It was really a tough choice: altogether ten New Year’s events competed this winter for AEGEE participants. Plus: also the alumni association Les Anciens celebrated the change of the year as well. The Golden Times presents an overview on these fantastic celebrations. We asked every event organiser three questions about his or her event – and about some photos. Since some events are still lasting, the article will be updated constantly. So: come back for more photos and reports!

These events took or are still taking place:

“NYE “I feel sLOVEniya vol. VI: Love is in the air, everywhere AEGEE is around” in Maribor, Slovenia, 26th December – 2 January
“The Curious Case of AEGEE-Napoli” in Napoli, Italy, 27th December – 2 January
“(Sp)ICE Matters: This Is WINter” in Riga and surroundings, Latvia, 27th December – 2 January
“Madeira New Yeaegeer Extravaganza!” in Madeira, Portugal, 27th December – 3 January
“TSDH – Winter fairytale” in Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia, 27th December – 2 January
“Wanna try the Italiano?” in Agrigento, Italy, 27th December – 3 January
“SNoWay: Amsterdam Winter Edition” in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 28th December – 3 January
“NYE Leiden: Destination Unknown” in Leiden, The Netherlands, 28th December – 3 January
“Breaking stereotypes!” in Samara, Russia, 30th December – 8 January
“NYE Debrecen: a DEBut to REmember for CENturies” in Debrecen, Hungary, 30th December – 2 January
“Les Anciens New Year’s Event Berlin” in Berlin, Germany, 28th December – 1 January

Let’s have a closer look.

(Sp)ICE Matters: This Is WINter

NY2013 Riga_01 organizers2

How was your new year’s party?
Elmars Leja, Coordinator of the Winter University of AEGEE-Riga: We had our New Year’s dinner in the school, our accommodation place, with all the participants. At 11 p.m. we moved to the riverside of Daugava to celebrate the New Year with all inhabitants of Latvia. After amazing fireworks, we went to the club Mojo, where we had some snacks, champaign and partied till the sunrise.
How many participants are at your event?
Elmars: There were 27 foreign participants from 11 countries and 11 people from AEGEE-Riga and AEGEE-Ogre. We had to stop accepting participants, because there wasn’t enough space.
What were the main highlights or funniest moments of your event?
Elmars: We had a lot of activities, which our participants enjoyed very much, like beach volleyball, snowball fights, skiing, snowboarding, ciambella
and more. The energy exchange among all participiants was amazing!

More impressions:
NY2013 Riga_04
NY2013 Riga_05

NY2013 Riga_03
NY2013 Riga_02

NY2013 Riga_07
NY2013 Riga_06

 

I feel sLOVEniya vol. VI: Love is in the air, everywhere AEGEE is around

NY2013 Maribor NYE party 2S

How was your new year’s party?
Teja Rajšp, VP & PR responsible of AEGEE-Maribor: After three days of skiing and winter Olympics and five crazy parties, our participants were well prepared for the celebration of the New Year’s Eve. It was quite a relaxed day, which was followed by a nice dinner and an amazing suit up party, the only proper theme for such an occasion. Since our participants were from various European countries, there was not only one countdown, but three of them. The main one was at midnight Slovenian time with champagne, sparks and a lot of kisses and good wishes. What followed? A crazy party until the morning full with dancing, sentimental moments and true AEGEE spirit.
How many participants are at your event?
Teja: Our event hosted over 90 participant from around Europe and more than 20 organizers, members of AEGEE-Maribor. All the lovely participants and party animals from 47 AEGEE antennas made the event a real culturally diverse and unforgettable experience, which will surely stay in our memories for a long, long time.
90 participants – so it was probably the biggest New Year’s event! What are the main highlights or funniest moments of your event?
Teja: There were definitely a lot of funny moments, from various happenings on the ski slopes, parties and jokes during the day programme. Since we had a group of really open and easy-going participants, all activities were full of laughter and a bit of craziness. But the highlights were surely the winter Olympics, various energisers and games to lift the spirit and put smiles on our faces, and of course, all the crazy parties for which AEGEE-Maribor is known.

More impressions:
NY2013 Maribor City tourS
NY2013 Maribor NYE partyS

NY2013 Maribor Winter OlympicsS

NY2013 Maribor UV partyS

Photos of this event by Robert Šket, member of AEGEE-Maribor.

