Can you tell us a little bit more about your programme and participants?
Irina: The program was connected to the main topic of the project “Participatory Democracy”. The idea was to show young and motivated people how they can participate now and be useful for society. Participants were from different cities in Ukraine and Germany, 18-25 years old, and not only AEGEEans. We mixed activities, because we wanted to balance theory and practice as well as show our participants the city. We met with representatives of different initiatives, organised workshops connected to the topic and walked around the city. The same strategy was used in Berlin. We talked about populism, German local initiatives, for example the bicycle movement. Moreover, we visited some of them and tried the practice of mediation with children, helped in a refugee camp and in a local bicycle association.

How and when did the idea to organise this project come to your mind?
The idea to organise a serious project appeared in the heads of our board members from the very beginning of our term. It was a logical decision after a successful year of the previous board, which organised Autumn Agora Kyïv 2015 and a series of events connected to democracy. The particular idea of this project appeared during our New Years event during a discussion about our focus and how we could link ourselves to the Focus Areas.

 
Which steps did you take to realise your idea?
We did not want to make a project following some grants requirements, but we wanted to find a grant matching our idea for it. We followed the Facebook page of the German embassy in Ukraine and saw an open call there. Then, we contacted AEGEEans from AEGEE-Berlin and developed a common vision. Both locals from Ukraine and Germany were involved, because the project Meet Up is a Ukrainian-German cooperation. Then, the waiting period started and we got an answer from the grant three months later. They asked to specify the topic and to add more group work. Actually, the confirmation from the grant was the first step to realise our idea.

 
How exactly did you apply for the grant?
The application for the grant was quite extensive. It consisted of a general vision of the project, a preliminary programme, a preliminary budget, documents, which proved that we are representatives of NGOs (statutes, documents signed by Presidents, etc). We needed to fill an electronic application form and also send a paper version by mail.

 
What was the outcome of your project?
With this project, we wanted to motivate people to act and to be active in their own country. We wanted to show them that there are many possibilities to do that and many opportunities to develop your own personality. We made a video briefly explaining the main idea of the project and shared it on our pages in social networks. Also, the main task was to create ideas for policies which will be sent to the Kyïv City Council.

 
Did you have any troubles to create and realise your idea? How did you solve them?
I do not know if we can call these things troubles, but one girl from Berlin lost her purse and a boy from Cologne lost his camera. Also one participant  from Berlin had troubles on the border and we needed to send her the invitation on the day of arrival. One more participant missed the flight and did not come at all. But basically everything went well and the atmosphere was amazing and friendly.

Can you tell us a bit more about your local?
AEGEE-Kyïv is 21 years old, very active and motivated. During our history we organised two Agoras, and we regularly organise Summer Universities (SU) and local events. We had several Comité Directeur (CD) representatives in the history of our antenna and we are really proud of that.

 
Describe your local in five words.
Active, motivated, friendly, open-hearted, hospitable.

P.S. More information can be found here.
Written by Action Agenda Coordination Committee and Youth Mobility Working Group

From the 24th till the 27th of November, AEGEE-Aachen is hosting a Network Meeting (NWM). They will have a panel discussion within the context of Brexit, an education in cooperation talk, two days in the Eifel Mountains and a Christmas Party in November. To know more about this fantastic NWM, we interviewed Leonie Riebesam of AEGEE-Aachen

The AEGEEan: What is the focus of your NWM and how does it relate to the title?

Leonie: The topic is cooperation on different levels, e.g. within an AEGEE local or board, but also with the municipality, the university or other partners. A more special part of it is that we are organising a panel discussion about cooperation in Europe for our participants and other students in Aachen on the first day.

Can you tell us more about your schedule?

When the participants arrive on Thursday and come back from the city tour, we start with a nice opening ceremony with some speakers and art performances. Afterwards we will have a panel discussion on the topic “Hurry up Europe! Time for new cooperations”. The next two and a half days will be full of interesting sessions and awesome parties.

What are the objectives of the NWM?

Since cooperation is the theme of our NWM, we want to gather many ideas and experiences on cooperation with different entities, so that our participants can start working on the implementation when they get back. Of course, it’s a NWM, so there will be room to share experiences and knowledge, and get to know the other participants and their locals. And last, but definitely not least: have an awesome weekend full of fun!

What can you tell us about  the place where it will be?

Since it’s hard to find a place to sleep in Aachen, we decided to book a house outside of Aachen. It’s in the Eifel Mountains, directly next to a lake and perfect for team building during the NWM.  Plus, we have real beds there!

How big is the organising team and who is in it?

