erasmus
Vox-pop: Three Catalan journalists analyse EU as it turns 63
Despite the efforts of institutions from all over Spain, only a few Spaniards know when and why Europe Day is celebrated. According to the last eurobarometer polls in autumn 2012, 51% of the Spanish people don’t know anything about the rights that they have as Europeans, says Marta Roqueta
erasmus, university, schengen, politics, immigration, 9 de mayo, youth
'9 May is my ex-girlfriend's birthday' - it's also Europe Day
9 May 2013 will be a great day in Germany. People will go out on the street and celebrate together all the fathers of their nation, as it is ascension day and therefore the traditional Father’s Day. But will they think about Robert Schuman, the architect of the European Union, too?
erasmus, unemployment, eurovision, politics, schuman declaration, 9 de mayo, international trade
Italy, Spain and Portugal's youth increasingly apply for EU traineeships
Twice a year, the European commission offers recent graduates the opportunity to carry out a five-month internship (generously paid at 1, 000 euros per month) within its departments. Although the number of available posts for each recruitment drive has remained stable for several years (around 1, 300), the number of (southern) applicants has been consistently increasing
erasmus, italy, employment, economical crisis, european union, society, labour market
Happy 25th birthday to Erasmus!
Dear pan-European student exchange programme. Father Christmas came early. He left you a sack of 6 million euros at the bottom of the stairs. He thanks you very much for it; he has spent cold winters with warm Spanish, Portuguese, Irish and Greek friends in Finland. He has enjoyed the traditional Polish pancakes whilst studying in Wroclaw, dipping his toes into the sea off the coast of southern Italy whilst visiting friends, and stalking Loch Ness with his Scottish Erasmus girlfriend. Of course the European Union is his backer. The institutions have recognised that a quarter of a century of a remarkable programme has gone by and changed lives, opened spirits and spread languages. Some Scrooges hit out at this gift; if Erasmus was over as it was rumoured to be so in October, would the future generations really miss it, personally and professionally speaking? (Image: (cc) mikel_ee/ Flickr)
Ecce Homo painter kickstarts 2012 apocalypse
The long-hidden secret of the world's most invisble fresco, the EU Fresco, was the key to the existence of the European Union when it was painted in 1951. But Europe's most famous octogenerian painter did it again, causing the end of the world - starting with the EU - by painting over the fresco in December*
erasmus, nature, religion, masculinity, piigs, society, serbia
Strasbourg pilgrimage: Erasmus, Germans, Muslims and Roma
The European community needs new challenges. It’s the perfect opportunity for a pan-European team of journalists to write from Strasbourg. The city is commonly evoked to illustrate the warring relationship between France and Germany - but just look at its good products, such as the two-decade old unique television station Arte. Strasbourg is also the headquarters for the immovable European parliament, but everything circling it is in perpetual movement. New Roma camps mix in with a general mood of recognition for old and new religions, whilst the expat-erasmus scene of foreigners who define this city explain why it is their home away from home. Strasbourg’s frontiers definitely stretch beyond the political to the social and cultural. Special edition for ‘MultiKulti’ aka ‘multiculturalism on the ground’ via Polish, Italian, British and German eyes (Image: (cc) alex dram/ Flickr)
- Read the special edition Strasbourg pilgrimage: Erasmus, Germans, Muslims and Roma
- The life and political opinions of Strasbourg's Roma minority
- Arte: Franco-German television channel rocking multiculturalism for 20 years
- German Erasmus students: missing black bread and subculture in Strasbourg
- Strasbourg’s muslims: bury me in Turkey, Tunisia or here
Pan-Slavism, Slovio and Polish the 'status symbol'
The Slavic languages all have their roots in Proto-Slavic. Since the twelfth century, however, they have drifted apart. One of them reached its zenith in the seventeenth century: Polish
erasmus, belarus, tower of babel, lithuania, alcohol, languages, esperanto
How an Italian boy became a ‘happiness coach’
Born in the land of ‘la dolce vita’, Bergamo-born Frank Ra, 32, travelled Europe before publishing a book on happiness. He offers his thoughts on spiritual scepticism, being a former erasmus student or ex-pat and how ‘no place is perfect unless we accept it with all its features’
erasmus, italy, depression, psychology, malta, health, estonia
When I was at the EU in the seventies...
For Europeans to find courage, we first have to be scared. So far it’s taken three big shocks to shake Europe into life: war in the 40s, an economic crisis in the 70s and the fall of the Berlin wall at the end of the 90s. The financial crash retakes the baton in the noughties. Time for the ‘euro-generation’ to take things into hand
erasmus, jacques delors, politics, josé manuel barroso, europe, eurogeneration
German tourists in Scotland: Scotch malt at airport and haggis for breakfast
German holiday-makers come to Scotland for a variety of reasons: for a sip (or several) of the water of life, to trace the steps of history in crumbling, misty castles – or simply because the flights to Iceland were too expensive. Whatever their reasons, a German's visit to Caledonia is often shaped by a few key food and drink experiences. Musings of a Scottish tour guide
erasmus, scotland, germany, food, gastronomy, haggis, lifestyle
Self-identification, multiculturalism and erasmus in the EU
In a world where the physical borders are a blur, no wonder the mental ones are blurring as well. With nationalists turning to the 'protection of Europe' rather than the 'protection of the homeland', it is fair to say that the erasmus generation is the face of future Europe. United within itself, far past the division to Germans, French, Poles, or Italians, it's an identity in its own right - even for me
erasmus, identity, angela merkel, politics, thilo sarrazin, youth, society
German erasmus student on life in Istanbul
Who speaks English? Why don't men look me in the eye? Why do people still wear headscarves? A score of questions hit the European newcomer studying in the Turkish city
erasmus, university, party, mustafa kemal atatürk, turkey, religion and democracy, society
Study philosophy in Europe: France’s discern is UK’s ticket to top
In the collective (French) conscience, it’s a lunar individual who studies philosophy, disconnected from the modern world and who brushes aside finance and marketing books. In reality their anxiety for the future remains a young one, choked by the crisis and demanding whether Socrates or Aristotle can really still mean something
erasmus, university, school, europe, society, students, philosophy
Arno Jullien: 'erasmus should be obligatory to compare simple things in life'
He collaborated with Yann-Arthus Bertrand on '6 Billion Others', and he's back with Europalive. The 52-minute film from his travels in 24 EU countries over two months gives 'Europe a human face'. With no financial support, the 32-year-old from Cannes filmed the homeless to company execs to immerse himself in their perceptions, loves and hates
erasmus, documentary, cinema, europe, european media, european union, society
University-educated flee and woo Lithuania: emigration and erasmus
An increasing number of students are asking professor Žilvinas Martinaitis at the University of Vilnius to let them take their exams at the end of May. This would allow them to go abroad - most popularly, to the UK, Ireland or Scandinavia - to work, and return with some extra money in October, a month after the official term start. Lithuanian and eramus students, professors and politicians explain the phenomenon
erasmus, eucrisis on the ground, money, university, labour, education system, cities
Meet the Erasmus elite: bright stars in a global recession?
What do a loud-mouthed English ladette, a svelte Ukrainian vamp, a dashing Polish casanova and a bagpipe-playing Frenchman all have in common? Bar-stool jokes aside, they're all members of YRN - the association of European regions' youth network. About 150 people meet annually to discuss how to use Europe to hoist them out of the economic doldrums. cafebabel.com caught up with them in Paris this December
erasmus, paris, youth, society, eurogeneration, economic crisis, regions
