THE ARK

Table of Content

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ARKITORIAL

5

# BASES

HEAD ORGANISERS

6PRESIDENT 8 EDITOR 10

NIGHT OF DEAD

DO YOU HAVE EYP

SPIRIT?

SUCCESS IN EYP

WHERE IS THE ADULT IN CHARGE?

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According to the Genesis f lood narrative, which is similar to other f lood myths from a variety of cultures, ?the ark is a large wooden ship built by Noah in order to save his family and a male and female of every type of animal when the world was covered by a f lood?. Seven days before the deluge, Noah entered the ark with his household and the animals, including elephants. The story goes on to describe the ark being af loat throughout the f lood before it came to rest on the Mountains of Ararat. Taking the above-mentioned into consideration, it is apparent that the practical function of the ark is to protect and preserve sacred objects. In a larger sense though, the ark is a symbol of triumph and victory, epitomising the cycles of creation and re-creation. Similarly, the main purpose of the Ark Media Team is to capture and preserve those precise moments that will never exist again and turn them into cherished memories which will later on serve as a remembrance of our lovely Media Team in particular and Tbilisi?15 in general. Moreover, by contributing to the academic quality of the forum and maintaining as well as enhancing success achieved in EYP Journalism, we aim to do our bit in constant creation and re-creation processes.

While wandering through the pages of the issue, we do hope that you will as well build your own ark of memories that will stay af loat throughout your journey leading to triumphs and victories!

With love,

Mariam, Tatuli & Maria.

ARKITORIAL

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# BASESAre you enjoying yourself? Do you like hanging out with such an amazing group of young adults at these fascinating venues? Can everything stand so close to perfection? In order to f ind answers to these questions, I have interviewed the creator of Tbilisi?15 -Mr. BASES, whose positive attitude and open-minded approach make him an interviewer?s dream.

- Mr. BASES , you are in charge of enhancing the dialogue and mutual understanding among members of civil society in the Eastern Partnership countries. Am I correct?

-Yes, my friend, absolutely correct! I work under the European Youth Parliament ?, and together with the German Federal Foreign Off ice, I aim to contribute to ?Building A Strong European Society?.

-How are you going to achieve the above-mentioned goal of yours?

- Well, f irst of all, through organising activit ies such as the International Forums and National Selection Conferences that take place in the countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia. Secondly, by conducting capacity building training courses that will polish existing skil ls of young EYPers and enable them to take up various responsibil it ies both inside and outside of EYP. . I bet you will be pleased to hear that the very f irst NCDM (National

Committee Development and Management) training will take place in Georgia , assembling the Board Members and extremely skilful trainers from dif ferent parts of Europe. Thirdly, I aim to address the needs of those gif ted youngsters who cannot attend EYP sessions due to f inancial dif f icult ies. I strongly believe that by providing more and more young minds with the opportunities to travel, discover, learn and develop, Eastern Partnership countries will become more involved in European society. To sum up, all of the above-mentioned steps lead to the highest peak ? understanding Europe that revolves around seeing the world from a dif ferent angle. e

- Thank you for such an inspirational interview, Mr. BASES. I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavours! -Reach out and touch faith, my dears. This is the short story standing behind our session. This is the real motto for all of you ? bright and enthusiastic participants of Tbilisi?15. And as you are the ones whose great potential and boundless energy can make a dif ference, I strongly advise you to exploit this wonderful opportunity to the fullest, think beyond the box and remember that ?great things only happen at the end of your comfort zones.?

BY MARIAM PAGHAVA

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Her Royal Highness of Tbil isi?15

Without further ado, I would like to introduce our lovely president - Ms. Anna-Helena Saarso to you by asking her some odd questions that no one usually thinks about.

1. What was the f irst word that the f irst human being said?

-Hello, world!

2. When the earth disappears, what will be the last word the last human being will say?

-Just lost my creativity here? *sighs*

3. Who are the two famous f igures whose dialogue would you listen to?

-Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.

4. What is the greatest invention of the whole mankind?

-The Internet!

5. What is the one thing you stil l have from your childhood?

-My pencil case.

6. What are the most and least favourite colours of yours?

-Blue and orange.