We started with only four people, but now we are seven. Damien Latacz, whom you might know as President of MedCom, is our Main Organiser. Other than that our President and two other board members are organisers. Also Lucia from Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) and a new member have started helping the participants as incoming responsibles.

Who would be the ideal participant for your NWM?

A cooperative one [she winks, ed.]

What was one of the biggest challenges that you faced in organising this NWM?

Probably the biggest challenges will arise in the week before the NWM, so we can’t say yet. Until now, the most difficult part was getting interesting speakers for our panel discussion. But we managed it! Now it’s time to coordinate them to be sure that the discussion itself is interesting and that our participants can learn a lot from it. That also brings its load of challenges, but don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed!

Tips and tricks for future organisers?

For a NWM find a good topic that will give you the main direction for your plan. That way you can focus your effort because you know what to achieve for your participants. Start planning early and making a to-do list with an integrated timeline is a good way to keep an overview of your whole project. And don’t forget, that the main ingredient for success is communication!

Is there something that you would like to add?

If you missed the deadline to apply to our NWM, don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of other chances to visit the polar bears!

Written by Violeta Croitoru, AEGEE-Iași

You can call her the NetCom of the Two Isles. Lisa Gregis, who cares about what is informally known as “the Rainbow Network” (part of the Italian locals and AEGEE-Valletta), decided to assign the organisation of her Autumn Network Meeting (NWM) to AEGEE-Cagliari, again on an island after AEGEE-Valletta organised the Spring NWM one. From the 3rd to the 6th of November, the Sardinian city will host a NWM that promises to be “rainbowlicious”. Let’s discover more about this event from Lisa and Francesca Zorcolo, President of the Italian local and Main Coordinator of the Network Meeting.

The AEGEEan: Why did you chose Cagliari?

Lisa: The application of Cagliari was simply amazing. When the NetCom received it, I thought they were applying to host an Agora, not a NWM! I thought “this is crazy!”. We should take their application as a model for the future. They are organising an amazing event and I’m really proud of them. The seriousness, passion and devotion they are showing for this event is inspiring for me. I feel I have to work even harder in order to not let them down.

Why did you decide to apply for hosting the NWM?

Francesca: We decided to candidate because the Network Meeting represents the successful completion of a path that we started a few years ago that had the aim of being more active on the European level as a local. We worked really hard and it’s an awesome achievement to finish 2016 hosting the first NWM in the history of AEGEE-Cagliari.

AEGEE-Cagliari Board 2015-2016

How many participants do you have?

Lisa: We will have 40 super lucky participants and we can’t wait to meet them!

What will be presented during sessions?

Lisa: The sessions will be about the new Strategic Plan, Summer Universities, fundraising, how to organise a thematic event, SWOT & sharing best practices, 60 Agorae in 120 Minutes, open space technology, board meetings, European Citizen Initiative, the State of the Network, we will talk about what happened at Agora Chișinău. I’m still building the programme, so something might change, but for sure in a week it will be definite.

Rooms where participants will sleep

What is in store for participants (facilities, meals, social programme)?

Francesca: We would like the participants to feel like guests who are coming here for meeting old friends. That’s why we have organised everything as best as we can offer: they will sleep in the hostel in the city centre, all the meals are provided in restaurants, there will be the famous Abis’ pub crawl, the cost being included in the initial fee, the European night and we will even try to take care of them before and after the event

Who will be a trainer?

Lisa: The trainers will be Zvonimir Canjuga (CD), myself (NetCom), Gunnar Erth (Les Anciens), Carolina Alfano (SUCT), Damiano Deidda (AEGEE-Cagliari), Alessandra Caddeu (AEGEE-Cagliari). Maybe there will be space for someone else, but still I’m happy we can have many trainers with very different experiences, so we can provide the best learning environment for our participants.

The core team of NWM Cagliari

Who is in the core team?

Francesca: The core team is composed by 10 members: Paola, incoming responsible, Thomas, social programme responsible, Antonio, fundraising and logistic responsible, Roberto, logistic responsible, Fabian, meal responsible, Federico and Matteo, IT responsibles, and myself who coordinates.

Did you apply for any funding or did you get any help from the university?

Francesca: In order to offer the “NWM of our dreams” we studied a strong fundraising strategy. That’s why we have applied during this whole year to several call for bids from our university, from our municipality, of our region, and also private ones. Moreover, we have organised different events for self-financing and we have gained some sponsorship for cutting the costs.

One of the rooms where sessions will be held

What is special about AEGEE-Cagliari and the city of Cagliari?

