Category Archive : culturenight

Music makes feelings – Rijeka

From 3rduntil 9th of March wEUnite had the pleasure to take part in the second part of the Youth Exchange “I feel good” which was called “Music Makes Feelings” organized by Syncro Synergy Croatia. As the title already says, the participants explored their experiences and feelings about all that has to do with music while being in the beautiful city of Rijeka. Pato, Tini, two Manuels, Marion and Nina started their journey to Croatia with lots of motivation and enthusiasm. And they came back happy and with many new songs stuck in their head! 

The first day started with great teambuilding activities in the sun. After finding all the seven dragon balls the participants could make a wish. They chose Karaoke, and magically, their wish was granted later that week!
Apart from nightly jam sessions and cool activities in the hostel, the participants got the chance go to the city as a group. Half of them visited RiRock, an organisation that helps to connect youngsters with music through music lessons and providing them with places where they can practise, and the other half Radio Rijeka. Both trips were really interesting and everyone was happy sharing their impressions later in the big group.
Another great experience was the flashmob that took place in the centre of Rijeka. It started with everyone standing frozen on a spot and then being “defrosted” by the tunes of “Don’t Worry Be Happy” played on the clarinet. The joyful atmosphere was enhanced by the sunny weather, and later everyone gathered for a picture.
During “I feel good” the participants did not only learn about music and feelings, but also about different countries and cultures, numerous languages, their personal strengths and weaknesses (enhanced by acting out all Youthpass key competences during the city rally in Rijeka), the idea behind those Erasmus+ projects, and most importantly: they made friends. Spending a whole week with 30 people from officially 5 (but really more) different nations makes you see the world from different angles and understand opinions that differ from yours. You learn so much about others but also about yourself and your country as you talk about all the similarities and differences in your free time. (Which was always a lot of fun, as you can see on the pictures below).

Now each member of the Austrian team will share their thoughts on the Youth Exchange:

Nina:

Music makes feelings – what a beautiful title for an amazing youth exchange. Being in Rijeka again with many people I had the pleasure to meet before and also lots of new faces was simply great! Never have I seen a group of strangers grew together to such a strong team this fast. Having been part of it makes me feel proud. This experience and all the memories will stay with me for a very long time 🙂

Tini:

It’s hard to describe this week in just a few sentences. I learned a lot about myself and experienced what it is like to be dragged out of my comfort zone right into the stress zone. But life starts where the comfort zone ends. I’m very thankful that I got the opportunity to improve myself and got inspired to try new things that used to scare me. This week in Croatia made me a better person 🙂

Marion:

This was only my second Youth Exchange, but I could feel from the beginning that we all would have a great time together. Our group dynamic was just so purely friendly and full of positive energy. When thinking about it now, I feel really grateful to have been part of it and to have shared happy and sad feelings with such wonderful people.

Pato:

This YE was something very special. I think it was one of the greatest experiences that I could have ever had. Creating music out of nothing with people who are unique in every different way you can imagine. Starting from the first day on we all shared a deep connection together. It was being open-hearted and open-minded. In fact, it didn’t take us a day to learn all those names by heart just because we were so different. Some played an instrument, some didn’t. Some had their funny dance workshops some had their own private time with a companion at the seaside. And everybody was still part of this amazing group. We were one big amount of kindness and amazingness.

Manuel E.:

Never have I ever … felt so emotional on a project. This Youth Exchange was not only interesting or just a good idea. It was timeless and sometimes breathtaking. Now I know that music truly makes feelings. 

Manuel G.:

After this project I really believe that “Music Makes Feelings”. Within this awesome week with so many great and lovely people, I learned and experienced a lot that helped me to grow once more. I feel so much better, so much more motivated and so much more positive than ever before. I am still overwhelmed by all these wonderful memories in my head. A big thanks and a lot of hugs to every single one of you! You made this project very special to me!

wEUnite in Ireland!

Tini, Manuel, Sarah and Daniel went on a project to Ireland for 9 days (29.10.-07.11.2015). There they learnt something about social media, the Irish culture but also they made new friends and had the chance to see parts of the country. 
To give you an impression about their time there,
keep on scrolling and reading 🙂

The reason for going there was a training course organized by „the traveller voice magazine“ under the topic „in yer face(book)“. This TC aimed to work on the proper use of social media and to create awareness about cyber-bullying, racism and slander in the web as well as policies of the most common social media platforms. „As I am very interested in any kind of social media due to my studies I decided to apply to participate“, said Sarah who participated in an Erasmus+ Project for the first time.
Manuel, who recently joined wEUnite said „The reason why I wanted to join the project in Ireland – besides seeing this wonderful country – was to gain new perspectives concerning Social Media nowadays and also to learn new techniques to work with people in a team“ – and after the project he told us that his expectations were met.

