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Matthias & Magdalena

By Manuel Geier 10. Juli 2017
Hey. My name is Matthias and I’ve spent most of my 27 years of age studying computer science and mathematics. At the moment I work as a Data Scientist at Catalysts and I will at some later point go back to university to pursue a PhD. I love playing, watching and discussing football, I adore many old French movies and more recently I have started to very much enjoy film photography. I also do and care about many other things.


What do I like about youth projects?
They represent an endless source of opportunity. Opportunities to learn new things you didn’t know you want to learn. Opportunities to meet open people from all over the world. Opportunities to travel to new places that you had never even considered.


What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
I’ve met many fantastic people from all over the world. All of them kind, open minded and interesting in their very own way. I learned many things about myself. For some of them I am unsure if I would have been able to learn them by myself.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it?
By pure chance I met Manuel G. one evening. Almost immediately he invited me to a project that was about to start in a few weeks from then. I was in a spontaneous mood and so I agreed without understanding what any of this was about. It turned out great, the lesson here is to always trust strangers.

Hello lovely People! I’m Magdalena, I’m currently 19 years old & live in Vienna! I study social work & besides that I would call myself a political activist. What I enjoy in my free time? Good discussions, food, friends & sports ( Cross fit & Yoga).

What do I like about Youth Projects?
First the most obvious part: getting to know new People, new countries, new languages, new traditions.. and so on. However, apart from that: getting to know myself better, especially in challenging situations.

What have I experienced by taking part in Youth Projects?
Ups & downs, tears & laughters, foreigners becoming friends.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it?
Establish connections, gain experience, create & be part of a beautiful movement. And I got to know about it from a friend.

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Music makes feelings – Rijeka

By Nina Bianca Dohr 17. März 2017
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!

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wEUnite in Luxembourg!

By Nina Bianca Dohr 22. Dezember 2016
“How to plan a Youth Exchange” was the  title of the project. So basically how can an individual like me (Pato) create their own project. It was an amazing and useful experience! 

The project start was on the 6th of December and ended on the 9thof December. Funfact: My birthday is on the 8th so I also got the chance to spend my birthday in another country with completely unknown people. As my flight arrived in Luxembourg very early I had a couple of hours to discover the city. What a beautiful capital, I tell you!

In the afternoon I met all the people from the project. It was very exciting to hear many ideas for new projects on our way to the Youth Hostel already. The Youth Hostel was located an one-hour drive away from Luxembourg city in a beautiful little town called Befort.



Throughout the days we learned a lot about how to put an idea on paper and what is important to mention. Basically “Why is your idea helpful for your environment?”. But not only topics like “the Application Sheet” or “international Partnership” were important. Getting to know what is the main idea behind Erasmus +, international relations and creating new partnerships were some highly important topics as well.


In the end I also had the pleasure to celebrate my 23rd birthday with amazing people from all over Europe – and the best part: I even got a birthday cake!
 Thank you Erasmus+ and wEUnite for this opportunity! I would definitely recommend everyone to take part in a project like this 🙂

Yours, Pato

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Local events – our follow-ups!

By Nina Bianca Dohr 1. Dezember 2016
As a part of the Youth Exchange “I feel good” in Rijeka, Croatia, each country team was supposed to pass the on the spirit of sports & a healthy lifestyle to their friends, families, neighbours, colleagues and as many other people in their daily surroundings as possible. As our team is spread over Austria, we had two follow-up events, on the 19th and 26th November, one in Graz and another one in Vienna.

#1 Graz

During our Youth Exchange in Rijeka we had the possibility to participate in a really cool treasure hunt that enabled us to explore the city and have fun together in a group. Nina, Konrad, and me (Marion) then thought that it would be great to implement a similar event in Graz for our follow-up.

Said and done! We decided it would be best to have 20 tasks for the participants to fulfil within three hours. The tasks were a mixture of fun-facts such as “Which international popstar went to school in Graz?” (Conchita Wurst, by the way) , exercise “How many steps lead up to Schlossberg?” (260) and specific Graz knowledge like “Find the friendly alien” (nickname of Kunsthaus museum). I think we had as much fun thinking about them as the participants did completing them.



We then gathered on Saturday 19th of November at the main square to meet the contestants and let them embark on a self-guided exploration around Graz.

Because it was also a delight for us and because we got so unlucky with the weather the first time, we then decided to do a treasure hunt 2.0 the following weekend. It was a great success not only because the weather was a lot nicer, but also because even more people showed up and wanted to explore the city. And, of course, because there was chocolate as a prize.

Organising an event like this and especially thinking about tasks for participants let us get to know our own city better. We worked as a team and everyone contributed something and had good ideas, so we learned new interesting things about Graz ourselves.


#2 Vienna

The team in Vienna (Alex, Bartek, Manuel) organized a Football Match in the Westside Soccer Arena, on 26th October 2016 at 10:30 am, for their friends and friends of friends to spend some good and active time together. There have been fourteen people who played football in two teams for 1.5 hours. Some of the participants were professional players, whereas others were just amateurs (and sometimes even afraid of the ball); so we had a huge variety of players which was no problem at all, but rather beneficial as we could learn a lot from each other. The primary goal was not to win, it was to be active, have fun and enjoy time with people that share the passion for football. And those goals were definitely achieved!

See them in action:


Thank you very much for having all of you as participants and stay active & healthy! 🙂

Yours, Marion and Manuel

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Bartek & Alex K.

By Nina Bianca Dohr 26. November 2016
Hey, my name is Bartek and I’m 22 years old. I’m studying Slavic Languages at the

University of Vienna and next semester I should (hopefully) finish my Bachelor. My passions are reading, watching movies (above all fantasy genre) and mountainbiking. There is nothing better than being in the mountains, breathing the fresh air and feeling free of all things. Just me and nature.

What do I like about youth projects?
The youth exchange in Croatia was my first experience in that kind of stuff, so I was quite curious how it will be like. And I have to say it’s totally worth it. Meeting new fantastic people from many different countries,  learing new things and having much fun are just a few benefits you get from it. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes working in teams and want to learn new ways of non-school teaching.
What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
I met many folks with whom I want to stay in contact. Also how to motivate myself and how to help people in different situations in their lives.
Why am I part of wEUnite? / Who told me about it ?
A good friend of mine(she’s even one of the founders, how fancy :P) told me about these projects and I immediatly wanted to participate in it. So I did and and will try to participate in many other projects like this.






My Name is Alex, I’m 24 years old and I life in Vienna. At the moment I study primary

education but I hope that I will finish next year. I really love sports, I play soccer, workout at the gym and normally I go by bycyle to university and work. I like trains a lot, sports (as I said), history, Poland and travelling. Next to my studies I work, and I am also quite an active person.

What do I like about youth projects?
I really like the aspect of cultural exchanges because you can learn a lot and I could also practice my foreign language skills during the project I’ve been to. And the best part is that you meet a lot of new people there. 

What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
Some weeks ago, in Croatia, it was my first time on a youth project and I think I learned a lot. I thought that I know a lot about sports and fitness but I really learned many new things.
I also enjoyed the group work and the „going out of the comfort zone“  part a lot.

Why am I part of wEUnite? / Who told me about it ?
Nina (one of the founders) told me about the Youth Exchange, and I was interested, went there and now I am here 😉