3

The quantum of ESN energy…

All the great things in history were achieved friendships one of which was written in French.
thanks to people who dreamt of better world and In this way we would like to start a new cycle
brighter future for the mankind and it was their in eXpress – ‘the languages of Europe’ with ar-
vision and conviction that brought these dreams ticles in other languages than English. We’re also
into effect. Their inspiration, power and persis- happy that one of our partner organizations,
tence made them carriers of the positive energy AEGEE, accepted our invitation to contribute to
changing the world and our lives. That’s how this issue as well.
new ideas, new projects are usually born and
that’s how the new beginnings start… The whole issue was created and all arti-
cles were selected under the title of ‘New Begin-
ESN is like an energy fusion bringing ning’. But there’s still one very important thing to
creative thoughts and making them come true. remember - after good new beginning the path
Therefore, such innovative and brave projects needs to be followed, so that at the end the suc-
like Give20 or ESNtrain can take place. Then, cess can be achieved…
by developing ideas like Against Racism Cup or
Social Erasmus, ESNers are spreading the good By Magdalena Wawrzonkowska
spirit and mobilising themselves for the well-
being of other people and show that they care
about the significant world issues. The example
of motivated members of ESN France proved
that thanks to the ESN energy, stubbornness and
hard work it is possible to bring amazing results
in a short time. ESNers know also how impor-
tant self-development, learning new things, gain-
ing new skills and sharing ideas with others is.
And the Annual General Meeting, which will
take place in 2009 in Utrecht, is the best plat-
form for it. AGM and other ESN events are also
the best places to find long-lasting friendships
and experience the intercultural atmosphere –
that’s why so many former Erasmus students join
ESN network. For them ESN is the follow-up of
their Erasmus experience. Huge possibilities that
exchange programmes offer stimulated Macedo-
nian students to fight for the visa facilitation so
that they can easily become part of the interna-
tional students family.

All subjects mentioned above can be found

in this issue of eXpress. The articles here can be
divided into three groups: general articles, pro-
ject descriptions and articles about international
 4
Behind the scenes
of the next AGM…
Probably you may know how addictive
volunteering in ESN can be. Activities, meet-
ings and parties are the essential part of the
ESN life. And everybody who is once involved
in it can never get out. It was the same for me
and my colleagues from the ESN Utrecht Board.
It was hard to imagine not being fully involved
anymore. This probably sounds familiar to many
of you and, fortunately, there are many ways to
stay involved, for example organizing an interna-
tional event…
ESN network is a very big one and now
contains 278 sections spread over 32 countries.
To make sure that everything inside the network
is going smoothly and to improve the coopera-
tion between the sections we have our platforms.
The biggest one of them and the most legendary
is the Annual General Meeting (AGM) consisting
of all representatives of the ESN sections. Orga-
nizing such a big event is a challenge indeed, but
we thought – why not?
Therefore, during the last meeting in
Besançon, our section successfully ran for or-
ganizing the next AGM. The result is that the
next AGM will be held in Utrecht at the end of
March 2009! This was fantastic news for all the
Dutch ESN fellows as it means that over 400 in-
ternational ESN members will soon be invading
Utrecht for four days to discuss and celebrate the
20th birthday of ESN.
ESNtrain – Europe’s longest
communication platform
Why Utrecht? As some of you might be
aware of - the first ESN section was founded in
1989 in Utrecht. In 2009 we will be celebrating
20th birthday of our network, therefore, as the
roots of ESN, our city is the best place for the
biggest ESN meeting!
Since last AGM in Besançon the Organiz-
ing Committee (a.k.a. OC) are the heroes who
will be playing the first fiddle behind the organi-
zation of this event. The OC is led by two for-
mer board members of ESN Utrecht: Ellen and
Nanda, and consists of more amazing people in-
cluding an EVS volunteer who came over all the
way from Poland to help the OC.
All of them dedicated themselves to mak-
ing the next AGM a big success and we strongly
believe that it will be such.
By Anthe de Weerd
AGM Organizing Comittee
5
2009 is the great year of 20 years of ESN ticipants, so sections shouldn’t worry about the
and also the anniversary of 20 years of the Euro- number of visitors coming. It would be fine to
pean reunification. To celebrate these big causes organise some smaller but different events so the
ESN is going to organise some great events Eu- participants could decide what they want to do.
rope has never seen before. One of them is the It also would be nice if some sections could of-
ESNtrain: fer breakfast, lunch or dinner or organise a pos-
sibility to take a shower. There is also a request
The ESNtrain consists of 16 European for cheap opportunities to stay overnight in the
wagons and is with its length of more than 500 visited towns or near them for people who get on
meters Europe’s longest rolling communication or get off the ESNtrain.
platform. The ESNtrain crosses Europe from
March 28th to April 21st 2009 for the duration Each country has a responsible person.
of 25 days. During its journey through 18 Eu- You could reach this person under the e-mail ad-
ropean countries the ESNtrain is going to visit dress CountryInEnglish@esntrain.org or just by
more than 40 towns and 90 UNESCO world visiting our homepage www.esntrain.org.
cultural heritages. The ESNtrain offers a total
of 1,200 places and about 700 beds. Thanks to By Remo Weber
the modular booking system it is possible to stay ESNtrain Team
just a few days, with some breaks in the ESNtrain
journey or even for the whole trip on the train.
You can decide from where to where you want
to participate in the unique and first time made
communication platform on track.
The ESNtrain is an inimitable communi-
cation platform on which will be a lot of time to
get in contact with people from other countries,
learn something about different cultures and
have a good and peaceful time in a special atmo-
sphere. Activities will be organised at the various
train stops. The visited local ESN sections are free
to organise whatever they want. Some examples
could be city tours, workshops, sport activities
like Inline Skating or River Rafting, concerts or
parties. In addition to the daytime programme,
the evening activities on the train are the se-
cond pillar of this project. Such activities could
be for example dance courses, language courses,
games, presentations or workshops. These events
give the not visited countries and sections a
good chance to present themselves. The activi-
ties don’t have to be organised for all the par-

