Day 1 - Wednesday 23rd Jan
(travelling, discovery, and the cold)
I have already flown to Poland and am in Warsaw. I have seen the old city, the magnificent classical looking buildings (many re-built since the second world war), some amazing cultural sights and I still can’t put my finger on where else I can compare Poland too. As a Brit abroad in Poland (or the land of “those Poles” - as the British media constantly, unhelpfully reminds us) I can not feel anything other than slightly embarrassed at my lack of understanding of the culture that many polish people have left behind to emmigrate.
I find myself asking, "why?" This country seems magnificent, I want to learn more.
I feel at the present moment in time I could possibly imagine how someone might feel at the start of a mammoth task such as climbing a mountain like Kilamanjaro or Everest - maybe just “charged” is the best way of describing it.
For certain things you can only prepare so much. You can only pray for a fair hand to be dealt by fate for your time on your journey and that your decisions will have the positive effect you most desperately want them to have: ultimately resulting in conquering the said challenge.
At the start of my Youth4Media experience I feel a mixture of excitement, fear, anticipation, freedom, claustrophobia and everything else in between. I am swinging from one end of the emotion spectrum to the other from moment to moment and I don't know what to expect. My stomach is in knots.
I have been subjected to a sudden rush of information about Youth4Media which has me geared up for anything. I’m questioning my own ability.
After so long of trying to convince the world (any myself) that I can do so much; I now have the opportunity to prove it.
Can I prove it? I think so but there’s still doubt.So.
To refer back to my consideration of climbing a mountain, I find myself stood at the foot of the mountain I recognise as “Youth4Media”, I feel overwhelmed in every way, with many opportunities potentially round the corner, I feel acutely aware of the fact that now is "make or break" to start proving myself to a wider audience so i can follow my dreams.
Hopefully i can avoid opportunities that could ruin this excellent experience and leave my future prospects jaded.
I think I can serve my superiors and peers well. Lets hope I can.
"The only thing I find myself thinking is “lets do this”The rest is left to fate"
Day 2 - Thursday 24th Jan
(meeting and meals)
Another day of some further travelling, except this time in this beautiful country I feel privileged
to be seeing it as a volunteer and with a purpose. What I have seen has been glorious.
A quick tour around Warsaw en route to the train station provides me with a real view of the stark contrast that this country offers. Statues of the Virgin Mary stood in high contrast next to communist esque statues which enforce rigidity and discipline. Old Italian replica buildings stood next to new ultra modern complexes.
For a country that has ceased to exist for at least 200 years of its history and that has been tossed around like a juggling ball, the sense of individual culture and history is overwhelming and evident everywhere.
Later we arrive at our host institution for the next 4 days - The
Nowy Staw Foundation- 20 minutes drive from
Lublin (90 minutes drive from Warsaw) in the South of Poland. I can’t even begin to explain how lovely this place is. Some shy exploration reminds me how close we are to extremely cold regions such as Russia. This building is a European beauty; very large and very warming. Four days here should be very enjoyable.
Regardless, we had to begin our meetings so we sat down and starting discussing various potential for the Intercult project and for the first time I felt like I was starting to understand why I was here. I now feel a fantastic feeling of “anything can be done”…..With the right amount of paperwork. (So that is the secret: master the paperwork)
Enough of that for now. It’s time for an introductory evening meal in a fantastic traditional Polish restaurant (lots of bread, Rye Bread, soups with sausage and hard boiled egg, various meats, dumplings)
The full diversity of the project is about to hit me over my meal.
It's all well and good to list countries that are involved. Now I have names and faces from these countries. I found out that a country called Belarus exists - which I find quite striking as I could be considered as well educated. Now I could be considered ignorant or stupid.
Belarus is sometimes known as White Russia. It’s also the last dictatorship in Europe. DICTATORSHIP. This fact leads my thoughts naturally to consider, if Sadam Hussein was such a problematic ruler then why don’t we know about this country over in the UK? I’m starting to question (even more so) the full extent of my so called knowledge of the world. Education in a class room can only teach you so much. Cultures can only be experienced, not taught.
