Skills to start! An unrepeatable experience….

It all started on the morning of July 21st, the 3 participants start from Thessaloniki airport and the other 2 from Athens…. Within a few hours we are all together in the magical Copenhagen, Denmark! Taking a relaxing walk through the narrow streets of the beautiful capital we start with the train for the experience that will change our lives…. One hour away from Copenhagen we are in the town of Soro, with private cars we are transported just outside the city to a fairytale place in the forest called Brommecenret.

There the Youth Exchange entitled “Skills for Start” 21-30/7 will start! The program consists of 7 countries, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Georgia, France, Poland where each country has 5 participants and of course Denmark with 2 participants! This fantastic program aimed to develop the participants’ soft skills, creativity, collaboration, leadership skills, better knowledge of the world’s different cultures and living together in a multicultural environment! The place we stayed was a center for scouts, the rooms were small with bunk beds where in each there were 4 participants from different countries and they were divided into female and male. Anyone could describe it as camping in a big cabin! We all shared everything, far from the comforts of our home but that was what made the difference! An incredible experience that helps you overcome yourself and the comforts you have and bond with a frugal lifestyle surrounded by nature and people who, despite being from different backgrounds, complement each other!

The program activities and games were fantastic, every moment special and interesting! Among a multitude of different people, the collaboration, understanding, awareness, joy, emotion, creativity that came from everything we did together helped us understand each other and develop knowledge, friendships and experiences that will last for always engraved in our soul! Everyone developed abilities or discovered aspects of themselves that they didn’t know existed, each one of us came out of our “shell” and did things we would never have imagined! All this through living among the different and unique people of the program….. About halfway through the program we changed buildings and moved to another beautiful place in the countryside a little closer to Copenhagen….

During the program in the evenings each country made a presentation of its culture so that we could all understand and understand the uniqueness of each country… Of course these presentations consisted of separate songs, dances and food of each country! Of course, after each presentation, the wild dances started until morning, where we all gained through them even more bonds between us and memories that will last forever! As the program came to an end, we were all a family among ourselves, regardless of age, nationality, religion, etc…. We all discovered that we have something in common despite the huge differences in culture and background…

With tears in our eyes and emotion from this special experience, we said goodbye to our new friends and with the vast knowledge we acquired we each returned to our country! As Marios, Giannis, Eftychia, Irini and Konstantina we would like to thank the organization You in Europe for this incredible experience and for the choice and trust! Thank you and we suggest to anyone reading this article to immediately take the step and get informed about Erasmus+ opportunities!!!!

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It all started on the morning of the 21st of July, the 3 participants started from Thessaloniki airport and the other 2 from Athens…. Within a few hours we are all together in the enchanting Copenhagen of Denmark! After taking a walk in the alleys of the beautiful capital, we start with the train for the experience that will change our lives.. An hour away from Copenhagen we are in the town of Sorø and with private cars we are heading just outside the city to a fairytale place named Brommecentret.

There, the Youth Exchange with title “Skills for Start” 21-30/07 is about to start! The program consists of 7 countries, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Georgia, France, Poland where each country has 5 participants and of course Denmark with 2 participants!
This fantastic program aimed to develop the “soft skills” of the participants, creativity, teamwork, the acquisition of leadership skills, the best knowledge of the different cultures of the world and coexistence in a multicultural environment!

The place where we lived was a scout center, the rooms were small with bunk beds where in each were 4 participants from different countries and were divided into women and men. Anyone could describe this as a camp in a big cabin! We all shared everything, far away from the comforts of our home but that was what made the difference! An incredible experience that helps overcome yourself, the comforts you have and bond with a simple lifestyle, with nature and people around you who, despite being from different backgrounds, complement each other!

The activities and the games of the program were amazing, every moment was special and interesting! In a group of different people, the cooperation, understanding, awareness, joy, emotion, creativity that came from everything we did all together helped us to understand each other and to develop knowledge, friendships and experiences that will always remain engraved in our soul! Each of us developed skills and discovered aspects of ourselves that we did not know, we got out of our “shell” and did things that we would never have imagined! And all these through living among different and special people. About halfway through the program we changed venue and moved to another beautiful place in the countryside a bit closer to Copenhagen.. Although we were so many people, the moving to the other place was ideal, with cooperation and patience.

During the program in the nights each country made a presentation of its culture so we can all understand the uniqueness of each country… Of course, these presentations consisted of separate songs, dances, drinks and food of each country! After each presentation the frantic dances started until morning where we all gained through them a stronger bond between us and memories that will last forever! As the program came to an end we were all family, regardless of age, nationality, religion etc…. We all discovered that we have a lot in common despite the differences in culture and background.

With tears in our eyes and a lot of emotions from this special experience, we said goodbye to our new friends and with the huge knowledge that we gained, we returned to our country! As Marios, Giannis, Eftychia, Irini and Konstantina we would like to thank “You in Europe” for this incredible experience and for the choice and trust that you showed us!

Once again, thanks and we suggest to anyone who reads this article to take the step immediately and be informed about the opportunities of Erasmus+ !!!!