InterCOOLtura
Newsletter Edition 1
April/Мay/June 2011
In this issue
AFS weekend in western Serbia (page 2) Interkultura - member of the European Federation for Intercultural Learning (page 3) Volunteers in Samos (page 3) Seminar – Intercultural volunteer work in intergenerational context (page 4) Mid-stay orientation (page 4) Intercultural learning – the encounters that change the world (page 5) AFS school presentation in Becej (page 5) Experiences of exchange students 2010/2011 (pages 6,7,8) The Constanze weekend in Frankfurt (page 9) New website (page 9)
While we are impatient to welcome our students back from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the USA, where they are spending their exchange year, we are a little sad that the 2010-11 cycle is coming to an end because it will mean saying good-bye to Barbara, Cinar, Javiera, Jessica, Louise, Marina and Tugce. Only a year ago we were concerned whether we would have all the host families on time, how the host families and schools would accept the students, whether we would be prepared well enough to face possible difficulties and offer adequate support at all times. The year has practically gone by in no time, with many events organised by Inerkultura volunteers. We will remember the AFS weekends in Negotin, Sremski Karlovci, Valjevo and Ivanjica, the trips to
the zoo, the New Year Fun Fair, going to concerts or simply shopping, the mid-year camp attended also by the students and voluneers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, the mini-stay, school presentations... Continues on page 2
Serbian hospitality at its best! There were many opportunities for the exchange students to visit different parts of Serbia, to have a good time together and to make friends all over Serbia. Everything ran smoothly, as if we were an organisation with decades of experience and tradition. Thank you to the exchange students for giving us many wonderful things to remember and for leaving small pieces of Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and Turkey with us! Thank you to the host families and host schools! And a special thank you to Interkultura’s volunteers who have made it all possible! Ivana Gazikalovic-Pavlovic
AFS WEEKEND IN WESTERN SERBIA From 12 to 15 May 2011, the exchange students in Serbia visited Ivanjica, a small town in western Serbia. The visit was organized by a local teacher who had attended Interkultura’s training for high school teachers in April. The students were hosted by their peers from the local high school. On Friday, the students had a presentation at the high school about AFS, their own countries and their exchange experiences. On Saturday, the school organized a cultural visit to Studenica, a famous 12th century Serbian Orthodox monastery, which is one of the best examples of Serbian medieval architecture and art. Saturday evening was reserved for Eurosong, but in spite of all the support from the exchange students and their hosts, the Serbian song did not do too well!
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
Sunday morning was free with the hosts. The visit to Ivanjica was covered by the local radio and the national TV and the students had a chance to talk about their year in Serbia. They definitely enjoyed all the attention. This was the fourth AFS weekend Interkultura organized for the exchange students this year, in addition to the usual orientation camps and the mini stay. Seeing how much fun the students had, but also how great these events are for the local high school students, we are certainly going to do more similar activities next year. Ivana Gazikalovic-Pavlovic The weekend in Ivanjica (from 12 to15 May, 2011) flew by really quickly and left us with a lot of nice memories. We went to Ivanjica, to show our exchage students this beautiful town, to present AFS programmes to the locals, and to support our newly-established volunteer chapter in Ivanjica (led by Katarina Krivokuća, a French teacher in the local high school). Exchange students were welcomed by their hospitable hosts and the intercultural dialogue flourished every day. We held the presentation of AFS programmes in the local high school and shared our previous voluntary experiences. Exchange students shared their impressions and differences between our countries with students, teachers, the school principal, journalists, representatives of the municipality etc. We visited Studenica Monastery, one of the oldest medieval monasteries in Serbia, enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of our national park "Golija", walked around Ivanjica, went to the swimming pool and visited local night clubs. Many friendships were made, and our main goal was realized – the exchange students saw another beautiful part of Serbia and met new people. Stefan Ubiparipovic
2
INTERKULTURA member of the European Federation for Intercultural Learning
Vienna - Austria The General Assembly of the European Federation for Intercultural Learning (EFIL) took place in Vienna from 2 to 4 June 2011. This was also the occasion to celebrate the Federation’s 40th anniversary. The General Assembly started with a plenary session looking back at the people and events that marked the four decades of intercultural education in Europe. The delegates were addressed by pioneers of intercultural education in Austria, Fritz Otti and Heinz Kröll, as well as the Chair of EFIL, Roberto Ruffino. General Secretary Paul Claes reported on the activities and achievements in 20092010, followed by a presentation on EFIL’s new marketing and communication strategy. Topics related to the activities in the forthcoming period were discussed in several working groups. The next day began with a plenary on the outcome of the working groups’ discussion. The delegates were then
