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

EUROPE WEEK BRINGS FORTY YOUTH FROM SEVEN COUNTRIES TOGETHER

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

European youth discover Zeeland / Zeeuws dorp ontmoet Europa

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

De training bij aankomst was zeker geen luxe want de meeste misten interculturele ervaringen en waren voor het eerst in het buitenland; voor sommigen misschien zelfs de eerste keer over hun gemaksgrens.

The first Sunday started with a Faith Discovery - discovering places of faith in Kruiningen. Three different groups visited three different churches in the area. The ladies in one group (see photo) had to wear hats and skirts as they went to the Reformed Calvinist church where they listened attentively for more than one hour to a sermon they did not understand. For some this was their first time in a church! Maybe too much to ask, but these were Bridgebuilders in training! The experiences were appreciated and found to be unique. They experienced part of the Sunday as many in this town experience it.

De eerste zondag begon met een Faith Discovery - het ontdekken van geloof in Kruiningen. In drie verschillende groepen naar kerken van verschillende oorsprong en met heel verschillende expressie. De dames in deze groep moesten hoedjes op en rokjes aan want ze gingen naar de Gereformeerde Gemeente waar ze aandachtig luisterdan naar een preek van meer dan een uur die ze niet konden verstaan. En dat terwijl sommigen nooit eerder in kerk waren geweest. Misschien wat teveel van het goede, maar uiteindelijk zijn het Bridgebuilders in wording! De ervaringen werden als positief en bijzonder gezien. Zo beleefden ze een stukje van de zondag zoals veel mensen in dit dorp het beleven.

The guest home adventure began - het gastgezinnenavontuur begon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discovery of Kruiningen

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

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

Brussels here we come!

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

Morning meetings - Singing together

The group loved to sing. Naomi, one of our co-workers from Tholen, chose some of her favorite songs and they became the favorites of the group: "If God was one of us" and everyone's favorite "Mighty God". It was unique to hear them sing these songs knowing that many of them have no religious background.

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

Sports and Games

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

Woensdag werd de 'sportdag van Bogdan' want hij was de verantwoordelijke intern. Veel mensen deden s'middag mee uit de wijde regio. sÁvonds iets minder bij de gladiator spelen. Een heel leuke dag maar niet zonder een gebroken sleutelbeen en verstuikte teen.

Workshops and Folklore

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

Thanks to guest homes BBQ 

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

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

Youth service on Sunday morning

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

After lunch and a short evaluation of the week, we said goodbye to the first group as the Europe Week came to an end. But thankfully there has been lots of chatting and meeting on Facebook so the friends we met, talks we had and experiences we shared will not be forgotten. See you next year in Most!

What do leaders and participants have to say about the week?

Zuzana Kalenská (Czech Republic):

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

Atlantic Bridge’s 17th annual International Youth Festival!

The International Youth Festival takes place in a different country and setting each year and the theme is also different. This year it took place from August 1 - 7 in the beautiful medieval town of Koszeg, Hungary. Participants came from Iceland, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Angola, Nigeria and Austria.

THE THEME: FOLLOW THE KARAVAAN!

 from the days of the OREGON TRAIL

We took the OREGON TRAIL of the 19th century as a backdrop for the festival, blending the rugged life of the trail into a challenging mission to build bridges. Let the pictures tell the story.

We started building our wagons on the first day during the small groups. Each small group had its own wagon. 

But rain kept on destroying what was built up and a feeling of defeat set in. Why do we need to waste our time on building these stupid wagons? 

All of those negative thoughts disappeared on Thursday evening when we marched as a 'wagon train'' into town and surprised the town of Koszeg with an innovative and energetic youth show in the middle of their historic celebrations.

It became the highlight of the week! 

Up front were the Hytha family from Phoenixville PA, with Rob on the sax or on the bongo's.  All week long they were the musical glue that charged us up and inspired us to sing together.

It was hard to say goodbye to them on Saturday Aug 7

We did some strange things during the week.

Do Icelandic girls play football?

Eating icecream together from the same large dish. 

Some came from the land of ice and glaciers not knowing what to expect. With big smiles they returned to Iceland,  talking about coming back next year. And when can we plan to do a festival in Iceland? It is a great places for it! 

MORE TO FOLLOW 

HUNGARIANS DISCOVER THE THOOLSE 'SCHORREN'

A group of 8 Hungarian BRIDGEBUILDERS came to Tholen (southwestern island in The Netherlands) from June 23-28,2010

a short but very worthwhile visit. One evening they went on a walk across the 'schorren', patches of pushed up swamp just

outside the dike. Op een van de avonden liepen ze over de schorren.

 They were hosted by youth from Tholen who gladly showed them the interesting places on the island. Ze werden door

plaatselijke jongeren ontvangen die hun de interessante plekjes op het eiland lieten zien.

On Sunday morning they sang a Hungarian song at the Christengemeente (Christian Community in Tholen.

Only a few people dared to sing along as this is not a very easy language to even read. Op zondagmorgen zongen ze een Hongaars lied in de

Christengemeente in Tholen. Weinig mensen waagden zich aan de uitspraak van deze moeilijke taal. 

Snowy weather and temperatures down to - 19 Celcius could not hold Hungarians from their Startweekend in the town of Koszeg from December 19-21, 2009.Thirty Bridgebuilders and youth leaders got together for the start of their Bridgebuilders clubs. They came from Sopron, Koszeg and Mosonmagyarovar. One came from Slovenia for the leaders training; Nastja!  Fun and team building games were an important part of the weekend. Understanding what is all involved in a Bridgebuilders year, learning about ourselves and our culture, discussing a year plan, visiting and old church and openly talking about our own experiences with church, learning what we can expect when we dive into the Bricks, all made the weekend into a memory. At least, that's what we read from the reactions we received so far!