Francesca: AEGEE-Cagliari is first of all a family! We support each other, we study, train, eat all together, the success of one is the success of all of us. I think this is what makes us special and what helps us to always have active members.

Cagliari is an amazing city and we will be lucky to stay in the city centre for the entire event. We are hoping that the weather will be nice, as it usually is.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Have you ever noticed similarities between your country’s and other countries’ traditions for Christmas? There are many symbols attached to this holiday in Europe, and each country has kept its own identity and traditions, while enriching them with influences form various other sources. This diversity and richness prove the importance given by Europeans to the Christmas holiday. This year the AEGEEan asked and found out how people celebrate Christmas in Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

Let’s start from the place where the festive period begins really early. In Romania, celebrations start on November 30th, the day of Saint Andrew. Customs say everyone should hang plenty of garlic and a crucifix next to all doors and windows of the house to keep evil spirits away from their home. At the beginning of December, the Christmas lights are turned on all over the streets. Moş Nicolae comes and gives children presents. Children receive their gifts early in the morning of December 6th, or late at night on December 5th; traditionally, gifts are put in their laced up boots. On December 20th, Saint Ignatius Day, Romanians start the last preparations for Christmas. On this date, they slaughter pigs for the Christmas Eve supper. “Around this date, people usually buy their Christmas trees from public markets or supermarkets.”, Ioana Nedelcu (AEGEE-Ploieşti) told us.
December 24rd it’s Noaptea de ajun, the day children usually start caroling their neighbours. Music is an important part of Christmas celebration all over Romania. There is a special genre of music, related to Christmas carols but with more traditional/Christian lyrics. These are named colindă, which are also popular in Moldova. On the same date, women bake traditional cookies to give children for their caroling. By this time, the Christmas tree must usually already be decorated. During Christmas, Romanians bake or buy various special dishes, including desserts and sweets. Romanians most usually bake cozonac, a type of sweet bread. You can fill the cozonac with walnuts, cocoa, raisins, Turkish delight and in Transylvania: poppy seed paste (cozonac cu mac). Plates heaped with small pastries and cakes (corni și baclava) are prepared to serve to carollers when they call. A boiled vegetable and chicken salad held together with mayonnaise and decorated with olives and boiled eggs is often prepared. It is called Salată de boeuf (from French), although it usually does not contain beef. Other Christmas dishes include piftie, sarmale and pork dishes.

In Moldova, although Christmas is celebrated on December 25th like in Romania, January 7th is also recognised as an official holiday. On Christmas Day, families are having breakfast and/or lunch together.

In Greece, Christmas caroling is also very popular and there are actually three official caroling days. The custom is that children go from house to house singing the carol, with the accompaniment of a triangle, and residents of the house give them a small amount of money. Greek Christmas carols (calanda) are sung on the mornings of Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and January 5, the Eve of the Epiphany. About thirty to twenty years ago, carolers were getting cookies for singing the calanda.

Homemade kourabiedes

Melomakarona and kourabiedes are the two varieties of Christmas and New Year’s cookies in Greece. The first are semolina, cinnamon, and clove cookies drenched in honey, while the second are fresh butter cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar that are normally served on New Year’s, but many succumb to temptation and begin consuming them earlier. Vasilopita is a cake that is eaten on New Year’s Day. Before the cake is baked, a coin covered in foil is placed in it. The person who cuts the cake makes the sign of the cross three times above it and then starts serving the pieces, one to each person, the house, Christ, The Virgin Mary and Saint Vasileios. Whoever has the coin in his piece of cake will have luck for the rest of the year.
On the 1st of January, Saint Vasileios (Saint Basil the Great) from Caesarea, Cappadocia (Turkey), brings the gifts to the children. People in Greece also celebrate Epiphany on the 6th January. In the Greek Orthodox Church, Epiphany celebrates Jesus’s baptism when he was a man. There are many events throughout the country where young men dive into really cold lakes, rivers and the sea to try to be the first to get a cross which has been blessed by a priest and thrown into the water. Whoever gets the cross first is meant to have good luck during the coming year.

“Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun” this is how you say “Merry Christmas” in Turkish. However, how Christmas and the new year is perceived depends on where you are in Turkey. Christians who live in Turkey celebrate Christmas at churches or with family gatherings. In many districts of major cities the lights, Christmas decorations and trees appear in early December. In Turkey Christmas is of course not celebrated as a religious holiday. It can, in many ways, be comparable to Father’s day, Mother’s Day, Valentines Day and so on. Christmas is brought to Turkey by the major stores and supermarkets who have seen their chance to implement this festive celebration. There are some very natural differences to the way other Christian countries celebrate Christmas. In Turkey there is no dancing around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols, just like Christmas cookies and socks over the fireplace are not a part of the tradition yet. But they have Christmas trees and Santa Claus and gifts! In the last years in Turkey they started celebrating the New Year by exchanging gifts.

