Activities

Friday evening, 9 July, Europe came to  Atlantic Bridge in Kruiningen. Our little village is breathing international air for the next nine days! After travelling thousands of kilometres with delays for some of the groups, almost everyone had arrived in the evening.

EUROPE WEEK BRINGS FORTY YOUTH FROM SEVEN COUNTRIES TOGETHER

Using the theme of building bridges and breaking down walls, groups of 5 youth from Wales, Lithuania, Romania, Czech Republic, Germany and Belgium came to Kruiningen and Kapelle to be hosted by Dutch youth and their families for an amazing exchange experience of 8 days.  Dates: July 9-18, 2010

European youth discover Zeeland / Zeeuws dorp ontmoet Europa

The weekend of training was not a luxury given the cross-cultural experience most   of the participants were lacking. For some it was the first time outside of their country.

De training bij aankomst was zeker geen luxe want de meeste misten interculturele ervaringen en waren voor het eerst in het buitenland. 

The guest home adventure began

Het gastgezinnenavontuur begon

Guest home families anxiously wait for the game through which they will meet their guests.

Gastgezinnen wachten in spanning op het spel waardoor ze ontdekken wie hun gast is.

Our Lithuanian intern, Minta, introduced the matching game. After all, she created it and made the matches together with Mirjam.

Onze Litouwse intern, Minta, legt het spel uit. Want zij heeft het uiteindelijk bedacht en legde de koppelingen samen met Mirjam.

Especially the first 24 hours in a guest family were a bit nervous for both guest and host - how would it go? For those who were in a foreign country for the first time this experience could determine their interest in bridgebuilding... 

Vooral voor de eerste 24 uur blijft het spannend hoe het zal verlopen. Voor jongeren die voor het eerst in het buitenland zijn kan deze ervaring bepalend worden voor hun verdere interesse in het bouwen van bruggen naar ...

Discovery of Kruiningen

European youth discover a small village in Zeeland. This was our theme for the day. In the late afternoon we started a progressive dinner in two villages, Kruiningen and Kapelle. Together we had about 25 different families in these towns participating. Each family provided just one part of the dinner. Janneke, an elderly lady in town (88 years old) served various kinds of delicious ‘vla’, others were served ‘just chicken’ or vegetables, soup etc. It was a great way of discovering this village and for this village to get to know a few young people from different countries in Europe.

De ontdekking van Kruiningen en Kapelle is een leuke ervaring geworden. In beide dorpen zijn 'eetadressen' gevonden die elk een onderdeel van een maaltijd klaar maakten. Janneke Waverijn, een oudere dame (88 jaar) kon er niet genoeg van krijgen en stopte haar gasten vol met verschillende soorten heerlijke vla. Dank je wel Janneke! Het waren leuke verhalen waar de jongeren mee thuis kwamen. We hopen ook dat het de eetgezinnen goed bevallen is!

Brussels here we come!

So we discovered Kruiningen, but now we also needed to discover Europe, but how do you do that? Well, you visit the European Parliament in Brussels. So we did! What is the difference between Kruiningen and Europe? The answer is: EVERYTHING. The big bus took everyone to Brussels where we had a guided tour of the city (thanks, Rachida!), with stops at a beautiful cathedral, the best chocolate shop in the city, Manneken Pis and some free time. Then we visited the European Parliament where we got an explanation of how the Parliament works and could visit the hemicycle where everything happens. We had a mid-week evaluation in the park and dinner just outside of Antwerp. Another highlight was singing together ("Mighty to Save" and other songs) in the bus on the way home.

Sports and Games

Wednesday was sports day of Bogdan. Because of rain it was held in the town's sport hall. Many local youth particpated in the games such as basketball, volleyball, football/soccer. The Gladiator Games were also lots of fun and the cool "Europe Week Cup" was awarded to Team 8.

Woensdag werd de 'sportdag van Bogdan' . Veel plaatselijke jongeren deden s'middag mee. s'Avonds iets minder bij de gladiator spelen. Een heel leuke dag maar niet zonder een gebroken sleutelbeen en verstuikte teen.

Workshops and Folklore

Anna had different workshops planned that the youth could chose: drama, vocal coaching, playing an instrument and jewelery making / painting. The afternoon ended with a klompendans (traditional Dutch dance) lesson. Everyone enjoyed the day, but the real highlight came in the evening. Thankfully it didn't rain so we had a big party in the public park behind De Vierslag. Local musicians played, the workshop participants presented their results and lots of the young people joined the musicians on stage for the jam session. Even the neighbours looked out their windows, sat on their balconies or stopped by as they walked their dog to enjoy the cozy atmosphere and good music.

Thanks to guest homes BBQ 

Saying THANK YOU to all the guest homes was what the Saturday night BBQ was all about. We had the largest crowd ever in our backyard - over 130 people! We watched presentations from the Lithuanian and Romanian groups and participated in the folk dances they taught us. It was fun for all to meet and exchange stories.