For more information, please check out the website www.agmutrecht.eu and see you in Feel free to become an ESNtrain fan in Facebook, to visit our homepage, to help us during the trip and last but
March 2009 in Utrecht! not least feel free to take part of the never seen ESNtrain journey through Europe! We’re looking forward to seeing you
there!
www.esntrain.org

Erasmus Against Racism Cup
6
Erasmus Against Racism Cup was a tour-
nament organized by Erasmus Student Network
Poland and took place between 17th and 19th
October 2008 in Warsaw as a part of the FARE
Action Week Against Racism and Discrimina-
tion in Europe. It consisted of 2 parts: integra-
tion and sightseeing for Erasmus students that
are studying in other cities than Warsaw and the
main tournament for both – Erasmus students
(from all over the country) and ESN members.
Participation in the tournament was free of
charge so everyone who wanted to support the
action, help to achieve its goals and have some
fun could join in. It took place at Kozminski Uni-
veristy in Warsaw where one of the Polish ESN
sections is located.
More than 120 students competed on two
pitches – outside and inside. Even though tourna-
ment was dominated by Spanish and Portuguese
also other nationalities like Germans, Belgians,
Nigerians, Italians, Turkish and many more par-
ticipated in Erasmus Against Racism Cup.
During whole weekend organizers took
care not only of organizing sport event. After
sport emotions everyone could integrate during
special Erasmus party (of course with fair play
rules :).
Students incoming to Warsaw just for the
event were accommodated in one of the War-
saw’s hostels where full board and great local-
ization were provided. Even though in that case
ESN couldn’t afford to cover totally the expenses,
the cost for students studying in other cities than
Warsaw was reduced to minimum and came to
33 euro (120 PLN).
What was the response after whole event?
Of course very positive :) That is why next year
we’re going to organize this event once again
7
Give20 article
(maybe this time also for European ESNers and Dreamt up in Sarajevo, extended in Brus- of your time to give20@esn.org, tell us you’re in-
their Erasmus :). sels and confirmed in London, Give20 is an ESN terested in helping to support the world’s most
project with a truly international flavour! It has influential advocate of children. Now is not the
By Anna Burtan one aim; bringing together 278 sections in 32 moment to turn your back, now is the time to
Coordinator of Erasmus Against Racism countries to raise huge amounts of money for the have fun for an amazing cause!
Cup ‘08 world renowned charity, UNICEF.
By James Beckett
ESN has students with a strong conscience Give20 Team
throughout its sections and now has the opportu-
nity to show the whole Europe that our organisa-
tion is an active and generous rather than just a
party group.
So what are the details of the project?
Every section is encouraged to start raising
money from the 1st of January 2009, whether
it is through hard work, running, dressing up,
partying or anything else you can dream up! On
the week of the 12th to 16th of October 2009,
marking the 20th Birthday of ESN, the fundrais-
ing efforts will come to a close with coordinated
events capturing the attention and imagination
of people and press all over Europe.
There are many things to get very excited
about. Not only is their unlimited potential for
raising money and getting ESN’s name to the
forefront of European news but a unique web-
site featuring live video feeds, interactive fund-
raising leaderboards and links, celebrity endorse-
ments, world record attempts and an incredible
UNICEF project to put our support behind.
Preparations for the project are already
well under way, we have a committed interna-
tional team working hard, top designers already
making clothing for the event, so now is the time
for you to get involved in the project. There are
lots of ways to do so, why not become National
Coordinator of Give20 for your country or take
charge of your sections events and fundraising?
All you need to do is send an email, two minutes
give20@esn.org
 8
SOCIAL ERASMUS
Workshops of Polish cuisine… Folk dance
classes… Cultural evenings… Meetings in kin-
dergartens… Teaching at a language school as
a native speaker… Charity actions… Interna-
tional Santa Claus.
What those things have in common? They
are all actions of a new ESN Poland program –
SOCIAL ERASMUS.
The program was established in May dur-
ing delegates meeting in Katowice. The goal of
