The following editorial has been written in invisible ink:

To read it, hold the cover page over an open fl ame (e.g. lighter, candle,

campfi re)

Robin Janásek and Randolf Carr

PRESIDENT’S INTERVIEWPAGE 2

CHAIRS INVESTIGATION UNITPAGE 12

DEUTSCH ALS FREMDSPRACHEPAGE 18

SURVIVING GENERAL ASSEMBLYPAGE 20

“HOLA” FROM THE

PRESIDENT

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Arriana Yiallourides The session’s Span-ish sunshine, President Adriana Díaz Martín-Zamo-rano, was not at all hesitant to share with us her EYP story as well as useful tips for all new delegates.

Arriana: Hey Adriana, could you tell as briefl y about your EYP Career?

Adriana: I fi rst got involved in EYP in 2006, as a dele-gate. I went to the Interna-tional Session in Kiev ‘06 directly because the EYP Spain National Committee didn’t exist until 2007. Basically, I was in the last generation that went to International Sessions directly through the school. The fact that I wasn’t selected has its advantages and disad-vantages. It has the advantage that somehow you are more genuine because you don’t have any instructors, and you have to follow your intuition, but at the same time I was com-pletely lost. I didn’t even know what teambuilding was. How-

ever, the fact that I continued shows that it worked out some-how. After that, we created the Spanish National Committee, and I presided it last year. The fact that EYP Spain is growing so much means a lot to me, and for me it has a double meaning because I now see how people have to work hard to get to the International Sessions. Even if it was priceless for me, hav-ing to go through National and Regional conferences in order to be selected makes going to IS even more meaningful, because you feel like you’ve deserved it.

What has been your best ses-sion so far?

Adriana: Can I choose more than one? I have attended more

than 20 sessions, so it’s diffi cult to choose. On one hand, all the sessions organ-ised by EYP Spain are very meaningful to me, like the two last Iberian Forums. However, I have also enjoyed many other sessions abroad like the Istan-bul Youth Forum ‘09 and the Lillehammer IS where I was meant to be part of the press team, but ended up chairing! Through these opportunities I learned a lot. More recently, the Athens IS was one of the sessions that you appreciate as time passes, so I really enjoyed that session as well.

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It’s really important to enjoy every moment, but especially the people who surround you.“

W h a t ’ s your most

e m b a r r a s s i n g EYP Moment?

Adriana: Well, I’ve sung in 3 Euroconcerts. The thing is I don’t sing well, but I really like singing. The three times I’ve done it is because it was with special people, which made it a meaningful performance, but still its embarrassing, because at Euroconcert you get to per-form alongside people with great voices, so its embarrass-ing, singing “Hey!” with my tambourine!

How did you fi nd out about Hamburg 2012? Why did you choose to preside here?

Adriana: I received an offi cial invitation from EYP Germany to preside. I never imagined that I would have presided an EYP session. It wasn’t in my plans, but I have

the philosophy that life is already going to refuse you

a lot of opportunities, so you shouldn’t refuse the ones that are offered to you. I had a lot of thoughts on whether to accept this challenge, but there are a lot of people in EYP Germany who trusted me, so I decided to do my best not to disappoint them, and of course I feel fl at-tered and honoured.

What’s the most diffi cult thing about being the Presi-dent?

Adriana: You have a double obligation, because you have the role of a chair, but you also have to do something more. There is the weight of so many expectations resting on you –from the delegates, the chairs, the organisers, as well as the press team. So you want to do your best to make everyone happy. You struggle for that in order to succeed, because I think I would feel really bad if it didn’t work out.

As an experienced EYPer, what advice would you give to a fi rst time delegate?

Adriana: I think it’s really important even though they know that it’s a selection, they should try to get rid of the pres-sure and concentrate more on enjoying the session and try to make the most out of it – especially of the people. At EYP you probably meet some of the most interesting people of your life, so you should try to take the best out of them. It’s really important to enjoy every moment, but especially the people who surround you.

What’s your most memora-ble moment from this ses-sion so far?

Adriana: The fact that we’re sleeping on the fl oor has turned into a positive thing. Everyone has become closer and has bonded. From the out-side it couldn’t be seen as posi-tive, but it has turned out into something great and defi nitely something that I will remem-ber…

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WE ARE WHAT WE WEAR

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Filippo Ranalli A brief analysis of fashion, from ancient time to modern style.