addressed by president of AFS Intercultural Programs Tachi Cazal, who spoke about the business plan, strategic goals and new partner development. The afternoon session was of particular importance for Interkultura, as it focused on statutory issues, election of new board members and acceptance of new organizations into EFIL. The delegates unanimously voted that AFS Slovakia, AFS Netherlands, Globus (Croatia), Interkultura (Slovenia), Interkultura (Serbia), Intercultural Encounters in BiH (BiH) be accepted as associate members of EFIL. Although EFIL has supported Interkultura from the very beginning, the membership in the Federation comes as a true recognition to Interkultura’s volunteers for all the work and energy they have invested in developing AFS programmes in Serbia. Ivana Gazikalovic-Pavlovic
Volunteers in Samos Volunteers, exchange students and host families visited the coutryside on May 28th. The day was dedicated to barbecuing, chatting, enjoying the nature and relaxing, so we definitely plan to do something like this again. A big thank you goes to everyone who came, especially our hosts and volunteers Mira and Voja Taus. Milena Miladinovic
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
3
Seminar – Intercultural vounteer work in intergenerational context Strasbourg A seminar with the topic “Intercultural volunteer work in intergenerational context – youth organisations supporting learning processes in families hosting long-term exchange participants” was held in Strasbourg from February 13th to 20th. The seminar was organized by the European Federation for Intercultural Learning and the Council of Europe, and AFS Serbia was represented by the volunteers Marija Kolundzija and Milena Miladinovic. Participants in the seminar had the opportunity to understand better the concepts of intercultural and intergenerational learning, and their importance in the context of high-school student exchanges. A lot of attention was paid to the support to host families and the improvement of the hosting sector as a whole. Since participants came with different experiences and levels of knowledge on these topics, they were glad to exchange advice and best practices. AFS Serbia promoted its programmes and hopefully motivated its partners to send even more students to it in the future. Apart from working hard, the volunteers made a lot of new friendships. We hope to see each other again at some of the following volunteer gatherings. Milena Miladinovic
Mid-stay orientation Subotica - Palic This year’s mid-stay orientation camp took place on lake Palic, bringing together exchange students living in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Friday, the first day of the orientation, the exchange students and volunteers shared impressions about life in their host countries through a series of activities and quizzes, as well as testing their knowledge of history, culture and interesting facts about their host countries. On Saturday, as a reward for the successfully finished morning workshops, the students visited the Palic Zoo and the Palic lake. During the
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
afternoon workshops, the participants used the so-called ‘mood diagram’ and todo lists to facilitate discussion about adapting to a new culture, cultural differences and the best ways to overcome them. On the last day of the orientation, the participants shared advice which they would give to exchange students who are new arrivals in their host country. There followed a guided tour of Subotica town, which was a pleasant conclusion of the 2011 mid-stay orientation camp. .
4
Successful teacher seminar Intercultural learning – the encounters that change the world Vrnjacka banja Eighteen high school teachers from all over Serbia gathered in Vrnjacka Banja from 8-10 April 2011 to attend Interkultura's seminar entitled "Intercultural learning – the encounters that change the world". Two days of workshops, lectures and presentations were spent with the aim to inform high school teachers about ICL, particularly in the context of AFS student exchange programmes. The agenda included presentations on the history, programmes and structure of AFS and Interkultura Serbia, lectures and presentations on culture, intercultural learning, youth mobility in Europe, Interkultura Serbia's realities, experiences of volunteers and exchange students, as well as workshops on teachers' active participation in student
exchange programmes and the development of an action plan for their own involvement. The participants were very enthusiastic and we believe and hope that many of them will join Interkultura's volunteer force. Due to our limited budget - the event was funded from Interkultura's own sources we were not able to invite another 52 teachers that had applied to attend. A very special thank you goes to Dunja Zivanovic and Nemanja Stancic, our two young but experienced volunteers who impressed the participants with their knowledge, enthusiasm and attitude. The seminar was a huge success and we look forward to working more in this field.