the project is to activate Erasmus students who
have a lot of free time and energy, are open
minded, are ready to take actions and participate
in our activities. We thought, if we are dealing
with really active and young people interested in
our culture why not to make Erasmus closer to
the Polish society and involve the international
students into it...
We set the rule: “you got help from us, so
try to help as well” and we created a project of a
new program called “SocialErasmus”.
The program is divided into 4 groups of
actions:
1. CultureErasmus – promotion of Polish
culture as well cultures of exchange students into
the Polish society;
2. ActiveErasmus – helping Erasmus stu-
dents to find a job as a native speaker at a lan-
guage schools or working for NGO’S;
3. ErasmusHelpus – motivate Erasmus
students for helping in kindergartens, primary
schools, pension houses;
4. ESN for Kids – Charity actions like In-
ternational Santa Claus – collecting money for
children’s houses.
The idea of ‘SocialErasmus’ is new and
innovative but we are sure that the potential
of Erasmus can be used to help others. We are
If you are interested in our program please contact:
Justyna Adamiec our PR responsible person pr@esn.pl or
Magdalena Pawelczyk SocialErasmus Coordinator socialerasmus@gmail.com
A New Beginning
for European Youth Activists
planning to conduct charity actions in majority
of Polish cities under the name of International
Santa Claus in December.
We hope that the program will change the
stereotypes about Erasmus Programme and help
us to promote the exchange as well to help Polish
children in feeling part of Europe.
By Magdalena Pawelczyk
Social Erasmus Coordinator, ESN Poland
9
As an old adage says – every beginning is this campaign receives from the members of the
another beginning’s end. As one year is ending European Parliament and the European Com-
and another one approaching, it is the right time mission, European Movement International net-
to rewind the track of our accomplishments and work, our fellow youth organizations and other
rethink our plans for the future. It is our obliga- members of the civil society.
tion, being the most dynamic part of our soci-
eties and their only future, to take our part of The year is ending in a great anxiety over
responsibility in tackling challenges awaiting Eu- the world’s and Europe’s future in the light of
rope and the world in the year to come. the biggest global financial crisis since the Great
Depression. In the time of misfortune and anxi-
In 2008 once again the European project ety it is of paramount importance to remind
has been rejected by the European citizens. The ourselves and the ones around us that no crisis
Irish negative vote on the Lisbon Reform Treaty is more powerful then the solidarity of our com-
this June has shown once again people’s discon- munities and that there is no possession more
tent and disconnection from the current deve- valuable then the sense of fulfillment, once you
lopments in the European Union’s high political have done something for the greater good of the
circles. The inability of the European political society. I hope that this moment will show to our
elite and the EU governance structures to win friends, parents, professors and business and po-
the hearts and minds of the people for the neces- litical leaders, that there is no better school of
sary changes in the ways the enlarged Union op- professional accountability and social responsi-
erates has again brought upfront the importance bility than volunteerism and active citizenship.
of societal initiative. When political leaders fail
to deliver the message, it is our chance, as it is our By Dragan Stojanovski
duty, to work more and harder to show the value President of AEGEE
and the benefits of the European unity for our
generation and the ones to come.
From Iceland to Kosovo, AEGEE mem-
bers lead dozens of initiatives that engage great
number of young people in profound dialogue
on the principles and practices of the Europe-
an Citizenship. And this will continue to be our
prime challenge in 2009 with our two newest
European projects. “YOUrope Needs YOU” is EUROPE
a widespread effort for bringing the education
for European Citizenship to high schools across
Europe through peer education, while “Y Vote
2009” is a brave campaign challenging the EU
democratic deficit by battling political apathy
among first time voters at the European Par-
liament elections in June 2009. We are always
pleased and encouraged by the huge support
 11

