RTF, Home Visit and all that's in between...

Hello dear readers and apologies for being the crappiest blogger ever!

Last time I left you at the RTF (=Regional Training Forum) that was hosted here in Sweden. For those who don't know, the RTF is an international event where different training workshops take place at the same time. Besides being educational and all that it's also lots of fun (and little sleep...).
This was my first RTF not being a trainer. Instead this time I was participating in the TTT (=train the trainer) to get my official certification as a trainer. It was very refreshing to be a participant/trainee and we had an excellent workshop, much of it thanks to our really wonderful and inspiring trainers Mitzi and Siri who really exceeded my expectation. Also, of course, due to a really great group of trainees.


TTT'ers in action

I do however, have to be honest and say that it was very strange not to be a part of the seminar camp training and I was slightly jealous (of dear Eetu and Meli) of what seemed to be a BIG and fun group of seminar camp staff trainees. :)

And another highlight for me at the RTF was that we decided to put a session on conflict management into the schedule for EVERYONE. This time Ea wasn't there so it was just me, in front of 60 people... i was a bit nervous, but it turned out really great, or at least I think so, which made me very happy! :)

In between sessions we had a great time filled with laughs courtesy of the homestaff who planned funny night activities and to the owner of the campsite, Mundekulla, Peter who got us all "hippied-out" with his guitar and songs and dreads. All participants of that RTF will forever have that Mundekulla song stuck in our heads.


The wonderful TTT group!

After the RTF was over it was back to Copenhagen with lots of memories and new friends and very little hours of sleep.
Next day I was supposed to make my way back to Stockholm but it seemed like EVERYTHING was going wrong! The train to the airport was not arriving because another train was stuck on the tracks, and all the announcements were in Danish so I didn't know what was going on... only that it better come soon or no flight for me.
Finally a back up train came to a different track but by that time so many people had already been waiting on the platform that it was SO CROWDED it was horrible (and reminded me of darker days...). That 15-20 minute ride (which included having to wait on the tracks in the middle of this STUFFED cabin) was absolutely awful. Finally we made it to the airport, but it was almost impossible that I will make my flight. Of course to make things worse, the handle on my carry on bag completely broke, the next flight was only the next day and I had to pay extra... BUT, on the positive side I had another night in Copenhagen which was well spent with dear CISV friends.

After one week is Stockholm it was off to the airport again. This time to Israel (woohoo!) to a friend's wedding. It was pretty cool because she did not know I was coming and I surprised her at the hair dresser the day of the wedding. She was quite shocked but it was really touching. And the wedding was super fun. My time in Israel was short and sweet. Especially going to the beach and getting some SUN! But also, of course, seeing friends and family.


The bride and groom at the end of the night

It was quite funny because one of the things that really stood out to me was the speed in which people in Israel reply to SMS's. I have gotten so used to the Swedish way (that it takes people a reaaaalllly long time to answer texts) and in Israel people literally answer within seconds! It was so effecient! haha. Funny the little things you notice.

So it was a great short home visit, but after seeing the first cockroach (on the street) and realize that the humidity does nothing good for my hair - I was ready to head back "home" to Stockholm. Surprisingly enough it actually felt like coming home, in a way.

In between all of these we managed to pull off another successful impact, finalize the ETG budget (no losses woohoo!) AND I've been finally doing some writing of the conflict management handbook which will hopefully be finished this summer and ready to be shared with the world!

And now it's all about world cup baby, good luck to all countries playing. I still haven't decided who I'm rooting for (but better for countries that I don't root for them, last World Cup every team I cheered for seemed to get kicked out of the competition).

And with this I will say goodbye for now and see you... soon? Knowing myself probably not. :)

/Einav.

Regional Impact and Copenhagen

Hello dear readers and thank you for your patience. :)
Actually SO much has happened since my last blog so I'll get right to it.

May 7-9 were the regional impact training weekends for interchange and summer camp. I was training the summer camp leaders in region south. It was strange and fun to have a weekend with kids again. Having the kids around made me realize the last CISV activity I did with people under 16 was a summer camp in 2005!
Other than the fact that the heating didn't work and it was a VERY cold weekend, it was nice to be there and it was also fun to hang out with Tove (Casen) who was in a camp with me in 2006.