W hen it comes to fash-ion there may be many

disagreements among people coming from different cor-ners of Europe and the rest of this well-dressed world of ours. Dressing in a hip, fash-ionable or even discreet way is a real concern for the mod-ern man, who either is in des-perate need for the others’ approval, or is just a restless show-off. The first clothes we as a race ever wore were those well-known ivy leaves covering all that there was to cover, according to the time’s morals. Perhaps, even back then someone blessed with creativity might have showed off with a particularly big or oddly shaped leaf, just for the sake of swaggering and hav-ing the other members of the tribe’s approval and greater chances to mate. Nowadays young men may have the exact same behav-ior. In fact, we sure have changed as a society, but not at all as animals, which we are, whether or not people like it, and we still carry all our prim-

itive background. In a way, fashion is born of the instinct to be appealing and distin-guished, rolling on the deceiv-ing concept that the better you look, the better person you are. Since most of our impres-sions derive from eyesight, we pay too much attention to the way people look, and we tend to label them based on what they are wearing; thus the matter: “What am I going to wear tonight?”, or in other words, “What do I want peo-ple to think of me tonight?” Luckily, the fashion industry has answered those questions for us, or at least has tried to. Everyone assures you that you’ll look terrifi c in the cloth rag they are trying to sell you, and perhaps you will, but the more peculiar the thing you wear is, the more you run the risk of being corny as hell. On the fashion matter, Italians think they do it better; it hap-pens so that the French think so too, while the Americans love the randomness and free-dom of clothing, and the Ger-mans are big time hipsters (see

Head Orga Ulrich if you seek more advice on being real hip). Now, there are some few com-mon ground rules for men, if not to be classy, at least to avoid being tacky. For a start, the old brutal German cliché of sandals with thick white socks is no legend, you still may see such a thing – no class. Com-mon sense also suggests that brown and black both don’t match blue; but most impor-tantly, never wear short white socks with your formal suit.

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YOU KNOW YOU’RE AN EYPER WHEN

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Arriana Yiallourides

When attending an EYP Session, there’s always so much to gain. Besides the educational aspect of a session, in terms of building communication and teamwork skills, it is also likely that you will develop some unique EYP traits, making you offi cially an EYPer. During a session, you will get the chance to become aware of what goes on behind the closed doors of the EYP world. For some being an EYPer means the addition of some rather unusual words to your vocabulary. For others, terms such as ‘Point of Order’ become part of their everyday conversations. In this article, we’d like to name you some EYP common characteristics that inevitably mark most EYPers, which we’re sure you’ll start to identify with. You know you’re an EYPer when…

- you feel European.- you can survive a week without sleeping.- you know the differ-ence between a pony and a big fat pony.- you know the real meaning of EYCamping.- you know that a chair is not just an object to sit on.- you know how to pass an orange or a coin with-out using your hands.- you go crazy for theme parties.- you get goose bumps when you hear “Imag-ine” by John Lennon.

- you have tasted traditional food and beverages from over 10 different countries.- you have been at least once on a bear hunt.- you don’t feel “at home” at home anymore.- you prefer a sleeping bag to a real blanket.- you raise a personal privilege card instead of saying, “speak up” in normal conversations.- if you’re a male, you most def-initely know how to tie a tie.- you know the difference between a train and a train of love.- you can speak with compe-tence about all European air-

lines.- you can greet people and curse in two or more foreign languages.- you have more than 30 unanswered Facebook friend requests from EYPers you don’t know.- you anticipate any sort of meal or coffee break provided in an EYP Day.- you feel like you should always wear a name badge.- your most frequent ill-ness is PED (Post EYP Depression).

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CORNERSTONES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

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Hannah Grace Carter A historical perspective on European integration: How we got this far and a guess on where we are going.

E uropean integration… What is it? Why do we

have it? And how long will it last? After decades of war provoked by nationalism, it was clear Europe had to change. A range of political and economic the-ories appeared, each of them aiming to solve the situation our continent had gotten itself into. These ranged from Feder-alism to Functionalism, from Multi-level governance to Neo-functionalism. Federalists aimed at creating a kind of super-nation state, where the countries volun-

tarily submitted their pow-ers in order to create common governance and to avoid war. Functionalists on the other hand proposed the creation of supra-national agencies that dealt with specifi c areas such as transport, leading ulti-mately to the irrelevance of the national government. Neither of these theories really ever applied. Neo-Function-alism on the other hand had quite the impact. Basically, it was all about “spillover”. The idea behind it was that by cre-ating one integrated economic community that functions

well, the integration would literally spill over into other areas. Thus the European Coal and Steel Community was cre-ated in 1951, and was shortly followed by the European Eco-nomic Community (EEC) and the Atomic Energy Commu-nity (Euratom). European inte-gration was taking place on an economic level for the ben-efi t of peace and the parties involved. The renowned spill-over effect did work in some ways, though there appeared to be limitations. This is where Multi-level Governance comes in. The concept here is that

