European Exchange to Slovenia
August 2009
Hendry Ross – A New Experience
One interesting thing I did this summer was to go on a youth exchange to Slovenia. We were away for 8 days in August. The group was made up of four boys and two leaders. Slovenia borders Croatia, Italy, Austria and Hungary. The theme of the exchange was about who we are in today’s Europe. The countries that took part were Slovenia, Spain, Poland, Finland and Scotland.
The first national group we met was the Spanish. Without knowing we had been on the same train as them travelling from Ljubljana to Trbovlje and it was only when we got off the train that we realised that they were also part of the exchange. We ended up sharing a room with the Spanish guys. When we got to the school that was going to be our home for the week, there was a welcoming party of Slovenian young people and leaders. The Poles and Finns came a wee bit later.
Each morning a different national group woke us up and led us through a sequence of exercises. Every day a different national group did the washing up and each group presented a national evening showing something of their culture.
Each day followed roughly the same pattern of workshops, meals, meetings and a bit of free time in which some people went to the shops, Soncjek (the local youth project’s premises), swimming or stayed at the school to play football or basketball or just have a sleep.
The workshops were working towards putting a show on in the park for the local people of Trbovlje. There were four different workshops – art, music, media and dance. After all the presentations there was a band playing in the park.
The exchange was a great experience – making new friends from different cultures, seeing new places and being away from home.
We all had a great time and lots of fun!
Kyle Storrie
Between the tenth and seventheenth of August this year, I went on a European Youth Exchange with three other guys who work with Bridges Project. We went to Trbovlje in Slovenia, which is part of the old Yugoslavia – I didn’t know where it was before.
The point of the Exchange was to explore our identity as young people and as young Scots and as young Europeans. There were four other national groups – Slovenia, Poland, Spain and Finland. Mixing in small groups (and also in the larger group of participants and leaders) with the young people from other countries was great and helped me to realise that I can join in even quite daft activities without embarrassment. I used to feel quite stressed in groups but this trip has helped me to manage much better. I got on with everybody, even the Finns who were a bit more reserved. All of the groups had to put on a National Evening showing something of their own culture – I was really nervous about being up front but once I had done it I felt relieved and quite good.
I was in the Art Workshop – we produced a big painting representing who we are and this was put up on show in the Park on the final evening of the Exchange for the local townspeople to see. We also had a bit of a party in the Park with a band and that was great…..dancing and having a laugh with all the young people that we had got to know really well……so well it felt like a great big family!
On the Friday of the Exchange we had a day off – we were taken by coach to the seaside. Slovenia has a really short coastline on the Adriatic Sea and we went to Portoroz where we could swim (the water was really warm and salty). A few of us went further along the seafront and hired paddle boats and had a great time larking around. We had two of the Slovenians on the front of our boat (Rok and Dina) and they enjoyed us paddling into and up and down the small waves…..we had a laugh! It was really hot and sunny and we swam several times before having a typical Slovenian lunch in a nearby restaurant.
Before Slovenia I had never ever flown but after being a bit apprehensive the flights were fine – I enjoyed being in the aeroplanes. I learned to be a bit more patient because flying seems to involve a lot of standing in queues! We also had the chance to pass through the capital city, Ljubljana, on our journey to and from Trbovlje. It is a beautiful city with a river running through it and a castle on a hill. We looked at stalls in the market for presents to take home and had pizza for lunch in a cafe with tables and chairs outside on the side of the street.
The whole experience was great and we had loads of fun as well as learning something about ourselves and young people in Europe.
Dijo! That’s ‘cheerio’ in Slovenian.
Our Day Trip to Glenshee
A Night at the Proms, June 2008
The Lamp of Lothian run a series of concerts throughout the year at St Mary’s Church in Haddington. The Project was lucky to be invited to attend a classical performance by the Scottish Ensemble and a workshop and meal courtesy of Richard Chester MBE ex Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish National Youth Orchestra. Everyone dressed up (except the staff!) and we felt really privileged, as we got front row seats.
