1

2

Editorial

We tried our best. Whether we succeeded or not is up to your judgement.No matter what, we enjoyed it a lot. All along the way.But in fact, the journey has just begun. Especially for you.

In other words, it is totally up to you to decide whether this is a goodbye or a hello.

On behalf of TAMTAM,Wholeheartedly yours,

Christian Macht and Alex Nompilakis

CONTENTS

345689

1011121415161718

TamTamHistorical AnecdotesCreative TouchStatsThe Boxer RebellionGrow in EYPAthenian DecadenceKnow ThyselfPicturesReasoning EmotionsEuropean Youth LoveThe Symphony of SilenceMeta

3

tamtam: Symphony n09, Opus 14

It started as an acronym: The Athens Media Team’s Awesome Members. In reality it was designed to mean much, much more... What is TAMTAM? An appeal to our musical and rhythmic senses, a modern expression of tribal spirit, an innovation in EYP journalism... TAMTAM is a concept that explores creativity and initiative in every possible way.

As the name suggests, TAMTAM decided to use art both as its framework of expression and its content. In order to do so, it brought “an odd bunch of people” into working together. What came out of it was a harmonious musical composition, one that would make Beethoven proud of… Not music-wise, (although the editors formed a talented duo, combining Alessio’s ukulele’s sweet tones with Christian’s suave voice), but definitely harmony-wise.

From the beginning, it was made clear TAMTAM would not be led by two editors, but by all of its “awesome members”. Their core values: freedom of the individual and equal participation in decision-making. Taking up a

bottom-up approach for all of its media projects, which particularly benefitted group dynamics, TAMTAM created the smoothest, most dynamic and creative working environment a media team could wish for.

The secret recipe to TAMTAM’s success? Its tribal identity. As a 21st century tribe, TAMTAM calls for a modern revival of the tribal state of mind. Taking a leap sometimes entails getting inspiration from more primitive times… TAMTAM seeks to promote an honest expression of the soul using both traditional and technological media platforms. Throughout the Session, its team members were indeed encouraged to take initiative and to express themselves freely through non-stop collaboration. Productions were canalised through video, activity, photo, audio and written media platforms, involving face-painting ateliers, art workshops for delegates, session videos and photos, one issue and our very own Ijon-made “TAMTAM symphonies” (another hypothetical boost in Beethoven’s pride).

Thanks to a groundbreaking media team concept founded on teamwork, creativity and initiative, TAMTAM managed to project a unique session spirit. For you to believe me, just check out some of the team members’ confessions.

What is TAMTAM to you?“Harmony and synaesthesia” –

Silvia “An odd bunch of people that

collided and made magic” – Bea “A pack of dinosaurs because

we’re not going to be a team after the Session ends but we have already created a legend that will last forever” – Asterios

“A group of people which complements each other perfectly and which you know will always support you” – Nerea

“Something quite intriguing” – Phil

“Fun, randomness and commitment” – Maria

“Different people making incredible stuff” – Krokos

“It’s home” – Fotis “The love of my life” – Alex“Erg’fhgz’tgz§h, like our

music” – Ijon“It’s the noise people make

when they create” - Christian

by Clemence Rerolle

4

historical anecdotesHave you ever wondered, while you were in a

history class, that all these boring things you hear about may have an interesting side also? Here are some things about history that you possibly did not know.

I know that a lot of you hate history. I am perfectly aware that by just seeing the title you were thinking of skipping reading this, but I am going to exploit that sudden change of heart that brought you here and give you some interesting and quite saucy historical anecdotes.

In the first part I intend to change your opinion about some famous historical figures. First of all the actor Charlie Chaplin when he was 35 he impregnated the 15-year-old actress Lita Grey and was forced to marry her as she did not want to have an abortion. On the same level, Elvis Presley, insecure with women around his age he hosted sleep-over parties with 14-year-old girls. Isn’t it a pedo world after all? On the other hand the notorious Benito Mussolini had a university degree in teaching, he was working as a principal in a school and he was a violin expert while his evil soul mate, Adolf Hitler, established the first anti-smoking campaign in modern history. Of course

these things do not make them angels or pardon them for their crimes, but they proudly prove that nothing is either only black or white.