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MEANWHILE ON FACEBOOKLia Pachler

states will in fact cooperate in many political areas known as the “low politics”, but that when it comes to the “high politics” (sensitive political issues), national governance remains of the utmost impor-tance. Looking back at history, it appears that the economy has been the cornerstone of Euro-pean integration. But mod-ern technology has brought us a major increase in mobil-ity and communication. It is arguable therefore that these two factors have overtaken the economy as cornerstones. In the past, economic down-turns have lead to stagnation in integration within Europe, because they incurred pro-tectionist measures by the states. We are currently fac-ing an economic crisis and the threat of counter-integration is a present as ever. However, this time around we are facing these problems with a well-connected Europe, be it in the form of modern transporta-tion or communication. It is so easy for the common European to hop on a train from Paris to Brussels and do business there; it is even eas-ier for the average person to express his or her views to the EU online. Protectionism and nationalist movements have been a threat to Europe in the past, but will the European population allow it to be so in the future? In other words, the future is in our hands.

Unfortunately, the Gymnasium Grootmoor’s local wireless internet blocks the access to certain popular Internet sites, such as the beloved Facebook. In case you’re already facing withdrawal symptoms from not visiting your favourite social network in the last few days, we’re presenting you what a typical Facebook update could look like during this Hamburg session.

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Seeing the Unseen Sights

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Judith Brehmer This alternative sort of Trans-European travel guide takes you off the beaten path to some of the continent’s less-known sightseeing desti-nations.

Y ou have been thinking and talking about the

future of mobility a lot these days. Let’s make to jump from theory to practice: How are you going to take advantage of new means and less lim-itations to mobility in your future? Have you thought about taking a gap year after finishing school for travelling Europe? If yes, here is what will make your trip special. If not, then let yourself get inspired by the multitude of attractive locations that wait for you to visit them:Before crossing national bor-ders, you may visit a Ger-

man city as a warm-up. Take a train to Munich, for exam-ple. Apart from attractions like Oktoberfest, Marienplatz and Olympiapark, there’s one new and extraordinary sight you should defi nitely see – whether you will like it or not: Munich has its own Michael Jackson memorial. In the city centre, fans of the King of Pop have redecorated a statue of the composer Orlando di Lasso after their idol’s death; the pic-tures and candles have been staying there for two and a half years now. Like his music or not – there’s no other spon-taneously created and at the

same time lasting monument like that in Munich.Now, it’s time to broaden your horizons literally – let’s go over-seas, namely to London. From Munich, get there by airplane (the fastest, but neither eco-friendly, nor memorable way to travel) or by train. There are special offers to get to London rather cheaply – and besides, travelling underneath the Brit-ish Channel is special. Once arrived, there are all the clas-sical sights to be visited: Lon-don Eye, Westminster, Tower Bridge – those will probably be on the postcards you will send. But Regent’s Canal – that’s what

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How are you going to take advantage of new means and less limitations to mobility in your future?“

you will write and tell about! Close to the colourful and lively Camden Market (unfor-tunately no longer an insid-er’s tip) you fi nd a green oasis of quietness along the canal. The place to go when the city’s loud and busy atmosphere gets too much. The highlight of an relaxed walk along the bank is a little settlement of house-boats. People live on creatively painted boats and even grow fl owers and vegetables there. Defi nitely a beautiful corner of London you should have seen!Back to the continent again! Once more, only going by train gives you the feeling of a free backpacker journey. Your next station could be the Nether-lands:Following a popular memo-rial and a quiet corner in a metropolis, culture shouldn’t come too short. So everyone who is interested in arts and

architecture should visit the Rietveld House in Utrecht. It was built in the 1920s accord-ing to the rules of “de Stijl”, a group of artists who developed a new style, including the use of geometrical forms and pri-mary colours only. The house was built for a widow named Truus Schröder. As she moved in with her children, she liter-ally wanted to give them free space: So on the upper fl oor, all the walls are movable in order to separate and join rooms freely. Today, the house is also an example par excellence for “de Stijl”, embodying their style and rules.Sure, this is not the guide for a complete journey – espe-cially not when you plan on taking a gap year. But maybe you became interested in some places of Europe that you don’t fi nd on every postcard and that are special. As you may

fi nd out, crossing borders isn’t a problem any more due to a new understanding of Euro-pean mobility. And you even needn’t worry about accom-modation: Once you’ve entered the world of EYP, you will fi nd friends all over Europe who will welcome you into their homes with delight.