 

SNoWay: Amsterdam Winter Edition

NY2013 AmsterdamS

How was your new year’s party?
José Dams, Europa Coordinator of AEGEE-Amsterdam: On New Years Eve we had a typical Dutch “holiday meal” which is called “gourmetten”. After dinner we went to a party in Studio K, a popular student party location. It was around 8 o’clock when our sweet participants finally crawled into their beds, but the real New Year’s kick off still had to happen… Only two hours later we woke them up and we went to the beach for the brave New Years Dive! Together with a couple of hundred other brave Dutchies we put on our orange hats and swimsuits and jumped into the freezing sea! A courageous start for 2013!
Amazing! How many participants are at your event?
José: We had 25 participants, 7 organisers, 4 board members and many local members who joined during certain activities such as European Night or Dutch Night. The highlight of our AEGEE get together was our “Hangover Suit Party”, organised by the Party Committee of AEGEE-Amsterdam, for which all guests had to dress up either in their fancy suits or their jogging suits. The private AEGEE party took place in a club in Amsterdam and with a 100 AEGEE-Amsterdam members, 25 participants and members from other Dutch locals attending it was a big and crazy party! Too bad the Gossip Box had already been opened…
What are the main highlights or funniest moments of your event?
José: Choosing a highlight or a funniest moment is so difficult – there are just so many memories to choose from! All in all, for the organisers it was the biggest reward to see all of the participants becoming one big family, in just a couple of days! They were crazy, funny, sweet, caring… We love you guys!

More impressions:
NY2013 Amsterdam7
NY2013 Amsterdam1
NY2013 Amsterdam4
NY2013 Amsterdam5

 

The Curious Case of AEGEE-Napoli

How was your new year’s party?
Giovanni Cerullo: We had dinner in the hostel with all the participants and other Italian AEGEE locals, then we had a party in the hostel’s bar till 3 a.m. – and after that we moved to Naples seaside to celebrate the new year with all Napolitans.
How many participants were at your event? How many local, how many from other locals?
Giovanni: 30 foreign participants and 30 people from other Italian locals. We had to stop accepting participants, because there wasn’t enough space.
What were the main highlights or funniest moments of your event?
Giovanni: We danced Gangnam style dance in the royal palace of Caserta; outside a pizzeria, with people in the streets in salerno, and every five minutes in the hostel.

NY2013 Napoli5 NY2013 Napoli4 NY2013 Napoli2 NY2013 Napoli1

 

TSDH – Winter fairytale

For our readers: TSDH actually stands for Traditional Slovenian Drink and Habits. How many participants were at your event?
AEGEE-Ljubljana: We had 27 participants, 10 organisers, visited 3 cities and 1 goal: having fun, experiencing traditional drinks, food and habits of Slovenia. The participants were from Germany, Spain including Las Palmas, Italy including Sardinia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Netherlands, France, Slovakia, Hungary and  Austria.
What were the programme highlights?
AEGEE-Ljubljana: Our event started on 27th December and ended on 2nd January, so seven days  of pure joy and  happiness.  We visited three different cities: Maribor, Ljubljana and Bled. We visited Ljubljana’s famous castle, “Three – Bridges” and also the famous dragon bridge, we went to “gong” – a sound massage and to sauna to get rid of all bad energy. In Maribor we were enjoying the ski slopes of Pohorje with unusual sledges, called “pok”. Before that we had an excellent city tour – we also saw the oldest wine tree in the world, which is in the Guiness World Records Book. One day we were really blessed with sunny weather, while we were on our way to Lake Bled, which is according to the Lonely Planet guide the seventh most beautiful lake in the world. We also saw Lake Bohinj. All in all the participants were enjoying traditional Slovenian food, drinks and habits which are in some cases so unusual they cannot be translated. For more info, check: http://www.aegee-ljubljana.org/tsdh2012/index.php/Programme

NY2013 TSDHsmall
NY2013 TSDH2 NY2013 TSDH3

 

NYE Debrecen: a DEBut to REmember for CENturies

How was your new year’s party?
Zsuzsa Kékesi (AEGEE-Debrecen): Of course amazing. Hopefully the others have the same feelings about it. We celebrated in Valhalla, a pub which is very popular among young people. The atmosphere was cool and I think 2013 was started very well.
How many participants were at your event?
Zsuzsa: They were 17 kind participants from all over Europe, we even had one participant from India and from Uzbekistan, who both studied in Germany, as well as eight organisers. It was a great team!
What were the main highlights or funniest moments of your event?
Zsuzsa: We also went to a pálinka tasting, to a spa, the participants learnt a bit of Hungarian and our folk dances. We also made a walk in the forest on New Year. Honestly, I loved every single moment, but if I must highlight something then: my favorite part was the European Night. It was the best for me. Special food, special drinks, special participants…”

NY2013 Debrecen2small

NY2013 Debrecen3smallNY2013 Debrecen4small

NY2013 Debrecen5NY2013 Debrecen1small

 

More reports and photos will follow soon!