No visa! No borders! New educational database

10
Macedonia is part of Europe
This is the motto of the Student’s Parlia-
ment, the leaders of the Macedonian student
community, which are organizers of the recently
held protests against the long visa procedures and
disrespect for the student visa facilitation by the
embassies of the EU countries in Macedonia.
Macedonian students are peacefully pro-
testing against the visa regime and the inability
to freely travel to Europe. Since the visa facili-
tation for the students which was suppose to be
obligatory for all of the EU member’s embassies
and consulates that are issuing visas for Macedo-
nian citizens are not followed at all or with small
exceptions, the students are asking for total visa
liberalization.
The protest began on the 15th of Octo-
ber when the Euroambasador in Macedonia,
His Excellency Mr. Erwan Fouere, EU Special
Representative for Macedonia, was handed a
Declaration for releasing of the visa regime and
was asked for a meeting which which was not
realized. After that, another protest followed and
the students are planning to continue their initia-
tive until they are heard.
In the Declaration the students from the
Republic of Macedonia ask for facilitation which
will lead to total suppression of the visas for the
Macedonian students.
- In the Declaration we confirm our strong
determination to live together with the other
European nations and countries in one united
Europe in which the borders will not represent
walls, but open door for opportunities. - said An-
drijana Pejkovska, a member of the Presidency
in the Student Parliament.
The students say they have the support of
the entire student community and their aim is to
symbolically state their opinion. Signing a peti-
tion on all the major universities and faculties in
Macedonia will follow in the next months.
/DEEP/
The mission of ESN is to foster student
mobility in Higher Education under the prin-
ciple of SHS - Students Helping Students, ESN
Macedonia asks you, our fellow European stu-
dents, to help us by raising your voice and let
your support for us be heard because you are
along with us, the future of Europe!
Maja Sahpaska
PR of ESN Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M.
!
During these days European Commission tion Association. It is possible also to get general
(EC) is working on a new tool to help students get information about countries of interest. At the
the information about possibilities in Europe and moment thirty-eight countries in Asia and Eu-
Asia for going abroad. rope are listed on the website all of which belong
to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an infor-
At the moment, when there is a real prob- mal trans-regional platform for dialogue and co-
lem with unemployment among young people operation amongst the 25 EU Member States, 13
on the EU level, helping the future workforce to Asian countries and the European Commission.
become more international is essential. In EU It will be part of the European Commissions
4.6 million people aged between 15 and 24 are communication “Working together, working bet-
unemployed and young people represent 38.5% ter - A new framework for the open coordination
of the total unemployed population. Amongst of social protection and inclusion policies in the
those working, a big percentage of young Euro- European Union”.
peans work under atypical forms of contracts.
Temporary contracts and internships are name Asia is not seen as a popular destination for
of the game where young people receive low or student exchange at the moment. Hopefully, this
inexistent pay. Improved exchange of students project will change the situation. On the website
and young professionals would help to resolve you can also read exchange stories about Euro-
this situation. EC is trying to inform European peans who went to Asia and vice-versa. The da-
students more, so they would be able to find a tabase is awaited to be fully functional in March.
better job in the end. Europe and Asia are just So spread the word…
the beginning. The goal would be also to see the
other continents joining in. By Jörgen Talkop
European Voluntary Service, Brussels
The database offers a possibility to search
for universities which offer your desired course.
Information is based on World Higher Education
Database and International Association of Uni-
versities. DEEP offers you a country profile, links
to visa requirements and study resources. The
idea is to collect all possible information about
every exchange possibility into one database
and make it accessible for everyone. Through
this process EC tries to resolve the problem that
the information about possibilities to go abroad,
about scholarships and grants doesn’t spread that
well and is kept in a small circle of people.
There is also information on accreditation,
grants, loans and scholarships offered by your
home and host countries. Data on scholarships
and exchanges is from the Academic Coopera-