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WHYDO WE NEED SLEEP?

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Hannah Grace Carter Here is an interesting fact: Dolphins actually never sleep! Why is it then that we humans however inevitably die from too lit-tle sleep, and that sleep deprivation affects us so badly?

E xperienced EYPers will be quite familiar with the

problem of sleep deprivation. It affects our mood, our judg-ment and our ability to con-centrate. A Journo who hasn’t slept well will not be able to produce great articles on time and a chair will not be able to lead his committee ideally. When we sleep, interesting things go on in our brain. Dur-ing the day, our brain builds up toxic chemicals, which need to be eliminated during our sleep. The same goes for

most land animals; rats, for instance, will die if they are kept awake for more than a few days. Generally, a person’s mood will be affected after one night without sleep, after two nights, the ability to con-centrate will decline, and after about fi ve nights, one will start hallucinating. After an even longer time, the brain will no

longer be able to communicate information to the body. In military interrogations, sleep deprivation is some-times used as a method of tor-ture, though this violates the Geneva Convention. People have actually died from not

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In military interrogations, sleep deprivation is sometimes used as a method of torture, though this violates the

Geneva Convention.“

enough sleep. There is a rare genetic disease, which dam-ages the brain in a certain way, leading to a person not being able to go to sleep at all. But let’s get back to the dol-phins. Dolphin brains need rest too, but unlike land ani-

mals, they have the ability to “ s w i t c h off” one

half of their brains and function fully with just the other half. Indeed, when we take a look at the animal kingdom,

we can learn a lot about the characteristics of sleep. It appears that prey will match its hours of sleep to it’s natu-ral predator. Lions for instance sleep for about 18 hours a day, since in the great savanna they do not have any natural pred-

ators. As humans, we need about 8 hours of sleep per night, although a person can be able to get by quite well on 5 hours, but only for a limited lime span.So, make sure that you get plenty of rest during the ses-sion. Drink some tea with-out caffeine before you sleep; look for some earplugs against the noise and a sleep mask to block out the light (which in some rooms switches on by its self during the night). Good night, sleep tight; don’t let insomnia kill you!

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CSI: HAMBURGJudith Brehmer and Maja Zalewska

You may think your chairs are the perfect role-models and as innocent as saints, but they are not! Our press team investigators dug up some some skeletons in their closets.Let us take a look into their fi les.

ENVI

TRAIN I

IMCO

Name: Elina SairanenAge: 19In EYP since: 2008Repeatedly seen with dangerous, sometimes even wanted men. Once caught while breaking the gate to enter a forbidden passage under a bridge.

Name: Maximilian KiehnAge: 20In EYP since: 2009Accused of running like mad in a monkey costume with his pals on the streets of the city of Menden (Sauerland) and disturbing the neighbourhood.

Name: Hammu VarjonenAge: 19In EYP since: 2010Charged for: Never having be fi ned, (one has to do something about that!) arrested while not wanting to let go of his beloved jumpers

Name: Anna KampfmannAge: 19In EYP since: 2009Charged for: Same here, too good... wasn’t funny while being arrested.

Name: Carlo EckertAge: 20In EYP since: 2010Charged for: Allowing his bike to get stolenArrested asleep before 1:00 a.m. (fi rst time in his EYP-history he got to sleep that early!)

Name: Mita TalentiAge: 24In EYP since: 2004Arrested for causing a car crash. Behaved very clumsily: Smashed half of the police’s coffee cups by accident while being arrested.

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AFET

LIBE

CULT I

Name: Panayiotis AtaouAge: 20In EYP since: 2008Charged for: Nothing. Wanted to see others being arrested because enjoys seeing other people suffer-ing.

Name: Aleksandra SzylkiewiczAge: 20In EYP since: 2010Charged for: Drinking in the streets (forbidden in France), but could convince policemen not to arrest her (young and nice police-men).Arrested while shouting: I’m the coolest chicken!