7. Which trend do you hope will disappear in the future?

-Sharing mirror-self ies of oneself online.

8. Who is the historical f igure you would have coffee with?

-Albert Einstein.

9. What was the f irst thing you saw when you woke up this morning?

-My phone.

10. Country you wish to visit is...

-Japan.

11. If you were a hip-hop artist what would your stage name be?

- Punky A Easy Diamond a.k.a. Dizzy Jam.

12. What is your favourite season?

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-Winter.

13. What is the cutest thing on Earth?

-A baby hedgehog.

14. What is your favourite dessert?

-Crèmebrûlée.

15. Who is the last person you texted?

-My partner in crime.

16. iPhone or android?

-iPhone!

-17. Kittens or puppies?

-Kittens.

18. What is your spirit animal?

-Owl.

19. A book you read because everyone else was reading it?

-?Harry Potter and the Sorcerer?s Stone?.

20. What is the f irst thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

-Snooze the alarm.

21. What is your favourite slang?

-?Cool?.

22. Heels or f lats?

-Heels.

23. What is the one question you would like to be asked more often?

-?What do you dream of??

24. What is the one question you hate to be asked the most?

-?What happened??

25. What is one thing in this world we need to get rid of?

-Thirst for power.

26. What is the one word you use too much?

-?No?.

27. What is your goal for 2016?

-To be the best version of myself .

28. What is the best # HASHTAG?

-# Tbilisi2015

29. If you were a president, what would your slogan be?

-?One for all, all for one!?

30. Is this the strangest interview you have ever had?

-Yes!

BY ELENE AMBIDZE

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Listen carefully! Can you hear the echoes of impatience, excitement and strict orders coming from the unidentif ied sides of the building? Have you ever seen two young EYPers, moving from one place to another in such velocity that a stranger would think they are literally f lying? Maybe the Head-Organisers of the Tbilisi?15- Mr. Zurab Giorgobiani and Ms. Ana Bokhua, in reality have wings as organising event of such importance in a few months? time is indeed magic wand?s merit. However, they call themselves ,,elephants? due to the fact that the elephant is an icon of advanced sensitivity and social connection. And even though the Head-Organisers have enough on their plate, they were kind enough to answer the following questions for the interview.

THE TWO MAGICIANS

BY GVANTSA DOLBAIA

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-Can you recall your f irst EYP session and the inf luence that it had on your further involvement in the organisation?

Zura: At f irst, I was a litt le bit confused but then I met peers coming from various parts of Europe, played weird games with them and discussed issues of the utmost importance. At the end of the session, I was told that if I participated in the National Selection Conference, I could get selected for the International Session in Amsterdam. However, after taking part in the NSC, I discovered that this organisation can give you much more than just a mere trip to Amsterdam.  

Ana: The very f irst EYP event of mine was Kutaisi 2nd Regional Session, and I adored it so much that decided to contribute my time and energy to this organisation.

-What was your reaction when you found out that you would be Head-Organising the Tbilisi?15?

Zura: I found out about it in early July and even though it could have been a perfect gif t for my birthday, my mind was occupied with music bands performing at Tbilisi Open Air, including Placebo and Archive.

-Ana: I was both happy and scared, as I knew that organising such large scale event would require the maximisation of all of my innate abilit ies through diligence and hard work.

-Will you Head-Organise another session after this experience?

Zura: Why not?!

Ana: Not in the next few months, def initely!

-What was the most hilarious Organisers? meeting you have ever attended so far?

Zura: Probably, the last Organisers? meeting before the Tbilisi International Session in 2013. It lasted the entire day and I was literally sleeping during the whole meeting.

Ana: I remember this one meeting, which began with 11 Organisers and at the end there were only 3 left.

-On the scale from an ant to elephant, how excited are you for the forum?

Zura: Sloth!

Ana: Undoubtedly, an elephant!

-When life gives you an elephant?

Zura: Sell it. It is very expensive.

Ana: Use it as a session logo.

