„And Action!” A Greek-German Youth Exchange opportunity of Arbeit und Leben NRW together with YMCA Thessaloniki & Adolf-Kolping-Berufskolleg Horrem 04 – 09.11.2019 |
How a Youth Exchange can shape your future and change your mindset!
I’ m sure you’ve all heard about the stereotypes and the cliché about Greeks and Germans…
Well, I’m going to be honest with you and confess that all of the things that you might think right now when you hear the word – nationality “Germans” & “Greeks” pop into my mind the minute my Supervisor asked me to take part on a Youth Exchange project between Thessaloniki – Greece and Cologne – Germany (sister cities).
It only took me a couple of minutes before I replied – “YES! I would love to take part in this exchange!”
And so the journey began…
It only took me 5 days to break all the stereotypes and actually spent the most unforgettable days of my life!
After 5 days, full of work, full of energy and full of fun, I’m back home with a ton of memories, images and lots of stories to share. I don’t even know where to start now that I’m writing about my experience of being a Youth Exchange project participant.
These might actually feel like a cliché, but during all these days, I managed to;
- Improve my English skills! (it was inevitable… we were not allowed to speak our mother language AT-ALL!)
- Strengthen my soft skills. Be more social, communicative, friendly and team worker J
- Explore myself, explore others! And what I mean by that; I managed to get out of my comfort zone by simply being honest with myself and others. This way, people from Germany, find it easier to come and talk to me. And so, I learned about their stories J
- Learn about Visual, both video and audio technicalities that I never knew before!
But the highlight of all mentioned above, was that I met people full with motivation and ideas and I experienced a wonderful sense of community that allowed me to see that I can do, in fact, more than I think I can. I was able to communicate my ideas effectively and make people laugh while tackling difficult topics, and that gave me a newfound confidence that I never knewn I had.
And let me tell you something more… The beautiful relationships I have formed with people from Germany (and Greece), the skills I have developed, that helped me grow in body, mind and soul… well, this is something I wouldn’t trade for the whole world!
All in all, I’ m going to finish my writing by saying, to whomever is reading, this; if you ever offered an opportunity in taking part on a Youth Exchange project, don’t even think about it, not for a second – Immediately say out loud! “YES”!
This is a story that I will remember for many years to come!
Thank you Emma & YMCA for this opportunity!
Thank you my new – good friends from Cologne!
And thank you Arbeit und Leben NRW for making this real!
Project Participants:
| YMCA Thessaloniki: | Adolf-Kolping-Berufskolleg Horrem | ||
| YMCA Volunteers | 1 | Aparicio, Anton | |
| 1 | Agapidis Dimitris | 2 | Arenja, Anchal |
| 2 | Anastasiadou Chara | 3 | Bozsa, Adrian |
| 3 | Vasileiadou Nina | 4 | De Silva, Julia |
| 4 | Gaitanidis Nikos | 5 | Esser, Julia |
| 5 | Giouzeli Nefeli | 6 | Ghadami, Jasmin |
| 6 | Giouzelis Odisseas | 7 | Haas, Lea |
| 7 | Gkorakis Nikolaos | 8 | Hackerschmied, Noemi Celina |
| 8 | Gotouchidou Georgia | 9 | Herper, Selina |
| 9 | Gotouchidou Dimitra | 10 | Krause, Alina-Leoni |
| 10 | Dekaristou Elisavet | 11 | Lehmann, Anna |
| 11 | Karagianni Sofia | 12 | Lykov, Vitaly |
| 12 | Karagiorgos Nikitas | 13 | Maslanka, Karolina |
| 13 | Karagiorgos Stratis | 14 | Mausbach, Katharina |
| 14 | Labrakaki Aggeliki | 15 | Michels, Sarah |
| 15 | Minadakis Thomas | 16 | Mäser, Christian |
| 16 | Balapanidou Parisi Vasiliki | 17 | Reichart, Mathias |
| 17 | Papafilippou Katerina | 18 | Rüttgers, Louise |
| 18 | Famellos Petros | 19 | Sobota, Kamila |
| Team Leader: | 20 | Szöke, Barnabas | |
| 1 | Mrs Emma Symeonidou | 21 | Weißhorn, Jeremy Alan |
| 22 | West, Alina | ||
| Team Leaders: | |||
| Arbeit und Leben NRW | 1 | Frau Kim-Laura Schäfer | |
| 1 | Herr Maximilian Hanka | 2 | Frau Moghan Sultanie |
Organisation:
Arbeit und Leben DGB/VHS NRW
e.V. Fenna Godhoff ([email protected])
Mintropstr. 20, 40215 Düsseldorf
The Greek-German Youth Exchange is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and the City of Cologne.