I always
had these big problems with coming back from EYP sessions and having troubles
with explaining to people what is EYP and why it’s such a great things for me
and for so many other people. I re-read all the things I wrote about EYP in my
old blog over the last year and found out that it was mainly about the mess of
emotions, people, happiness, post-EYP-depression and applying for new events
all over again. So today, just being back to Italy after two amazing EYP event
in a row, I want to for once to do it properly. The structure I will follow is
that of a debriefing scheme we are using there to clear up the mind; FFFF –
facts; feelings; findings; future.
Facts: EYP,
Riga IS, Klaipeda ESRS.
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The European Youth Parliament is a politically and religiously
unbound non-profit organisation,
which encourages European youth to actively engage in citizenship and cultural
understanding. It involves around 40,000 youngsters from all around Europe in its events and has around 5,000 active members in the
different countries. © Wikipedia
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Two officially used languages are English and French
as the organization first appeared as a school project in France in 1988.
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Typical EYP event is an extended parliamentary
simulation which consists of three main parts:
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| Would strongly advise see this one in big size |
Teambuilding, Committee Work
(each committee is assigned name and topic following the actual committees of
European Parliament) and General Assembly. The length of the session may vary
significantly depending on the type of the event – may it be a one-day school
session, EYP Weekend, Regional Session, National Selection Conference or a
flagship event of EYP – International Session (IS) which happens thrice a year
and bringing together delegations all over Europe for 9 or more days.
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Main participants of the session are delegates
organised into committees. Each committee is accompanied by a chairperson (or
two), each chairperson is a part of a bigger officials team which also includes
vice-presidents and a president of the session. Each session has its’ own team
of organisers – most self-dedicated people in the world who are responsible for
pretty much everything before and during the event. Session may also have (or
not) a media team.
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I got into EYP absolutely accidently the last February
by finding the application form for the regional session of EYP Belarus in
Vilnius. Since then I’ve been on 7 events in 4 countries and 6 different
cities, both as delegate, chairperson and journalist.
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Although not being selected the last year for the
international session, I was chosen to participate in this year's IS in Riga in
the middle of March. Was so happy that actually didn’t even think about how it
will result into skipping a week of studies.
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Some of my best friends at the moment are those I’ve met
in EYP on my first session. After I found out they are applying as chairpersons
for another event – European Student Regional Session in Klaipeda in the end of
March – I also wrote an application (was preparing for an exam at that
moment, but who cares). After being selected there I at last have been hesitant
for a while (as that was resulting already into two weeks in a row of skipped
university), but as two of my friends got selected as well, gave it a try
(dreading in advance the process of catching up the anatomy program).
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I spent 8 days in Riga as a part of a Committee on Culture
and Education 1 (CULT 1). We had 2 days on teambuilding, 2 more – on Committee
Work focused on the topic of discrimination in sports and had 2 days of General
Assembly. We had 3 parties, 2 outside dinners, eurovillage and euroconcert (one
of each), average temperature of minus 6, 1 chairperson from UK and enormous
quantity of shared fun and inspiration.
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Klaipeda ESRS being consisted only of 3 days was
nonetheless just as a huge event for me as Riga IS – but differently. It was a
CULT committee again with an enormously controversial topic of cultural impact
of immigration, me chairing together with 1 of the 2 vice-presidents, having 5
committees on the session, around 4 hours for teambuilding and sleeping on
average around 4.5 hours per day.
Feelings.
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I had these absolutely controversial
stages of appreciating my international session and being a delegate after more
than 6 months break. I was absolutely overexcited at first – while packing and
during the flight, after arrival, meeting my roomies, appreciating first of the
many really tasty breakfasts (oh, food in Riga was just MUCH LOVE). I felt a
bit lost and reflexive during the couple of the next days, having periods of depressive
thoughts of going into nowhere. What helped me a lot were all these people
around – all over the world, all over the opinions; my night talks with my committee mates and
our whats’up chatting; meeting random people on the way, sometimes letting them
go and sometimes don’t. That was the moment when I realized – people around might
be the best way to solve yourself. I just went to sleep that day and woke up
being relieved, ready to work, feeling our committee as a team and full of the
motivation to move. That stage was worth coming through the second, and that’s
what EYP was for me at that moment and always is – it’s teaching the things
about myself and the world around so out of a sudden and so right, that it’s
breath catching.
