Sunday, December 30, 2007

laikas pasiaiškinti...

šiandien p.internetas (google alerts pagalba) man pranešė, kad aš esu... Emigrantas. Bent jau taip, paskaitęs mano blog'o įrašus nusprendė Liutauras (http://www.blogas.lt/liutauras/311914/).

Ačiū Liutaurui už dėmesį mano internetiniam kampui (vertinu tamstos nuomonę apie lietuvišką žiniasklaidą, PR, visuomenę bei internetą), ir noriu prisipažinti, kad nesu emigrantas :) Taip, dėl savo mokymų veiklos tenka nemažai keliauti, tačiau Lietuva man yra ir tėvynė, ir namai.

na va, pasiaiškinau ir galėsiu eiti ramiai miegoti.. nes jau vėlu, o tie Naujieji kaip neateina, taip neateina.. nors kasnakt už lango šaudo saliutai / fejerverkai.

o nuotraukoje nuostabus vaizdelis pakeliui į Švenčionis - nors sniego nėra, medžiai gražiai apšerkšnyję..

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

AEGEE-Academy - Interview December/January


with Marius Ulozas, YEU (Youth for Exchange and Understanding)

About me:

I am former Vice President of INGYO "Youth for Exchange and Understanding" now managing YEU Lithuanian branch, also being involved in co-management structure between youth NGOs and Lithuanian government and working as freelance trainer. Besides that, I help in preparing methodological materials for international youth work, write articles for European Youth Forum, YEU, Lithuanian National Youth Council, and Lithuanian National Agency. Main areas of my training interest – European citizenship, promotion of active participation, youth work development and sustainability, empowerment of young people. For active international youth work I was awarded "Youth ambassador 2005" title in Lithuania.

Q: How long have you been involved in training and how did you start with it?

It's been 4 years now when I deliver trainings and the way to this was pretty long but logic :) I engaged myself with a YEU member organization in Lithuania back in 2003, after two years' involvement in a political youth organization. YEU attracted me with its intercultural offer and possibility to implement my own ideas in a multicultural environment. Participation in seminars and training courses gave a lot of insights and an understanding that others can think in a different way and that nothing is wrong with that. It also gave me confidence and motivation to go on and share learned things with others.

The nice thing about YEU is that you can get as much as you want – because it depends only on your motivation and dedication. Since I like management and wanted to develop training skills, I went in both directions. On the one hand, after working two years for the YEU Lithuania governing board I was elected YEU Vice-President; whilst in the training field I continued working on different topics and started giving trainings for YEU and outside the network. Through involvement in YFJ and CoE pools of trainers I was fortunate to see the work of many European NGOs. AEGEE is one of them and I am very happy having been involved in several events in 2007.

Q: What value do training and human resources development have in YEU?

For us, training and HR management is one of the most important ways to keep our network alive and sustainable.

We entered the 21st century facing a growing shortage of skilful, competent and motivated young people to run our organizations and programmes. This resulted from the incapacity, in the second part of the 90's, to prepare "new" members to continue the work of the "older" YEU generation in a sustainable manner.

5 years ago we decided to invest our energy in the following three directions:

  • Allowing more young people to get involved in YEU through the clarification of YEU structure, procedures and policies. It made clear the way in which YEU can support the development of members who wish to develop their competencies in the youth field and allowed the initiation of youth workers careers in our structure.
  • Raising the quality and quantity of non formal education and learning opportunities within the network. We promoted participation of our members in international training courses, such as those provided by the Council of Europe (CoE), SALTO centres and by the Covenant between the CoE and the EU. The direct result of this step was the development and the higher quality of our own training activities.
  • Developing cooperation with other NGO's and International Youth Organizations to share best practice and resources. The European Youth Forum has been a privileged space for the development of those partnerships and for the raising of YEU knowledge in many youth areas, especially those related with youth policy and with youth work practice. This opens existing NFL spaces to people from other organizations and creates peer-to-peer cooperation with different organizations, thus creating new NFL spaces.

More elaborate document about YEU approach towards NFE can be found at
http://www.training-youth.net/INTEGRATION/TY/Publications/coyote/coyote11/yeu_nfe.html

Q: You have been to some AEGEE trainings (T4T in Patra, European Citizenship in Tbilisi, in Köln, NFE Seminar in Paris) - Where do you see differences between training in YEU and AEGEE?