Moving on to some other facts, probably kind of creepy, probably kind of strange, nevertheless really interesting. Who could imagine that in ancient Rome people used to wash their teeth with human urine? Fun fact: they had way less teeth problems than us. Building on that, in the 18th century, the Catholic Church found a really nice way to combine the power of the lungs of males and the angelic voice of females for their singers. They used to cut the boy testicles, for their voice not to break down. Dudes, if your local priest deals a lot with scissors, close your legs tight. Last but not least, in the 40’s, mainly in USA, divorce lawyers did not have a lot of work to do because if your wife disagreed with you, you would just send her for a 10-minute lobotomy and your problem was solved. Nice and easy.

I am now going to stop being tiring and close the article; I hope that this useless piece of information will prove to be not that useless after all. Good night.

by Triantafyllos Kouloufakos

5

building your creative touch

by Clemence Rerolle

TAMTAM has been trying to convey to you a new perspective of your EYP experience. Close your eyes. Take a look back. Now think about what EYP has brought to you… You must realise you have gained much more than team working abilities, debating skills and knowledge of key contemporary European issues.

You have been pushed beyond your comfort zone. You have voluntarily submitted to critical thinking, told repeatedly by your Chairs that the key is in “thinking out of the box”. As a result you have let out your creativity, just like you threw your brainstorming ideas onto a flipchart in Committee Work.

Creative thought is a physical process, whereby you try out new ideas and play out new scenarios, letting your ideas flow continuously. Your train of thought does not seem to follow any logical pattern. Yet, as you let your brain run in all directions, you achieve a vague composition of mental images. These mental images, central in inventive thinking, help you come up with something you had never thought of, something different, something provocative, even something commonly called creativity.

That’s what you’ve gained from EYP: the capacities to switch on to brainstorming mode and eventually reach a creative insight into the question at hand. Such ability will serve you throughout your life, under any circumstances. Why? According to Alex Wissner-Gross, famous scientist and inventor, “intelligence does not like to get trapped.” Creativity is the eye-opener you need; a force that keeps all doors opened and always broadens your horizons.

6

i n - s e s s i o nr a n d o m

7

s t a t s

8

the

box

er r

ebel

lion

It is true that EYP is a large organisation

involving a great number of youngsters. Since it is an independent organisation, consequently, independent thinking outside from any parties’ concepts is widely promoted. Comparing to the European Parliament, EYP has also a great variety of different concepts but there are ideological opinions which are not represented enough within it. Therefore, the absence of some beliefs, together with the intense presence of some others, creates the query whether EYP is characterised in a significant scale by certain ideological preferences or not.

Every event of this organisation is developed in a framework where free expression of opinions, mutual respect and dialogue are the main conditions under which the event takes place. Given that, the result of the procedure held in the event, whether this is a resolution or not, incorporates all those different perspectives heard and discussed. “Unity in diversity”, the motto of EU describes the fact that EU is constituted by numerous different factors. Actually, this could have been an obstacle to the way of the achievement of unity but it is diversity that can strengthen the solidarity and unity. This quite simple motto can be easily distinguished within the results of EYP’s events. Although, the continuous discussion over a current problem seems appealing to many, there is a percentage of young people who are not willing to take part in this programme.

Plouralism is set as a goal within the

circles of EYP and, of course, generally in Europe because it offers the chance to take decisions acceptable by, if not everyone, the vast majority. Since there are people not willing to participate, this actually keeps us distant from our initial aim. This distance causes the appearance of the following question: Why would someone refuse to be part of a debate which guide to certain decisions, and then, socioeconomic initiatives? Well, the basic reasons which could justify this denial are, first of all, the personal beliefs. For example, it is possible that one might deny the important role of EU in the modern world and, therefore, he believes that there is nothing to discuss about it. Another reason could be the fact that the existence of an adequate proportion of people with particular political views could be the factor which creates the unofficial characterisation of EYP as a partisan organisation.

