Hello my lovely American lads (influenced by this Irish girl),
I apologize the lack of posts on my blog. This fall has been super busy in terms of schoolwork.
Luckily, this week I have a fall break. Last ten days I've spent in Laax, Switzerland, in the 83rd International session of EYP. I want to tell you something about these 10 amazing days.
EYP - European Youth Parliament is an NGO that has members in 40 countries throughout Europe (there are 50 countries in Europe overall). EYP is not related to the European Union. EYP has no political power and therefore it is not politically committed.
There are 3 types of sessions held each year: regional, national and international. Regionals and nationals are for the members of the corresponding country. International sessions are for members that have been selected from the other two sessions.
In each sessions the delegates are split into different committees. Each committee has one issue, usually concerning events going on in Europe. Their task is to solve the issue by identifying problems and coming up with a plan on how to solve them. Each resolution is presented in General Assembly where all the delegates can discuss and debate on the issue.
Sounds like politics, huh? Well, I bet this is easier and much more fun. EYP is actually more about problem solving, debating, interacting, discussing and thinking about current issues. Being an active citizen of Europe. Meeting people from all over Europe.
This was a brief introduction of EYP.
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| The map of Europe - just in case you wanted to see where Switzerland is. |
I was selected to this Laax International session (IS) last February. When October finally came and I had finished my marticulation exams, I was definitely ready for Laax.
Laax is a small village surrounded by the Alps. Nature was beautiful and yet so green. The landscape was breathtaking.
One day I had an opportunity to go hiking. It was a four-hour hike but it was totally worth it.
The 10-day session included lots of events where you were able to try foods from different European countries. The picture is from the Eurovillage, where the delegates from all the 40 countries had brought some traditional food. We brought salty liquorice, rye bread, cranberries, cloudberries, reindeer meat and of course Finnish chocolate!
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| Irish, Finnish, German, Czech Republican and Bosnian girls |
There were 15 delegates on my committee. Our
topic was about the ageing society in Europe, meaning there are more old people than young people in the society. On the picture above you see my roommates who were also on my committee.
We also rode the ski lift up to the mountain. We were above the clouds, 7200 ft above the sea level.
Me and my three friends from Finland decided to spend a couple of hours exploring Zurich before going to the airport. We didn't have much time to walk around but Zurich seemed to be a nice and beautiful town. I will definitely visit it one day again.
This session was one of the best things in my life. I learned a lot about different cultures in Europe. Even though Europe is coherent, there is a huge diversity of cultures and traditions. As I learned more about differences within Europe, I became more open-minded. I made friends with people from Eastern Europe. I've never known anyone from Eastern Europe before the session. Having friends and connections everywhere in Europe is precious.
The session also reminded me of how much I love traveling and exploring the world. There's so much to see and experience. So many people I haven't met yet.
I'm still thinking about studying abroad...
Want to see more pictures of Laax?
Happy Halloween (ik I am a little bit early...)
Lots of love,
Anette
