AS WE MISSED BOTH YESTERDAY’S DINNER AND

TODAY’S LUNCH, THE EDITORIAL WAS

UNFORTUNATELY EATEN DURING EDITING.

BY RANDOLF AND ROBIN

TWEETINGJOURNOS

nelagabrisova LIBE III’m a friendly open-minded (hyper)active sometimes crazy 13th grade student from Prague who loves socialising dancing music books&chocolate.

danielsteindler CULTMy parents named me Daniel. I would prefer to have a middle name. Or rather, it would look cool. Now I have to work to be interesting. Sh*t!

liapachler AFET II’m a very cheerful and optimistic person. I’m study-ing (law) and living in Vienna, which is one of the most beautiful cities in my opinion!

jiripour LIBE IIIMy name is Jiří, but nobody outside the Czech Re-public can pronounce it, so because I am a generous and kind person, just call me George :-)

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annakampfmann LIBE III am an open-minded, sincere and creative person and will soon be studying law in Heidelberg; in love with literature, travelling and music.

anamariacroitoru AFET IIHi! I am 20 and not 17. I can be really serious when needed and crazy when I have time. More about me? You’ll meet me and you will fi nd out.

lyubovdvoretskaya EMPLAs the song goes, I’m a bit of everything, “I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m a child, I’m a mother, I’m a sinner, I’m a saint, and I do not feel ashamed.”

dmitrijgladkyy MediaMy name’s Dima and I’m a fi rst-time journo. It’s a big pleasure for me to join this team! I’m already looking forward to a chase for cool photos ;)

WELCOMINGISSUE5

ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONSBY ANNA KAMPFMANN AND ANA MARIA CROITORU

Volunteering - a word that is on everyone’s lips these days. In cel-ebration of the European Year of Volunteering discussions on the importance of volunteering on a local, national, and also global level have been raised.But there remain unanswered questions that need to be explored. What exactly is a volun-teer? What are the opportunities and the challenges of volunteer-ing? If I want to work in an hon-orary capacity, what can I do?

While searching on the Inter-net one might not be able to fi nd a uniform defi nition on volun-teering. According to the Euro-pean Parliament’s defi nition, Vol-unteering “is not undertaken for

fi nancial reward [but]of one’s free will [and] brings benefi ts to a third party outside the circle of family and friends. [...] It is open to all.”However, there is more to volun-teering – it is not only a dictionary term but also something people do in their daily life, every minute.

Analysing current statistics and projections, 23% of all Europeans who are older than 15 are volun-teers. Who are those 93 million citizens?Volunteers look like you and me. What diff erentiates them is that they fi nd a spare moment in their busy lives to put themselves in the position of people in need. Th ey decide to give up some activi-

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ties they used to do in their spare time, like surfi ng the internet or playing games, and instead be a volunteer for some organisation that would improve the environ-ment they live in.

Even though the number of peo-ple dedicating their leisure time to volunteering and shaping the future of our society is rising, one should not forget about the reverse side. Why is a majority of our fellow citizens facing barri-ers when it comes to participating in honorary work? Besides a lack of time, information and possi-bilities, people oft en cite their own fi nancial distress as a reason for not working in an honorary capacity. Th at is also one of major goals of the European Year of Vol-unteering – raising awareness on that highly debated topic, reduc-ing prejudices and making every single one of us realise what you can accomplish if you only want to.

Looking around, you will fi nd plenty of organizations that help and support you to fi nd a position that matches your abilities and expectations.Th e spectrum of voluntarism is wide. Between environmentalism, elderly care and animal protection everyone will discover an activity that he or she is passionate about.

VolunteerMatch, Community-ServiceVolunteers – amongst these organisations there is an outstanding one that may sound more familiar to you, the Euro-pean Youth Parliament. Founded 24 years ago, it managed to bring together thousands of young-sters from all over Europe and inspired more than 5000 of them to become involved actively in the continuation and expansion of EYP. Once in a while you might ask yourself, “Why are all these people dedicating so much time, money and eff orts to holding EYP sessions? What do they gain?” Obviously it is not about money – but about challenging yourself, developing new ways of thinking and enabling your peers to profi t from the same great experiences that you had.

“Young volunteers are the carbon-free energy that is moving our continent in the right direction.” So why don’t you go ahead and do your part in order to let Europe’s future shine brighter? Change something, Volunteer!