First but very obvious difference – we are not student organization, even though most of our members do study. This difference result in following: our events never happen in Universities, we do have a national level; we don't like PPT that much, we would rather prefer street animation. We also put a strong emphasis on inclusion of people from different social and cultural backgrounds. Our main methodology is learning by doing or so called experiential learning through personal and group experience.

Q: Where do you see the strengths in AEGEE trainings?

AEGEE has good skill trainings – FR, PR, etc. and you should maintain them. You do have strong trainers- try to keep them and learn from them; continuation, passing the experience are very very important in the youth work, since things and people tend to change fast. Training is one of the main tools which can ensure passing organizations values and culture.

Q: Is there something you would like "to give us on the way", some hints, tips and tricks of what we could do better in your opinion?

One important thing to bear in mind – if we concentrate on little things (e.g. particular skill trainings) we might loose overview of youth work after some time. Besides, if we only concentrate on areas were we are week – we might loose our positions in the areas were we are strong – it has to be balanced (it's like Swiss cheese, we shouldn't care about the holes only, the cheese itself is what is the most important).

Another thing which you started to implement and should continue: involving non–AEGEE trainers in your events and creating partnership with non-AEGEE organizations. It helps to enrich your work, to share and pass on AEGEE methods; it also helps to define what you do best and what the core of AEGEE is.

You should find a way to remind to some antenna's about the educational part of AEGEE work. You do a lot on European level but local organizations are not always aware of it. More awareness would empower them to use European programs like YiA, and will strengthen their local work.

And last, organization has to be strong enough to set ambitious goals and to review constantly what they are doing and try to find new ways, new forms of work.

Q: Thanks so much!

You are very welcome :)


Monday, November 26, 2007

Philosophical mood, letter from Stockholm

Sitting in the airport of Stockholm and it really feels that Christmas is coming…. :) never been so close to the place where Santa Claus supposes to live… City and airport is flashing with red decorations and the smell of Christmas trees is softly tickling nose… even though it is still almost a month of 2007 we have to survive, thoughts about what has happened this year comes to mind.. as well as gingerly thoughts and wished about/for 2008..

This year brought many exciting emotions and challenges; it was definitely one of the best years in my life so far. Now I have to plan not only my personal life and challenges but family matters as well. Ulozas family doubled this year (I have to confess I am happy and bit proud that my wife took my family:) will this growth continue next year? I do hope so. On the professional level – I will have my first training as Council of Europe trainer, hope to do more trainings in Lithuania so that could be closer to my family. Topic about politics – I hope next year would bring interesting challenges in this area as well, since I kinda made up my mind to do more in this sphere.

In 2008 I will turn 30… interesting how I will react to this change. It is mental but a step.

In Stockholm I was part of MDG seminar. For those who don’t know, MDG stand for Millenium Development Goals, campaign aimed at reducing poverty and other nasty things which effect large part of mankind. I will post a link to some websites so that you could read some more about it. The event was extraordinary in the sense that we had people not only all over the Europe but also from Asia, Caribbean and South America. I value and appreciate so much what my involvement in youth work gives to me – fantastic chance to meet extremely interesting people from all over the world. I hope that my world quest will not finish soon, at least not in 2008.

Best greetings and.. Merry Christmas!! Marius

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Blankenberge

greetings from town called Blankenberge...

View Larger Map

our training on local youth coordinator will start tomorrow so today we still got chance to enjoy some sun..
amazing weather: +18, sunny, no even 1 cloud in the sky... wow, summer is not finished yet and it makes me happy. it was so nice to take of shoes and to walk on the sand.. to feel grains of sand and listen to the sough of the sea.. to be honest, i felt bit lonely there.. everyone is either with their couple, family, kids or at least with the dog.. btw, here i saw hundreds of dogs.

i will post some pictures from the coastline later but the interesting thing is that sea is fenced by the line of multi-storey buildings.. pretty different from our Lithuanian coastline..

Sunday, October 07, 2007

greetings from Tallinn

i spent this weekend in Tallinn, 2 days, 13 meetings, 17 different organizations came to meet with us. But what about Tallinn as such? i still like the city - its small and quite cozy, easy to navigate around, people seem to be friendly or at least not hostile.. recently Tallinn had to withstand two waves of foreigners- for last 10 years Finnish would come by ferries for cheap alcohol and now with a arrival of co-called "cheap-airlines" British come to celebrate their stager parties here.. so Saturday night in the Old Town you would see (and hear, oh yes, hear them:) more British than local people and Tallinn seems as yet another town somewhere in UK - with football broadcasting, with drunk people around the streets... globalization..

