The Last Day (day 7)

On the last day, which turned out to be a particularily warm and mostly sunny , we had, as always,  a lot of work to do. As usually, the day started with a nice breakfast after which we  got together in the seminar room and were given the task of putting together a daily schedule for our projects.  Some of us decided to pass the morning by the lake, whereas others preferred the coolness of the house. After a short coffee break at noon we were given further instructions on how to improve our projects and we continued our work with the projects until it was lunchtime. After lunch we had free time . Then we began the evaluation of projects during which every team had to do s short summary of their project.

After that we got together with our learning buddies for the last time and started to fill in the Youth Pass. We gave feedback for the organizers by covering the “pizza” and filling in the feedback form.

We had very nice dinner by the candlelight.

In the evening we played a game to find out our secret friends and we were very sad and nostalgic about the end of the project.

For the last activity we wrote on each other backs and filled the page with memories and impressions.

"Pizza" evaluation.

 Secret Friend game.

By: Siim, Kadri & Linda

Cooperation & project development (Day 6)

The morning started with pair-work. One of the pair had to describe a simple picture to another, who had to draw it on the paper without seeing the original and then the pairs switched the places. It was hard, but also it was funny game to wake everybody up. Participants got to know how easily they can misunderstand each other and that kind of situations can happen also while organising the projects.

After drawing there was a discussion in the groups and everybody turned back to filling their application worms and planning the schedules with help of the trainers. New task was to plan the budget - it was hard, but we did it!

 Before resting there was a meeting with learning buddies and feedback groups.

This night was Estonian night. Estonians got to show different parts of Estonian culture. Starting with historic and humoristic video of Estonia and ending with Estonian national dance, song and food. The night was going on with the dance music.

 "Kaera-Jaan"

"Kulla kutse"

Objectives, Priorities and Trip to Tartu (Day 5)

SMART Objectives & Annual priorities of Youth in Action

This day was cut into two different parts.

First we learned about the objectives and priorities of Youth in Action programme. We tried to define them in small groups and later explain to others.
Also we learned how to be succesful at setting and reaching the goals. Kaisa explained us how to make S.M.A.R.T. objectives (they should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound). After that we continued filling in the application form.

Defining youth with fewer opportunities

We spent the second part of the day visiting Tartu.
It’s a very beautiful town, with a big park, a wonderful church and with several  museums, the town square with a fountain  of kissing students under the umbrella. There were also the Arch bridge, the Angel’s bridge, the observatory etc. We saw a lot of things in Tartu and we had much fun while being there.  After  we had visited all this places we took a dinner at Taverna Pizza restaurant.

When we got back to Vidrike and  watched Eurovision on  TV before going to bed.

By: Päärn, Celine & Ljubov 

Developing Projects (day 4)

In the morning the first challenge for us was a game which was interesting because it made us realize how we can make mistakes when reading instructions. It was really funny that most of the group did not fully read the instructions, because we were rushing to get the tasks completed. This often can happen when doing applications, so it is important to read carefully and use support from collegues before submitting any final work.

After the game we started to work with our project ideas. For example Liina, Carmen and Silva developed a project idea entitled „Point of view“ which was about culture and exchange of traditions. There were included sports, songs, food, dance and greetings. The main point was to teach people how to deal with difficult situations and build new relationships.

After lunch we started to develop our project ideas with another team, e.g Greece team joined with Estonian team.  It was great to understand the different methods in which partnerships can develop.

We played fun games to help us keep motivated whilst we watched the presentations and learn about the ideas from other participants.

We ate so much food and the weather was awesome, which helped us keep happy.

We all were eager to try the Estonian sauna in the evening. The temperature was very high, about 80 degrees and it was impossible to stay there more than 20 minutes. Some boys like Nikolas and Pääro showed Estonian traditions by jumping into cold lake after enjoying sauna.

By: Yro, Liisi, Noreen & Aleksander

The Islands Day (day 3)

We started the morning with some energiers and continued with discovering the 8 islands of key competences. We learned a lot about each other and discovered for what can the 8 key competences be useful. 

Here are the 8 key competences:

After we continuted to another islands: Coldonia, Smilia and Turtelina. It was a funny role-play which helped us to discover how important is to learn about other cultures. 

This is the ice-berg model: in youth exchange we should try to discover what is under the water, too.

After lunch we shared our ideas in caffeteria. We could order different drinks and snaks and discuss about quality aspects of youth exchange. We got many new ideas and wrote them down to use later while developing our projects. Only thing we didn't like was that the bill was too high in the end ! (1200 euros :P).

In the evening we watched different short movies of good project examples, and some funny ones, too. 

Youth in Action (Day 2)

Here in Vidrike, Estonia everything is getting better and better. Participants are getting to know eachother

better and started to be more open and talkative.  In the morning, after breakfast we had some entertaining  and funny icebreakers. After that we started to play a game in which we had to find differences and similarities between formal, non-formal and informal learning. After that we could develop our idea in teams and share personally our experience and competences. 
After lunch we started a really interesting activity. We had to answer questions about’’ youth in action’’ programme separated  in groups  which we were getting points for each correct answer and the group with most ponts won . When we finnished the game it was already lunch time. After we ate and enjoyed the break we started to have non-formal learning activities.

Around 7 pm, everyone started to be nervous because until the International evening we had 2 more hours and we had to prepare dances and traditional food and drinks.

The International evening is the activity during which each group presents their country traditions, dances and food or drinks. The evening was very nice and all the participants did a great job and had e great time. When every group finnished presenting their countries  the dancing party started.

The night finnished when everyone got tired and went to sleep.

In conclusion it was a great day in which all the participants gained knowledge and had a great time.

 

By Toni, Carmen, Triin & Raimonda

Introduction day (DAY 1)

Our first day was more of an introduction for the upcoming week. We started with playing some namegames and talked about our plans and what are our expectations (learning needs) for this seminar. Later we visited a local town Otepää were we had to do some tasks as teams (group building). In the evening we played games and  had good time. See the video below :)

By Silva, Anni, Dana & Rugile