20th of June Last day :(

The day started with making conclusions of the project, what everyone learned and what impact it had on them. Afterwards every country did their dissemination plans to reflect the project in their own countries. For example some decided to write articles for various newspapers, some organized to have an event to talk about the project or spread their experiences in different places such as their school, workplace, camp etc. Later that day the Romanian team, who was very experienced in writing projects, gave us some tricks and tips on how to write a project ourselves and what is necessary for that. As we had learned about the theoretical part from the Romanian team, the Greek team put our skills to a test and we actually tried  practically how it would be to carry out a project.

 In the evening  we guessed who our secret friend was by touching them blindfolded. After that it was time for the youthpass ceremony. A person had someone's youthpass and by describing him/her the owner of that youthpass was revealed. It was very emotional for everyone but nevertheless after the official part was over we spent the night having our last chats and dances with people, who in such short time had become a big family.

19th of June ...Tartu

After having delicious breakfast, like usual, we got into the bus and headed for Tartu. First of all we went to the old town. There we got a lot of eyes on us by doing a couple of energizers. To keep our spirits lifted, we all sung the song ,,Happy''. And finally we started giving out free hugs, some of us even tied the eyes with a cloth, which was a lot of fun! After that fun experience in the old town we went to have lunch at Big Ben. Later that day we had lots of free time, so everyone could do what they wanted. Some of us went sightseeing in different museums or just strolled around the botanical garden, various parks, local shops etc. The time flew by really quickly and it was time to have pizza for dinner. After having our stomachs full, it was time to drive back to our accommodation. Since we weren't always together in Tartu spent the whole evening talking because we had loads to discuss about!

18th of June - preparation for campaign

After breakfast we finished our clay project that we started a few days ago initiated by the Portugese team. We made something out of clay that represented us and left it to dry. And now it was time to do the final touch-up by coloring them. Later that day we created an action plan for the following day at Tartu. We agreed on doing some of our favorite energizers such as ,,i want to ride with my big fat pony'' and ,,i want to go to the seaside''. The next thing we agreed on was that we would sing ,,Happy'' all together. And finally the most support got the idea of free hugs. Everyone did themselves a sign that said Free Hugs. Many of us wrote it down in multiple languages and drew the flag of their home country. The signs came out beautiful and everyone was really exited for the next day.

17th of June Canoeing ;)

The day started with a refreshing 4 km hike from our accommodation to the nearby river to go canoeing. We divided quickly into groups and the fun began! At first the weather was a bit chilly but as soon as we started paddling, it was fine. As the hours passed the sun came out too and it was really great, too great even because many of us got burnt by the sun. Despite that, everyone really liked getting physically active in beautiful Estonian nature. We ended that short trip by having packed lunch by the riverside and then hiking back to our sweet home-Marja Talu.

  In the afternoon we got to relax a little bit, then we had a brief feedback session. Since everyone's muscles were pretty sore, we decided to end the day with another sauna night.

16th of June - Adventure Park

We spent the whole day outdoors, it was our first trip since the project began and we were all super excited about the adventure park. Otepää Adventure Park is a place that can offer you real thrills. It has 6 trails full of challenges set up to let us climb and swing between heaven and earth! There is a 7th trail, also known as "Trail of Challenges", and it's the most difficult one, definitely worthy of its name. After we received our personal safety equipment and instructions, the fun began!

 

The trails became harder and harder and the obstacles increasingly difficult, but we all did our best and we had a great time! Some of us even successfully tried the 7th trail and they won bracelets to remember their achievement. We all agreed that the best trail was number 6, a huge zip line that allowed us to fly 300m above Linnamäe Valley. In the end, we were all super tired but satisfied with ourselves.

Then, we walked to Pühajärve, we arrived at the beach and we relaxed by the lake. We had the chance to witness and cheer for the people participating in the IRONMAN 70.3 Otepää 2018, a triathlon festival that includes swimming, riding a bicycle and running. We returned home just in time to discuss about our day, share "battle" stories and show off our wounds from the adventure park. Overall, it was a great day full of new experiences and a lot of burned calories! 

15th of June - Estonian Night!!!

The day started with the Spanish team trying to wake us up with a bunch of fun and energetic activities. Then, the Romanian team took over to take us out of our comfort zone through a blind cooperation activity. Everyone participated and as a group we did a great job to pass our limits and step out of our comfort zone. During the lunch time, the Estonian team had a unexpected request, since tonight was the Estonian night, they wanted as a preview to help them cook and serve pancakes for desserts! Of course, we were all very happy and willing to help with such a sweet activity.