Poland has just thrust a new country and culture into my mind. Transforming my starter into a metaphorical Culture soup you could say.
I also had my first real conversation with a Russian, I got by in Polish, I spoke to someone in German - again, my attitude has changed. I just wish I had more opportunities to practice other languages in England.
The people I have met are all very interesting, I wish I could speak more to them. However, it seems language is not always such a huge barrier as we may think.
One person in particular stands out to me and in 5 minutes I felt like I had made a friend for a life in the potentially kindred spirit of this individual. Despite speaking very little of each others languages, we had a great conversation all night. meeting this person has shattered any feelings of language barriers and insummountable cultural differences I may have.
I love travelling, I love the world. Now I love it even more. It’s insatiable, it’s overwhelming, it’s big. I feel that my small life won’t be long enough to make a difference. It’s mind boggling.
"Can I make a difference in the world? I think now, through Youth4Media, I have more of a reason to try."
Day 3 - Friday 25th Jan
(exploration of meaning and meetings)
Intercult 2008: in short it’s about intercultural awareness - understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Our aim is to explore ways of effectively communicating with the see other cultures through media. Our first meeting on serious business after yesterdays brief introduction was to literally discuss our cultural differences between us. This was highly enlightening. Followed by previous projects and ways we have explored intercommunication in the past.
Following this, we moved on to introduce ourselves, the institutions we represent and what projects we have planned in 2008 with Intercult. This task highlighted our similarities in the types of projects that we do in our own countries. The task was made more dynamic and interesting when we split into groups in order to write down a flipchart presentation of the tasks we have planned so we could discuss the ideas as a group and contribute to each others projects by simply communicating - suggesting improvements or ways of managing them. This was an excellent opportunity to share our varied experiences and approaches to the work we do.
I feel that this is the foundation of Youth4Media and effective communication between institutions that will ensure we are all working from the same page.
Day 4 - Saturday 26th Jan
(technology and communication)
The main focus of today’s talks were to discuss and decide upon the best way of keeping in touch and the best way to communicate what Intercult stands for through a logo.
The group made special efforts to make a contact list so that we all knew how to get hold of each other. Dave joined in a lengthy discussion concerning the evolution of technology and how we can utilise new technologies to our best advantage. With so many participants across many countries and time zones it has always been a huge challenge to stay in touch, however this is becoming easier for us with software such as Skype which many institutions already use and is excellent for keeping costs down as it can be used for free if someone else has a Skype phone.
One thing that I found profound was the general opinion that E-mail was no longer sufficient. Many people considered it clunky and not to good for managing masses of information and keeping in touch. It has been superseded by much more manageable technologies such as Wiki.
A Little About PBwiki: New Communication
pbWiki is something we have just recently discovered. A new technological
explorative venture for Youth4Media....Will
pbWiki work for us?
The initiative to introduce Wiki (we use “pbWiki“) to the group was taken by Dave Fleming who led a demonstrative discussion with all members of the group. This was excellently recieved and if everybody contributes to the Wiki we should be able to easily arrange almost anything and have all information in one accessible place.
The concept of a Wiki is basically a web authoring tool which is very WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). It’s a concept based on multi authoring which means that anyone who knows the password to the Wiki can contribute to the Wiki.
Wikis could be described as an evolution of the blog and forum which could also be seen as a sister to messenging services. Wiki deviates from Blogs because instead of creating a longer page like this , every time someone posts, you can create new pages for new subject matters.
This will eventually lead to a cross linked spider-web esque set of pages which contain all relevant information that is all interlinked. You can also attached Widgets such as a calendar, or table, a slidewhow, RSS feed, a forum and more.
Wikis are not only just extremely easy to use and accessible but a Wiki can also be an excellent tool to manage a mass of data that in the past would have required downloading software or using multiple software applications.