Monday, October 01, 2007

Odyssey

If I would write in details my diary of September and October I would look like chapter from Homers’ Odyssey :) these lines will be uploaded from nice island Sobieszewo (near Gdansk), where former military base was situated. I really felt like travelling in time these days… Vietnam looks like a mixture of pre-historical beauty of nature and soviet communism of 80s. Skyscrapers of Frankfurt puts you back into the future while transformation of Sobieszewo from military base to lovely resort full of youngsters, foreigners illustrates that over the period of time everything can change, even if no one would even have imagined it is possible just 20 years ago.

Back 2 business

After extended break from work this summer, slowly but surely I am returning to training work. This break could be best illustrated by wedding and the honeymoon, which has just finished. So now with new energy and motivation I will continue trainings, which are not so much about energizers and simulations, but about empowerment of young people, raising awareness and promotion of active citizenship and participation.

Since the last week I am member of CoE Trainer’s Pool and I hope this will bring new challenges and new excitement. Even though trainings from now on will have to compete with political consultancy for the place on my agenda, but it promises another interesting and challenging year.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Cardiff, Wales (August 2007)

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be2gether vaizdeliai



top left : kepam šašlus :)
top right : popiečio miegas
down left : the Theraphy? ouuuu
down right : Skamp (gerai pavarė!)
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Please sign Petition to protect BALTIC SEA

please click on the image below and sign electronic petition. You will contribute to the voice of civil society which is asking to stop plans to mess with Baltic Sea... THANK YOU in advance!

or click here http://www.balticsea.lt/en

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

crazy july

ufff.. this month is really special one. and things go faster than speed of light...
- just to mention absolutely fantastic and crazy wedding parties;
- flat rearrangement (buying more things in one week than i did in the last three years);
- interesting career proposals;
- one day donating some 400ml of blood and next day getting vaccinated from hepatitis a&b plus typhus fever;
- at last fulfilling one of the dreams and getting.. professional camera. i think this webspace will benefit most from this last acquisition :)

what is the most valuable liquid?

...no, it is not oil... nor fancy champagne. Most valuable liquid is human blood. And it is easy to share it, since we all have some of it. GO AND SHARE IT!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Wedding preparations

Again... it seems that process is more important than result (even in the case of wedding).
  1. Two of us are preparing for this special day for already half a year and the day (ok, 2.5 days:) will pass veeery fast;
  2. We went through up's and down's, we had many nice moments while planning, failing some things, rearranging others;
  3. During the process you learn so much about each other, about different thinking patters between man and woman;
  4. I think all couples should arrange weddings by themselves! Since if you manage to do this – you together can handle anything what will come onto your way later in the course of life… :)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

july 7

as u might know, i am upgrading my social status this July as i am getting married :)
shall u be in Vilnius by chance on that day - u r welcome to Vilnius' Cathedral around 4 - 4.30 ...
it will be very special moment in my life. and i want to share this moment with my friends!

Saturday, June 30, 2007

just...

it's been a while since the last post here.. but life is "a bit" busy and it's getting crazy before the first weekend of July...

related to recent developments, find attached little picture below.. i find it funny, do u?! :)

Saturday, June 23, 2007

music and lyrics



nice warm movie, everyone should watch it. at the moment i'm in the TC prep'meeting in Warsaw.. we watched movie last night and.. still sing lines from it. different approach towards team building :) but works perfectly.

Friday, June 15, 2007

For your information

Diet, suggested by friend

here we go with a simple but WORKING diet suggested by my friend Cynthia Amato from lovely Malta:
you eat cereal for b'fast, a bananna at 10am, and protein for lunch with salade.
4pm you have a yogurt and for dinner again protein.

Protein is: eggs, chicken, beef, tuna, nuts. so for lunch you can have an omelet, quarter chicken, or two slices of beef steak (around 250grams). And it have always to be with vegetables.
if you try and it works, drop me a line or a comment here in the blog :)

chasing the dream..

last night i had a dream :
we are together in 50 years since now..
we have bunch of friends and few kids..
we are happy

i got up at 4:20 to chase this dream... (evidence below)

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Brussels: mission completed

Finally my mission in Brussels came to the end… today still have couple of meetings but it is already more “friend relation management” rather than work.