After our bellies had filled, the Portuguese team taught us to express ourselves through art. We used clay to create whatever we wanted, whatever we could imagine, something very suitable to the activity's name "I can". After we finished, we gave our object to our buddy to add something, and then our masterpiece was complete!

 
                                                                                                          

We left our clay to dry in the sun and we discussed about the major dilemma that came up about what we were going to do tonight, watch the football game Portugal vs Spain or have the Estonian Night? We managed to meet halfway and do both! We started by watching the game, the final result 3-3 left everyone satisfied, and then we continued with the Estonian night. The team had prepared videos, music, a mini quiz and amazing food. It was a full day stay tuned for more!

14th of June - Sex and much more!

We started the 7th day of our project with a nice energizer called ninja. After that, we had self-defense session. Priit and one other guy came from 3D Treening to talk about self-defense and it wasn't what we expected at all. Priit was a great teacher - he told us why self-defense is actually pointless, why we don't need that at all and why it's always better to run away. After we had learned a lot about why we don't need to learn self-defense, he actually started to teach us some good technics. We learned a lot and most of us really loved this session.

After self-defense, we had a session about what type of people we are. We could be either owls, turtles, sharks, foxes or teddy bears. We learned what are the strengths and weaknesses of each type to perform better in our lives.

Our afternoon activity, we had really exciting workshop: sex education. We had a debate about vaginas and penises, their pros and cons, then shared a lot of experiences.

Day ended with nice games that made us come out of our comfort zone and get closer to each other.

Eliisa, Herkko, Razvan, Liane, Roberto

13th of June - looking inside

We started this day early in the morning with a great activity organized by our hosts and friends from Estonia. All participants were invited, one by one to take a self-awareness walk in which they could discover their feelings, their worries and explore the tranquility of the area that surrounds us here. Each participant had to explore and complete several tasks alone, with tasks that involved enjoying the sky, the area, the trees and altogether nature, as well as tasks that focused on personal emotions, personal relations and our lives back home. The experience proved to be a great one for everyone involved, the feedback and debriefing showing us that we all had strong emotions during our walk and many memorable moments. 

During the afternoon, during our open space, each national group prepared several activities for us. The Estonian team taught us how to play guitar, how to play the ukulele, how to speak Estonian and how to apply for volunteering programs across Europe, each other participant having the opportunity to choose. The Spanish team brought us back to our childhoods with a team-building activity focused on hiding and seeking, where we explored and worked in groups to find our "opponents". The Greek team tested our trust in one another with several trust building activities, where we had to put our faith and our well being in the hand our team members. The Romanian team helped us develop even further our relations and teamwork abilities while our Portuguese friends treated us to a series of games of volleyball, basketball and a fitness session that we wonˇt forget anytime soon. Stay tuned for more information about our project.

12th of June - public speaking in action!

The day started the Estonian team and their activity of introducing the 8 key competences of Youthpass. In small teams we spent 5 minutes in each competence ''corner'' and we had the chance to explain and learn about each one.

After this very interesting session, it was Romania's turn to introduce us to public speaking. First, Nacho tried to translate Herkko's story from Estonian to English. We all have to say that even though he has no idea of Estonian, he has a great imagination! Then it was time to act some short everyday situations, two were talking while another pair was acting! We saw a little girl that wanted to go to a Justin Bieber concert, old men walking, a lady lost in a foreign country and a little girl wanting to know how children are born! And last, but not least we all tried to convince Andrei to give us money for starting our companies. 

Later, after a delicious (as always) lunch our Spanish friends introduced us to our Values, Roots, Dreams and Hopes. Followed by the Greek team that identified us with a fictional character or an existing person. We learnt a lot about ourselves (see any patterns here? ) and we enjoyed our time discussing about our favorite characters.

In the next activity we discovered once again a little more about ourselves in ''Who I want to be?'' introduced by the Romanian team. 

The night had fallen (just kidding, it's June in Estonia. There is no night!) and it was time for the Spanish and Portuguese night.  The night was amazing, both countries showed us the best food, dances and traditions. There was a Kahoot quiz by the Spanish team and the winner was Estonia! 

11th of June - self-discovery!

We started out day with amazing breakfast (as always!) . The Greek team started the morning activities with a helpful self-awareness session about our Past-Present-Future. Then, the Romanian team boosted up our confidence in the ''I am good at...'' session! We learnt a lot about ourselves and why we haven't pursued our dreams yet.

After a delicious lunch, our lovely Portuguese team performed a acroyoga session! We revealed our inner Yogis and expressed ourselves together with our buddies. Some poses were easier than others but everyone can admit that we laughed a lot and had an amazing time.