On the other hand, in Ukraine the festive period starts on New Years Eve. Ukrainians usually congregate in a house of their families and/or friends. They have many dishes at the table, so they start with food, watching different TV shows and chatting. When it is 00:00 the champagne is opened, and there are exclamations “Urrraaaa” (Hurrah) and people wishing everyone Happy New Year. “After midnight, children find their presents under the New Year tree, some other people are just exchanging presents, telling nice words to people. Then Ukrainians call other friends, who are not celebrating with them and congratulate everyone they think is important. Very often the mobile network is overloaded. Then we have parties till the morning, and go to bed at 02:00-08:00 (it depends). In the morning celebration continues.”, says Hanna Polishchuk (AEGEE-Kyiv).
On the 6th of January it is Sviat Vechir (Holy Evening). In the evening, after 6pm all family congregates at the table, which has 12 dishes (obligatory). The main dish is called Kutia (sweet grain pudding), and everyone should eat at least one spoon of this dish first. After dinner, children (and sometimes adults) wear traditional clothes and go around carol singing. People give them sweets and close friends give also money. The next day (January 7th) is Christmas. In the morning people tell each family member “The Christ was born”, and they answer “Glory to Him”. They tell this three times, and each time people kiss the cheek of the person, to whom they tell these words. On this day people continue going round carol-singing. There is a tradition to forgive everyone on this day.

Photo by Szabina Hellinger

In Hungary, Santa is called Mikulás and comes on the 6th of December instead of Christmas. He brings presents to children in their boots in case they have been behaving well all throughout the year. If they have been naughty, they get some rods (for being whipped with) from krampuses instead. “On Christmas night, the 24th of December (Szenteste = Holy Night) we decorate our Christmas tree indoors and “Little Jesus” (Jézuska) is supposed to bring nice presents for the kids untill the next morning, placing them under the tree.”, Balázs Kovács (AEGEE-Debrecen) told us. The Christmas decoration involves szaloncukor, special Hungarian goodies.

Hoping you enjoyed reading this article, the AEGEEan would like to wish you Merry Christmas anywhere you are!

Written by Lia Tuska, AEGEE-Kastoria/Sofia

Canterbury is ready to make its entrance in the AEGEE’s Network. Here the story of the new Contact since the first steps, told by Emily Zerling, one of the founders.

The AEGEEan: Please, introduce yourself.

Emily: My name is Emily Zerling. I’m 20 years old. I’m from Paris in France. As the daughter of a French father and an English mother, I feel very European myself. I’m a student in my second year studying at the University of Kent (Canterbury) doing a five-year course in Politics and International Relations in partnership with one of France’s “Grandes Ecoles” called Sciences Po Lille. At the end of these five years, I will have spent two years in Canterbury and three years in Lille and I will receive a double degree. I would like to work if possible in the European Union institutions.

How did you hear about AEGEE?

I first heard about AEGEE last year when I was studying in Lille. I was one of AEGEE-Lille’s first members and coordinated the society’s communication and advertising through its Facebook and Twitter pages.

Why did you decide to create your own Antenna?

I really enjoyed being part of AEGEE-Lille, so I wanted to continue the AEGEE experience in Canterbury by creating my own. With some friends, we decided to create a new contact based at the University of Kent where we all study. The University of Kent describes itself as the UK’s European university but there wasn’t any European society we could join so we decided to set up an AEGEE on campus.

The main motivation and the main reason why me and my team decided to create a contact of AEGEE Europe in Canterbury was to raise awareness about the EU in the UK and challenge preconceived ideas, especially the rise of Euroscepticism which the UK is facing at the moment. We are therefore mainly addressed towards British students who take an interest in European projects.

Was it difficult to start?

It wasn’t easy at the beginning because we first had to get the university’s approval which took quite a long time. But once, we had their approval, everything went quite quickly. Experienced AEGEE members also helped us to get everything started so it wasn’t too difficult.

How many people are currently involved?

For the moment, six people are involved full time and all come from different European countries, but we aim to target many more members in the following weeks.

Do you get any support from other AEGEE-locals?

We don’t but we are going to try to establish a contact very soon with all the other UK AEGEE-locals.

Is there something you need?

We need to find as much members as possible who are interested in helping us setting up our contact.

How would you describe Canterbury?

