AEGEE-Tallinn

Following fall will bring us frost sooner than we can sneeze. For those who have a fresh start in Universities today we present you also our fresh website. You can find it on the same address -http://aegee-tallinn.ee. The site is still stiff and unfinished, so pare with us. May the new semester be as exciting as ever, full of surprises, events and joy. Good luck!

Echoes

ENL summer school

- Farištamo Leis

The Summer school called “Suhtlen täiesti vabalt” (‘Communicate totally free!’) organized by ENL (Estonian National Youth Council) was held on July 8-11 in Jõulumäe. It is a very nice place to have seminars, do sports and pick mushrooms. We actually managed to go jogging in the mornings;)

Since AEGEE-Tallinn was having Summer University at the same time, there were only a couple of us representing AEGEE-Tallinn. There were, however, many other young active people from other organizations, with whom to get acquainted and share ideas. An interesting activity was the so-called Organizations Market. There, every organization could spend 15 minutes with four other organizations (one on one) to exchange ideas and find out about co-operation possibilities. Then, on the second day, we had to choose between two great trainings.

The one I attended, was held by Indrek Rahi and was called “Picture or Mirror”. This workshop was about self-guidance and communication and I personally considered it wonderful. It had much information on how to understand and guide oneself, for it is a fact that you can guide others and be a leader only when you can handle yourself. The second important point was communication – the more you understand and accept others, the better you are in communicating with them. So, I found this training extremely useful. Our trainer was very motivating and emotional and totally brought us into it. We are, at the moment, planning for reunion to draw some conclusions and to find out in hindsight what we had learned about the training.

The other group’s training was about media. According to Kairi Püss, who was also one of the organizers of the summer school and is a member of AEGEE-Tallinn, the training was held in two sections.

In the first one, the legendary sports reporter from Õhtuleht, Ott Järvela, described a typical workday and workweek in Õhtuleht, gave some tips to bear in mind if there is a wish to send some information about an organization to a journalist, and also taught us how and when to write a press note. In the end, the participants got a chance to try and find the information and write an article themselves in a very small amount of time.

The second half was held by Kerttu Jukkum, a Sky Plus radio voice and a news anchor in Kanal2. She spoke about the work in radio and television and explained how to get all the desired information when working in a radio. Participants got a chance to make an interview that was later filmed and analyzed.

On the third day, there was a rather lengthy tour in the forest guided by Estonian Scouts. Participants, divided into six groups, had to complete various tasks in the forest, which was obviously lots of fun. Some of the things were probably new for some of us, such as how to obtain drinkable water in the forest or how to go through forest without picking blueberries all the time!

In the evening, there was a party. On the last day, there was a discussion on whether people younger than eighteen should have the right to vote. Considering the fact that they can have a baby and a job, this question makes a lot of sense.

The free time we had, we smartly dedicated to having great chats, going swimming, playing mafia, etc. The event was definitely worth to go!

Adventure in the dark tunnels of Peter the Great

- Griselda Rosenberg

The summer of AEGEE-Tallinn ended with a trip to the underground tunnels of Peter the Great´s naval fortress in Laagri. Our guide, Aleksander Tukk (or just Sass), was very eager to show us the best places of the tunnels as well as tell the stories. Tunnels were pretty wide and high and mostly we could just walk through them and have a look around, but we also had to climb through some holes which added some excitement. It´s said that these tunnels are the only place in the Baltics where you can see bits of volcanic ash that fell down after a volcanic eruption over 450 million years ago. But we could also see different layers of rocks and stalactites. It was quite wet and cold under there, but with proper equipment (long rubber boots and a flashlight) a great experience was ensured. I also liked berry bushes in front of the entrances as they filled my tummy up for the starting tour.

The group was merry and talkative which made it even more fun to walk around. It was nice to see old, new and former members of AEGEE-Tallinn as well as some of our friends taking part of it. And although the tour took us over 3 hours and quite many ended up with wet socks, I guess there was no-one that wasn´t pleasantly surprised by it. Thank you, Hans, Hedi, Margus, Harlis, Kristina, Ivo, Annika, Andres, Kristo, Eveli, Anni, Antti, Silja, Karl, and of course Sass.

Tours are over for this year, since the bats want to go there as well, but probably next year there will be some more tours if you missed this one.

See more pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/aegeeTLN/PeeterSuureMerekindluseMaaAlusedTunnelidAugust2010#

Summer University 2010 Talk

Culture shock – summer university in Kosovo

- Silja Paulus

This year, me and Karl decided to do something unconventional, so we headed to Kosovo for a summer university organized by AEGEE-Prishtina. Of course, we had some expectations and biases. Kosovo is not the first choice for tourists after all. So, how did it look like then?

The country is not very old, it gained independence only 2 years ago. Therefore, they are still on the way of development. They don’t have enough recycle bins and garbage lies around everywhere. Most surprising was that the people themselves don’t seem to care about their beautiful nature. They have wonderful mountains and landscapes but they keep throwing garbage there. But people care about other people. The Albanians (90% of the people there) are very hospitable. For instance, we got a 1,5 hours boat tour on a big lake for free and the guy who offered this just came there to spend some time in the nature. And the cafés usually offer coffee for dessert on the house.