Concluding, the independent and non-partisan basis of EYP can be torn and replaced by a characterisation which will destroy all the effort done to achieve plouralism and unity. In order to include more young people with different views of the world, we ourselves should firstly recognise the need to have an even greater variety of opinions. In other words, we should get our heads out of the box and secondly, we should try to see, discuss and incorporate in this organisation what’s out of it. Rebel!

by M

aria

Meg

apan

ou

9

Close your eyes and picture yourself in a field, a green field which fills your whole sight. A field in which a soft breeze blows and sun gently shines over your head. A field full of giant trees, old trees, growing ones and even some which are still growing their roots. An enormous field which is full of different kinds of plants, a variety of colours, a variety of sizes and origins. This field has a name; EYP.

Each of you has now become part of the field; you are no longer spectators. With this Session you have grown your own roots into our field, into our family. You are now our new growing plants which we look forwards to see grow with us. Growth involves learning from the people that surround you, sharing their experiences, thoughts and feelings. Growth doesn’t mean getting old or getting taller, because even our older plants, our most experienced EYPers keep learning from the younger ones and keep growing in our family.

Just take a minute to realise how fortunate each of you are for having already grown with this experience. Did you ever imagine yourself running around in front of

complete strangers shaking your body to the rhythm of the big fat pony? Had you ever thought you would jump around pretending to be a banana? Surely it’s something the majority of us don’t tend to do, something that breaks our everlasting boring routines and allows us to explore new areas.

EYP is something that all of you fortunate people should never let escape. EYP has a place for each and every one of us, it allows creativity to flow, it cheers you up, it widens your knowledge and most importantly it provides you with an amazing bunch of friends. EYP becomes a passion, an addiction, EYP is the healthiest drug you’ll ever find.

GROW

in EY

Pby N

erea Martinez

10

Athenian decadence

Gray city but also powerful. “Sub-culture” but at the same time a place full of marvels. A dark alley full of graffiti, but a beautiful bar lies there waiting for you, hidden. Busy and full of traffic, although at night its real spirit awakes. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present you, Athens, your host and for most of you, home town.

Don’t deny it, please. There has been a certain moment in your life until now, that you have returned home tired, chucked up your bag on the bed and wished you were away from this hideous city. Everything about Athens seemed repulsive to you. The overcrowded Syntagma and Monastiraki squares, the 9 or 10 minutes you have to wait for the metro at weekends, or even the potential danger of walking alone at night. I am not going to disagree, you have a valid point. I am just here to show you the other side of the coin.

I am generally quite an odd person so I am attracted from decadence and decay, especially when I see that in a city. But this happens not because I am some kind of psychopath, but because in places like that, life blooms to its fullest. In the place where degradation and dissolution rule, people will find a way to embrace it and turn it to something majestic. The same happens in Athens. You have walked in Monastiraki during the night; you know how dangerous this can be. Have you ever taken the time to stay for a while and look at all the different graffiti on the wall, to wonder that every one of them may have its own history? When was the last time you paused and listened to the rock music of a lonely bar in an

abandoned square, a melody that combined with the scenery can compose a majestic experience.

In another neighbourhood of the Athenian centre, many things have been told about foreigners, drugs and a general rot. The thing that has not been said about it is

the seeds of life that have been fertilised on a barren-on-the-first-site ground. I know a lot of people that hear the name “Exarchia” and they either cover with fear or grimace in disgust about the low quality of this neighbourhood and the big amount of immigrants found there. Not even one of these

people has wandered around the old streets there, where pieces of the glory that this neighbourhood had during the 80’s, still remain. Not even one of these people has enjoyed a beer in one of the many semi-basement pubs that may seem unfriendly at first, but feel

like home once you enter.What I want you

to remember is that decadence is not always something bad. It may show the signifies the fall, but we must remember that if something has fallen, there was a time that it was on the top and there is nobody who can tell that it will not rise again.

by Triantafyllos Kouloufakos

11

know thyself

As I left Portugal to come to the session, I left behind a rambling succession of rainy days as well. The minute that I stepped outside of the airport and venture into the hectic warm night of Athens, all the bits of Greek history and culture that I had brought with me acquired a new breath.

The schools of thought that flourished in Ancient Greece, through philosophers such as the renowned Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, laid and structured the foundations of how we perceive society and politics, among other aspects of our daily lives. One of the most typical cases that may be used to support the influence of former wisdom is the current dissemination of the cliché «You Only Live Once». Evidently, recovering the stoic and epicurean teachings, YOLO may be a sign of nostalgia towards the past.

