A Melting Games ifjúsági cserénk következő élménybeszámolója Litvániából érkezik, ahonnan Roberta osztja meg velünk az élményeit.
„Early morning on 10th of October Lithuanian delegation flew to Hungary to participate in ERASMUS+ project ”Melting Games“. When flying we were quite – none of us knew what’s waiting. For me, it was a first ERASMUS project being a group leader. Form some of young people traveling together – it was first trip abroad. We were nervous but yet eagerly waiting for what’s next.
At first it seemed so weird being with people from different cultures. In this project we met delegates from Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia. And even though in the beginning there were some hard talking and communicating with each other, after some games and quick energizers that fear and uncomfortable feeling of talking to strangers melted away. And then the real fun started. Working in small multicultural groups we gained mutual trust and talked about our own strengths and weaknesses. This was crucial because doing some activities in pairs we needed to trust each other and know what to do in order to help and make the best of this experience.
And the experience was just amazing! While discussing with each other we presented our cultural games and got some inspiration for the game we could create and show in Pécsváradi Leányvásár. Preparing for this festival was fun because every participant of this project could do what one is best at whether generating ideas, doing some pictures and adverts or doing some decorations and T-shirts for each other.
Not only preparing for festival was fun but also cultural evenings when we could do a presentation of our own country. During those cultural evenings we learned traditional dances, folk songs and got the basic knowledge about other countries and of course, some words in that language. Our Lithuanian delegation even made some traditional cold beetroot soup called šaltibarščiai and taught a traditional dance!
And is there a better way to discover the culture of the country you are in than traveling? With this project we had to trips – one to Pécsváradi Leányvásár where we showed our games and enjoyed the festival itself and the other to Pécs where we had some time to discover the city and get to know more about Hungarian history and culture. Walking in beautiful old town I was looking for some authentic cultural elements and it made me think about how our cultures impacts us and the way we see the world. Are we all so different?
When thinking about games, I never thought that they can bring not only joy or light that competitive spirit inside but also unite us. Not only as individuals or team members but also as people and players from different and unique cultures. This was one of the biggest lessons I learned during ERASMUS+ project “Melting Games” in Hungary, Liptód. Melting ice can turn into a puddle of water but it is still water – no matter what shape it’s in. The same thing is with us, people from all over the Europe. It does not matter where we live, what we wear or what we like doing – we are people living in the same World.
I am more than happy that I could participate in this project. Me and 4 youngsters from Lithuania met so many amazing people, tried many new things, got out of our comfort zone and got a chance to experience many cultures! This week in the middle of October flew by like a thunder but created many good memories in our hearts. On behalf of Lithuania group, I thank our friends from Hungary for their hospitality and for other delegations for helping us get the best experience of this project. We hope to meet again one day!”
Roberta Gilytė