European Youth Week, prep of seminar “role of youth coordinators in the local youth policy”, last but not least – meeting of YFJ consultative body for membership applications. Mission completed and I can go home with peace…

This time missed home as never before. Thoughts have brought me to the embrace of sweetheart so often that sometimes was difficult to realize that I am still here, in Bxl.

Besides happiness that everything went so great in all of three meetings and I had chance to meet bunch of my good friends, I got a chance to get to know City better. I have to confess that I liked Brussels, its variety, its multicultural spirit, its tranquil corners and squares… (with wireless internet:)

The more I travel this year the more I am convinced that I have found what I was looking for. With peace in mind I am going to the place where I belong to. C u there in July ;)

Monday, June 04, 2007

Economist: Planning the West’s counter-attack against Russia


WAIT until the 2008 presidential election and hope that sense prevails. That, roughly, is the West’s strategy to deal with Russia. It has come at a high price. Russia has largely won the gas wars before most Europeans even noticed they were being fought. So far this year the Kremlin has stitched up the Caspian (by striking a pipeline deal with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan). It has nobbled Austria, Belgium and Hungary (to add to its powerful position in Germany, France and Italy). By schmoozing other producers it has begun to form a gas cartel. Russia has also built a strong pro-Kremlin camp elsewhere in the European Union (Greece, and Cyprus chiefly; Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia increasingly; and probably Bulgaria too if anybody looked closely). Its banks and businesses have created a fifth column in the City of London and other world financial centres.

On top of all this are the attacks on Estonia’s state websites and the shameless contempt shown by the Kremlin after the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, in London.

Waiting another year in the hope that someone nicer than Vladimir Putin comes along is wishful thinking. Instead of waiting for the next Kremlin stunt, why not try a counter-attack?

For a start: is Russia a fit member of the G8? Clearly not. Russia was admitted to the then G7 to bolster Boris Yeltsin’s attempt to make Russia democratic, free and friendly. That was probably a mistake; it has obviously failed. So either exclude Russia on the ground that the G7 is a democracies-only club, or include China and make it a big-economies club.

Expand NATO, both in scope and membership. Create a cyber-NATO to offer mutual assistance against state-backed internet terrorism of the kind experienced by Estonia. Sweden and Finland might be willing to join such a cyber-group now; if they are wise, they will join NATO while they still can. Restart EU enlargement, especially for Serbia and Montenegro, thus counteracting Russian influence there.

Stop Russian companies from using the international capital markets unless they have clean hands. Conniving in the sale of stolen property is a crime. Why should a Russian oil firm with looted assets (or a gas intermediary whose business seems to consist mainly of standing in the right place) enjoy the privilege of raising capital in London? Equally, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should stop its “rent-a-fig-leaf” service to Russians who want to look respectable. Given the colossal amounts of cash sloshing around Russia at the moment, it is preposterous that Western taxpayers are asked to finance anything there.
AFP No more Mr Nice Guy

Crack down on visas. If a Russian tycoon is unwelcome in America, should he be be any more welcome in London? Even better, start chucking people out. Imagine the impact if America, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Italy—and any other countries that wanted to join in—expelled, on the same day, equal numbers of Russian spies. Say 15 each from the GRU (military intelligence) and from the FSB and from the SVR (the successors to the KGB). The spying, stealing and mischief-making by these outfits matches or even exceeds levels seen in the cold war. So, show some cold-war resolve, and do it in unison.

More tough-mindedness would be useful in other places too, such as in Western countries’ foreign ministries. For the past 20 years, officials dealing with Russia have been promoted if they encourage trade, investment and friendly political relations. Hawkishness has been a career-killer. That doesn't help now that a tough, consistent policy is needed.

Toughness will have a cost. But the coming years need not be disastrous if the West is willing once again to stand up for what it believes in. A “wait and see” policy guarantees disaster.

European Youth Week – Youth in Action

The 3rd European Youth Week will take place throughout Europe from 3-10 June 2007. In Brussels, there will be a centralised event (3-6 June) to promote the Youth in Action Programme and European Youth Policies, and to contribute to the structured dialogue with young people.

