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

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

Pyjama-parties, toga-parties, fighter-parties, western-parties: These are all themes that have been used in previous AEGEE parties but how exactly does organisers manage to create an interesting social programme and what work goes into the process? The AEGEEan has interviewed the secretary Tom Roelen from AEGEE-Enschede’s Social Programme Committee to find out how far along in the process they are of organising the social programme for the upcoming Agora.

Tom, how far are you in the process of organising the social programme?

“It has been a bit challenging for us to find suitable locations for the parties because the Agora will be taking place during a very busy week with two national holidays (April 30th and May 5th 2012). In addition, the local football club will be playing an important match on May 2nd 2012. We have had to change the entire social programme two times now, but in the end I am very happy with the programme as it stands now. All the dates have been set and at this point we are about to finalize and sign contracts with several local venues.”

Can you already reveal some details about the social programme?

“Unfortunately, I can’t give you too much specifics about the social programme at this time. What I can tell you right now is that the European Night will take place at actual crawling distance from the gym and we’ll also visit Asterion, the pub which has been operated by AEGEE-Enschede for the past 16 years. We were trying very hard to organise an open-air concert in the city centre, but it was  proven to be quite difficult, in part due to all the other events taking place in the city during the Agora. In the end the concert was unfortunately dropped, partly because we were only able to get a permit until midnight which meant that we were only able to be there for 1,5 hour. However, we had already arranged an after party right next to the planned location for the stage and will instead go there straight away.”

Have you already decided any themes for the parties?

“We have been working on several ideas for theme parties and recently we decided which ideas we are going to implement. There will be two theme parties. The first one will be “One-piece Outfit”. I am not really sure how we came up with that idea, actually someone just blurted it out during a meeting and we all liked it, so we decided to stick with it. The second theme party is called “AEGEE’s Anatomy: Bring your own Scrubs”. As one probably has guessed by the name, it will be a doctor/nurse/hospital themed party.  It will take place in the building that houses AEGEE-Enschede as well as three other student associations. Since the number of participants is way too large for our own pub to handle by itself, we will also be making use of the other association’s pubs in the building. We are converting the entire building into a hospital (we are probably going to have to spend a few weeks to make all the decorations that we want for the bars and hallways), each pub will represent a different room from the hospital (ER, Doctor’s Lounge, and so on). We might also have a different music style in each room, but that is something that still needs to be decided.  This will be (by far) the largest party in terms of effort and time we are putting into it and it would be really cool if everyone shows up in a doctor or nurse outfit.”

What has been your inspiration?

“I have visited quite a few statutory events and each time I was blown away by the social programme. Granted, some parties were better than others, but the people I’ve met and the atmosphere throughout the events have been amazing every single time. I consider this Agora an excellent opportunity for me to give something back for the great experiences that I have had at past events. As for the rest of the team – all members of the social programme team have served a 1-year term in the board of the AEGEE-Enschede pub at various points between 2008 and 2012. We have over four years worth of experience in organising parties between us and during these four years we have gathered a lot of contacts at the local brewery, local clubs and event organisers, which we can now put to good use. I suppose partying is almost a second nature to us,” he says with a smile.

When will the final program be revealed?

“To be honest I do not know when our programme will be made public. It’s done when it’s done, only thing I can say is that we are almost ready for it to be revealed.”

As it stands now the social programme will be as follows (this is not 100 percent certain yet!)

May 1st (arrival day)
Theme party: One-piece Outfit
(bring your bathrobe, jumpsuit, worker overall, and so forth)
(on university campus)

May 2nd
European Night
(on university campus)

May 3rd
Party at club ZOZO
(in city centre)

May 4th
Theme party: AEGEE’s Anatomy: Bring your own Scrubs!
(bring a doctor or nurse outfit)
(in city centre)

May 5th
– still work in progress –

Pre-Agora Party 

Furthermore, Tom Roelen told The AEGEEan that the Agora Social Programme Commitee is organising a Pre-Agora party at Asterion on Thursday March 15th. It is something that they have been planning recently in order to get everyone in Enschede even more excited about the Agora. An event that has been aimed and promoted towards the members of AEGEE-Enschede (including a few from AEGEE-Leiden and AEGEE-Utrecht as well), but members from other antennae are of course also very welcome to join them and get a taste of what the parties at the Agora are going to be like.

So even though nothing is for certain, it seems that this committee is very far along in the process of setting up a fantastic social programme for Agora Enschede. Whether it is going to be a theme based on inspiration from hospitals or one-piece outfits (or both) then one thing is for sure AEGEE-Enschede is prepared, meaning the Agora participants should come prepared too (with creative outfits).

Stay tuned to The AEGEEan, we will keep you updated on what you need to bring!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København