"The simplest online database that could possibly work"
Ward Cunningham
An example of how useful a Wiki can be and some background on Wiki can be found
here, or could be is as follows: If many people who work in different cities, regions or countries want to organise an event, in the past they would most likely have sent out many emails which would have been bounced backwards and forwards many times and the outcome and discussion would no have been common knowledge. This can very easily create confusion and misunderstandings. A Wiki is so much more helpful because it can have all the information in one place, it can be commented on and updated by all. This can eliminate the need for mass emails and so on.
Enough of Wiki
Today was a turning point for me, as it is when I really got to talk to everyone and when we all started relaxing I each others company. I interviewed many attendees and had some excellent responses to questions which will help explain the Youth4Media Network a little more. I embarked on an intercultural editing experience and captured lots of footage and had an excellent time talking about editing and watching some films that had been cut by David from Bennohaus in Munster. He does lots of different things like me and it was excellently to share our film making experiences and confirm that we are definitely in the right business for ourselves an that we work well at a good level. I do feel that I cold learn a few things from David.
I especially like his style of film making which is very clean and calculated. He sets an excellent pace in his editing.
It’s also so good to have a common ground with someone from a different country I have never been to and with someone who I have never met. This proves the power of the workshops and creative projects that we do with young people.
"Engaging in positive creative output is the International language of passion"
Day 5 - Sunday 27th Jan
(loving, leaving and reflections)
Upon leaving Poland I feel quite sad because the team of people who I have spent the last four days with are all, every single one of them, some of the most pleasant, caring and generous people I have ever met. Without a single conflict, our passions have drawn us together, motivated us and bound us as a team.
Although we will be spread across Europe, I know that we have all gained so much from meeting up. There is a lot of hard work ahead, a lot of uncertainty and projects will be living, breathing self initiating and self progressing organisms. To have the opportunity to be involved in such a caring and important network that is exactly in keeping with my beliefs and morals makes me feel very privileged.
I cannot wait to see Youth4Media and Intercult develop and Bloom again. I can’t wait to see the projects progress and I can’t wait to speak and make contact with the young people who will be in involved and to see how they benefit from our initiatives.
I have no idea what lies ahead for me, Dave and our involvement in the Youth4 Media network. I don’t know where it will take us. All I know is that I have found something I care so deeply about and that I want to be a part of in making a difference.
If I was to volunteer for the rest of my life earning just enough money to get by, but participating in such projects across Europe and beyond and actually making a difference to the attitudes of and in communication between the Young European Community, perspectives and outlooks, I will be happy.
Sure commercial Freelance work is tempting and a lot better paid. But could I ever have the passion for that, I don’t know. Would it make me as happy, maybe not. Could I meet such wonderful people, probably not.
I feel that maybe this week has been the start of the rest of my life and for the first time I am seriously questioning the rat race and the pursuit of happiness in wealth, work and life.
"Maybe happiness is everywhere; always right in front of our noses but sometimes we get so wrapped up in our lives that we are blind to it."
Thankyou
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Thank you very much to Nowy Staw, all who work with Youth4Media (especially everyone I have met in the last week) and to all those people who have helped me out in the past and continue to help me out.
I feel very happy and privileged to be involved with this project.
Special super duper Thank you's to Jo Pullar, Mickey Finn and Steve, Dave Fleming, Liz Topi, Simon Collins, Grainne Mchale, Rose Kent, Maggie Williams, Miles Salter, Dean St John, Aesha Zafar and TVYP, Space 109, Cube Media, York City Council, York St John University international office, Keene State College International Office.
Especially thank you to my girlfriend and my Rock, Carolyn Hutchinson for her patience, my family, my friends for all their support, help and encouragement.
Here’s to the future.
I hope that all who see this blog and have an interest in Youth for media enjoy what we have put up on this web page for you.
PLEASE, PLEASE get in touch.
Take Care, thank you for your time
Mike Cooper - Arts Action york