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6th Internat ional Forum of EYP Georgia is gathering eleven ambit ious individuals, who are coming together in Tbil isi in order to create an unforget table experience for you! Of course, every Session needs an Editor to lead the Media Team and our session wil l not be an except ion. The lovely Editor, who wil l guide the Team of Tbil isi?15 is Mariam Demetrashvil i . She has been an act ive member of EYP since 2013 and is current ly the President of EYP Georgia. Under her guidance the output of the Media Team wil l def initely be except ional and exquisite.

MEET THE EDITOR OF TBILISI'15!

BY

NO

RA

SCH

MIED

BA

UER

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MEET THE EDITOR OF TBILISI'15!By the interview I conducted with her, you will be able to f ind out more about her vision of the Session and herself as well.

1. What was the most memorable moment of the very f irst Session in which you participated and how did it motivate you to continue your EYP career?

- My very f irst Session was the Tbilisi School Session?13, where I obviously was a delegate. This session truly was one of the most memorable experiences of mine, particularly because of the GA, which motivated me because of the enthusiasm of all the debaters and speakers. The most memorable moment probably was, when my resolution got all of the votes in favour. do

2. What is your vision, how do you plan to implement it and what output will be produced?

- I guess whenever the reader will be reading this article, she or he would already be viewing the output of our Media Team, which will express my vision as a whole, so just wait for it!

3. You have been an Editor twice already, how will the work of the Media Team on Tbilisi?15 dif fer and in which way will it be special?

-To begin with the last question, the most obvious answer is the team, of course! Every Media Team is special in a unique way, the way they do their work, how they perceive the common vision, etc. Having worked with them for quite a while already during the pre-session period, I def initely saw the creativity, hard work and dedication towards our aim from the side of Journalists and also the Editorial Team

which makes me more than happy! Regarding the f irst question, all the previous two sessions I have edited on, were quite dif ferent from Tbilisi?15 with their roles and what?s more important, the target audience we aimed to involve in those sessions. Therefore, our output, vision and objective were dif ferent. I can say I?m enjoying the pleasure of editing on very dif ferent sessions with diverse style, objective and scale.

4. To get into the mood of our theme party, describe the best Halloween costume you have ever seen!

-Well, now that question is nearly impossible to answer! There are as much cool costumes as many people there are. But as far as I love the old shows, I?d say a group of people dressed in the Addams Family costumes are the best!

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WHERE IS THE ADULT IN CHARGE?

From t ime to t ime, whenever curious relat ives come along, my parents decide to for some reason proudly ment ion my part icipat ion in what even af ter twelve sessions they st i l l cal l ?that parl iament thingy?. But as you can probably tel l , the vague awareness that I tend to disappear for days on end, with very short not ice and just ify this by saying that I am doing something important , is the extent of their knowledge. So, whenever these situat ions arise, though I desperately t ry to avoid them, the burden of explaining what exact ly this ?parl iament thing?, more formal ly known as European Youth Parl iament is, fal ls on me.    

European Youth Parl iament is a non-governmental organisat ion for young people al l over Europe, which aims to raise awareness around European issues and promote intercul tural dialogue as wel l as diversity of ideas. Its main act ivity is a session organised and run exclusively by volunteers and most commonly f inanced through sponsorships and sel f -raised funds. In i ts widest sense, EYP is made up of and run by its alumni. An EYP alumnus is def ined as a person who has part icipated in a ful l scale Nat ional , Regional or Internat ional session over the period of the last two years. On a nat ional level , most organisat ional work is conducted by the Nat ional Commit tees (NC), which are made up of the most experienced and dedicated alumni. Present ly, there are 35 members in the Georgian Nat ional Commit tee who work in dif ferent f ields, such as Publ ic Relat ions, Human Resources and Fundraising. However, the main tasks of al l Nat ional Commit tees are to make decisions on inst itut ional matters and enhance the

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BY NIA CHIGOGIDZE

standards of the organisat ion. In order to bet ter achieve the said goal , once a year they elect the Board of Nat ional Commit tee (BNC). Current ly, the Board of EYP Georgia consists of f ive people, including the President , Vice-President and the Heads of dif ferent commit tees; they voice the NC?s interests, have major decision power and set goals for the further development of the organisat ion.

