Easter Seminar 2011 in Christianslyst

Traditionally around Easter, this year between the 16th and the 22nd of April, the annual Easterseminar of YEN took place – in the beautiful German-Danish boarderregion. The 120 participants were invitetd by the youth organization SdU into the training and congress center Christianslyst just next to Süderbrarup. The seminar stood under the slogan „The Streets of Voluntariness“.
         The whole seminar was influenced by the multilingualism of the organizers. This became evident already during the official opening. Many speakers represented both Denmark and Germany, like the Danish Consul, General Henrik Becker Christensen, Hans Heinrich Hansen, president of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) or the president of the JEV, Sebastian Seehauser.
         Unter the topic „The Streets of Voluntariness“ the SdU offered a really multifarious program with exciting and instructive lectures with topics like the ecological volunteer year or the voluntary work in general. Among a lot of other program points, one of the highlights of the seminar was the panel discussion with young politicians from Denmark and Germany, where the topic voluntariness was heavy discussed. Furthermore the participants could choose between various workshops, where they learned about methods for efficient work, nonverbal communication or Teambuilding.
         Next to this activities once more an old YEN tradition found place in Christianslyst – the annual Exchange Market, where every minority hast the possibility to present its own specialities. Furthermore the SdU even got a Hot Dog car („Pølsevogn“), which was opened the whole week. This Danish delicacy was enjoyed by the participants particularly during the late evening hours. Other parts of the evening program were various concerts and different games, like the Bingo-evening with local prices to win.
         During the week different excursions took place to get a better impression of the region. One led the participants to Flensburg – for free time, relaxed dinner and a city tour. In addition, the Viking museum in Haithabu and the village of Süderbrarup have been visited. And even some Easter traditions were considered, like searching for Easter eggs, doing Easter handcrafts and enjoying an Easter fire.
         At the end all the seminar participants agreed: It was an eventful, exciting and instructive week. May the next seminar follow as soon as possible.

Source: YENNewsletter May 2011