AFS school presentation in Becej Interkultura held a presentation in the high school in Becej, in northern Serbia. The presentation was organised by our volunteer, Mrs. Svetlana Kovacev, a Spanish teacher from this school. Many students attended this presentation as well as the representatives of the local governement, youth organisations and media (including RTV, the regional television). A Mexican boy will be hosted by a family from Becej and the high school.
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
5
Experiences of exchange students 2010/2011 I have been living in Belgrade for 10 months. In the beginning everything was so strange for me, the style of the streets, the stairs everywhere, the food, the people, the language, the weather, all so different. After I started my school, all the people were so excited about me ( in the beginning), it was strange that everyone was talking and looking at me (I am in a small school) and usually after they found out that I was from Chile they automatically started saying things like : “ohoh estoy embarazada“ (I’m pregnant) or “yo soy tu padre“ (I am your father) because here in Serbia almost all the people know a bit of Spanish because of the soap operas from South America, it was very funny. My regular school is boring but I like my music school, especially my cello lessons. Then I started kolo classes, they were so cool, but always when they finished I was so exhausted. Also I started going to the Philharmonic orchestra and I usually have a good time there. Now I am on holiday, relaxing until the school starts again and I cannot believe that I only have two months left in Serbia. On the one hand, I want to come back but on the other hand, I just want to stay. What in the beginning seemed so strange now is a part of me, and just thinking about leaving Serbia makes me feel sad. I don’t feel like a stranger here anymore, the streets, the buildings, the people seem familiar now, and that’s such a cool feeling. When I was in Chile, one year away seemed such a long time but now I think that the exchange year should be two years because one is too little time. Well, finally I can say that I don’t feel any regret about coming to Serbia, even if I did not have it in my list of preferences, I think it’s such a cool country and I love It! Javiera Trigos Aguero, from Chile After 36 hours of flight, a change in continent and season I stepped through the doors of Belgrade Airport, to 40 degrees Celsius and the start of my exchange year.
I will never forget seeing Dunja jump around with a huge grin on her face! In that moment I thought “Yip this is the place I want to be”! My 8 months here have been filled with thousands of crazy, new and amazing experiences!! Getting to know the other students is awesome, I think that we would all say we have a special bond and several beds all over the world to visit one day in the future! The first thing I learnt was Serbs are the absolute best in hospitality - you will not have a need not met and the food is PERFECT! With the pastries, soups, meat and my favorite the cakes mmmhhh!! I now really have a second family! My Serbian family, I could never say enough about how truly awesome they are and the influence they have had on my time being awesome here! I love them! School is an experience in itself. I attend an economics high school, something I never knew existed and have the most friendly, crazy class you can imagine. The hardest thing is choosing one option from the hundreds of where to go and with who!!! Awesome people! Some other funny things like the shower head not being attached to the wall, getting my bag and leg shut in the doors of buses all make for a good laugh and life experience! Weddings are also a cool thing. I love how people just dance, kiss, celebrate and enjoy together! With the beautiful traditional folk music! I didn’t know it was possible for a wedding to last for longer than twelve hours but it is! Serbs know how to enjoy the good things! I could never put it all down on paper but I’m having the time of my life here!!! Have managed to meet the Prince and Princess, run the Belgrade Half marathon, learn a bit of cooking and navigate my way around Belgrade! The thing that surpasses all other experiences though, without a doubt is having the opportunity to meet my friends and family!!!! Jessica Hamilton, from New Zealand Your exchange year can be the hardest year in your life. During this year you can feel as
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
6