(Tove training a session)

Straight after that I headed to Copenhagen to pass the few days before the RTF (=regional training forum), as it made more sense then coming back to Stockholm. So it was back to Ea's flat (now also known as my "Copenhagen home"). When I arrived in Copenhagen we had a mini-reunion from IYM Israel last summer, with Vinh and Iben. We had lots of laughs brining up memories and looking at videos from camp such as the staff's impersonation on the last day (doing Abudi, Niklas, Edouard, Subhi, Alex and Lotta - Vinh's acting of Abudi is just priceless) and also of Alejo doing tektonic on the talent show... good times.


(with Vinh and Iben)

Monday night it was a nice dinner at Ea's and Bernt's with Eetu and Vinh. LOTS and LOTS of laughs (partly because of some gin and tonic but mainly because of the company).

Then came Tuesday, also known as "Eetu and Einav's DAY OF FUN" (the same tone as "Joey and Janice's day of fun!!" for all you Friends viewers out there). We went to Tivoli and since it was during the day on a Tuesday the park was pretty empty so there were no lines which allowed us to do many many ride (25 in total actually... we counted). It was so much fun. I think my body was a bit upset with me for making it twist and turn and twirl 25 times in one day... :)


(Tivoli)


(the pretty flowers in Tivoli)


(Eetu and me)

Tuesday night we met up with all the RTF people that were already in Copenhagen and we went out together which was fun but I was really exhausted.

Then the next morning it was up early and off to Emmaboda, where the RTF took place...

In order for this post not to be too long I will leave you here and write a separate post on the RTF.

Till next time!
E.

Impact, Einav #2 extended visit, ETG and Copenhagen

ok. So I'll stop trying to fight the fact that I'm a terrible blogger.
Let's get right to business as there is loads of catching up to do!

So April 16-18 was my first "solo" impact weekend as coordinator, and also trainer for the village leaders. I was slightly nervous, just that everything would go smoothly, but thanks to a great practical staff, wonderful trainers and extremely involved and outgoing trainees - it turned out to be a VERY good and successful weekend. I had a great time. Unfortunately no pictures from that as my camera was broken... :(

Also, my friend Einav (which I will refer to as Einav #2) was visiting me and was supposed to leave a day before the impact BUT the volcano had her stuck in Sweden so she came to the impact and kitchen staffed. It turned out really cool because Eve (Jokinen) who was also kitchen staffing and Einav #2 were both leaders together in a village in Germany last summer. So it turned out really fun, funny and all other kinds of words. Here's me and Einav #2 in Stockholm.



So after impact was over we came back to Stockholm and stress began about the upcoming ETG (European Trustee Gathering) which was hosted in Sweden this year. Because things were very uncertain with the volcano, we didn't know until the very last moment if there would be an ETG or not. It was quite stressful. At the same time, not knowing what's going on with Einav #2 as she was pretty much stuck in Sweden. Finally last Wednesday she decided to go by ferry to Riga (where she had a connecting flight to Israel). It was funny seeing her off at the port (felt very 1950's...) but she told me it was really cool - she had her own room, and slept really well, and even joined a dance class in the evening so all in all it seemed like a unique experience for her, and definitely makes for a good story.
So Thursday I had to wake up super early to check if my flight to Copenhagen was going or not (the ETG was near Malmö) - it did go so I set off to Denmark.

I got to see my dear Ea (who's name you should already begin recognizing from previous posts). It was the 3rd time I've seen her in one month which is pretty cool. I stayed at her place and we just hung out and began planning the Conflict Management session we were planned to do at the ETG. I also got to meet up with some other Danish CISV friends (like Vinh, Simon who i was leader at village with in 2003, etc).

On Friday it was off to the ETG site near Malmö. Quite stressful again, renting the car, driving down, doing all the food shopping... it doesn't sound like much but it is SO MUCH WORK! i felt exhausted and my feet were really hurting. But at the end it all turned out well. We had a great small group of trustees so it was very cozy (around 22 participants - here they are in the picture).



My conflict management session with Ea went really well and it seemed like the trustees were very interested in the methods which is great because it will all be in the handbook (in the making!).

(Ea and I planning)



We had a really cool experience when Gunni, who is from Iceland, surprised us with a real rock he got from THE volcano (after hiking there). It smelled really funky, but was super cool. Of course everyone took loads of picture with our ETG celebrity - the volcano rock! I was no exception...