Also, we saw quite a many soldiers around there (but no tanks or army walking down the street as Karl thought) and many American flags were waving. American influence can be seen in the eateries, too. Most of them offer fast food. We were eating döner, hamburgers, pizzas and sandwiches for 2 weeks. They don’t seem to have cooking culture, but the Italians made us some wonderful pasta for dinner and we, Estonians offered omelets for breakfast, because everybody was fed up with the 7 Days croissants the organizers offered.

I was definitely shocked because of the organizing. Most of the time, we had no glue what was about to happen, because the organizers were missing quite a lot. Usually, we spent time just waiting. Nobody knew why and for what, but we were waiting. The organizers didn’t know either when we asked. This is it for now. I’ll tell you more in the Cultural Babel.

News

Here is a letter straight from our twin-antennae! Anne Wensveen, future European Affairs Director of AEGEE-Groningen gives us a short glimpse of their next year\’s activities.

Hi, AEGEE-Tallinn!

First, let me introduce myself! My name is Anne Wensveen and I am from AEGEE-Groningen. This year I will be the European Affairs Director in our board which mean I can work together with you guys a lot!

There is so much to do! Even in the upcoming weeks! Since the university year just started again after an amazing summer filled with an amazing Summer University in Groningen, and as I heard from Maaike, an amazing SU in Tallinn as well, lots of sun, free time and lots of traveling.

Every year that starts, we have some new members! And we need to introduce them as well. That is why September is our introduction month, including a 3 days camp on an island (called Schiermonnikoog) in the North of the Netherlands and every week two evenings with games and quizzes.

Will we rest after a month? Definitely not. We need to keep the AEGEE-Spirit alive.

That is why in October we have our first hitchhiking contest. In teams of two we travel from Groningen to a still secret place somewhere in Europe without any money! We have two contest.. 1) who will be the fastest and 2) (and most fun) the creativity competition! Hitchhike dressed in a costume, take a ride with an ambulance, and hitchhike to Poland via Paris! You name it, as long as it is crazy! After arriving, you have lots of stories to tell your friends because a lot of strange things happen on your way! And after two or three days, all the way back again.

Then, of course, the Agora-Istanbul. The biggest European event. We will come with a big delegation to gather, discuss and party together!

The next European month will be November. And then you guys come to us! For a week, we will have a splendid program filled with Dutch culture, European Culture (Night), parties, trips in and around Groningen, nature and fun! I hope to see you all there. The committee already started working very hard.

This is it for now, next week my new board will be installed, so it is quite an exciting week for us. We will keep you updated what to do in Groningen, and hopefully talk to you soon in Istanbul/Groningen/Tallinn!

Groetjes uit Groningen (Regards from Groningen)

Anne Wensveen

Upcoming events

AGORA is coming soon, beware!

Date: 7th of September

Time: 18.30

Location: Tallinn University, S-316
It is almost autumn. This means that the leaves turn yellow, the weather gets colder and school also starts. For AEGEE-Tallinn, on the other hand, it means that another local Agora is at hand. During the Agora, we have lots of things to be decided, new structures to be created, and new people to be elected.

According to our statute, it is obligatory for all members of AEGEE-Tallinn to take part in the local Agora, because the general assembly is the most important body in our organization. In spite of that, I wouldn’t want you to participate because of coercion, but because of motivation and belief, that you too can influence the doings of our local.
If for some reason you aren’t able to participate, then please pass your vote to another member who will be at the assembly.
Considering the voting, I have a plea to all of you which at the moment isn’t stated in our statute. I would like that a participant would not have more than 3 votes, or in other words, you cannot have more then 2 votes that were given to you by others (delegated votes). I think this is quite sensible, because otherwise there would be a situation where someone would have 10 votes.

While we are having discussions, we will never forget how to have fun.

Receiver: MTÜ AEGEE-Tallinn
Account nr: 221019313952
Sum: 25 EEK
Explanation: Your Name, Turbuneeme event

When?
03.09 evening til Sunday morning 05.09

Where?
In a small village called Turbuneeme. 75 km from Tallinn, reachable by bus. In Silja’s cottage.

Have a look at the programFriday, September 3
19:00 Arrival
Games
Grill-chill-sauna party!!

Saturday, September 4
9:30 Wake-up
10:00 Breakfast
10:45 AEGEE lesson
11:30 I discussion: changing the statute (moderated by Jüri)
12:30 Break
13:00 II discussion: House rules of AEGEE-Tallinn (Griselda)
14:00 Lunch
14:45-16:15 Walk around the beautiful village of Turbuneeme (has been elected the most beautiful village of Harjumaa for years)
16:15-17:45 III parallel discussions (along with some coffee):
1) How to organize an event? Creating the instructions (Silja)
2) Development plan (Anni)
18.15-18.45 Intruduction of exchange project between Napol, Krakow, Sibiu and Tallinn! (Farištamo)
19:00 Introducing the board work and positions (Jüri)
20:00 Dinner
21:00 Nostalgic party in the Soviet style. Get your costumes ready!

Sunday, September 5
9:30 Wake-up
10:00 Breakfast
Evaluations, summaries
12:00 Departure

Don’t forget to let us know you are coming!

http://www.doodle.com/rh52rgigp9cmxh3y

August birthdays

May all your birthday dreams and wishes come true!

09.09 Juhan Mellik

17.09 Veronika Fomina

19.09 Marju Sokman

30.09 Rille Raaper

Now, get back to your studies!

Your messengers, Anni, Tarmo and freshy joined Silja who checks the Moon gramar.

From the moons post office.