The pictures are worth a thousand words...

Later, the Estonian team introduced to us the ''Here I stand'' activity. We had some very difficult debates, first with ourselves and then with our team. The only thing that we agreed on was that Santa Claus is real! HOHOHO!

The night ended beautifully, with a midnight walk by the light of candles (YES! we are that romantic!) We had very interesting conversations and we changed buddy every 5 minutes. The lighting didn't give us any chance for taking photos, so we will leave a lot to your imagination!😉

10th June - teamwork and setting goals

Today, we woke up to find out we don't have electricity or water. We anyway had breakfast and later read the gossip box. We danced macarena like crazy people and selected our buddy. Afterwards, we went to the forest following the Romanian team. Then Estonian team presented five different learning styles. Then the Romanian team again assisted to write letters to ourselves. Lunch. After that, we did Erasmus+ workshop to get the idea about different programme opportunities. Dinner. First learning reflection with our national team. Romania and Greece intercultural night.

We presented Romania by quiz competition and every country participated in this game as a team. After this we had another task for participants, we divided them by international groups to smaller teams, and the task was to sing a Romanian song in Romanian language. Everything was very funny and interactive. People were very active and enjoyed the moment. After this we tried specific traditional food, drinks and sweets. Then we had an opportunity to listen to popular Romanian and Greek songs.

Watch and wish that you were here :

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9th of June: welcome to the project!

It was a full first day! The hosting team introduced us the schedule of the project and we went on with playing name games. Romanian team organized everyone into cleaning teams and then we all agreed to some ground rules. Then the Greek team set teams for the blog and social committee. After the directions of the Portuguese team, everyone chose a person from for the secret friend game. After we started the gossip box game. For lunch, we had delicious chicken with potatoes and ice cream. Later, Spain organized the spaghetti game and every team made the tallest tower they could make out of the materials they were given (longer explanation down). The competition was high but all of the teams did great and we had fun! Then the Greek team organized a team building game with tasks that the teams they divided had to complete. (see the pictures). Then Estonian team gave materials to make individual diaries for this project. Then finally it was dinner time and we had pasta and muffins! After that, it was free time, time to socialize. 

NOW DETAILED SPAGHETTI GAME:

Imagine a room filled with 30 people, divided into six teams. The task is simple: in fifteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 1x1 meter paper, one meter of tape, 20 cm of string, an empty can of beer, a plastic cup and 2 pens. It’s a great way to teach the benefits of rapid prototyping. Surprising lessons emerge when you compare teams’ performance. Who tends to do the worst? Why? Who tends to do the best? Why? What improves performance? What kills it? What we noticed was that teams that performed the best were the ones that didn’t sit around talking about the problem. They just started building to determine what works and what doesn’t. If something didn't work, they discarded it and tried another method (oh, and having an architecture student as a teammate might help too).

Lessons learned: Building develops your intuitions about how the process and materials are connected. You learn by doing, discovering problems you can’t predict in advance. Simultaneous attempts allows you to see a lot of good ideas. Being first to finish isn’t always the best. Multiple ways of trying to solve a problem usually beat a commitment to making your first idea work. All projects have resource constraints: exercises like this illustrate the value of deadlines. Encourage wild ideas: What if I tied the structure to the ceiling?

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Estonia

What the **** is Estonia?

If you never heard Estonia before, be ready to be surprised.

We are Just Estonishing!

100 years old

History?

Might not be interesting topic for all, so long story short-we fought our independence
from Soviet Union. We used to have our own currency until 2011, KROON, after this
lovely unlogical different sized euro came.

Highlights of Estonia

First you think “Do they even have internet or are they speaking russian?”, right. In fact,
we don’t have to leave our house to sign whatever contract you have to, for example to
open a new bank account is easypeasy.

We all have heard that Skype and Transferwise and they are born in Estonia. Not
showing off here.

I-voting since 2005. Self driving busses 2017. (https://e-estonia.com/)

Our president is Kersti Kaljulaid, a woman.

Last president is here, look at him. He made selfie at the opening of the 26. Song Festival
on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.

How cool is that?

Nature & Climate

It’s not even funny that we can’t climb, cause we don’t have any mountains, only
highest point we have is the Suur Munamägi (we call it big egg mountain) in the
southeast at 318 metres. Though we have 3,794 kilometres of coastline marked
by numerous bays, straits, and inlets. 50% of Estonia's territory is covered by forest
land. The number of islands and islets is estimated at some 2,355 (including those
in lakes).

We say that we have five seasons, classic ones and one extra when everything is
flooding. We have different capitals for different seasons. Record high temperature
was 35,6 °C and lowest -36,8°C.