Sunday it was back to Copenhagen - i was SO TIRED... I think I started imagining things... But after a very good sleep in on Monday, I had another nice day in Copenhagen and usual great, creative, motivating talks with Ea.
Then Tuesday it was back to dear ole' Stockholm.

By the way, just to illustrate how I've gotten used to the Swedish way, it was sooooo weird for me in Copenhagen that you can take your beer outside of the bar, that you can smoke in some of the bars, that you can buy beer in the supermarket, etc... haha.

And this weekend I'm probably moving to a room more in the center (close to the office actually). It's not a done deal yet so I don't want to jinx it so if it happens I will tell more about it in the next post.

Till next time!
E.

RTF UK

Hello fellow Swedes and other followers!

Once again I apologize for sucking at updating my blog. I guess it's a good sign though that I'm keeping busy and having a great time.

I got back from UK 2 and a half days ago after a very very intense but GREAT week. The RTF was lots of fun. We had a small training (only 9 seminar camp staff trainees) but they were great so the size didn't matter. :)
We had lots of laughs and some great discussions and sessions and all in all I think I can safely say it was a successful workshop (oops... that's no longer the official CISV term so I should say successful TRAINING).

Another highlight of my trip to moist, grey England is the chance to see some great people that I have missed. First and foremost, my dear Peter, better known in CISV as Pe'ah, who kindly hosted me at his sheffield home pre and post RTF and even took my to see some LAMBS (my official new obsession... they are so damn cute! see pictures). Second, baby Jon, who I have not seen in 6 year (!). Just sitting around Pe'ah and Jon is pure joy. They are just so funny.
Then of course I got to see my dear Ea again and also Chris, both of which I staffed with in 2008. And besides that loads of other people that I've met throughout the years and some great new people as well.
A big shout out to the british homestaff who did a GREAT job entertaining us in the evenings and put such a huge effort in all the small, humorous details. You certainly raised the bar for the Swedish RTF (coming soon, btw!).

It was actually quite funny, because being away in the RTF bubble I almost forgot that I was living in Sweden, and I kept forgetting that I'm not going back to Israel after it's over. But luckily I got a little piece of home a day after I got back in the form of one of my best friends coming to visit. Her name is.... Einav! Yep, we Israelis are original with names (just kidding, it's actually not THAT common, which I suppose makes it even cooler that we're both Einav). So now we are 2 whole Einavs in Stockholm.
But more about Einav's visit in the next blog.

Oh, we also presented the Conflict Management Handbook project at the RTF and started getting people excited about it's upcoming release this summer. woohoo!

So here are some pics from the trip to UK:
1. Tim and Teemu in one of the session.
2. The "sexy" trainers.
3. Walls and Barns SC 2008 Staff Reunion.
4. Bonding with the lambs.

Walls & Barns Seminar Camp Reunion and RTF UK

Hello and happy easter!

I'm sitting here at the Frankfurt airport, on my way to the RTF (=Regional Training Forum) in England... paying 8 euros for internet.

But this gives me time to blog and reflect on the wonderful week I've had.
Once again, it involves guests... I swear I'm not normally this popular! This has been crazy here in Sweden!
But we had a mini reunion for Walls and Barns Seminar 2008 (where i met Ellen Rue for the first time... aaaawwwww). So Daniel, who is the Israeli NJR (now at EJBM in Holand) was also at that camp so he came to visit Ellen and me and then Ea, who was another staff from Denmark also came so we had a wonderful weekend together, just bringing up memories, having lots of laughs and great conversations.
One funny moment was Saturday night, we were hanging out at Ellen's and finally we brought ourselves to go out... around 1 am. We got to this bar at 1:30 and said "perfect, 1.5 hours is just enough time to be out and dance a bit"... and then 25 minutes later the bar was closing and we were confused because it closes at 3.... until we realized that the clocks changed so at 2 it became 3 and the bar closed... so we joked about be out partying for a WHOLE 25 minutes. Yes, we live on the edge.