In this event young people from all parts of Europe will meet and, through open discussions and consultation, create a tangible contribution to the European Commission’s Plan D, which stands for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate.

One objective of event will be to promote and raise the awareness of the Youth in Action Programme, which has been launched concurrently. It will also highlight the achievements and success of projects supported by the previous Youth Programme, which ran from 2000-2006.

Participants will form working groups to discuss the main elements of the general theme “social inclusion and diversity of young people in Europe”, with the outcomes to be presented in a plenary session. There will also be working groups using creative methods like music and video to contribute to the same theme.

Finally, the attendees will also have the possibility to participate in a political
round table debate attended by members of the European Commission.

The final conclusions of the Brussels event will be forwarded to the Commission and the Council of Youth Ministers, and is expected to be taken into account in their policy formulation.

Friday, June 01, 2007

atgal i realybe

dar karteli buvau pamokytas, kad ko nepadarysiu pats - niekas uz tave nepadarys..
ir dar - jei tau atrodo, kad viskas priklauso tik nuo taves, tavo patirties ir pastangu ir visi tai supras ir ivertins - zegnokis :)

negaliu sakyti kad truputeli pikta, tiesiog visad turiu to keisto ir nesuprantamo optimizmo bei tikejimo, kad viskas bus gerai ir teisingai. bet juk bus. gal ir po paskutiniojo teismo dienos, bet bus.

savo renginiu dalyvius nuolat mokau apie trikampi:
- tikslas;
- procesas;
- zmogus/zmones;
ir kasdien suprantu kad tai yra taskai tarp kuriu mes nuolat laviruojam ir turime rinktis - kas svarbiau - tikslas? ar svarbiau pats tikslu siekimo procesas ir ar mes esame patenkinti jo metu? o gal visa tai yra tik abstrakcijos, o pats svarbiausias dalykas yra kaip jauciuosi as ir kaip jauciasi kiti individai?

smagiausia, kad atsakymo i sita kasdienini klausima nera, o mes i ji kasdien atsakome savo veiksmais ir pasirinkimais...

megaukimes gyvenimu/procesu, nepamirskime aukstesniuju tikslu (artimi zmones, seima, valstybe, Europa) bei nepamirskime ir saves, nes tik save mes tikrai "turime".

Thursday, May 31, 2007

brussels

big hello from th heart of Europe - Brussels. i gonna spend here next 11 days, so shall you want to meet me there - drop me the line :) +32478738556


Wednesday, May 30, 2007

...

Ну вот исцезла дрожь в руках
теперь на верх.
Ну вот сорвался в пропасть страх
на век, на век.

Для остановки нет причин
Иду сколзя
.
И в мире нет таких вершин,
Что взяь нелзя
.

from В Высоцкий "Горная лирицеская"

Monday, May 28, 2007

weekend in Rumsiskes

though summer heat was rather tropical in Lithuania this weekend we decided to go "traditional" and went to Rumsiskes open air museum. even though aim was rather pragmatic - to agree on details of our planned "activity" to be held here later in the summer, but it turned out to be very pleasant and enjoyable stay.

it was Whit Sunday weekend so museum was full of festive mood, entertainment and joy: mass in the old wooden Church, plays by young "shepherds", tasting of traditional Lithuanian white cheese, homemade butter and some "green"soup. All in all, air was full of joy, sun and relaxation... i hope we will maintain this mood until and after July.. :)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

YEU - European Identity Exchange Project

check out little movie made after Youth Exchange in Sardinia. Movie made by Arturas, YEU Lithuania.

Youth week is coming!


hey ho! European Youth Week 2007 is approaching us!!
make sure you get involved in one of its events - be it Brussels or your country.

Follow this link http://youthweek.eu for more information and also consult your national youth institutions about the local events.

the keyword is PARTICIPATION!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Be slow to get angry, be fast to forgive (or appreciate)


Well, when on the way to Strasbourg from Frankfurt I had to change trains two times its cool. When the second train come bit (25min) late you understand that there’s no way you will make it…

Is there any reason to be unhappy? Get angry? No… just take it easy and sort out what to do next. And when you realize that DB (DeutcheBann) treats passengers as customers you are flattered. It is something I always wished to happen in my homeland. So many times drivers made me feel sorry for stepping on their vehicle :) Sometimes they would react if passenger was sent by God as a punishment to them and they would certainly act accordingly.