More information:
http://deep.asef.org
! http://www.study-in-europe.org/index.cfm?objectid=D4A8D186-3FFF-AEA2-32
B627E7DA291125&CFID= 264632&CFTOKEN=84972318
http://www.unesco.org/iau/directories/index.html
 12
ESN experience in Your Resume!
All Erasmus Student Network members
have different reasons for being in ESN – we like
to see our ideas being implemented, we’re here
to get a bunch of new friends from all over the
world, brush up on our English skills, learn how
to organize events, share our experience or we
simply like the idea of student mobility and inter-
cultural learning and we want to make the world
better. But although our motivation is different,
we’re not only spending countless hours work-
ing voluntarily, we’re also learning and gaining
skills – formally under-valued, but useful in our
future careers.
Non-formal education (NFE) is an orga-
nized, skill focused process that takes place in
different youth organizations, like ESN. Unlike
formal education (schools, universities), NFE is
much more individual (because you choose where
and how you want to participate), outcome and
skill focused and also much less recognized by
everyone starting from yourself to employers,
universities and society in general.
You don’t have to be the president of
ESN International or the head of AGM’s OC
to learn something important. Having as simple
job as a mentor for an exchange student, you
improve your intercultural communication and
language skills. And what about team working,
project management, organization, HR, finance,
PR and all other skills you gain organizing any
event? You have probably never though about
it from this perspective, but those are important
skills.
The next question is about showing the
employers our experience. Well, your future
employer, supervisor of your chosen masters’
program and most of the other people don’t re-
ally care about what events you have organized
in particular, but they will basically focus on the
THE IMPORTANCE
OF BEING A NETWORK
general competences you have gained. Europass
is one of the tools that provide a good layout for
skill based education (europass.cedefop.europa.
eu).
Finally, where does it all go on your re-
sume? Depends on you, your education and the
level of professional experience. If you had little
involvement, that rather would go as additional
experience/education, but at some point you
might want to write ESN in your work experience.
NFE is only complementary and obviously can’t
be a substitute for formal education and there’s
no guarantee that this will always work, however
as long as you’re skill focused and realistic about
what you have done and what you haven’t, this
gives you an advantage you shouldn’t miss.
By Madara Apsalone
National Representative of Latvia
13
When I joined ESN and during all the first ties, doing things with a similar enthusiasm.
months of my membership, it was almost impos-
sible for me to look over the boundaries of my Finally, the example of other people can
own local section. Obviously, this was not because be very motivating. You discover that others do
I didn’t realize there are other ESN sections, but and organize their events in a different way, have
because during my day to day experience I didn’t creative ideas and you commence to do it the
have the feeling of sharing any activity with oth- same way.
ers apart from those in my department.
However, I must admit that we still need to
Eventually, in May 2007, I had a chance work very much to reach a real unity and some
to get in touch with ESNrs from the National kind of uniformity within the sections. We still
Level - during 2007 ESN Italy members had the have a huge work to be done but we are going
great opportunity to meet each other not only the good way and heading good aims. We need
on one but on three National Events during the to find out better ways to recognize each other as
same month, celebrating the 20th Anniversary part of a same group through new initiatives and
of the Erasmus Programme. I took part in all of even through new rules and we have to manage
them and this changed relevantly my point of to maintain the spirit that motivates us.
view. I realised how important it is to be a part
of the network. By Valentina Settomini
Member of ESN Italy
Firstly, we can say that being part of a net-
work allows us to be immediately recognizable
by the external stakeholders in every aspect of
our activity.
Secondly, the fact of being united allows
every section to get more profitable partnerships
and better relations with the institutions. As far as
they are concerned, it is even highly useful hav-
ing the possibility to show the great work we are
able to do all together and demonstrate in this
way our seriousness and sense of responsibility.
Thirdly, being connected enables us to or-
ganize some kinds of events otherwise impossible
to be realized, as for example the Annual Gen-
eral Meeting or the National Erasmus Events.
Furthermore, there are several social ad-
vantages in being part of a network. It is amaz-
ing to meet other people living the same kind of
experiences you have, facing the same difficul-