WELCOMINGISSUE7

THE LEGEND OFCUBEMAN

BY JIŘÍ POUR

Pardubice has been a home to many celebrities both past and present: Dominik Hašek, an adored ice hockey goalkeeper, Jan Kašpar, a famous fl ight pioneer, Arnošt z Pardubic, the fi rst arch-bishop of Prague, and plenty of others. But little do the people liv-ing outside this town know about the “urban legends” of Pardubice, the ones you have not learned about during history lessons or seen on TV.Krychlič (Cubeman) is by far the most famous and most fascinating fi gure you can meet on the streets of Pardubice. Th e nickname refers to his very unusual hairstyle in the shape of a cube. Th is mysterious man, always elegantly dressed, likes to spend his time at the cen-tral train station and in its vicin-ity. His face is hidden under a

thick layer of make-up, which has conserved his appearance for more than forty years. Th ere are people who make fun of him, people who are afraid of him, and people who admire him. But there is nobody who does not know him. But even if you com-pile the diff erent stories about

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him and the few interviews this gentleman agreed to give, the pic-ture of Krychlič still remains quite ambiguous. He is either sixty-three or sev-enty-one years old, depending if you trust his word or the people who claim to have been his class-mates. Why does he wear such an extravagant hairstyle? Th e inter-net is full of stories, e.g. that he won a barbers’ competition with it and wears it since, or that he used to have a boyfriend who dressed as Elvis and aft er he died, Krychlič created this haircut in his mem-ory. But of course the most rel-evant story is the one by Václav Kulhánek (that is his real name) himself. He simply proclaims it to be a silent protest against intoler-ance and superfi ciality. According to the people who found the cour-

age to talk to him, Mr. Kulhánek is a very intelligent person with a rich vocabulary. “I have a doc-torate in science and I have fi n-ished three universities because I enjoyed it. I always wanted to move ahead,” says Kulhánek in an interview he gave to Sedmička magazine. So be on the watch when walking through the streets of Pardubice - if you are lucky, you might see the walking legend and his mythical hairstyle with your own eyes.

WELCOMINGISSUE9

A NEW DELEGATE’S GUIDE TO THE

EYP GALAXYBY JIŘÍ POUR

When you come to your fi rst EYP session, you are going to hear a lot of new expressions, “CJOs”, “VPs”, “Orgas”, and so on. You might be confused at fi rst and feel like you are the only one that does not know what everybody is talk-ing about. But do not worry! Th is article will help you understand the diff erent types of offi cials and their purposes.

THE PRESIDENT

Jonáš Jančařík, the President of the 8th Czech Forum says that his role consists of three parts: “chair-ing the chairs”, “holding together the diff erent teams” and “being the face of the session” (and most of the girls around can confi rm that he is doing a good job with that).

THE CHAIRPERSONS (CHAIRS)

Th ey are your guides through the session. Th ey are the ones that you have to thank for really get-ting to know your fellow delegates and also eventually writing a suc-cessful resolution that you can all be proud of. But of course that is mainly your job. Th ey can only

make the path to your success as smooth as possible - but be sure that they will make every eff ort to do that.

THE ORGANIZERS (ORGAS)

Th ey are probably the most under-appreciated members of the offi -cials. Th ey take care of all the practical things, from your wake-up call to taking the last shift from an EYP Café back to the accom-modation. Th ey work extremely hard, yet the take the blame for every little problem at the session. So always take a while to think before you get angry with them.

THE JOURNALISTS (JOURNOS)

And us Journos? We just humbly contribute to a good atmosphere at the session by writing the news-paper and trying to keep every-body informed, entertained and happy.

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TO DRINK IT OR NOT TO DRINK ITBY DMITRIJ GLADKYY

Guess what the characteristic trait of an authentic Czech town like Pardubice is… You’re right! It is a typical alcoholic beverage, usu-ally beer, produced in the town’s own brewery or distillery. If you haven’t heard about the trade-mark drink of Pardubice, the Porter, it’s a big fault and now you’ve got a unique opportu-nity to learn something inter-esting about this beverage and its history.1872 is the year of the offi -cial foundation of the Brewery of Pardubice, which became one of the fi rst modern breweries in Bohemia. Th e beer busi-ness in Pardubice has been very successful even since and did not stop even dur-ing the World Wars. Nowadays the brew-ery is the original pro-ducer of the brands Per-nstejn and Porter. It off ers 12 kinds of beer from classical through high-degree special beer to a non-traditional type – Por-ter. Th anks to the range of special beer, the brewery reaches luxury

restaurants and hotels. Particu-larly the Porter is remarkable for its strategy of market penetra-tion. Despite the Czech beer con-sumers’ conservatism, the specials

from the brewery’s production are very successful.Th e Porter itself has been pro-duced since 1891. Its secret is a unique brewing recipe, espe-cially regarding the proportion of diff erent types of malt. Th is 19% deep-black beer with rich brownish foam pam-pers us with its very deli-cious malt-sweetish, pleas-antly refreshing taste on the tongue. It’s also recognized by many medical authori-ties as a healthy refreshing tonic and digestion-stimu-lating beer.Your mouth is watering?! Unfortunately, there is not enough time during the ses-sion to visit the brewery. At

least you can fi nd some time to taste this drink at a local bar

and enjoy a few minutes which will imprint Pardubice in your memory forever.