So what’s the difference, which inspired to write down these lines? Currently I am sitting on the bus which takes me to Strasbourg from Offenburg. Wouldn’t be so strange if it was not DB who arranged this bus for the passengers of late coming train to ensure they don’t need to wait another 48 minutes till the next train service. Wow. I do appreciate.

Ps. and then it is not so painful to pay 52.80 euro for the trip since you feel that you are taken care of.
2007-05-11, somewhere between Germany and France.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Baltijos kelias #2. United we stand: Lietuva! Latvija! Estija

today, united we stood. as 16 years ago, when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were united with a human chain from Vilnius to Tallinn, today we stood again to express our support to Estonia in the conflict with Russia.

only together we are strong, only together we can withstand imperialistic attacks of Russia. I do hope that Europe will also realize the importance of being united and having strong voice at last. European countries need to be closer together, we do need common strategy, common plan for common future. and common foreign policy is a key element here..

Saturday, May 05, 2007

WE’RE FOR ESTONIA! ||| Bloggers‘ campaign to support Estonia

i have joined bloggers' campaign to support our little neighbour country Estonia. If you also would like to join the campaign, just follow the link and add info to you website or blog.

Little reflection on the plane [2007 05 04]

Heading back to Vilnius, where sweetheart and home is awaiting.
This short trip to Zadar, Croatia somehow brought me to some thoughts...

I ran one day activity for/with a group of youngsters from organization called ACTIVE, what makes them different from other organizations – they fight for a healthy lifestyle and against smoking, alcohol and drugs. Very nice mission… and very tough one.

But when you look at their young smiling faces its makes you believe that it is achievable, when you see how much fun they manage to have during the day and afternoon sessions… and even if some are bit tired in the morning it has nothing to do with the alcohol night before. Nice.

Another reflection is about our changed and globalized world. Does it makes sense to travel half of the day (getting to Vilnius airport – Frankfurt – Zagreb airport – Zagreb bus station – Zadar bus station – 1 hour walk) for one day training? Well, but does it makes sense to wait in the traffic jams 1 hour on the way to the office and another hour on the way back? In 5 working days it accumulates to 10 hour which almost equals to the time needed to get to the other side of Europe, if not Globe.

I am happy to have made this trip. I got inspired by these youngsters, got to see beautiful Adriatic cost and even managed to get some sun kisses on my cheeks. Life is beautiful as long as we manage to celebrate life!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Youth: Open the door

Internet is a miracle, so i was not too much surprised that Russians voted Internet to be the most important invention of XX century... at the moment i am sitting in the little restaurant in the middle of remote Lithuanian town and using wireless Internet sharing my emotions of the given moment. cool, isn't?

last week i spent with a nice bunch of youngsters from Baltic and Eastern European countries talking about Innovative ways for youth cooperation. Indeed it is important to strengthen our ties with our counterparts across the state borders and to build bigger, broader and YOUNGER Europe.

as one of the "touchable" outcomes, Web log http://youthcooperation.blogspot.com was created to channel future cooperation of our organizations and all of you are welcome to visit and join us!

Youth: Open the door. The door is open - now your time to enter!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Pool of Trainers' meeting
















Pool of Trainers near the Pool of green stuff :)
hey hey hey!
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Thursday, April 05, 2007

Temples for the tourists [by Umberto Eco]

I've read in the papers and on the Internet that someone is going to build, at a price of well over a billion dollars, an archaeological park called Megale Hellas, complete with a fake but wholly intact temple made of concrete clad in travertine marble, at Albanella, a small Italian township 10 miles from the temples at the ancient Greek colony of Paestum and 40 miles from the temple at Velia.

Those who object to this idea point out that there is a genuine temple dedicated to Demeter dating from the fourth or fifth century B.C only a few miles away.

Supporters of the scheme imagine an influx of tourists greater than that drawn by the real temples - all slightly ruined, to tell the truth. They must be thinking of the reconstruction of the city of Venice in Las Vegas or of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, and maybe even the various Disneylands. The cultural value of these tourist attractions is open to criticism, but no one can say that they don't bring in people (and cash).

I understand the reactions of those scandalized by the idea, and I'm sorry to add to their dismay by stating that we should all be very much in favor of such enterprises. These schemes are a good way to safeguard Italy's artistic heritage.

