On 28.10.2021 the PSD was officially opened! After the official opening speech of the mayor, there were live performances by OTPendia and Lwood, a barbecue stand and a raffle. Of course, a skate contest could not be missing! In addition to visitors from politics and administration, about 150 young people and skaters came.
During the Easter holidays, children were able to try out different disciplines, as they are also known from the circus world. The play offers followed the situational approach of the circus pedagogue Olaf Schmeisser from the MitmachZirkus Düsseldorf e.V..
The children had different disciplines to choose from to find out their talents and preferences. Everything could be tried out, whether unicycling, running on the slackline, acrobatics, trapeze and tire gymnastics, barrel running or various juggling. Those who had found their discipline could learn it properly and deepen their skills. Some children of the more than 20 participants first tried out different things in order to find the favorite. Sometimes tears flowed when the training simply did not want to succeed right away. This was then out of disappointment, which fortunately was rarely the case. And if you are with so many children as a group all day long, the soft skills are also trained. At the beginning we asked if there should be a performance and almost unanimously it was said: under no circumstances. But at the end of the project, most of the children wanted to show their parents what they had learned. From Friday noon, the parents were invited to have their kids' tricks shown to them and even to try out disciplines themselves.
On Sunday, 03.04., Lisa and I from the AJA, together with Tarik and Judy from KiJuPa, were at the Bicycle Spring 2022.
We started preparations early on, so that our stands were ready to start shortly before 12. We had a "Pimp my Bike" station and a cocktail stand (alcohol-free, of course) up our sleeve.
The weather was more april-like than it had been for a long time. In a moment the sun was shining and suddenly the rain and the wind came. Nevertheless, we were able to make some children and teenagers happy with our self-made bicycle bells, stickers and soft drinks.
At the "Pimp my Bike" station, everyone could live out their creativity: there were bicycle bells to spray, glue and decorate, all sorts of stickers, artificial flowers and of course spray cans.
The bicycle auction next door was more than just well attended from the beginning. On the other hand, it was a little quieter with us. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun. I was able to do magic with Clown August, Tarik was able to take a picture, Lisa put herself in danger to entertain the audience and Judy was able to exchange ideas with visitors.
Me and we are definitely looking forward to the next bicycle spring and many more visitors.
PS: Take a look at the photographic and film experiments impressions. :-)
Today we report on loneliness.– What do you feel when you are lonely?– What is loneliness actually?
Loneliness is the worst poverty and the feeling of being unnoticed and unwanted. Only in the moment of loneliness do we realize how much the closeness of a certain person means to us. – Mother Theresa
You are lonely when you are marginalized by friends, classmates, or maybe even family – you feel alone and unprotected.
Loneliness can arise from many possible situations. Bullying is the everyday thing, if you are bullied once or constantly, you are afraid to open up to others and seek closeness, because you no longer have confidence and you think that the person would then do the same with you – so you get used to being alone most of the time.
"Being alone is nice when you want to be alone. Not if you have to."Source: https://www.spruch-des-tages.de/
You want to escape this situation? Then you've come to the right place!
Of course, I can't speak for everyone, but it helped me personally to write down all my feelings somewhere. Most of the time I did this at night because I was more thoughtful and focused.
What do you achieve through these notes?
Through the notes you've written down, you can see if you've felt a relief after completing a chapter of your "story." In addition, you will notice over time whether you have become happier or sadder and even more lonely from day to day. When you became happy, you achieved it. :)
But if this method didn't work, try to talk openly about it with a person you trust – then you'll feel a little relieved. Your trusted person will certainly help you in some way by giving you e.B. advice that you will get along with to some extent.
It is important not to give in to the feeling any further, but to tackle it.
"The worst loneliness is not being able to stand yourself." – Mark Twain
So be yourself and don't let people get you down easily!
What can you do about being alone?How and where can I find someone who shares the same interests as me?
Most young people attend concerts or clubs, youth centres, clubs and many different events. Maybe you will find someone there who shares the same interests as you. Surely it will happen that you make friends with someone there. How it happens, you should not worry about it. As soon as someone approaches you, the rest happens by itself. Be open to your fellow human beings, even if you see them for the first time – dare to address people you find sympathetic.
I believe in you and so should you! <3
Katharina, Franka and Laura from our editorial team all did a year abroad. In the next few days they will tell us about how christmas is actually celebrated in Chile, the USA and Ireland. Today Katharina starts with Christmas in sunny Chile.
A year ago, my life was very different than it is today. I was in Chile for 10 months in the last school year. Meanwhile, I stayed with a host family and learned a lot about the country and the traditions there. Christmas was certainly one of the times when I noticed the differences between Chile and Germany the most. Before my trip to Chile, I thought a lot about how it could be and was told by everyone "that Christmas will be different and I will get homesick, but it will also be one of the most exciting times in my exchange". To be honest, in December and on Christmas days themselves, I didn't think much about how meaningful this Christmas was and always will be for me.
There was so much that was different from Germany that I almost forgot that the same festival is celebrated there as in Germany. Every day in December it was up to thirty degrees warm, but in the morning it was always very cold. That's why I went to school every day wrapped up, where it was always very cold. When I came home from school in the afternoon, I took off all my jackets and then looked like I was moving on the way home because I had so many clothes with me. About all this excitement, I completely forgot that it must be cold out of habit. The warmth was very nice, but on the other hand it was difficult for me to feel Somehow Christmassy.
In addition, Advent is not celebrated much in Chile, which I find very unfortunate. My "real", German parents sent me a package with Christmas decorations and an Advent calendar book at the beginning of December. So every day I read a beautiful story and made a paper poinsettia, and at least had something familiar around me. Unfortunately, very few songs are sung, and that's certainly what I missed the most.
We spent Christmas Eve together in the family. My host parents did not go to church, which I found very unfortunate, as I would have liked to attend a Chilean Christmas service. Many Chilean families are very religious, but mine are not. So we spent a lot of time wrapping the last gifts and preparing a big meal.
Overall, it was a very strange and beautiful day. The Christmas tree was unusual, but we still put the presents underneath and immediately unwrapped them again. In the evening we ate together in the garden. For me it was the first time we had a barbecue at Christmas, but for my family it was completely normal. An old tradition in Chile is that unmarried men, loaded with drums, roam the streets. In front of some houses they perform a dance, sing and accompany themselves on their drums. We also saw that, very surprising and unforgettable for me.
On Christmas Day we went to the grandparents, where I stayed until New Year's Eve. Her Christmas tree was made of plastic and was already decorated in mid-November, but it reminded me a lot of Germany. Also there we often grilled, I was every day in the pool in their garden and spent as much time as possible in the sun.
Looking back, I can say that I really enjoyed this other Christmas. For my family it was a day where we could spend a lot of time together, the weather was fantastic and I was able to relax after I had previously written the important final exams at school. I am very happy that this year I can celebrate again with my family and with all traditions. Nevertheless, in my opinion, there is nothing better than breaking out of habits and experiencing exciting, new things.
(Text: Katharina Schwerdt)