Name: Benjamin EisertAge: 18In EYP since: 2009Charged for: Having jumped a red light quite recently.Special characteristics: Being a classical person (whatever that means)

Name: Adriana Martín-ZamoranoAge: 21In EYP since: 2006Charged for: Being a good girl (her dad is a policeman)Arrested while being woken up by her alarm clock tune: „You sexy thing“ (Hot Chocolate)

Name: Mikaela KantorAge: 20In EYP since: 2008Although never actually getting fi ned (except for one tiny park-ing ticket), caught while losing her temper and disturbing the public order.

Name: Lucas GöttemannAge: 19In EYP since: 2010Charged for continuously exceed-ing speed limits and partying too hard. Arrested while shouting: I’m sexy and I know it!

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SEDE

CULT II

TRAIN II

Name: Dimitris HapizanisAge: 24In EYP since: 2006Not feeling the need to speed to much, the only time to get fi ned was parking in a no-parking zone. No other fault to be found. Server error.

Name: Yann EisertAge: 20In EYP since: 2009Caught by the police while enter-ing the King of Morocco’s private property. Claims to having done that accidentally while listening to his MP3 and jogging along the coast.

Name: Tatjana WahjudiAge: 23In EYP since: 2006The only one fault that we came across are fi nes for speeding. Seeing her suspicious behaviour at some times(standing on her head), it has been decided to pro-ceed with investigation.

Name: Albert Reverendo MascortAge: could not be defi nedIn EYP since: 2009Accused for disrespecting the cul-tural value of National Museum. His misbehaviour (dancing in sup-posedly empty room) has been recorded by the museum security cameras.

Name: Beatrice van TornoutAge: 22In EYP since: --Charged for: Cycling on the wrong sight of the street without light.Arrested while saying: I’m kooky!

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Mission: Casual

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Lia Pachler Do you know that feeling when you frantically stand in front of your closet and have no clue what to wear? Especially for a date? I do!

L et me set the scene: The good-looking guy you

have always stared at when sitting on the bus on the way to school all of a sudden asks you out. After you’ve gotten back on your feet, you liter-ally hover home. That initial excitement of having a date this Friday night is instanta-neously followed by panic, which totally consumes you as soon as you stand in front of your closet, wondering what the hell you are going to wear. I think I can speak for 99 per-cent of women when I say that we all have been there, excluding that one percent who has a closet the size and value of Russia. We all want to look fabulous and make a good impression without real-ising that we are desirable without massively spending

time in front of the mirror. However, in the likely event that you feel the urgent need of shining even more, I have some ideas for you to lend you a hand. First of all, one of the most important things to consider when choosing your dress is the shape of your body. If you are small and delicate do not wear too heavy dresses, rather go for smooth fabric dresses. On the other side, if you’re aiming to appear a bit slim-mer, I would advise you not to mix too many colours and wear high heels as they help a lot in that case. However, no matter how your body is shaped the greatest no-go one can ever commit is wearing a pair of leggings without cover-ing your bottom with another piece of clothing. Leggings are

obviously not an adequate replacement for jeans!Nevertheless, none of the aforementioned suggestions will make you appear any more glamorous if you do not feel comfortable. Nobody will judge you when you are wear-ing your favourite T-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans and fl ats, quite the contrary actually; a hot pair of jeans is always a good pick. This ensures that you will look like your outfi t is put together without being overly styled. All in all, there is not an ulti-mate formula for a perfectly fi tting outfi t, but an essential ingredient you should never forget is being yourself and fi nding the perfect balance between being overdressed and being underdressed.

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HAMBURG: POP CULTURE CAPITAL

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Leona Kohl Taking a look at Hamburg’s role as a cradle of musical great-ness, alternative lifestyle and green politics.

August 17, 1960: The Beatles had their fi rst gig at the “Indra” club in Hamburg. This perfor-mance brought a whole new genre of popular music to the city and marked the beginning of one of the history’s most fascinating band careers. The more popular they became the more they played concerts in established clubs like “Star-Club”. This was probably the most internationally known venue, although it was demol-ished long ago. Ever since, the Hanseatic town makes a valuable contribution to the development of the cul-ture and young society in Ger-

many. The clubs where The Bea-tles and other famous artists like Jimi Hendrix performed are located in St. Pauli, the most famous part of Hamburg with the city’s Red Light Dis-trict right in the middle and the notorious streets “Reeper-bahn” and “Große Freiheit” in the heart of this quarter. The development that The Bea-tles started continued from that moment. The alterna-tive youth culture in Hamburg grew vibrant and became an infl uence both inside and out-side Germany.Today, the city in the north is

known as a stronghold of Hip-sters. Hamburg’s alternative atti-tude is not only refl ected by the music culture and lively social scene, but also by the political situation in Hamburg; the Social Democrats hold the majority, while the consent with conservative parties is decreasing.Looking at municipal election results in St. Pauli, the infl u-ence is especially clear: 70% elected the Social Democrats, the Greens, or the Left party, while less than 10% decided to support the Conservatives and Liberals.

