France Blog

SURFACE AREA: France covers an area of 551,695 km2, with a population of 62.9million (2005).

RELIGION: France is a secular state. The majority religion is Catholicism. Since 1905, the Church and State have been officially separated.

France has been governed by the Fifth Republic since 4th October 1958. The Head of State is elected by universal suffrage for a term of 5 years. Nicolas Sarkozy is the sixth President.

The French Republic is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans

France is a member state of the European Union, the largest one by area. It is also the third largest in Europe behind Russia and Ukraine. It would be second if its extra-European territories like French Guiana were included. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong economic, cultural, military and political influence. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands.

It is the most visited country in the world, receiving 82 million foreign tourists annually. France is one of the founding members of the European Union. It is also a founding member of the United Nations, and a member of the Francophone, the G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, and the Latin Union. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and possesses the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world.

The largest cities in France, in terms of metropolitan area population, are Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes.

France has produced some of the continent's most influential writers and thinkers from Descartes and Pascal in the 17th century, through Rousseau and Voltaire in the 18th, Baudelaire and Flaubert in the 19th to Sartre and Camus in the 20th.

The longest and most diverse coastline on the European continent, the most beautiful mountains in Europe, 31 Unesco world heritage sites, a capital city famed for its art, luxury and extravagance…

Whatever the reason for your visit, we wish you an enjoyable stay in a country bursting with flavours and traditions, and hope that you enjoy the art of living “à la française”.

Serbia Blog

Serbia is a nation of beautiful women and friendly people. Like several other nations of Eastern Europe, Serbs love women because its citizens are "Slavs", or in other words, they rule. They got this name for being so irresistible. Serbia also did the phenomenal achievement of starting 4 wars in 8 years and winning them all. Serbia went into the wars owning a lot of land. Serbia's main exports are great sportists and a lot of big brains like Nikola Tesla.
Serbia had no known written history until the early 20th century, except what other countries, such as ancient Rome, said about them. No one in Serbia could read or write, and indeed, even today literacy is less than one percent - yet education is still better than in America.
Serbia bears complete responsibility for causing World War I and World War II as well as Communism. On 28 June 1914, a Serbian guy jumped out and shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, who was riding along in a parade. This immediately caused World War-I to begin.
Serbian people are constantly crazed about stealing land in Europe which leads them to never shut up about the Yugoslav war. Scientific research clearly shows that Serbs are sexually aroused by war and death.
Serbians insistently claim that they have a very rich culture and cuisine, which is totally stolen from Ottoman. Because the rule of Ottoman Agas’ sleeping with the bride at the wedding night, you can’t see any original Serb on Belgrade streets.
In the mid-nineties, Serbians that lived in Bosnia were pissed that they couldn't enjoy roast pork, so they asked for help from their big neighbor. Being refused, the Serbian troops entered the Islamic parts of Bosnia in order to wipe out every Muslim that dared to appear in the center of the AK 47's reticule. The Muslims got heavily pawned and since that day, pork is available again.

Turkisch Blog

In 2006 more than 1.7 Million Turkish immigrants lived in Germany. As always with matters like Immigration, things are not as simple as they could be at first view. A lot of Germans claim to know the Turkish culture, because they went to the district Berlin-Neukölln once in their lifetime and had a great tasting Kebap. Some talk about the problems with the Kurdish minority in turkey. Some will tell you, that a turkey is wonderful to make a tasty sandwich with. Maybe some will even think of a huge bird wearing a suppressing headscarf. Those are the ones, who probably visited the Sealine bath in Anatolia during their club holiday in Turkey. So that‘s Turkey? We don‘t think so. Almost no one knows, that the Turkish language was invented only 80 years ago, originally written in Arabian letters. Very few people talk about emerging Technologies, Migration into cities, new ways of living, the contrast between emerging western thinking and ancient traditions. Everybody talks about Turkey becoming a member of the European Union, but very few people look behind the superficial image of Islam and try to see a country of complex social developments, inner conflicts of it‘s citizens and a way of living, that is deeply infused with meaning. We are looking forward to have the opportunity of looking behind the scenes and maybe understand a slight part of the Turkish mentality and the Problems young people are faced with in a changing society.

Wir freuen uns auf euch. O ana Kader.

What is the Youth Council and Richter

The Youth Council of Niedorp is an advisory group in Niedorp for the College of Mayor and Aldermen. This means that the youth counsel can give opinions on subjects which have something to do with youth. Something that is important, especially when it comes to decisions that affect the young people. Besides that they try to be the voice of the youth in discussion with city council. The youth council organize yearly several local activities and recently build up experience in participating the Youth in Action programme.

The other Dutch organisation is the Richter foundation. Richter organizes over 15 cultural events, trainings and seminars every year. Furthermore Richter is a sending and hosting organization for European Volunteers. Richter's aim is to bring young people together and to make them aware of the many possibilities on a national and international level. They also would like to improve international relations between youths and to let them explore and create an understanding of each other’s cultures. Richter will be the organization that –on behalf of the Youth counsel- will applied for funding.

Daily Program

Monday 19 July - travelling to the Netherlands.

After checking in and a lovely spicy diner we do some introductions and start-up games

Tuesday 20 July - Warming up and energizers.

Start of the workshops: youth participation and democracy

Cultural evening: Turkey and the Netherlands

Wednesday 21 July - Warming up and energizers

Ongoing with the workshops: youth participation and

democracy

Cultural evening: France and Serbia

Thursday 22 July - Halfway evaluation and introducing cultural workshops

Sporty outdoor camp fest in Niedorp

Disco Inferno party

Friday 23 July - Warming up and energizers

Start of the cultural workshops: theatre, improvisation, video, collage and music

Cultural evening: Estonia, Montenegro and Germany

Saturday 24 July - Warming up and energizers

Ongoing with the cultural workshops

Open stage

Sunday 25 July - Sightseeing tour in Amsterdam.

Monday 26 July - Warming up and energizers

Presentation of the workshops

Final evaluation

Lick your wounds and say Yes to the 80ties

Tuesday 27 July - Official presentation of the workshops in centre of Den Helder

Farewell party.

Wednesday 28 July - Departure of the participants

Location

The exchange will take place at a location about 3 km from the city centre of Den Helder. We will use the facilities of one of the local football clubs in Den Helder. The football field is located on the outskirts of Den Helder, near woods, dunes and the beach. A great base and a safe environment to achieve the aims and objectives of the exchange.