New beginning in France!
14
France is the second destination of Eras-
mus students and therefore should be an active
ESN country. This was not really the case until
June 2008, where 5 out of the 7 French sections
met in Brussels for a National Platform. For this
event we were warmly welcomed by the Interna-
tional Board and were hosted in the great ESN
House.
The National Platform was really success-
ful, since people were convinced by the ESN spir-
it they felt at the AGM2008 in Besançon. So new
projects were set, new tools were created and the
new board was elected. The ESN France Board is
composed of members from Brest, Lyon, Nancy
and Besançon - good for the geographical cover
of our country.
The first main step was to set up tools
enabling us to work together through this huge
country and to implement an ESN Satellite for
our national website. We’re now setting up tools
for the sections helping them to manage their ac-
tivities and some services (ordering PR material
on the national level, ESN cards, etc) or planning
a national Erasmus forum.
Within two months we got two new sec-
tions, which are highly motivated by the network
and the possibilities it gives. We established con-
tacts in the main French cities such as Paris, Lille,
Aix en Provence and Marseille. French sections
were also well represented at the South Western
European Platform in Milan and it was the first
time that there were nine French ESNers at a
Regional Platform. A strong network needs part-
ners therefore we’re cooperating with national
student networks, authorities and sponsors in or-
der to strengthen our network.
ESN France, although it’s a new beginner
in ESN network, provides through its develop-
More about ESN France: www.ixesn.fr
15
Intercultural Friendships
or How to Walk a Tight Rope
ment services to sections, and to all international
exchange students in France. Next National Plat-
form will be held in January 2009 where we’re
expecting almost 60 participants, strategic dis-
cussions and motivation from all our members!
By Joachim Wyssling
National Representatative of France
It is a common thing among those who pect that puzzles you about their culture without
are planning to spend some time abroad to look being seen as an ignorant. Because nobody can
forward to one thing especially: finding friends in know everything. Intercultural relationships that
unfamiliar culture. First of all, there is absolutely are founded on assumptions and embarrassed si-
nothing wrong with this wish because getting to lence are, in the long-run, doomed to failure.
know people one can consider of utmost impor- Intercultural friendship means mastering
tance if you are an ‘alien’ in another country. the differences and similarities between cultures
Even though many exchange students prefer to through an intense experience. It means to learn
stay in a comfort zone, i.e. their own language how far you can go before crossing a line you did
group at first, finding friends in the host culture not see coming. It means maintaining a delicate
or among other international students is what balance between your own values and the beliefs
most exchange students hope for. of others. It means openness, tolerance and pa-
tience. It teaches you how to walk a tight rope
Becoming acquainted with the students without a safety net.
from other cultures is most of the time easy
enough and a natural process when one lives in Most importantly it means friendship.
another country. However, maintaining these re-
lationships is challenging and requires more ef- By Elisa Lange
fort than a friendship with someone from one’s Press Release Working Team
own cultural and linguistic background. Un-
doubtedly, the language barrier often provides
the biggest obstacle for a successful and long-
lasting intercultural friendship because it triggers
misunderstandings and false impressions. Here,
communication is the basis for a good intercul-
tural relationship. This seems to be a paradox,