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I might have been born in Liverpool - but I grew up in Hamburg” - John Lennon“

Unfortunately, Hamburg is sometimes reduced to the violent image of this area, whereas it is one of the most vivid and interesting sections of the city.

Many products that are admired and consumed by youths have their origin in the Hanseatic city.“Fritz-kola” is a good example for such a trend-setting prod-uct. With the intention to build up an anti-pole to great cor-porations like Coca-Cola, the inventors worked toward mak-ing the product successful and popular among the young soci-

ety. “Premium-Cola” (located in Hamburg too) is a com-pany that is dedicated to social and ecological standards and therefore bought as a kind of a political token. Further, even the city govern-ment makes a contribution to a green, alternative image of the city. By taking a variety of mea-sures to protect the environ-ment, e.g. by covering 100% of the energy consumption of public buildings with green energy, as the fi rst town world-wide, Hamburg was selected to be the European Green Capital of 2011.

All these facts make this town a good example for other cit-ies and especially a metrop-olis for the conscious, politi-cal, and cosmopolitan lifestyle that hopefully will increase in Europe.

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Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

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Zuzana Holakovská A brief overview about the challenges of learning the German language, from a foreigner’s perspective.

Although majority of you are native speakers, you may lack some knowledge concern-ing the details about the Ger-man language. It is generally known that German is spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzer-land, Liechtenstein, Luxem-bourg, the South Tyrol region of Italy, the Opole Voivodship of Poland, a part of Belgium, and also the Alsace region of France. However due to the fact that German belongs to the three most taught languages in the world as well as the ten most widely spoken languages, it is starting to be rather dan-gerous to gossip in German in public. We all know how hilar-ious it is, when someone com-ments our appearance in a lan-

guage we understand and we can reply to it. When learning German as a foreign language one is con-fronted with several unusual grammar phenomena. For example Germans (together with for example Polish and Czech) seem to show how highly sexualised societies they are, by differentiating between not two but even three gen-ders: feminine, masculine, and neuter. Despite the fact Ger-many is a developed country with post-modern values, the language seems to reveal a cer-tain proof of underestimation of women. For example what would be a possible explana-tion for considering a girl (das Mädchen) a neuter although

she physically must be femi-nine? This example also dem-onstrates how unpredictable gender articles are – there-fore foreign learners must get ready for some memorising.Another important factor in the German language is the length of words. If you are not fond of writing long essays, you should try to avoid using Ger-man – what could be explained in two or three short words in English easily becomes a sin-gle long word in German. A good everyday example would be “Geschwindigkeitsbegren-zung”, which simply means a speed limit. A helpful trick to understand these so-called compound words is dividing them into the original words

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We all know how hilarious it is, when someone comments our appearance in a language we understand and we can reply to it. “

and start reading them from right to left. Right being the most important, and the more left you read the more details you receive.What makes German a unique language is also the syntax. Because German employs the so-called verbal bracket, all German learners are forced to undergo a never-ending period of time when they have to memorise extremely long sentences before actually fi nd-ing out the core of the sen-tence, which is the verb. Just imagine how hard it must be for German interpreters, if they have to always wait until the very end of each sentence before translating.Now that you know what to

expect when learning German, what is the best way to start? Language schools have been putting a lot of effort into per-suading potential students that their way of teaching is the most effi cient, however there is no universal recipe. First of all it is important to make sure we are motivated to learn that particular language. It is impossible to reach our goal of becoming fl uent without a strong will and determina-tion. Furthermore it is recom-mended to spend hours read-ing and primarily listening. It is vital to have multiple teach-ers or audio records to learn the best pronunciation possi-ble and get a feeling for how the language is actually used

day-to-day.When we manage the under-standing, it is the right time to practice speaking as well. A good way is becoming friends with a native speaker. As you could have read earlier in this issue, you are a true EYPer if you know to how introduce yourself in as many European languages as possible. Take this as a motivation to con-tinue with EYP, meet many for-eign friends and start learning a foreign language. Know-ing how to say “hi” is just the beginning.

