Before Agora Rhein-Neckar started, AEGEE-Utrecht organized a pre-event. The main topic was reliability of the media, which was also the event title. Twelve lucky participants from all over the Europe took part and had a lot of fun. They partied, went sightseeing, they had a European night and many other activities that every other AEGEE event has… But what were the factors that made this event unforgettable and typically Dutch?
1. Cycling: this term does not only mean that you have to keep moving on a bike in order not to lose your balance. Cycling is a quick (especially in city centres) and green way of transport, but it is even more… For Dutch people, cycling is a way of life.
2. Typical food: the organisers cooked the well-known winter dish called “andijvie-stamppot”, and “nasi”, which actually comes from the Indonesian culture, as Indonesia was colonised by the Kingdom of the Netherlands during the 17th century. I know that you are wondering why I did not explain what this food is like, but you will just have to try it to understand.
3. High quality conferences: from World War I to social networks, from Europe to Africa, from manipulating to advertising. In a world of technology, you cannot choose not to interact with media. You have to do it if you want to be informed. So it is pretty much a vicious circle. Information is power and the media wields this power, sometimes media shows you what they want you to see. So be smarter than them and always remain critical.
4. Weather: as the event was during spring, we all hoped for some sunny days, and the staff organized a nice game for the participants so that they could discover the city of Utrecht on their own… But then some grey and gloomy clouds thought: “Let’s give them some snow!” Conclusion: snowing and cycling = feeling like a real Dutch. As some people said, “Easter was colder than Christmas this year”.
5. Windmills: when people think of the Netherlands, they inevitably think about windmills (and fields of tulips, but tulips and cold weather do not get along very well). I always thought that windmills were used to turn cereal into corn or flour. Well, this one was used for woodcraft work.
6. Film night: the best way to finish the event was to watch a film entitled “Zwartboek”, also known as “Black book”. The film deals with the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, combining history and fun relaxation.
I would like to give special thanks to Tessa Speelman (AEGEE-Utrecht) for helping me with the Dutch words in this article.
Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino
Photos by Annie Smailikova(AEGEE-Kyiv),Farid Amlal(AEGEE-Utrecht), Kamal Vasnani(AEGEE-Las Palmas), Marta Belda(AEGEE-Valencia).