but the inability to speak a language properly
does not necessarily have something to do with
good communication.
In an intercultural environment it is almost
impossible not to avoid language misunderstand-
ings and not, intentionally, offend someone from
another background because what is true and
right in my culture seldom applies to others as
well. It is not possible to apply the same patterns
and standards to every culture. Even hand ges-
tures, which seem rather innocent, can get one
into big trouble in some parts of the world.
Therefore, ‘intercultural friendship’ should
mean that you can ask your friends about any as-
 16
My new beginning
In the time when I worked in the ESN
Buddy System at my home university in Brati-
slava and enjoyed my normal student life I had
never thought that once my life will change in
the way it did. I believe that there are several new
beginnings throughout one’s life. Once you think
that nothing surprising can happen in your life,
life shows you how wrong you can be.
I have always had lots of plans concern-
ing studying abroad; however, I have actually al-
ways failed to put them into practice. The more
I think about it today I’m pretty sure, that I was
just waiting for the right moment to make all my
dreams come true.
I am not sure if life works that way, that
you get rewarded for all the things you did in the
past. Anyway, I got my reward. Today I’m living
with a wonderful guy (who was Erasmus student
in Bratislava), I moved to Hamburg last summer
and I have just began my master program here.
Leaving my family, friends – simply my whole
‘old life’ in Slovakia – was the most difficult part.
I knew that something new was awaiting me in
Germany and and that’s what made me going.
*just before releasing this issue of eXpress the elections took place and Dominika Skotkova was elected to the Advisory Council on Youth
of the Council of Europe. Congratulations and good luck!
Erasmus in Thessaloniki,
Greece
However, I have never considered difficul-
ties of moving to another country. It was after
several days when I realized how alone I felt in
this unfamiliar country. I will always remember
the day when my boyfriend told me, that he was
going on a business trip abroad for several days.
I couldn’t believe that I had to stay in our flat all
on my own. Well, I did. And as much as I know
how crazy it sounds I didn’t leave the flat since
the day he left until he came back again :).
I am happy that today I’m not scared of
life anymore, but try to take all challenges it of-
fers to me. When our Slovak NR, Katka, wrote
me about the call for applicants for Advisory
Council on Youth, I took the chance and be-
came the ESN candidate for this position. Elec-
tions are scheduled soon. Cross your fingers and
maybe we will experience the “new beginning”
together!
By Dominika Skotkova
ESN Candidate for Advisory Council on Youth,
Slovakia
17
Decision of going for the Erasmus ex- When I come to Poland I won’t be the same
change was the best decision in my life!!! Right person, I will be a European Citizen. And after-
now I am in Thessaloniki, Greece. I chose Greece wards… where should I go first?… Tallinn – to
for 3 reasons – very original language to learn, Birxu, Lubliana – to Tomaz, Paris – to Romain,
great places to see and of course the weather. I Budapest - to Eve, Madrid -to Cristina, Crete - to
found everything what I had expected but now Mitsos, Santorini- to Paul, Thessaloniki - to Ilias
I have to add one thing more - really hospitable or Bialystok - to Grzesiek… let me think…
and open people!!!
By Natalia Kucharska
Let me start from the beginning. When Erasmus Student in Thessaloniki, Greece
I was taking off from the Polish airport in my
head there was only one thought “Natalia, this
is the new beginning of your life”. I started my
Greek adventure in Crete. I took EILC course
and spent five weeks in one of the most beautiful
places in Crete – Rethymno. We were having
modern Greek classes from Monday to Friday