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The General Assembly Survival Guide

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Hannah Grace Carter GA can seem boring at times, and terrifying at others, but keep calm and read these tips on coping with GA with a minimum amount of stress.

PreparationMost teachers will tell you to prepare well ahead of time for any kind of work or presenta-tions. If you haven’t done this, don’t worry. Usually you will end up not having an opportu-nity to make use of all of your pre-acquired research.Speeches are different from resolutions. If you spend very little time writing some-thing that has to be spoken, it is likely that the fi nal product will sound more natural and sincere. A text you have spent hours on will sometimes sound forced and overly eloquent.

CoffeeOne word, six letters, the best drug ever invented. The sec-ond part of the General Assem-bly will be after the farewell party, meaning that most of you will be tired. So, have cof-fee, but drink responsibly. But don’t overdo it; the side effects of caffeine are not to be under-estimated!

ClothingAs you know, the GA dress code is formal. This is not just good for us Journos, as this makes you great motives for photos; it’s also for you. Nothing works as well for your confi dence as throwing on a classy suit and

tie, or a pair of high heels. Con-sider it to be like a costume. As soon as you wear your GA for-mals, you will feel like a confi -dent statesman. Make sure that you are comfortable though; you don’t want to end up fall-ing in your heels, or being strangled by your tie.

SpeechesNext to your resolutions, speeches are one of the essen-tial parts of GA. When holding a speech, try to exude confi dence. Picture the audience naked, take 10 deep breaths, or do a mental ener-giser, whatever works best for you. Don’t freak out, none of

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the people watching you will bite you.

For your defense speechMake it attention-grabbing. Your audience will be full of tired delegates, so wake them up with the occasional shocker. Mention examples and events that your fellow participants will have heard of, use unex-pected stories. On the other hand, don’t go completely crazy! Try to make sense, and don’t say anything vulgar.

For your attack speechDon’t be afraid to be vicious. I have heard to many attack speeches that were just too nice, your fellow delegates won’t hate you for pointing out their mistakes. Make sure you hit the right balance, do actu-ally attack them, but don’t get offensive.

For your closing speechThis is your last chance to appeal to your voters. You can get a little emotional; you can get a little creative. Be sure not to repeat too much of your defense speech.

Open DebateThis is the most exciting part of the GA. People in the audi-ence will be able to ask ques-tions and voice opinions on a resolution. Don’t be shy here, the more questions asked, the better the discussion. Also pay close attention to which ques-tions have already been asked. Nobody wants to answer the same questions many times. If you are responsible for answering the questions, you will have to be able to think fast. Ask your fellow delegates to help you by passing you notes and hints on answer-

ing the diverse questions. If you are the kind of person who can write an eloquent answer within a few minutes, you should take over this role. Also, this is the kind of part that is ideal for people who speak English well, as there is no time to correct anything.

Finally, just have fun with it. General Assemblies are intense, challenging and com-petitive, and in my opinion, the best part of EYP.

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EATING VEGGIES ONCE IN A WHILE WON’T KILL YOU

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Filippo Ranalli Vegetarian food may sometimes be derided and looked down upon, but it is in fact just about the healthiest choice you could possibly make.

V egetarianism is the prac-tice of following plant-

based diets with the strict exclusion of meat, and option-ally also the exclusion of dairy products or eggs. Now, there may be many reasons for someone to actually become a vegetarian, nevertheless, we as animals are all born omnivorous, and that implies that nature believes we ought to feed on both meat and vegetables. Hence someone might say, “How else would you explain our canine teeth then?”. There are in fact many things we are actually natu-rally born to do but we don’t anymore, as modern society with all its comforts and ide-als has divorced mankind from many of their beast-like instincts, and in return has provided for a solid structure. There have been vegetar-ian communities in ancient times and, although some may regard it as an unnatural habit, vegetarianism has been spreading quickly around the world in the last decades and may very well keep up the trend. Overall, vegetarian-