However, running EYP is not l imited to the nat ional level . On an internat ional level , the work of al l branches of EYP is overseen by the Governing Body (GB). The Governing Body is the board of EYP; it directs the organisat ion and is responsible for i ts st rategic development. The GB consists of the six elected members and representat ive of the Schwarzkopf Foundat ion, which is EYP?s umbrel la organisat ion and its legal representat ive. Out of these six members, four are elected by the Nat ional Commit tees and two direct ly by the alumni. The Governing Body oversees the organisat ion and conduct ion of Internat ional Sessions and approves the budget for the internat ional of f ice. The GB also works in close and constant co-operat ion with Nat ional Commit tees,  to insure EYP provides educat ional value and development opportunit ies for the alumni.

?Youth for youth? is one of the main principles on which EYP is run, and quite honest ly one of the main aspects that so at t racted me to it . The work done is not completed in fear of some senior overseer but on the principle of knowledge sharing and wish to contribute and gain f rom a single event as much as possible.

So the next t ime somebody innocent ly asks you this quest ion, unknowing of what a lecture they have got ten themselves into, I am ful ly assured you wil l know what to say. Or al ternat ively, you might pretend you have heard your phone ringing in the other room and leave the conversat ion, I can tel l you f rom the personal experience that this works just as wel l .

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Have you ever looked back on al l of your sessions and asked yoursel f whether you have succeed as an EYPer or not? If the answer is posit ive, then you have probably as wel l wondered what the def init ion of success in this organisat ion is. If you have not thought about i t before, wel l , you just did.

Is success def ined by the number of sessions you have at tended? Or perhaps by the experience you have gathered throughout these years? Or could it be the f riends you have made along the way? If this was any other occupat ion, the answer to these quest ions would be much easier. (Un)fortunately, this is not your everyday voluntary act ivity, this is EYP and if there is one thing we al l know for sure, regardless of the number of sessions or country of origin, i t is that EYP is not l ike anything else. Therefore, the answer is a bit more dif f icul t to f ind.

In the dict ionary, the word ?success? is def ined as ?the accompl ishment of an aim or purpose.? However, as people dif fer f rom one f rom another, their aims must dif fer too. The same appl ies to EYP. For an Organiser the goal is to st ick to the plan, while a chairperson?s aim is to guide his/her team through the working process.

SUCCESS IN EYP

BY MARIA TEJA14

Delegates aim to learn and develop themselves, while journal ists seek to capture the spiri t of the session and make it memorable for the part icipants. Does ful f i l l ing your tasks and responsibi l i t ies is associated to achieving a success, though? Or is there anything else?

The answer is ?Yes?. There has to be something more. Perhaps in the st range faraway place we cal l real ity, success only means graceful ly achieving your goals. But then again, EYP is a dif ferent real ity on its own, a bet ter one, and the rules of the outside world do not always apply to it . Certainly, there is something more.

In this big family, success is not only about del ivering perfect at tack speeches, f inishing resolut ions in proper t ime or managing to f inish the enit ire session without any major problems. Instead, success in EYP is measured in heartbeats and heartbreaks. Success is when you cannot think about anything else but the next session you are going to at tend; when performing an exemplary round of The Big Fat Pony or seeing a mass of people crashing on the f loor, yel l ing and shaking their hands with excitement f i l ls you with a sheer joy; when you al l form one last circle, slowly swinging to the sof t rhythm of ?Imagine? and with tears in your eyes wish this moment would never end. Success is in the uncontrol lable laughs, hugs, insane number of hours spent awake, the madness. It is in the moment and in the af tertaste. It is in the f irst t ime you go through PED and think that i t hurts more than a breakup. It is when you real ise that you have completely and irreversibly fal len in love with this organisat ion. And if you have already fel t so before, then I guess congratulat ions are in order, because you are, and you should be proud to be, a t ruly successful EYPer!

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DO YOU HAVE EYP SPIRIT?

Since the moment I fel l in love with EYP, I started to quest ion mysel f ? what is i t , that makes me want to part icipate in sessions again and again? That makes us enjoy our t ime during every EYP event so much? And that unites and connects so many dif ferent people al l over Europe? I think we al l understand what i t is, but can't real ly explain - the mystrerious and ambiguous nature of EYP ? spiri t .