This reminiscence is intimately attached to the frenzy of nowadays. The increasing fade of frontiers, along with the consolidation of individualism and growing

complexity of human relations, carries many olympic challenges to the way we build our own identity.

While in ancient Greece, the citizens were strongly attached to the city they inhabited, the polis, and the individual was sacrificed for the sake of the community, today the occident is getting further disconnected of the notions of territory and nation. Thus, many people strive with the lack of feeling of belonging.

In the political field, the integration in the EU has been enhancing even more the distance felt between the citizens and the decision makers. At times of particularly hard social instability, history has been proving that this distance poses as a threat to the whole democratic structure – another significant legacy of the Greek civilization.

Somehow ironically, the present Greece – no longer the one divided in city-states with direct (very exclusive) democracy

– was one of the most devastated countries by the Eurozone crisis that swept Europe in early 2009.

As I wander the late-night streets of Athens, filled with inebriated youngsters, graffiti and beautiful recollections of the past, I cannot but be amazed in relation to all its History, and yet understand how much people have walked ever since and how much there is still ahead.

Greece is a particularly meaningful destination in the modern times, since it conciliates the contradictions of our present with the contradictions of our origins. In a certain sense, coming to this land is returning to our cradle and relearning the lessons we took from the path we followed ever since.

by Beatriz Rodrigues

12

A PICTURE IS WORTH...

13

...MORE THAN A THOUSAND WORDS

14

Reasoning: Intuition & IngenuityLogic. A philosophical term, a

way to live, or the evolutionarily esta blished thought pro cess of our race? From a strictly mathe-matical perspective, human in-teraction can be viewed as a combination of two elements: deductive reasoning (commonly known as logic) and emotion, which is equal to the absence of logic. Everything we do in our lives, from the smallest detail in our daily routine to the everlasting products of human brilliancy-social bonding, is examined through these two scopes.

So can we categorize people into groups: rational thinkers, sentimental believers and a third, mixed one? Or maybe there is only one category and we are all either emotional beings who tend to partly rationalize aspects of their lives or either programmed reasonable units, running away from analyzing just to stay in their “comfort zone”, together with their fears and insecurities?

Wittgenstein said that logic is transcendental, not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. However, we are “armed” with so many social skills, that we keep to ignore this historically and statistically formed truth. Let’s try to break the previous vague two clauses in little pieces. Incapable of living alone, forming societies has become the only way to keep us advancing through time. But building social structures requires individual relationships, which have as a precondition, the will to compromise. In order to be able to co-exist with someone’s flaws, there are two steps to follow: learn to face his/her own biggest defects and then find people, suitable to fill in the gap and help you to become a completed person.

On the other hand though, we have chosen to avoid facing these inner “demons”. Whether this is the effect of inadequate and

by Triantafyllos Kouloufakos

ineffective socializing or if it’s the reverse phenomenon is a pro-blem left unsolved. It may yet be argued that we are trying to avoid personal/ontological problems by trying to create a distraction, a relationship.

And now, the fundamental anti-thesis arises. We are surrounded by the marvel of nature, a field where the physical laws slowly reveal pieces of the puzzle. Yet despite having logical syllogisms prevailing around us, when it comes down to social interactions, we see logic as a dodge. Maybe Tagore was trying to prove a point, when he said that a mind all logic

is like a knife all blade, making the hand that uses it bleeds. Maybe more reasoning could create true human bonds. But one thing is for sure. From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man - the function of a reasoning mind.

by Asteris Arampatzis

15

Reasoning: Intuition & IngenuityCould people rely solely on logic?

No. Could people rely solely on emotions? Probably not. Do we need both, definitely yes. Emotions are, if one may attempt to define them, responses of the organism to an internal or external event, that change the way we perceive things while under their influence. That is even derived from the origin of the word, which comes down to the French “émouvoir”, which means to stir up. Emotions stir up our being, they change the “normal” way of perceiving things, they give us an alternate reality.

Science has tried to explain emotions by attributing them to hormones, by conducting

neurobiological research and in fact has given considerable results. Yes, we have numbers on emotions, we have facts, statistics, data, but does this give us a better understanding of them? Do numbers and scientific data help us express and understand our emotions in our everyday life and -even if someday they do- is that what we really want? Do we really want to know what a person means when he says “I love you” or why he says so?

