INTRODUCTION

    In the following you can find reports on the camp written by several participants. Please note that the reports only describe the authors' personal opinions; it may be different from the other participants' impressions.

IT REALLY IS UNFORGETTABLE!
by "Fon" Kannikar Kanjanapaibul
(Youth Co-operation Centre, Thailand)

    I believe that most of us have the same feeling as me for the 1^st Asia-Europe Youth Camp in China. The camp is memorable. It was an integration. Why do I say this? This is because the camp did not only consist of activities and people that most of the camps usually have but it had our deep relationship also. There were neither Asians nor Europeans. There were only us. The camp melted all differences among us. No matter who we were and where we were from, we were unified and identified as a member of the camp. It was so nice that we got long to each other very well as if we had known for a long time. We talked, played, sang, worked and joined activities altogether. Ultimately, the aim of building a youth network can be achieved. We were and are connected. This is the integration.

    It is not only the connection that I get from the camp but also adaptation and patience. Due to the tight schedule, I (maybe we) was so tired but I would still love to share much time with my friends. The schedule indirectly encouraged me to know how to adapt and be more patient if I wanted to live happily in the camp. Of course, I was very pleased to do. At the very beginning, I was afraid of various cultural problems, particularly to my roommate. I could not imagine how I could share the room with my roommate whom I had never known before. Oh! She was a European. However, we were closed at last and were closer when we had to solve few problems. I strongly believe that no one faced such many problems that my roommate and I did. Who would believe that we had three bedrooms for two weeks? However, we were neither serious nor moody about the problems; in contrast, they were really humourous and amusing. On the other hand, it was unfortunate that some of us could not be completely happy because they had health problems, which may be caused by either the tight schedule or the weather, not by the food. I frankly say that the food could force us to think of McDonald's and it bored us sometimes, but not often.

    By the way, the camp helped me realize China and different cultures from all members of the camp too. What a pity! I cannot understand Chinese language. I had to depend on my Chinese friends as my translator when I went out of the camp. Otherwise I would learn more if I know Chinese language because I can speak, listen, write and read by myself. It means that no translation is needed. This camp stressed to me how important the language was, not only English and Chinese. The more languages I know the more understanding I get. Anyway, I could learn more about China and different cultures and living styles. Certainly, I made a lot of foreign friends. My friends (volunteers, organizers and facilitators) are all very nice and impressive. We are following the age of globalization that national boundaries are blurred and everything can be transmitted across states. The camp obviously is an example because there were no walls between us.

    In conclusion, the camp was excellent. It both entertained and taught me many things such as how to live with other people, how to work as teamwork or even how to listen different English accents. Many unbelievable events were stamped in my mind, especially a 4-hour long walking down from Mount Tai. I am still wondered how I can accomplish this hard job. I cannot forget this marvelous experience. The volunteer work gave me a planting skill. The excursion let me touch the beauty of China. The seminar and discussion lighted up new ideas. The kindness of organizers and facilitators brought me the warmth as though I was at home. And the friends offered me a lovely friendship. All were composed to be this camp. Everyone did a great job. I am truly appreciative. The camp is valuable and noteworthy. I clap for Mr. Ulrich Niemann. His attention to make this camp unforgettable comes true.

VIEWPOINT OF A EUROPEAN PARTICIPANT
by Edgar Hütte
(Int'l Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth, Netherlands)

    From 27 August till 10 September, the Asian-European Youth Camp took place in the Shandong Province of China. Around seventy young volunteers with various backgrounds from both Europe and Asia gathered to discuss environmental and cultural heritage issues.

    The program was co-organised by the All-China Youth Federation. I joined on behalf of IFLRY, the International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth. China currently faces huge environmental problems. Forest loss is, at least partly, responsible for annual floods and droughts. The water quality of the Yellow river is so low that the fish catch declined dramatically in only a few decades. The air pollution, or smog, in some of China's major cities is threatening the health condition of millions of citizens. A combination of a rapidly increasing population - from 1.3 billion now to 1.6 billion in 2015 - and a strong economic growth, places even more serious strains on the country.

