Wednesday; 13.07.2011

On Wednesday morning we had one workshop about how to be a good leader held by the Romanians. Afterwards we had to choose between one about Group Motivation and Facilitation Skills by the Bulgarians and one about Public Speaking by the Hungarians.
We liked all three Workshops and found them interesting, we also learned very much to take home with us.
After lunch we had our second Open Space, some groups worked on preparing their workshops for the next days. Some people went swimming or hiking, some relaxed and some did Teambuilding Activities on the slackline.
After Open Space we went into the forest (near the river) to have our second reflection. It started with a freewrite and ended with a discussion in our familiy groups.
Dinner was prepared by the Romanians, they made polenta (or Mamaliga) with eggs, cheese, greek yogurt and tomato sauce with salad. For dessert they made a special cake with philadelphia cheese, marmelade and butter cookies. After dinner they started with a very funny game of which we'll just tell you this much: tied legs, dice and reaching the finish. After we found three winner groups we continued with two very funny games (Pantomiming Animals and Honey, do you love me?).
We went to bed quite late, but the evening was worth it.
-Fini, Jojo, Gabe

On Monday our first cultural evening took place. The Austrian group started to cook dinner which was a typical YTAE dinner, chilli. Even if it was new for some people they liked it and afterwards they presented us the history and growing of their group. The evening was ended by sitting around the campfire, eating apples filled with nutella and cereals.

Our third day arrived, and we started with two interesting workshops about intercultural communication presented by Romania and Austria. Through playing games, making brainstorming and giving feedback we were able to get the first insight on this topic. After lunch we had open space where every person had the chance to choose what to do. Some people went swimming, others prepared their workshops or just chilled.

Another new thing of today was our first reflection. The activity took place somewhere in the forest and it contained three parts. We worked as individuals (freewriting in order for us to express our thoughts), with our family group (we answered three questions) and in the end with all the group.

Monday. 11.07.2011

We arrived at the camp yesterday. The weather was really great. We started with the water ceremony which is already explained in an earlier post ;) Later everyone played lots of 'get to know' games which helped us to learn each other's names, hopes and wishes. After dinner we divided into family groups and defined the chores at the camp.
Today we got up early and had breakfast. It was raining heavily but we went to the forest for more 'getting to know' and teambuilding games. After lunch the weather became sunny again and we went to the river for more teambuilding and trust-building games. Later almost everybody jumped into the river in spite of the fact that the water was freezing. It was such a fun :))

Sunday

Saturday

Our Program for the week!

May 27. The first day at all.:)

At 10:30, we met at the Vienna Main Train Station!...

On the first they we reached the camp in the National park Gesäuse. We stay in a cottage, it looks good.:P






































































The weather isn’t very nice, but we’re having fun.

First we played a “getting to know each other” game. We had to bring a cultural object, which describes us. Then we exchanged them. Then everybody had to tell the story of the exchanged object. In this way we all got to know each other, and found out some personal information about us.

The next activity was the water ceremony. Everybody had to bring water from the nearest river\spring from the place they live. After all we mixed all the water and wished something good for the camp.

In the end of the APV everybody will take from the mixed water and bring it home.

We had lunch bio-sandwiches. Then we took a walk to a caffeteria and started planning the camp.

We stayed there for hours discussing and sharing our ideas, expectations and fears.

We got very tired, so we drunk a caffe. It really helped energizing us…

In the end of the evening we came back to the cottage and made the dinner.

We all got wet on the road, so we had to change our clothes. It was a funny day.

See you soon…

-Alessandra (Bulgaria)

APV: First things first!

The first thing we needed to do was have an "Advanced Planning Visit!" So, we found a date when we could all meet and reserved a place to stay in the National Park Gesäuse, where the camp will take place.

Then, each partner selected 1 youth to accompany them to the APV. They also gather ideas from the other youth who couldn't come to the APV so that their voices were also represented!

We will meet on May 27-29 in Gstatterboden Campground.

-n8