WELCOMINGISSUE11

ARTTHE

OF PACKINGBY NELA GÁBRIŠOVÁ

Packing is probably a nightmare for the vast majority of us. Th ese horrible hesitations about, “What am I missing?” when packing, and, “Did I forget something?” while on the way to the des-tination are very annoy-ing. And the unpleasant truth is that, eventually, we oft en fi nd out there really is something we left behind. Is there any right system of packing, then?One possibility is to pack slowly and carefully well in advance. Th e advantage is that you do not have to hurry and thus are able to think through what might be worth taking. Th is is the way many women tend to do it. For instance, Lia Pachler (AT) is a perfect model of this deliberate system of packing. It usually takes her two hours to get ready for departure and then she is easily recognisable dragging her enormous suitcase. However, as

Dmitrij Gladkyy (CZ) confesses, also some men prefer to take their time for slow packing.Another variation

is the last-minute style. Some of us, like Richard Janoušek (CZ), are inclined to pack at the very last minute, because there are always so many things to be done that we cannot aff ord to invest our valuable time in pack-ing beforehand. In fact, some

PAREXCELLENCE 12

Believe you can and you’re half-way there. - Th eodore Roosevelt

Change your thoughts and you change your world. - Norman Vincent Peale

If it were not for hopes, the heart would break. - Th omas Fuller

In a gentle way, you can shake the world. - Mohandas Gandhi

Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! - Audrey Hepburn

We can’t help everyone, but every-one can help someone. - Ronald Reagan

INSPIRATIONBOX BY

DANIEL STEINDLER

choose to pack quite late inten-tionally (Marta Brzosko, PL), because it just seems to be the nat-ural way of doing it.Besides, a few people with star-tlingly economical packing hab-its exist too. Daniel Steindler (CZ) is oft en done packing within 15 minutes. No matter where he is going, one pair of jeans, two or three T-shirts, electronic devices and some basic hygiene articles

are suffi cient for him. He eas-ily puts everything in a back-

pack or a tiny suitcase any time.Th ere are many diff erent

ways of packing. A uni-versal formula for pack-

ing properly and effi ciently does not exist. Each of us has individual approach to it - and no matter which kind, everybody affi rms that they have to

face the fear or even the reality of something miss-ing in their luggage. Don’t

forgotten chargers, tooth-paste, socks, et cetera ring a bell

to you?

As the year 2011 and our session put a focus on the principle of volunteering, and you might fi nd yourself in need of some inspira-tion throughout the session, here is a selection of energising quotes that could boost your motivation and be useful to cite during tough committee debates...

WELCOMINGISSUE13

EYP SESSION PHENOMENATAKING A SMALL GLIMPSE INTO THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF THE EYPBY LIA PACHLER

Even though this may be your fi rst session, you will rapidly get famil-iar with some typical habits that most members of the European Youth Parliament (EYP) have. Once you get more involved in EYP and travel through Europe on a regular basis you will recog-nize certain phenomena. First of all, there is the Aft er-Session-Facebook-Phenome-non, which you will most likely encounter immediately aft er the session. When you arrive home one of the fi rst things you will do is, right aft er having a shower and not unpacking your suitcase, to check your Facebook. While going through the abnormal amount of notifi cations, friend requests and uploaded pictures of the ses-sion you will not even notice that hours have gone by without doing anything productive. Simultaneously, you will feel the so-called ‘Post-EYP-Depression’ (PED), which is a combination of reliving extremely great memo-ries in your head and the sadness of knowing that it will take some before you meet all those people and take part in an EYP session again.

Furthermore, I present you the ‘Oh, we have met before?’-Phe-nomenon, which is particularly common among more experi-enced EYPers, especially those who have participated in Interna-tional Sessions, which usually host about 300 people. You will always fi nd a random couple of people at a session who realize that they have attended at least one session together previously, but feel as if they’ve never met before. To sum up, there are still a lot more of these EYP-typical phe-nomena, which do not even really have a name, but which everyone is somehow familiar with - and the more experience you gather in EYP, the more they will occur to you.

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8th Czech Forum Pardubice EYP Czech Republic 24.-27.11.2011 Záštitu převzali:

Miroslava Němcová, předsedkyně Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu ČR Mgr. Jindřich Tauber, náměstek primátorky statutárního města Pardubic Ing. Jana Pernicová, členka Rady Pardubického kraje