People

Estonia is well known for beautiful girls. Also maybe thanks to Kelly Sildaru-youngest
X games winner, Ott Tänak-WRC driver or Arvo Pärt-famous composer. We are really
proud of them. Google helps (as always) if you want to have some additional information
about them.

Festivals

WKND- Weekend Festival Baltic! 3 days in August at Pärnu beach with The Prodigy,
Post Malone, KYGO, Hardwell, David Guetta, Axwell Ingrosso, Afrojack etc.

Õllesummer, since 1996 estonians most adored festival with bands from homeland
also from behind seven seas, and of course delicious food and beer.

Valgus kõnnib Kadriorus, direct translation means Light is walking in Kadriorg and
it looks like this:

   

The sweetest for last..Laulu-ja tantsupidu! The most important cultural events of
Estonia. The Song and Dance Celebration and The Youth Song and Dance Celebrations!
They only take place every five years. First one took place in 1869 in Tartu. Next Song and
Dance Celebration takes place in 2019 and Youths in 2022. Last one in 2014 had
153 000 visitors, 33 000 singers and 10 000 dancers. Youth Celebration is UNESCO
World Heritage Event. We’re happy to share more about it when we’ll see!

Some more-or-less interesting facts

• The current national military service (Estonian: ajateenistus) is compulsory for men between 18 and 28, and conscripts serve eight-month to eleven-month tours of duty depending on the army branch they serve in.
• In 2017, the average monthly gross salary in Estonia was €1221.
• Europa saunamarathon is happening every year in Otepää, where you can “relax” in eleven different saunas. There are rules, which you have to follow, because it’s a competition.
• In winter, when it’s cold enough, we are driving with cars over the sea to our islands like Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joOyBji_LUk)

                                                                           By Janet Kukk and edited by Karmen Kullamaa

_______________________________

Who are we?    

My name is Kristi and I am one of the group leaders from Estonia. I work in international

youth-work field and about to graduate my studies in youth-work. I love to travel, dance and

extremes. I am very exited for the upcoming project as I really like to test my limits as I feel

this is the way we get better and better with different things.

Hey! I'm Janet, 22, graduated marketing-specialist, ex Au-pair, loving daughter, sister, aunt

and friend, not religious but spiritual, fascinated about personal-growth, love to do sports (discgolf)

& read books, always ready to meet people, enthusiastic shishasmoker 😜

I returned from Germany about month ago and now I need to figure out what's my next big

adventure and I'm hoping to discover things I didn't know before with this project and find my way.

My name is Karmen. I am from beautiful country named Estonia, where you all have a chance

to come. I graduated studies in marketing 2 years ago, after that I have been working on this field

and travelling (what I love to do a lot), also have been relatively active in Erasmus world (different

youth exchanges and training courses here and there), I think exactly non-formal education is the

key for further self-development and every project is special and useful in many ways.

My name is Eliisa and I'm 18 years old student. I have participated in about ten projects by now.

In my free time you can find me reading a good book, writing something, playing piano or guitar or

maybe dancing. After graduation I want to start studying medicine and become a good doctor

My name is Herkko Sõber (Sõber translated to English means friend). I am from Estonia. I

graduated studies in IT 4 months ago. I like traveling, photography and making movies. I really

want to meet you all and let’s make this project memorable!

Margarita: I'm full of positive energy and I like to share it with others. I am absolutely fascinated

about how many beautiful languages and cultures there are in the world and I cannot wait to learn

more about them.

Hi there, Im Maria-  member of Estonia team . I graduated studies in Earth Science 2 years ago.

Then I took my backpack and went to travel and time to time was participating in youth exchanges.

I got addicted to participating in youth exchanges, because they bring a lot of new people,

experience, memories, feelings to my life, also it’s the way I go out of my comfort zone. I like

camping, hiking, dancing, playing board games, singing and cooking.

My name is Railika. I finished 11th grade and start my last year of high school in the fall. I enjoy

playing cards, playing the ukulele and making people laugh. If I seem tired in the beginning of the

project, that's because it's difficult to sleep in the woods. Anyway, hope we all have fun and learn

some new things as well.

My name is Heleri & I'm from South Estonia. I am the second ( supportive) group leader of

Estonian team. I will join exchange together with Helena, my 9 months old daughter. She has

already been to training course in Greece, so it is her second Erasmus plus project :)

I have been involved in international projects quite a lot, so this time I am little bit in background

and want to give others the chance to take initiative. Otherwise I enjoy travelling, good

conversations, board games, swimming and sun :)