Canterbury is the ideal place for setting up AEGEE because it will provide our antenna with many opportunities such as the fact that the city is well connected to other important European cities like London, Lille, Paris and Brussels. The town is also a very popular tourist destination and a historical city with a wealthy legacy.

The city is full of students who come from all over England and from all over Europe and the rest of the world. It appears to be a very dynamic town with an important student life with many bars, clubs and events for all occasions. Kent Union, the University of Kent’s student organisation, looks after more than 200 societies and gives each and every society the possibility to develop itself, providing them with facilities and equipment.

What are your plans for the new Contact?

Our plans are to organise many events, conferences at the University of Kent where we could discuss European issues with students studying in Canterbury. We would like to put in place many debates where we could invite British MEPS or MPS to talk to students about European issues, objectives and especially engage a discussion about a burning issue at the moment which is the UK’s tricky relationship with the European Union. During the following year, we intend to run a campaign called “UK stay in the EU” if the EU referendum was to take place.

Are you already organising something?

Our first project will be to take part and support an Election Observation Mission focusing on the 2015 General Elections in the UK, that will be held in Canterbury in May.

How do you imagine your Contact in a year?

We hope that in a year’s time, we will have been able to expand greatly and many UK students will have joined us and taken part in our European projects.

Written by Karina A. Silivas, AEGEE-Udine

The second roud of Proposals for Dummies deals with three proposals regarding the Network, aiming to make it more efficient and organised. If accepted, these proposals will be affecting not only the Network Commission, but also the AEGEE antennae. Firstly, we will deal with the proposal ‘Upgrading and Deleting locals’, secondly we deal with ‘Fixing a Date on which the NetCom should start his or her mandate after the Agora’, and last but not least, we deal with the proposal ‘Allowing contacts to exceptionally sign Convention d’Adhesion’. 

The first proposal, ‘Improve the dynamic of Upgrading and Deleting locals’, was proposed by Holger Schmitt on behalf of the Comité Directeur and Jorge Sanchez Hernandez on behalf of AEGEE-Dresden. They are proposing that the upgrade from Contact Antenna to Antenna or downgrade of an Antenna should be done in the passing time of two Agorae, not by a calendar year as it is written in the CIA now: “Upgrade can only take place at least a year after the contact has signed the CdA.” With this rule, a Contact Antenna or Antenna that has been created, for example at Autumn Agora Cagliari 2014, can not be upgraded at Autumn Agora Kyiv 2015 if the dates of Agora Kyiv are earlier than Agora Cagliari’s. The proposal therefore aims to make the process of upgrading less dependent on the exact dates of the Agora. At the same time, the locals which have been downgraded from the status of Antenna (in case of complete inactivity and abandoment) can be deleted at the first Agora after the decision was made, and not at the second, thereby helping to reach a better and complete AEGEE Network. If you wish to read more about this proposal and the comments of the members, you can click here.

The second proposal, ‘Fixed terms of the members of the Network Commission’, was submitted by Ana Potočnik and Mario Galea on behalf of the Network Commission (NetCom) of AEGEE-Europe. They are proposing to change the date a Network Commissioner starts his or her term, because right now he or she is supposed to start right after the election without having had a Knowledge Transfer. Therefore, the proposal suggests to have the mandate start on a set time after the Agora. In the time between the election and the start of the mandate, the newly Network Commissioner can receive Knowledge Transfer and have some extra time in order to get to know his or her locals (with the information provided by the outgoing NetCom without violating the non-disclosure agreement) and create an acivity plan. This way, the Network Commissioner will be better prepared, but also the locals will benefit with more support from their NetCom. For more details and reactions about this proposal, click here.

The last proposal, ‘Allowing contacts to exceptionally sign Convention d’Adhesion’, was proposed by Paul Smits, on behalf of the Comité Directeur and Boudewijn Steenhof, on behalf of Network Commission. They are proposing that there should be an exception for the to-be Contact Antennas from the rules of Motion on the Contacts and the decision established at the Agora Budapest 2012 (namely that the Contact should attend at least one Network Meeting and afterwards attend the next Agora where the members should expose their plans and should also be prepared to answer to the questions asked by the delegates). They believe that the Contact shouldn’t need to wait for an Agora in order to become an Antenna in cases in which they would have a strong benefit of the AEGEE name. Officially being part of AEGEE, the to-be Contact Antenna will grow faster and with more efficiency as the usage of the AEGEE-logo and calling oneself AEGEE is often very important for recognition in the specific city. This exception would also increase the quality of the AEGEE Network. For more information about this proposal, click here.

Written by Gabriela Cioată, AEGEE-București