There was a time when important historical and cultural sites were visited only by aristocratic travelers making the Grand Tour or exploring Italy. Those people thought it was just fine that the churches and palazzi were falling to bits, or that great paintings lay abandoned in damp sacristies.

Then came "bourgeois" tourism, which was still an elite affair but involved hundreds of thousands of cultivated and sensitive travelers. In order to satisfy their requirements both locations and artworks were restored, and this new form of tourism brought economic benefits to many towns and cities.

With the advent of mass tourism, some important sites increased their income, but at the cost of ugliness and vandalism. They became dumps for discarded soda cans and plastic bags, and were marred by ranks of stalls selling fake artifacts to souvenir hunters. Ancient, labyrinthine streets were made intolerable by noisy, sweaty crowds. As for the works of art, the very breath of the millions of tourists damages them. The feet of certain statues of saints have been worn smooth by the constant handling of the faithful, and not even the Pyramids can withstand the daily shuffling of visiting feet much longer.

What are we to do? Deny the masses access to art, thus flying in the face of all democratic ideals? Discourage visitors - as already happens with Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" in Milan, to which limited numbers are admitted?

We should exploit the natural tendencies of mass tourism - which is another way of saying that there are some who probably find Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas more Roman than the Coliseum.

Just think how many people will be more satisfied by the fake temple at Albanella, all in one piece, shining and splendid, than by the real thing that has struggled to survive in nearby Paestum. Let the crowds in search of easy satisfaction be directed to Albanella, leaving Paestum to those who know why they want to see it and who won't litter.

It would be so useful to have an Uffiziland on the outskirts of Florence, with perfect reproductions of the items in the real Uffizi Gallery on display, maybe even with their colors touched up a little, the way funeral parlors add makeup to the lips of the deceased.

Given that crowds gather in front of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio to admire a "David" that isn't the original (but they don't know this, or don't care), why shouldn't they go to Uffiziland? And if there were fewer mouths emitting noxious fumes in the vicinity of Botticelli's "Primavera," this would help with efforts to preserve it.

Don't tell me that my proposal is "class-driven" in the sense that it would represent an attempt to separate the troglodytes from people with refined artistic sensibilities. True, it might, but each person would decide to which category he or she belongs by choice and not by social decree. Similar choices are made by millions of people - including those who consider themselves aesthetes and connoisseurs - when they tune in to trash TV shows.

Come to think of it, unlike the proletariat of Marxian memory, the new proletarians of art wouldn't even know they were such and would feel fortunate to have visited the shiniest, newest temple of them all.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

calm weekend

after a hectic month it is now time to relax a bit... we are now in Trakai at the meeting of Lithuanian National Youth Council but it is a real rest.. with nice surrounding, with group of good fellows and with sweetheart...

yesterday i went for a jogging. 2 pm. when normal people are still very much at work. strange feeling, to some extent you understand that all people work, on the other hand you had spent to weeks working and traveling with almost no seep and it gives you bit of the right to enjoy yourself, hah?

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The lessons of the month

So many nice, exciting and extraordinary things happened this month that it is difficult to right something since too many things deserve to be written with an elaboration. Instead of that, I will try to put them into few simple lines:

1. We get what we deserve (not according our perception but real moves);
2. Biggest sinner can become saint;
3. Don’t let (bad) emotion overtake you;
4. Look for nice things, look for good things – wear “good glasses” and world will be a lovely place;
5. We don’t need tram in Vilnius. Either metro or improved bus system;
6. Youth opinion is taken into consideration on European level, though little Eurocrats have no clue how to work with youth events;
7. Caviar is better when served with vodka;
8. All fears are creation of our mind. Fear is an excuse.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Rome Youth Summit

Hey all, there was a little info gap, i have to assume it as my failure.. but i do have a good excuse for that ;))
this month i almost haven't been at home, first Sardinia for prep-meeting of youth exchange, then viziting Moscow (and future father n law:) and now postong these lines from Rome.. andto give some light on that, i added i picture.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

day after the end...

this weekend big chapter of my life was closed..
the mandate of YEU Vice President expired..

i guess it is for good since i was looking forward to it.
since now i feel great relief.
since now i don't need to worry about organization.
Of course, i will, but i DON'T HAVE to :)

this was 2 years learning process... how to work in international team. how to manage to make fats decisions while your board members are in 7 different countries and are constantly on the road. Saw how emotions can spoil the work being done. Proved once again that people can do much more than expected from them. Tried to find red line between teamwork (team responsibility) and individual efforts to make things happen.. all in all i can say - many things still to be learned and experienced!!!