and during weekends we were traveling.
Once we decided to see whole western
part of Crete, so we rented a car and headed
our first destination - Gramvousa located in the
north-western part of the island. Gramvousa is
one of the most magical places I have ever seen
– mountains behind you, blue sea in front of you
and the island – breath taking! After few hours
we arrived to the south-western part where our
friends had been already waiting for us. We de-
cided to spend a night there under the sky. A
warm night, bonfire, sausages, songs in many
different languages and afterwards a nice nap
in sleeping bags on the sand in front of the sea.
This was an unforgettable experience.
After five weeks I had to leave Crete and
I went to Thessaloniki. I started my real Eras-
mus life with a new school, new people, new sur-
roundings. I can’t even count how many great
moments I have had and how many great people
have I met. My life in Greece is ‘HALARA’ (easy)
and I love it! There are many places I would like
to see here but it’s impossible to do it in one year.
 France et Pologne...
18
Avant de partir en Erasmus, ça faisait
longtemps que je voulais partir à l’étranger (de
préférence en France) pour un long séjour. Mais,
contrairement à beaucoup de mes amis, je ne
voulais pas habiter à Paris. Ce que je voulais
c’était une petite ville où tout le monde se con-
naissait et où on pouvait croiser des amis dans la
rue. Et Besançon semblait parfait pour cela.
Quand je suis arrivée, j’ai vécu un vrai
choc culturel. Tout était différent de ce à quoi
je m’attendais : des éléments de la vie quotidi-
enne comme les heures d’ouverture des maga-
sins (La pause de midi ? Les magasins fermés le
dimanche ? En Pologne personne n‘en a jamais
entendu parler ! ), jusqu’au charme de la ville
de Besançon dont je suis tombée amoureuse tout
de suite, en passant par l’attitude des Bisontins,
comme par exemple les chauffeurs de bus qui
semblaient toujours être de bonne humeur, et
disaient « bonjour » à tous les passagers! A ma
grande surprise, tout le monde était très ouvert
et se portait volontaire pour m‘aider sans que je
le leur demande. Déjà à la gare, mon « parrain
Erasmus » est venu me chercher et le lendemain
il m’a montré la ville. L’Association des Etudi-
ants Internationaux de Besançon dont il faisait
partie (que j’ai également rejoint) avait fait beau-
coup d’efforts pour que les Erasmus se sentent
bien et surtout pas perdus dans un nouvel envi-
ronnement. Grâce à toutes leurs activités, je me
sentais comme chez moi (ou même mieux).
Bien qu’on dise que l’année Erasmus
c’est en grande partie la fête (ce qui n’est pas
faux d’ailleurs), dans mon cas ce séjour a eu une
énorme influence sur mes études, à tel point
que j’ai décidé de rester à Besancon encore un
an. J’ai été aceptée dans un autre programme
d’échange, Master Erasmus Mundus, dont la
première année se déroule à Besançon. Bien
que ce programme ne soit pas la même chose
qu’Erasmus à proprement dit, parce qu’il est
dédié à la recherche, je revis l’ambiance Eras-
mus de l’année précédente.
Après un an à Besançon, je peux dire que
j’ai vraiment eu de la chance de pouvoir rester
dans la ville de mon année Erasmus, et avec de
nombreuses personnes que j’avais rencontrées
ici, et de continuer une des meilleures expéri-
ences de ma vie.
By Zuzanna Rudas
Erasmus Mundus Student in Besançon
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e-crew 4th issue

Responsable eXpress
Magdalena Wawrzonkowska

Editorial team
Madara Apsalone
James Beckett
Anna Burtan
Anthe de Weerd
Natalia Kucharska
Elisa Lange
Magdalena Pawelczyk
Zuzanna Rudas
Maja Sahpaska
Valentina Settomini
Dominika Skotkova
Dragan Stojanovski
Jörgen Talkop
Remo Weber
Joachim Wyssling

Design and illustrations

Ismet Lisica
www.studiolisica.com

‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflect the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot
be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein’.