    The main part of the camp addressed these issues. Consequently the project was a part of the "Mother River Protection Action" initiative of the Chinese Government. The program contained lectures, discussions, and excursions to make the participants aware of the serious situation. The participants also had the possibility to sweat a little themselves by planting trees in order to give, at least in symbolic terms, the environment a better future.

    Another part of the program focused on cultural heritage. Several excursions brought the participants to some of China's most famous sites. Unfortunately we had about zero visibility at the summit of Mountain Tai. Too bad because it is said that the view is fantastic. Nevertheless, the visit to several temples was worth facing the weather. In Qufu City, the weather was much better. There we visited the Memorial Temple of Confucius and planted some trees in the Confucius' garden. Again some drops of sweat.

    Sad to say that it was sometimes hard to communicate with the Chinese participants. For that reason it was great to join an English class at the Shandong Experimental High School in Jinan on one of the last days, and to see that many young people want to learn other languages. The Asia-Europe Youth Camp 2000 was a success in many ways. Bringing seventy young people together from more than twenty countries, is a success on its own. However, I feel it was a missed opportunity that the camp did not deal at all with the current political and human rights situation in China, and hope that future ASEF youth projects will also deal with these issues. Still, joining the camp was a unique experience to learn a lot about one of the biggest countries in the world. I would like to thank the organisers.

A CHANCE TO LEARN!
by "Laser" Lin Shiguang
(Shandong University, China)

    It is nearly a week since the Asia-Europe Youth Camp concluded. I kept a record of all the happenings throughout the camp. However, when I picked up the pen, I did not know how to start. After all, so many exciting things just came to my mind, making me feel puzzled about where I should start.

    The participants, especially those from Europe, taught me a lot in many ways. Without the chance to participate in the Asia-Europe Youth Camp I probably would never have gotten to know these things in my entire life.

    In the camp what impressed me the most was their love for our environment. They not only convinced me how important environment is to us human beings, based on experience of the European countries during the time when Europe recklessly tried to develop their economies, but also taught me where we should start to protect our environment. One day when I was walking on Quancheng Square in Jinan City with Frank, the Irish participant, he noticed that many Chinese spit onto the ground. He felt uncomfortable about this and asked me to tell them not to do so. "Don't they know that it would do harm to our environment?" he said. I said to myself: "My god, I never thought that it would be a problem. People spit as they like. What does it have to do with me?" Now that Frank asked me to do so, I had no choice but to "face the music".

    Actually Frank took my place and acted the "hero" of the "play" the moment I started it. I could only act as the interpreter. After some convincing arguments the man we stopped turned shamefully red and promised that he would never spit again in public. l could take a deep breath because I thought the man was going to say to me: "Mind your own business." A pleasant satisfying smile appeared on Frank's face as if he had just won a battle.

    As for me, a Chinese young volunteer, the young European volunteers not only convinced me to protect our environment but also taught me how to convince other people to do so as well.

    When we worked on the Bamboo Temple historical relics site, we found nowhere to dispose the lunch leftovers. A stall-owner noticed this and offered to settle the problem for us. Torun, a Swedish volunteer, wavered a minute and handed the plastic bags to him. Before we could walk away, the man threw the plastic bags into the river bed. Torun was suddenly amazed. She shouted out, "Oh, no!" Before I could say a word, Torun waved her hand and said: "Let's go and get it." She climbed over the rocks down to the stream. Some bags were lying in the water. She pulled up her trousers and walked without shoes carefully in the water to collect the bags. I was deeply moved and could not help but going down to help her. Then the stall-owner also came down to help. Had it not been for her, the waste would still be sitting in the stream.

    I cannot list everything I experienced, but one thing I am sure about is that every day, I was moved by the other participants and I was eager to learn, to learn more, not only about the cultures of the others, but also about what I should do as a member of our human community. What should I do for the future of our environment? What kind of responsibility should I take for the future of mankind? These questions came up as very important questions for the first time in my life.

    I really hope that more people will have this chance to learn from youths from other countries. I also hope that what I wrote is a little contribution to these very important questions for everyone.

© 2000-2001 TIM SCHROCK