Coffee is your best friend in the morning? Well, you will need a lot soon, because the Travelling Summer University (TSU) “The Restless Ones” is waiting for you! From 1st till 15th of August AEGEE-București and AEGEE-Ploieşti will offer you 15 active days, during which you will see some of Romania’s most exciting places and have a lot of fun. Vali Bala from AEGEE-București was one already of the organizers of the successful TSU that both antennae did last year together. He told the Golden Times, why this year’s Summer University will be even better.
Golden Times: Why will your TSU be one of the best Summer Universities this year?
Vali Bala: We have one of the best programmes and the best balance between cultural visits, games, sports and parties: we will visit the best places in Romania and we will make our participants’ trip unforgettable. The Restless Ones is the antidote to summer boredom!
Golden Times: What’s the idea behind the title “The Restless Ones”?
Vali: The title was chosen, just like last year, through a brainstorming. We wanted something that would reflect the spirit of our event – being active and doing lots of things – and also something that can give our group a certain identity: we are The Restless Ones, we are unstoppable!
Golden Times: Does it mean your participants won’t get any sleep?
Vali (smiles): As for sleep, I won’t guarantee that someone can make it through 15 days without it, but I know for sure coffee will be our best friend in the morning.
Golden Times: AEGEE-Bucureşti and AEGEE-Ploieşti organized a TSU already together last year. What did you make organizing another one together?
Vali: Organizing another SU between AEGEE-Ploieşti and AEGEE-Bucureşti was almost implied: We had tons of fun last year and even though most of us were quite new to SU organization, we managed to do a high-quality event for which we received great feedback.
Golden Times: Will you repeat some successful programme parts from last year? If yes, which ones were most popular?
Vali: Last year we played a lot of games, visited the Peles and Bran Castles, swam in the Slănic salt lake with the water holding everyone at the surface, and did the amazing Dracula Party, these were among the highlights of the event. We will be definitely doing all these again!
Golden Times: What did you learn from the cooperation last year?
Vali: We learned first of all how to work in a team and how to organize an event with another AEGEE antenna and with people we did not know so well: this experience taught us how to tolerate and accept each other, how to co-operate efficiently and how everyone can contribute in their own way to making a great event.
Golden Times: The participants will travel a lot. They will visit Bucharest, Ploieşti, Slănic, Braşov, Sinaia, Bran, Sibiu… Can you name one special highlight per city which they will never forget?
Vali: Bucharest: the “Caru’ cu Bere” restaurant; Ploieşti: the Clock Museum; Slănic: the salt lake; Brasov: Sapte Scari canyon; Sinaia: Peles Castle and the Carpathian Mountains, Bran: Bran Castle of course, Sibiu: the Main Square.
Golden Times: Will your participants also meet Dracula? Or do you leave that to other SUs in Romania?
Vali: Prince Dracula is notorious for being very secretive, and almost impossible to talk to on the phone – he is 600 years old, so mobile phones are definitely not his thing! We caught a small look of him in Bran Castle last year, and who knows who or what you may bump into in some dark alley of medieval Brasov!
Golden Times: You also offer a lot of activities and workshops. Please pick three that the participants should look most forward to.
Vali: Just three? If we have to choose, then: the Horror Party, the hiking trip through the dramatic Sapte Scari canyon and of course, the Participants’ Prom.
Golden Times: What is this Prom?
Vali (smiles): The Prom is what every high school teenager awaits for four years. Here, the participants have to wait only for a few days to find out who is going to be the King and the Queen of The Restless TSU. There will be a dress code and drinks and… but shhhht! It’s a surprise!
Golden Times: How much Romanian will the participants learn?
Vali (smiles): Our Restless Romanian course will include all aspects of Summer University life: how to communicate in a basic way, what to say to a nice guy or nice girl, how to order food and drinks, and of course slang and street talk. Our amazing participants from last year were completely fluent by the end of the event, at least when it came to how to order shawarma, drinking beer or saying hello.
Golden Times: Can you tell a few words about the organizing antennae?
Vali: AEGEE-București is celebrating its 17th birthday in June 2014, and AEGEE-Ploieşti is the younger one, being founded in October 2010. Together we are the two antennae in southern Romania and have organized a host of local projects with focus on self-development, environmentalism, architecture and urbanism, social awareness, as well as national and international events in the past few years such as training courses, exchanges with other antennae, the new AEGEE Weekend Outdoor Project – and of course since 2012 we are co-operating on the Summer University project, which is already a kind of tradition:.
Golden Times: How is the atmosphere in your Summer University organizing team?
Vali: It’s the best! We work great with each other and have managed to plan and organize the details of our event in no time and with almost no effort. The two most important factors are that we like what we do, and who we are working with, so it makes our work so much easier and pleasant.
Golden Times: How much is the participation fee?
Vali: The participation fee is the same as last year: 180 euros + 30 euros optional fee, which we will use to go to Slănic salt lake, the Bucharest Parliament Palace and Parc Aventura.
Golden Times: What else should potential participants know about the event?
Vali: We are putting our heart and soul into this event, be ready for 15 restless days and nights which will be hard to forget!
More info:
- Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/restless.su2014