the most interesting person in the world, but also as someone who has been rejected. That is actually a paradox of an exchange year. People who are around you are totally different than you. In different cultures people sometimes act very similar, and sometimes totally different. For me, this was the case with the language, because Serbian and Turkish have some similar and some same words. Many of them sound same, but when I learned about their meaning I realized that we use them in Turkish in a totally different way. Between Serbian and Turkish culture there are many similarities and many differences. This is why, for me, the adaptation to Serbian culture was hard, as it was easy. While I was at the first step of adaptation to Serbian culture, my Serbian friends and family where helping me a lot and they still do. I believe that the first thing we learned about the Serbian culture, as exchange students, was that Serbian mums don’t take “no” for an answer. Whether it’s about breakfast, lunch or dinner, at the end of the meal, you feel full and you don’t want any more food, mum will say: “Eat some more, please.” And I must say, Serbian cuisine is very tasty. Because of this tasty reason, everybody is a bit heavier than we were before we came to Serbia. And, of course, something about the volunteers of Interkultura Serbia. Those are the worst people you could ever meet. :P No, of course not, I’m just joking! They are always ready to help you, with anything you need, anywhere, anytime. Actually, I would like to thank them for everything. They were with us through the whole year and they were very well organized in every situation. Thank you all very much for this wonderful and unforgettable year. Tugce Alkan, from Turkey When you say you are going to Serbia, you get one of two responses, they either stare at you blankly and ask “where is that”, or they look confused and then say “Oh Siberia”. Serbia is one of those countries that no one knows much about, and that is why being an exchange student here, is pretty awesome. My exchange experience has been so much fun, full of so many memories, jokes, and so much eating. Even though no one knows where Serbia is, there is actually lots to see. Whether you want to check out Roman ruins and skeletons, visit the numerous fortresses, go partying, or
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
simply dust off your dancing shoes and learn some folklore, you will find that you are always busy as an exchange student in Serbia. There is always а lot going on, and people are so friendly and so keen to show you traditions, sights or take you for coffee. Making friends is pretty easy. On my first day, I was introduced to the class, and said “I am from New Zealand”. Everyone gasped, smiled and by the end of the day, I had plans for the 3 following weekends. As a teenager in Serbia, you will find that most parents are really lenient, and you can pretty much do what you like when you like. Everyone is so relaxed, and happy that nothing is ever a problem as long as you eat. Food is a huge part of Serbian life, and it is delicious. I think eating in Serbia probably takes up a huge part of the day. There is no such thing as “being full” in Serbia, the food is a mixture of German, Austrian and Turkish recipes, and there is something for everyone. The Serbs will always win your heart over with sarma though. It is worth coming to Serbia, just to eat sarma. Coming to Serbia was probably the best decision I ever made, I have made lifelong friends, seen some amazing things, and will go home knowing how to make sarma. Going on AFS is about being different, about having a life-changing experience, Serbia is really different, and it has really changed my life. Louise Berwick, from New Zealand One happy day in my life, 10 months ago, I found out that I had a chance for an exchange year in Serbia. It was really interesting! Two months of preparation and two hours of flight from Moscow to Belgrade later I was here! I remember how I came to the Nikola Tesla airport and saw the happy faces of Nemanja and Dunja. At that point I understood finally that that was the first day of my exchange year in Serbia. A bit after I met the other exchange students and we started our new life. At the start it was a bit difficult. A new country, new language, family, school, people. A new life. But every next day was better than the day before. I got used to eating Serbian food, waking up at 6:30 for school, saying "Chao!" when I see people and much more… I will never forget our weekends in Negotin, Vrshac, Subotica, Valjevo, Novi Sad and other cities and towns. AFS Serbia really
7
helped every exchange student a lot. Now I feel like I belong to one huge family of AFS students, volunteers and, of course, with our host families. I've been here 8 months now and I'm staying in Serbia for 2 more months. For sure I'll remember this year my whole life. And, to my mind, everybody should have such a wonderful experience! Marina Zhukova, from Russia My name is Cinar, I came to Serbia from Istanbul to spend a whole school year with Serbian students. I’ve been living over eight months with the Zivkovic family from Negotin, the town in which I am situated. Negotin is located near Serbia’s eastern border with Bulgaria and Romania. It has a population of nine thousand people. By the way: I’m sorry, but I’m not going to tell you how I had a great time eating at slavas and how I enjoyed the hospitality during the Easter holidays. It’s not that they weren’t nice, it’s just that everyone is already familiar with the slava and rakija phenomenon. I will explain what remained carved in my memory, and what shaped the remembrance of this town in my head. The thing that makes Negotin different are the people who still live with their traditional values. At first everyone stared at me and thought “Look, that’s a Turk”, but now they have all got used to it, and it makes me feel comfortable. When I came I used to spend most of my time meeting new people, but as soon as I’d met the most of them, I realized how this experience here would be a lot different from the daily experiences I had in Istanbul. Portraying the true picture of Turkey to them made me feel nice, because some of them were thinking as they were told to, which created a chain reaction of spreading disinformation about my country. However,