Wednesday, February 21, 2007

smoking sucks


i don't know why but each day i am becoming less tolerant to smoke and smokers. and it is despite the fact that my father used to smoke for 20 yrs and one of grandfathers died due to effect of longterm smoking...

working at the moment in Spain i realize what a great idea is to ban smoking in the public spaces... research shows that in 2007 about 100.000 people will quit smoking in Lithuania. amazing. and they will quit not because they will die but due to stricter rules and more inconvenience for smokers. This will also show, that smoking not cool and not supported by community.
stop smoking before it stops you!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

post #100 !!!!!!!!!!

when i started the blog had no clue how i will have motivation to continue posting things here.. but it had been fun and brought to the post #100 today. gr8.

and today i would like to share some pix from the course (press on the picture below). today is the 13th of the February, 6th day i am in Mollina, but another 11 days of Ceulaj is ahead... uff:) today is very fine day, warm and sunny and at last i have a chance to spent some time outdoor and it is just great! people at the course are intyeresting, coming from all across the continent - Azerbaijan to Lebanon, Portugal, Lithuania etc.. great variety, great resource, great fun to be together.




Monday, February 12, 2007

-----> people of the course <--------

team meeting

...01:12 in the morning. team-meeting. we already finished with daily trainer's feedback and feedback from exploration group.

now we are shifting to planning tomorrow's sessions. we will be working on Open system model and Environmental Scan in the morning, while afternoon sessions will be designed to work on Models & Culture and Mission, Vision etc... looking forward:)))

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Pantheon of Mollina

At the right hand side you can see set of gods from Mollina's Pantheon.
master's hand was shaking because of their tremendouness... (whatever:)))

this cartoon represents trainer's of the courses mentioned in the previous message. the preparation for the course went so well, but... all of the sudden participants arrived - what to do, what to do...:))

Friday, February 09, 2007

Mollina.... again:)

in three years i am for the third time in CEULAJ in Molina, Spain... i think it is a bit too much... and then it is of no surprise that some people call this place second home:) especially European youth workers.

here the training course on organizational management and creative leadership in inter cultural environment is being created. soon we will have more details about that...

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

applying applying...

well, today i submitted couple more "applications"... for those involved in youth training field know what i mean. sometimes it can be boring or even seem waste of time to apply for positions in training courses provided by other institutions/organizations. but.. "no pain no gain" one says and its true. if you don't want to apply - make your own activity/project/business.

this year i would like to dig more into topics of inter religious dialog and European issues. i think i will have enough chances and energy to make this wish true, especially having in mind that last two applications were approved and i am establishing myself as "European" trainer... nevertheless, i will do as much as possible in Lithuania as well, since here we have everything needed - need, demand and ... motivation :)

Monday, January 22, 2007

2007 07 07...

7 is said to be my lucky number. soon we will see if that is true :)

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Greece

kali hronia! hronia polla! - best greetings from Greece for 2007.

Patra, 3rd biggest Greek city in the west of Peloponn
ese is an amazing place....even though i had a little chance to explore it bit more but this lively, vivid city is surrounded by natural beauty - 2km mountains on one side and blue blue sea on the other side... plus this natural beauty is supported by human effort - lovely sea port & marina and beautiful bridge, longest in the world of the kind...

and in this beautiful environment we run a TC for future trainers for AEGEE, international youth NGO. Even though this kind of environment could distract mind but it can do no less than inspire!


Thursday, January 04, 2007

businessmam:)


NY started with a good tune, on the JAN 3rd i officially became businessman:))))
that means that i got permission for business activities related to "qualification development".

sounds cool, but what it actually means, that i will be allowed to run activities and pay no taxes for that (not to mention that u anyway have to pay them once a year:) as i have training plans up until summer, this should turn out pretty well.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

still on transition...:)

year 2006 was full of colours, action, drama and other ingredients... so what can be better and more suitable than to farewell them at the ballet... :)

It is a nice tradition in Lithuania to have performance at National Theater of Opera and Ballet at the last hours of yesteryear. it was a pleasure to watch Sleeping Beauty and rewind memories of 2006... and to get inspiration for 2007!