ism brings many advantages and some minor cons to the table. To begin with, a vegan diet is way more healthy than an ordinary diet. In fact, vege-tarians have a 24% lower mor-tality rate from heart disease than non-vegetarians, they have far lower cholesterol lev-els and very little body fat – have you ever seen a fat vege-tarian, per se? There are many reasons that could push someone to become a vegan, among those, environmental awareness, religion, sympathy for the ani-mals, health aspects or sim-ply the loathing of meat itself. Environmental vegetarianism is based on the concern that the mass production of meat is unsustainable for the envi-ronment. In fact , the livestock industry is one of the largest contributors to the environ-mental degradation world-wide, through deforestation and greenhouse gas emission. It is a well-known fact that the production of meat and eggs may inevitably lead to great suffering for the animals, for instance in the egg produc-

tion industry animals’ beaks are cut straight off and all the male chicks are slaughtered by machines; “Hell”, one might think, “This is not that natu-ral either!” Furthermore, sev-eral diseases can be transmit-ted from the meat to man and it has been proven that eat-ing red meat may increase the chances for a tumor. What you could really get a kick out of yesterday were all the faces the delegates made when they realised only vegan food will be served at the ses-sion – generally people still like good old meat. People who really care for their health and well-being, may as well decide to cut back on meat – and per-haps cigarettes too, and alco-hol while they’re at it. It maybe a wise decision, but in the long run not everyone might agree. Freud happened to say: “If you stop smoking, drinking and making love, what else is there to live for?”

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CROSSWORD Leona Kohl

ACROSS

3 Street where the school is located7 President of the session 10 Giants, Wizards and … 12 GA stands for … 14 Teambuilding game: Skin the …15 Committee on Foreign Affairs16 Name of the town where the NSC Germany will be held18 School where the session takes place

DOWN

1 Person who judges the committee2 Leader of a committee4 Offensive speech during GA5 Theme of the fi rst party6 Energizer game with physical contact8 Name of the session newspaper9 Energizer and song11 Dress code during committee work13 Where the journalists work17 Committee on International Market and Consumer Production

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Railway the Serbian Way

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Nives Kaprocki “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late” – Shakespeare. Or not…

Living in Serbia, it isn’t so strange that I got used to a lot of things not functioning prop-erly. Many areas did improve over time, but transportation, especially railway transporta-tion, has a long way to go before reaching the acceptable level. Although it may seem irrele-vant at fi rst whether your train leaves at exactly eight o’clock or at ten past eight, sometimes it really makes a difference.

And imagine the case where a ten minutes delay is actually considered a short one.

One time, when I was sup-posed to leave for the EYP Ser-bia meeting in Belgrade by train, it was late for about an hour, which is actually half of the length of the trip from my town to Belgrade. Apart from being horribly late, I also had a pleasure to enjoy the comfort

of sitting on a wooden bench and stretching my neck to catch a glimpse of a mighty Ser-bian pre-war-built train. The relief of entering the train also faded quite fast when I real-ized all the seats had already been occupied and that I had to stand for two hours, or sit on the fl oor and try not to look like a homeless person.

When you experience a cou-

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ple of situations similar to the aforementioned one, you somehow learn to esti-mate the delay, and get to the train station “on time”. Some-times, however, things in Ser-bia actually work out with-out any problems (yes, it does happen). Then, as you have already assumed, the previ-ous solution fails massively. I must admit that the number of times I miscalculated the delay is not so small either… but the habit to always “know” that coming on time is not nec-essary, becomes enrooted in the society. And the expres-sion “politely late” gets a com-pletely new meaning.

If someone is from Eastern Europe, and could identify with any of the previous situ-ations, they can even consider

Crossword solutions:

1. Juror2. Chairperson3. Am Damm4. Attack Speech5. Black and White6. Sticky Toffee7. Adriana8. Alster Twelve9. Big Fat Pony10. Dwarfs 11. Smart Casual12. General Assembly13. Press Room 14. Snake15. AFET16. Berlin17. IMCO18. Grootmoor

themselves lucky! There are still so many places that could be accessed by train only if it was a fl ying one. We shouldn’t lose hope though – the tech-nology is advancing steadily. However, until this happens, there are some things that can be done. Despite the lack of money invested in this area, if Eastern Europeans make a determined effort to become more conscious and punctual, the trains, no matter how slow they are, will arrive on time. Probably more people could rely on actually getting some-where by train, and govern-ment would invest more in improving it. Or at least that’d be the case if common logic could be used there.

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Arriana Yiallourides . Filippo Ranalli . Hannah Grace Carter . Judith Brehmer . Leona KohlLia Pachler . Maja Zalewska . Nives Kaprocki . Zuzana Holakovská

Maya Szost . Robin Janásek . Randolf Carr