Explaining emotions, in scientific terms, would be like killing them. Ask yourself if you want to explain that feeling you have when you walk at the beach, when you kiss for the first time, when you realized how incredible

EYP is. Most probably you wouldn’t, because that would give an end to that sweet and unique sensation you have when you reflect on them.

Art is the one human “invention” that conveys emotions (or at least should). According to Picasso, “the artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web”. Having art explained and perceived in a unique and absolute way would defy the very purpose of art and deprive it of its charm. Because after all art, is not only understood differently by each one, but it also triggers different thoughts and emotions every time.

Some people could argue that logic is the only way to draw safe conclusions and that, emotions simply divert us from doing things efficiently and correctly. But, that is exactly the point of emotions; otherwise we would be machines and not human beings with thoughts and feelings. Or, as Oscar Wilde put it, “the advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.”

All in all, like most things in life, this is not a right or wrong issue, it’s mostly a grey area. One cannot lead the life we lead, without logic, as it is a basic element of human civilization, but also one live without emotions, as they are a part of the very essence of human nature. Emotions are the basis, which defines us as human beings and upon which any other human quality lies.

So, what I’m trying to say is, don’t ever stop to think about something in EYP, do it the way you FEEL!

PS. Do you really think we, the officials, would be doing any of this, if we didn’t have some sort of emotional attachment to EYP. (OK, you got me, WE LOVE IT!)

by Dimitris Krokos

EMOTIONS

16

E.Y.L (European Youth Love)

In the first circle, when you played the name games you looked at her beautiful eyes and beautiful smile. You had a great time when you were together at speed dating. You felt so good when she was pushing you at drunken bottle. Through committee work she amazed you with her concrete points and her brains. When you were doing energizers, you wanted to be next to her all the time. Through GA you clapped the hardest after her attack speech and you gave her the longest hug you ever gave someone after the closing ceremony finished. And imagine, it was only a national selection conference.

I don’t know about you, I have been in that particular place, maybe not in a national selection conference, maybe my attraction to her started

some weeks before the session when we started to talk, maybe I wasn’t even a delegate, the possibilities are endless. What I imagine is that at least some of you are in that state of mind. Despite if something happened with that person or not, I think I know what you might think. What if that happens again? What if that specific “again” is in an international session? What if the person who caught not only your eye but also your mind and maybe your heart is from a different country? All these questions that pop in your head are perfectly normal. And if we want to merge all these into one general question we would have this: Does romance exist in EYP, and in case it does, can it be maintained, and how?

Let’s have a simple start. Of course there is romance in EYP. Who could

deny that this frisk you felt in your chest when you laid eyes upon her was something more and deeper than physical attraction? Of course it is the exception rather that the rule, as the rule consists of intense, physical, short term relationships, but its existence cannot be doubted by anyone. Quite a few examples exist of long term-relationships, most of them international ones that are created by EYP and maintained for a lot of time, some even existing until today. In fact a really experienced EYPer has said “Believe me, international love is 100 times better than domestic”.

There is a certain truth about that statement, but how do we proceed? There all these obstacles in front of you that you have to face. First and foremost, the distance that separates you, as in 99% of the cases she will be from another country. Following that, all the other obstacles are self-explanatory. The field of long distance relationships is one that many have criticized with a lot of different ways, and it is claimed that it is almost impossible that a relationship like that can be held. They are right, I admit it. It actually is, ALMOST impossible to keep a relationship of that kind. People today are ready to drop and abandon hope without a second thought. Instead of clinging to that tiny part that may make their life completely happy they cower before difficulties of such measure and abandon their cause, even if there is the tiniest possibility to achieve it.

We live in a world of doubt, a world of anxiety and nightmares, in what has been called, a corrosive age for the spirit and the soul. The amount of hope available is really limited. Do not waste it. Cling from each and every of your hope, and that accounts for EYP too. Do not be afraid to fall in love, express your feelings, create a relationship, and maintain this relationship. And as I am a fan of quotes, and especially sleazy ones, I would like to remind you what an ancient Greek drama poet said but in a fancy Latin way: Omnia vincit amor.

by Triantafyllos Kouloufakos

note to self:

18

The symphony of silence

The red was getting louder and louder. My head was spinning more and more violently, more and more painfully. A wave of colour trespassed my body and I started sinking in a sea of masquerade faces. Oh, what a party! EYPers know how to have fun, don’t they?

