Haven’t heard from me in a while, huh? That because I came back to Germany and went right back to my old routine: hanging out with friends,, working for the local newspaper and planning my next adventures. I was so busy that I didn’t really feel like blogging.
However, I’m back – currently living my next adventure. Right now, I’m conducting the International Youth Weeks (IYW) organized by Kolping Jugendgemeinschaftsdienste, the organization I also went to Thailand with past year and will go to Kenia with next September (but that’s another story).
I will try to upload a post on our activities throughout the upcoming two weeks daily.
What are the International Youth Weeks (IYW)?
International Youth Weeks 2015
The IYW are part of Kolping’s efforts to bring forward intercultural encounters and exchange. In a group of 18 participants ages 15 to 31, originating from Russia, Tanzania, Germany, Ecuador and the US, we are going to spend two weeks together in Kronberg, a German town near Frankfurt.
During these days, we will spend a lot of time together while carrying out numerous activities together such as day trips, mini language courses, international evenings, and theme days dealing with topics like environmental friendly behavior, politics, globalization and culture.
What happened so far?
Since I am one of five organizers, a teamer, of the IYW, I have spent the past week or so preparing our activities for the next 14 days and getting the place in Kronberg ready for the international participants to arrive.
They arrived between Saturday and Sunday morning, settled in their rooms, and we spent the first two days getting to know each other by playing games, eating, and hanging out.
Besides having “typical German” breakfast and dinner including bread, cheese, sausage and salad, our international guest got a chance to get a first glimpse at the German culture. Saturday evening, we visited a “Biergarten” (transl.: beer garden) in order to listen to a German folk musician (German: Schlagersänger) while tasting local beer and apple wine.
Although I’ve personally never been a great fan of schlager music, I loved sharing some of our local culture by “schunkeln” and singing together.
On our way home, some of us walked up the Kronberg castle to enjoy one of the prettiest nighttime views I’ve seen in a while. I’m excited to see more of Kronberg city and the castle on Monday.
Kronberg castle: a pretty romantic place.
Smile Each Moment 