„I got the chance to meet new people and got to know my friends even better“
  „the grass is so green it’s unbelieveable“ and „it looks like a golf court“ were sentences that were said quite often during their stay in this beautiful country.

Irish culture and traditions were explored during the 3 days-stay in Dublin and several excursions to famous ancient sights that are located in Meath and Lough, such as Newgrange, Drogheda and the seaside were made. „I got to know different kinds of cultural insights especially as some travellers joined our group and explained several aspects of their unique culture and traditions.“
They all say, that they’ve learnt a variety of new skills throughout this week. Daniel explained „the week in Newgrange met my expectations as I was able to develop new thoughts about inter-human exchange both online and offline in various discussions with peers from the other participating countries.“

The intercultural experiences they made included singing Irish songs about the “drunk lifestyle” as well as touching the boobs of the Molly Malone statue in the centre of Dublin for good luck. A whiskey tasting and twisting our tongues while trying to speak Polish were also parts of their trip and cultural exchange that they will definitely remember. „I enjoyed the intercultural night very much, as I learned various dances from other cultures“, stated Tini. The opportunity to try some new drinks from other cultures was also quite appreciated by our group.

All of them are keen on visiting Ireland again – for another project or to visit new-made friends.

A roadtrip through Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey, Czech Republic and Italy!

As we were extremely busy travelling through all countries we barely had time to write about our cultural experience. It would be boring to list all the facts and figures, so we decided to ask around and give you some quotes and impressions by our participants 🙂


„It was very nice to get to know so many new things about Estonia and I found so many similarities between our nations. From what I have heard at the cultural night I can even imagine to live there some day.“ – Paula, 21, Poland




„My favorite cultural evening was the Estonian one. They had some really delicious food, showed us a nice traditional dance and their presentations were great! The self-deprecation with the tourist guide video was hilarious. Also, they made me fall in love with Estonia!“ – Alex, 20, Austria


„Lithuanian night was great – I enjoyed it so much! I like the fact about the most difficult language and about their passion for basketball. Of course I enjoyed the food they offered as well, it was just awesome and delicious!“ – Michal, 24, Czech Republic
(This participant, Michal, is a mystery to everyone else on the training course… We are not sure whether he is Czech, Italian or Polish, maybe Austrian, as he was part of all those cultural nights. If anyone knows more – contact us!)




„I really appreciate the richness of details, food and music, and also the traditional dresses! Turkey is really an amazing place, full of history and culture. A great mix of ethnies! I am charmed by this country and would love to visit it some day.“ – Federica, 24, Italy







„It was awesome to see the next country which has so many interesting things to offer. Yet again I was 
amazed and charmed. Next year I will visit the Czech Republic for sure!“ – Adam, 24, Poland 

I wasn’t aware that different cultures bring so many different aspects with it. I learned how to use hand gestures to underline the things being said. This was mostly brought to us by the Italians.“ – Manuel, 21, Austria

A short visit to Austria & Poland!

So many different cultures in only two days! If we would tell you all about Austria and Poland that we have heard at the cultural nights until now, we could write pages… That’s why we decided to ask some participants after every presentation how they liked it – by doing this they already used their newly learnt rhetorical skills : )


#1 Austrian night

“What I really liked at the Austrian night was the home-made Zirbenschnaps. By drinking it, I had the feeling to smell and drink a pine tree at the same time. Another thing I appreciated a lot were the traditional dresses the girls wore. It is not really popular or usual in the Czech Republic. Dancing the Waltz was extremely interactive and as it is one of my favorite dances I enjoyed it a lot.” – Jana, 18, Czech Republic

“The beginning of the presentation was a nice surprise. I didn’t expect the group to walk into the room and dance the Waltz. What I also liked was the Austrian chocolate, the Mozartkugeln, it tasted delicious! In general the prepared food was really good. And the video that was shown about Austria was interesting as well.” – Kasparas, 23, Lithuania

                                               (Jana&Kasparas)


#2 Polish night
“The video about Poland’s history was really interesting! But I also liked the second video with all those beautiful images of the country. In general I have to say that I liked the way how everything was presented.” – Cesare, 19, Italy

“What was the most interesting thing for me was the traditional clothing and folklore connected to it. And as we talk about Poland, I have to mention their tasty drinks – I liked them a lot!” – Maria, 27, Austria


(Maria & Cesare)


There are rumours about even more cultural presentations for the next days… Check our blog again & follow to be up-to-date!