Archive for the ‘Inside YouthNetworks’ Category

My latest travel for spreading the word about YouthNetworks was to Austria. In the small village of Gresten in Niederösterreich, in a seminarhouse on a hill, I found around 25 people from all over Europe learning everything there is to learn about the Youth in Action programme and rural culture. I decided to teach them some more. In return, I learned to dance like an Austrian by clapping my hands on my legs and shouting ‘yeeee-hoo-hoo-hoo!’
Due to some technical problems, I had to skip my powerpoint presentation and explain everything with paper and a marker, but it worked out fine. The participants were happy with me, I was happy with the participants, and we had a lot of fun and talking. It’s funny how you meet so many interesting people, even in a place so remote as Gresten.
I would have loved to stay for the farewell party in the evening, but I had other plans: was visiting my old roommate from my time as an EVS-volunteer in Sweden, in Vienna. I consider her as one of my best friends, and I’m too happy to move to Vienna in February so I can see her a lot more often. I looked for a room, talked with my study adviser, walked through the whole city, practiced my German and made some new friends. I love Vienna.
Now I’m back to my life of studying, meetings, dentist appointments and late trains. Oh well. Luckily I have some new eMatchmaking trainings coming up the next months: in Utrecht, London and Oslo/Trondheim!

Before I start, please note: don’t try this at home! Taking the very first train to Germany, work all day and returning the same evening with the last train is very dangerous: it nearly exhausted me to death.

Yesterday, I gave my second eMatchmaking training about YouthNetworks. And my third and forth. I had to give three (!) trainings in a row in an international seminar in Bonn, Germany. It went quite well, actually. I got my message across, the participants were very eager to learn and there was a fun atmospeher (and very good cake!). There was, however, total chaos prior to my presentations, as my preperation had some flaws: I hadn’t asked for a computer with the newest version of Powerpoint, access to internet and Adobe Flash installed (for the brilliant animation by Roquefort). It took me over an hour to get everything right, and even then it wasn’t perfect: every 60 seconds a loud BEEEEP broke through my words (before I figured out I could turn the sound off, ofcourse). It was computer hell. Sometimes I wonder why I am giving these trainings about online YiA communities, when I know absolutely nothing about computers..

Anyway, thanks for inviting me, Germany! I am very very very sorry my preperation wasn’t as it was supposed to me, but luckily everything went very well, and I hope you are not angry with me for not asking for specific computer stuff (and if you are, pleased eat one of the stroopwafels I gave you: they’ll make you feel better). Wir sehen uns wieder!

I should have known it when I met the nun. She had just celebrated her 89^th birthday the day before with her niece, and didn’t know how to work her mobile phone. I had had a rough night: who knew Dusseldorf had two airports?  Murphy’s Law had made me very tired, but I managed to find the number she was looking for: ‘convent’. She told me she had kept her name from before she became a nun: Eileen. I said it was a pretty name. Eileen blessed me in the name of God.
But wait, there’s more