I've done a l i t t le research inside our f riendly EYP community and f igured out some things, which made the EYP-spiri t def init ion a bit more clear. So:

- Every session has its' own EYP spiri t ? just l ike every f lower has a dif ferent smel l . Some smel l good, others less so.

- Session's EYP-spiri t and EYPyer's (as a human being) spiri t are two dif ferent things which must not be confused

- Some people never get the EYP-spiri t (and we feel bad and sorry for them)

- Somet imes it takes a while to get that spiri t grow inside of you

- But once it 's there ? it 's there foreverIf you want to f ind out whether or not you have one, complete this test and check the resul ts.

1. How would you react i f someone asked you to go on a bear hunt?

A. You look at the person si lent ly for a minute and then def riend him/her on facebook.

B. You are excited, because that 's the kind of person you are.

C. You say that you are not scared. Cause you've got guns. And bul lets. Lots of them. Yeah.2. During the cof fee breaks, you :

A.Would ki l l for cof fee!

B. Would ki l l for food! BY MARIAM KUNCHULIYA

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3. How would you describe the EYP-spiri t

A. Something you can't see, but can feel and it 's wonderful

B. The non-physical part of a person involved with EYP, which is the seat of emot ions and character

C. What does EYP stand for? 4. When your chair ment ions that i t 's t ime for an energizer, you:

A. The st ruggle is real . Another round of deadly awkwardness is coming

B. So t ired of the commit tee work, that you don't care any longer

C. Instant ly t ransform into a jel lyf ish 5. Describe your l i fe right af ter the session

A. Trying to catch up with you homework at school

B. You are sat isf ied with the way you decided to spend the lsat 4 days and ready to move on

C. You are so not ready to move on. You spend days looking at the pictures and videos f rom the session, chat t ing with your new f riends, feel ing empty and sad that these 4 days have passes so quickly. And while you are eat ing the last chocolate bar you could buy and t rying to deal with you post-EYP-depression, you are scrol l ing through the alumni plat form, desperately t rying to f ind a cal l for the soonest sesssion.

RESULTS:1 ? 3 You might not have an EYP-spiri t , or maybe just a bit of i t yet . But that doesn't mean anything. You probably had just a bit of experience with EYP, but the more you part icipate, the more chances there are that your EYP-spiri t wil l wake up.3 ? 7Congratulat ions! You have the EYP-spiri t ! You're def initely enjoying the EYP events and you have a potent ial of having a super st rong EYP-spiri t in the future. You are al ready a part of EYP - family, but not as crazy about i t . Yet .

7-10 You are an absolute EYP-psycho! Your EYP-spiri t is so st rong, i t could f ight Chuck Norris and st i l l survive.

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NIGHT OF DEAD

There is no denying the fact that Tbil isi?15 is one of the most signif icant events held by EYP Georgia, but a part icular aspect of the forum that makes it even more special is the evening of October 31st , named ?Hal loween?. And if we move al l the candy and pumpkins aside, we are lef t with a more or less spooky nature of the event .

Today's Hal loween customs are thought to have been inf luenced by Christ ian dogma and pract ices derived f rom it . Hal loween is the evening before the Christ ian holy days of  Al l Hal lows' Day on 1 November and Al l Souls' Day on 2 November, thus giving the hol iday on 31 October the ful l name of  Al l Hal lows' Eve. Since the t ime of the primit ive Church, major feasts in the Christ ian Church had vigi ls which began the night before, as did the feast of Al l Hal lows. Back to those t imes,  people did not dress up in f rightening costumes just for fun. Instead, i t was widely bel ieved that through such act ivit ies they would scare away evil spiri ts that surrounded the area. As for the t rick or t reat ing, candies were considered as a payment to clear their souls f rom sins.

Nowadays, though we most ly dress up and ?trick or t reat? for a mere sensat ion of joy. Therefore, have fun and enjoy your t ime at Hal loween party of the Tbil isi?15. However, there is one thing that I advise al l of you to keep in mind - the above ment ioned facts are real and there might be an evil ghost haunt ing you.

BY GUGA SUKHIASHVILI

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