Today was the first day of our Youth Seminar “Living in Europe Together: Our Challenge”, the perfect sunny day for getting to know each other.
The morning was dedicated to presentations and team-building activities. First and indispensable: learning everyone’s names! The participants played a game associating names with gestures, a good way to break the ice!
The Facilitator Team proceeded to present the program of the week, beautifully illustrated by Coline, our graphic reporter. The young people then were asked to complete the Tree of Fears, Contributions and Expectations on the seminar, sharing with other their thoughts on the days to come.
We had the pleasant visit of our friends from United Societies of Balkans, represented by Aris who presented the organisations and its daily work 🙂 USB will be our host in Thessaloniki! The team building continued with a few group activities based on non-formal education such as “2 truths 1 lie” and “Mission Impossible”.
During the afternoon, the group went on a very special hike through the forest nearby. They participated in a team-building activity that requested from them listening, respect for each other, and combining ideas. They did it all while creating new friends and great memories!
The last activities of the day consisted in presenting each other countries and learning from others: in groups, the young people presented each of their countries from social, political, economical and cultural points of views.
Finally, the first day of the activity ended with the first of 3 intercultural evenings during which the participants will share with the group some of their country’s interesting and funny facts or information: music, food, games, celebrities, history, personal stories. The first countries presented were: Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Armenia and France.
This first day was focused on getting to know each other and each others countries, our differences and the things that bring us togther. The names are memorised, the special dishes were devoured and already we can feel a collaborative and enthusiastic energy floating in the air.
Smiles and sun rays from Thessaloniki,
Youth Express Network
This project was supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union