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| EYP and its people, Riga and its nightlights. |
It was hard and demanding; it was a
committee work of a high academic quality; we were all getting ill one after
the other after walking under the snow every single morning; General Assembly
was somewhat frustrating and I even had a cup of coffee (first time in half of
the year) to keep me awake on Friday. And it was marvelous – people around,
Riga with its’ old town, having lunches together, dancing on coffee breaks,
feeling along with so many others about that bright future somewhere ahead. I
felt a great emptiness while leaving Riga – it was early in the morning after
somewhat of 3 hours of sleep on Sunday, the city was empty, I was walking alone
and having this feeling in my body – about how important it was. How bright,
how cool, how complicated and how enormously great.
So I had a three days break before
coming back to EYP as a chairperson. I packed my stuff, I took my brother, my
friends, got into the train and five hours later took off in Klaipeda –
Lithuanian city standing on the Baltic Sea.
I always had these tender feelings to
seas as something eternally free and heart-breaking and inspiring. Was the
session so great due to the sea? Was it about people? Was it the feeling of
being a first chairperson for a lot of newcomers into EYP? I was terribly ill
for two out of three days of the session, and being able to stand it all
through the event was a great achievement and somehow an experience for me. I
was ready to give up so many times when it was a song I was singing with
delegates, a cup of tea from someone passing by, videos from our media team, my
co- and soul-chairs, delegates asking questions about the future sessions, talks
and laughs, - all the things and people which were bringing me back to life all
over again. I was putting my health as a higher priority so often that it was
an enormous relief for caring about something else even more.
We have seen the sea as well – after
the event had ended the officials team took the bus and went to the beach and
had a giant group hug as the sun went down, with the waves behind us sound like
breathing. That’s the feeling from that feeling section – been a part of the
whole, free, happy, inspired, daring and never giving up.
Findings.
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| It's here cause I miss CULT 1 and its people a lot. |
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| Panda as a symbol of discrimintaion on the streets of Riga. |
I cannot divide these two weeks into
periods in this section. My findings are about the people – how controversial
and different and beautiful they are. About myself – how I can learn a lot from
the others and how the only limits there are I’m creating myself. About EYP and
its academic sides I never thought that profoundly before. About how beautiful
the sea is after the sunset. About pandas being a symbol of fight against
discrimination. About how 8 people can fit into one car (somebody should have
been filming.
About how expressing yourself is great and how sleep
deprivation really doesn’t matter anymore.
Future.
More important, I found out a new way
to feel about such events ending. I stormed back home like a hurricane today,
hugged my flatmate, cleaned the room, got ready for tomorrow and wrote more
than 1500 words for that post about how EYP is changing my life all over again.
I was seriously thinking about having
a big gap in EYP, or, probably, even quieting it at all. I don’t think so
anymore. What I think is that as long as this project will teach me such
valuable things, bring me to such beautiful places and help me to meet all
these people – I will be doing it.
On the closing ceremony of the Riga IS we were told a beautiful legend about the city – how every five years a voice from the river Daugava asks if Riga is ready. The answer should always be no – otherwise the Daugava will rise and drawn the city. Believe me, I’ve seen this river – it’s quite possible.
That was the best way to describe this project and our involvement in it I could imagine. EYP is never ready – and, probably, it’s where our strength is.
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| Daugava might be ready from the look of it, but we are not. |
It's already around 1700 words and I still don’t feel like it’s ready, however, at least, it follows some structure now. And emotions – well, they are so much and such, that don’t need to be explained over and over again.
Such EYP, much love.
With lots of love,
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