It felt like I was suffocating. My mind was asking for a break, for a moment of silence, running away from all this joyful play. Tap tap tap. The perspiration on my forehead kept running into a bubbly river of do re mi.

“Where is the door?”. Going towards the direction the masked woman pointed, I kept reaching for the door, but it was always away. “Or was I the one away?” Pim pam pum! Lights on, lights out, a circular melody of pain.

As I grabbed the door knob, a tingling coldness rose through my fingers, the door was finally an extension of my arm. Two split words, the outside and the inside, one only chance in the limbo.

Blue, dark. I got out. Bing dong, free at last.

Freedom tasted too orange. Corridors followed corridors – it was a trap!

“Was I eternally imprisoned?” Blinking lights and torturing sparks hurt my ears. Tum tum, dzzz. People kept passing by, smiley and plastic, and I felt the urge to rip their facial paintings. Drums in my eyes, such a lonely tribe was I.

Decades merged in the maze and not a single second flowed through. I can hear her calling whispering anonymously. “Might this be hope?”

The chains have cracked. Pieces of broken glass create a purple whirlwind. The fire burned my insides and I was reborn. Look, there it was – the night!

A wide window took shape in front of me and the moon smiled. Frrrru. How pale she was, the mournful traitor.

by Beatriz Rodriguesand Asteris Arampatzis

19

The way we work(ED);a background, a story, meta

It is not usual that I write articles. Not that I am completely bad at them – though one might say I go on too many tangents, like this one – but my personal preferences and interests lie in videos, photography and electronic things. However, for the past three days I have met and worked with an amazing group of people whose dynamic and processes have given me much to think about. My personal curiosity combined with a self-reference to those processes have led to this article.

Let us consider the following people, each with their own special skill-set and character:

Fotis likes videos, as mentioned. He is a bit of the ‘PC guy’, videos and photography being his favourite media.

Beatriz likes writing. Creative or otherwise, it is her specialty and finding a weird subject to elaborate upon is right up her alley.

Ijon is an audio expert. He can do things from making a soundtrack from delegate’s sounds to finding you some cool hiphop, underground music to use in a video.

Now the organisation and task allocation seems fairly straightforward; the Editors would allocate the tasks to the person with the required specialty, so as to fill in the vision for each product. This kind of organisation is called a top-down approach and formally involves breaking down the initial system into smaller ones. In terms of a group and its dynamics, a top-down approach involves higher ceremony, as the information and the creation steps

are filtered through the leader and are formalised at least to some extent beforehand.

The alternative, the one our journalist group in question uses, is a bottom-up approach. In it, the raw material is composed into a larger picture, in a form of perception and interpretation. In the applied example, each person would take his own personal expertise and view, and make something out of it instead of simply offering it solely as a means to an end.

So, what’s the deal with all of this, you might ask. The top-down view is more reliable in terms of “knowing what you get” and is also a straightforward to design, say, a newspaper. At this point I would stress that our bottom-up approach comes into play when we consider the process of inception of ideas first and their implementation to a lesser extent. The latter approach allows for more diverse and naturally occurring results and is also a great way of keeping people interested and active, something our little musing on group dynamics should not overlook.

Continuing the applied example of the media team, we would want to make a video. Fotis might have an idea for it and TAMTAM being a cool team, they would all pitch in ideas themselves. People go off to shoot videos and when they find something cool, they hand it over for editing. In parallel to the video being edited, Ijon has gathered sound clips that other members of the team have recorded and has pieced together a soundtrack for

the video. He hands it in too and little by little a sweet video has been created out of the members’ contributions.

And thus, our little trip down group-dynamic lane is at an end. There is a vast world of different methodologies and possibilities out there. For me, our simple, honest, and trusting-in-ourselves attitude here at TAMTAM has been a success and a joy to be part of. It even got me to write an article about it, if only a slightly odd one. You do not have to take my word for it, however; have a look at our products, try out your own ideas and see for yourselves!

by Fotis Papadogeorgopoulos