De grootste groep ooit in de achtertuin van de Vierslag. In het kader van DANK aan de gastgezinnen hadden we een BBQ georganiseerd. Leuke contacten en presentaties van de Litouwse en Roemeense groep en vooral meedoen in de volksdansen die ze presenteerden.

What about the God part of this week?

Faith is important!  In the towns of Kruiningen and Kapelle many older people still go to church and so when we discover the lifestyle and culture of a region, we also need to learn about the spiritual life in town. And how was this experience for the youth?

Geloof is belangrijk! In de dorpen Kruiningen en Kapelle gaan veel oudere mensen nog naar kerk. Dus als we de levensstijl en cultuur van een regio willen leren kennen, moeten we ook het geestelijk leven daarin meenemen!  En hgoe ervaarden de jongeren dit?

The first Sunday they visited three different churches in the area. The ladies in one group (see photo) had to wear hats and skirts as they went to a Calvinist church where they listened attentively for one hour to a sermon they did not understand. For some this was their first time in a church!  The visits were much appreciated and found to be unique.

De eerste zondag bezochten ze drie verschillende kerken in de omgeving. De dames in deze groep moesten hoedjes op en rokjes aan want ze gingen naar de Gereformeerde Gemeente waar ze aandachtig luisterdan naar een preek van een uur die ze niet konden verstaan. En dat terwijl sommigen nooit eerder in kerk waren geweest. De ervaringen werden als positief en bijzonder gezien.

Morning meetings - Singing together

Besides going to church we also had morning devotions where we sand and listered to a short message. This were given by Len Kagelar, professor at Nyack College, and Jared Risser, youth leader of the Prince Street UB church in Shippensburg PA. Some of the Welsh girls called them the priests of the week!

The group loved to sing. Naomi, one of our co-workers from Tholen, chose some of her favorite songs and they became the favorites of the group: "If God was one of us" and everyone's favorite "Mighty to Save". It was unique for us to sing these songs considering most of us have really not much experience in it!

Er werd veel gezongen. Naomi (medewerker uit Tholen) koos haar favoriete nummers en dat zijn ook de favoriete nummers van de groep geworden.  De grote favoriet voor ieder is "Mighty God". Toch wel bijzonder omdat weinig van onze groep kerken bezoeken en deze muziek en teksten dan ook vreemd zijn. Maar het sprak aan en bond ons als groep samen.

Youth service on Sunday morning

We ended the week with a special youth service in the St. Johns church on Sunday morning. Some young people sang, the drama workshop did a short sketch and Theo van Teylingen led the service with a clear message about building bridges. Together we sang "Mighty to Save" for the last time together and joined the guest families and church-goers on the lawn of the church for coffee and cookies.

After lunch and a short evaluation of the week, we said goodbye to the first group as the Europe Week came to an end. But thankfully there has been lots of chatting and meeting on Facebook so the friends we met, talks we had and experiences we shared will not be forgotten. See you next year in Most! (Most???? Yes, that's where the International Youth Festival will take place next summer early August! Most is a city in the Czech Republic).

REFLECTIONS

At different times during the week we evaluated the project and participants wrote about how they felt. Listen to the comments of some of the participants, comparing comments at the beginning and at the end. 

NICOLA (WALES)

BEGINNING: It was quite exciting because we was meeting and getting to know each other, but the activities (training) are quite boring as they suit older people but not us teenagers!

END: It's going to feel weird because I won't be waking up early to come to Atlantic Bridge, singing songs, seeing everyone. When I go home I am going to be really sad because I might not see anyone from this exchange again. 

OCTAVIAN (ROMANIA)

BEGINNING: Before I came I was excited but when I actually got here I was a little scared and only made a few friends on the first day.

END: This week was a very exciting one and helpful for me because I learned to become more sociable. I made many new friends. I am not afraid to talk to people I don't know anymore. I hope I can do something like this again.

DOROTEA (LITHUANIA)

BEGINNING:

END:

ISRAA (BELGIUM)

BEGINNING: I was so excited to come but also nervous.

END: I am going to miss this week very much. It has been so good to share our culture with other people but also our personal opinions. This is the best experience of my life and I recommend it to everybody.

JAKUB (CZECH REPUBLIC)

BEGINNING:

END:

Zuzana Kalenská (Czech Republic):

Being able to take part in the Europe Week meant a lot for me and my group. In spite of the fact that the group meets regularly, this was an unique opportunity to spend 12 days with the kids in a different country, with new people around, speaking in a foreign language, being apart from their families. Not only that  we created new friendships but we also found out more about ourselves (reactions, abilities, predjudices,…) I would not be able to learn that much about he group in our country in years time. This was very intensive, busy, creative and in many ways challenging time. I am grateful that the group could experience this event.