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
after meeting the culture and people well enough I started feeling like I also was part of Serbia itself. So far I’ve been in Novi Sad, Valjevo, Belgrade, etc and consequently I came in touch with Serbian people in other regions of the country. I’ve learnt how their way of life is different from the one that I’ve witnessed in Negotinska Krajina. I have less then two months left to spend in Serbia so I want to spend them as best I can, by traveling, getting to know the culture better, meeting new people, and thereby widening my gaze to allow myself to understand and enjoy things that they do, as they do. In the numbest of nights I felt boredom, which was brought upon by my old way of life in which I got used to constantly meeting new people, and since after a while there weren’t any more persons to meet, I had some trouble getting used to that. Free time, which I at first considered to be a gap in my life, was later filled by enjoying the actual silence and calm in a small city that I’ve come to experience for the first time in my life. It was unique. It still is. I started reading books, watching movies, and, watching more movies. Even though the enjoyment that calmness brought me was great, sometimes I felt trapped because the town is very far away from any of the bigger cities in which occasionally cultural events occur. I feel the need to go and visit them just to listen to music that I like, and hopefully meet new people with the same taste. My travel inspired me to get to know other cultures as well, so by the time you’re reading this, who knows where I’ll be. Regards, from a Turk :) Cinar Sever, from Turkey
8
The Constanze weekend У следећем броју: in Frankfurt
New website Volunteers of Interkultura Serbia, Tanja Dabic and Nemanja Stancic, with the assistance of AFS International, launched the new website of Interkultura Serbia in May. The new website www.afs.org.rs has two versions - Serbian and English. In this way, Interkultura joined other AFS organizations that have a website with the unique AFS layout. We believe that the Serbian version of the website is more modern and detailed than the previous one and that it will be of great use to future exchange students and host families. The English version consists of many useful pieces of information about Serbia as a country where students should come and have their AFS experience.
Презентација Презентација On the first in May, all German AFS weekend Презентација chapters gather in one place to exchange Презентација news, reflect on the previous year’s activities, learn something new in the field of Презентација
volunteerism, and, of course, make new friends. Foreign guests also get to participate in this event through trainings and workshops in English. This year, two Serbian volunteers had the opportunity to attend the event in Frankfurt, along with AFSers from Germany, Poland, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France...The participants were offered official training workshops on topics such as active citizenship, the promotion of human rights through AFS programs and strengthening volunteer structure, as well as a welcome mixer, time allotted for discussion and an informal party. The Constance mascot was FreiWilli, a superhero who moves people to act, hence the event slogan – start something!
Nemanja Stancic
Tijana Delic
In the next issue… INTERKULTURA SERBIA 26 Lomina street 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Ivana Gazikalovic - Pavlovic Programme Director Email: ivana.pavlovic@afs.org Tel: +38164 3567 971 www.afs.org.rs
Contributed by Ivana Gazikalovic – Pavlovic, Milena Miladinovic, Nemanja Stancic, Stefan Ubiparipovic, Tijana Delic, Jovana Filipovic, Tanja Dabic
Upcoming activities:
20.07. Volunteer Summer Summit in Portugal. Interkultura will have two representatives at the Summit. 19.08. The on-arrival orientation for foreign exchange students who come to Serbia will be held. This year we will have ten exchange students – eight of them on the year programme and two of them on the trimester programme. They are from Italy, Mexico, Germany, New Zealand, Paraguay, Russia, Thailand and Finland. 05.09. The orientation for students who go on the year programmes will be held. 19.09. The students of the Eighth Belgrade High-school will have a return visit to Moscow Technical School Lycee 1550 whose students participated in the class exchange in Belgrade this spring.
Interkultura Serbia | Edition 1 - April/May/June 2011
9