*** I had to stop writing because my internet time ran out so it's the next day now ***

So now I'm in Sheffield, at my good friend from CISV GB, Peter Russel (aka, Pe'ah), he's off being a teacher so I have time chill and to continue writing.
Soon I will head to the center and later tonight I guess I'll be meeting up all the other trainers that are around town and also some people from GB that I haven't seen in a while! (and also some people that I have seen very recently like dear Ea who will also be at the RTF).
And tomorrow the work starts, I am training the Seminar Camp Staff workshop along with Eetu (Finland), and we get to test out the all new "trainer material kit" we've put together in Finland so exciting times.
I will also have a chance to present the project there, and tell people a bit about it which is great (but also makes me a bit nervous!) but I'm sure it'll be fine.

So now I will head out, it is ..... SUNNY.... (well, in British way) so it's almost a crime to stay indoors...

Till next time!
E.

Post Annual Meeting

Hello! So last weekend was CISV Sweden's Annual Meeting. I'm still SO impressed with how the meeting was run. So organized!! You must understand that for a person coming from Israel that was really really really crazy. I can't believe that there were 50 people sitting and discussing things for 1.5 days and not once did 2 people speak over eachother or at the same time... nor did anyone raise their voice. Incredible. :)

I also loved the whole meeting technique thing, and I think Gabriel (the external chairman of the meeting) did a really great job.

I wanna take this blog opportunity to say goodluck and thank you to Jenny Andersson (departing president). Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to work together much but I've heard nothing but great things about you and I wish you LOTS of luck. What are you going to do with all this free time now?? :)
Also, a congrats and good luck to the incoming president - Åsa, i look forward to working with you!
AND finally a big warm "shout out" to Ellen, who also was running for President. Ellen, you already know what I think about you, and I'm so proud of you for running. I KNOW you'll make an amazing president someday (and you BETTER run again, or else there will be violence... hehe).

Finally, some good news for me... the plenary decided to approve funding for my personal project (Conflict Management & Effective Communication Handbook) which is very exciting! Now it's finally on! Further updates on the progress of the project will be posted on the blog. I promise.

So what now...? Well, it's been 2.5 whole weeks without guests but that's gonna end this weekend at the Walls and Barns Seminar Camp 2008 (UK) mini reunion. So we (me and Ellen, who was also at this camp) are expecting Ea from Denmark (who staffed with me, and also staffing the SC in Indonesia this summer if anyone is going there, she's sweeeet) and also Daniel from Israel, who is now the Israeli NJR so all of you going to EJBM will meet him there. Great guy! So fun times expected this weekend.

Let me conclude by wishing my wonderful colleague Eva a very very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Till the next post! kram.

Reunion Weekend

I know, I know. I have been neglecting my blogging responsibilities. But here I am again ready to share my life with you. :)

So where did we leave off? The week after my cousin left was pretty much recovering from having someone here from home, which included a bit of loneliness and a slight case of home-sickness but really for a short time and it's only natural, right?

Then this past weekend it was visitor time again, but this time not from home but from CISV. I was happy to have Eetu (Finland), Vinh (DK), Do (Holand) and Ze (Portugal) here visiting me.

The connections are quite complicated I guess but I'll try to explain:
Eetu, Vinh and I were all at EJBM 2003 but never actually really talked that much. We then reunited last spring when we trained the Seminar Camp Staff workshop in Hamburg (it is because of this workshop that I am actually here in Sweden...) and immediately become great friends. Do was one of the trainees we had in our workshop.
Then in the summer I staffed a 2 week 16-18 IYM in Israel with Vinh and Ze, and right after out camp, there was a seminar camp in israel which Do was staffing...
So that's the connection between us, in a nutshell.

So naturally we had a very fun time here in stockholm, being silly and having people constantly guessing where we were all from (somehow everyone immediately guessed that Eetu was from Finland). Luckily we had nice sunny days. And let me use this "platform" to say a big TACK to Ellen for letting some of the guys stay at her place.

As for work, the office has been quieter since Louise left, and I lost my "lunch partner" :( (miss you, Louise!) but other than that all is good. I now have inherited Louise's impact responsibilities (along with Eva).

By the way - we are still looking for TRAINERS for impacts, you don't have to have previous experience just the will to do it and a free weekend :) if you are interested or have more questions please let me know at impact@se.cisv.org.

Same goes for kitchen staff people - we still need kitchen staff for dates April 16-18 or May 28-30 (in Högaberg) so just send me an email if you're interested.

I will finish by saying that I'm super excited about this being the 5th day in a row there has been SUN! I can actually start seeing the sidewalks for the first time which is thrilling. :) I'm so ready for spring! bring it on!