Working in Europe - Get ready and go

Checklist for participants

Check it out!

Checklist

• Address Book
• National Evenings
• Workshops
  • Opening Workshop
  • Cultural aspects of working life
  • Youth Unemployment and Exclusion
  • Problems of employment
  • Youth employment
• Travel Reimbursements
• T-Shirts
• A list of things you need to bring with you when coming to Finland

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Here you will find all the information about what you need to do to prepare before the event. A short list of things to remember (a more detailed report below):

• Information about possible allergies or special diets (vegetarian, etc.)
• Info and self-portraits for the address book, Deadline: 28.12.
• Information for the insurances to Juha, Deadline: ASAP
• A list of ingredients and amounts for the national evenings are to be sent in advance to Soili
• Don't forget to read the info on travel reimbursement!!!
• Information on your shirt-size and whether you want the shirt or not, Deadline: ASAP
• A list of things you should take with you to Finland
• Pictures from the previous exchanges (sent to Soili, if you don't mind publishing them on the webpage).

If it is too much trouble to send the needed info for different people, just sent it all to Soili!

Address Book

We are making an address book with the personal information of each organizer and participant. It is voluntary to share your address, telephone number and email, and if some of you don't want to give them out it's quite all right. The information we'd like to have is your name, picture, address, telephone number, email and MSN/Yahoo/ICQ address if you have one. The address book will be handed out at the end of the event. Please, send me the pictures and info by email by 28.12.

National Evenings

Every group needs to prepare a national evening with food, drinks, music, (power point slides) etc. You're supposed to make it as lively as possible and will have the possibility to cook and to use a computer. About the cooking: each group is to prepare a dinner for the rest of us. There won't be any other food served on the specific evening so you must take that into consideration when planning the menu. Also, don't forget there will be 32 participants and about 10-15 organizers at the National Evenings, so there should be enough food for all of us. We will provide you with all the basic ingredients like milk, meat, etc. but if you need anything unusual, you have to bring it with you.

We are also asking every group to deliver a recipe of your cooking which should include the list of ingredients and amounts. We will buy all the possible ingredients for you in advance and afterwards we will send you the list of things we cannot get over here so that you can bring them with you.

Workshops

Opening Workshop

The participants need to discuss in advance the pros and cons of working abroad and explore some possible fears and prejudices against it. If anyone has any experience about working abroad, you'll need to be prepared to share it. This workshop is quite informal, you don't need to do any presentation or anything, just be mentally ;) prepared to discuss the subject.

Cultural aspects of working life

Every group is to make a play about some situation concerning work, such as a job interview. The aim is to examine the differences in working life in our countries. The plays don't need to be very long, but they should convey some particularities and typical situations of each culture.

Youth Unemployment and Exclusion

Try to find some background information about the situation of youth unemployment and exclusion in your own country so that you are prepared to discuss the issues with participants of different nationalities and to compare the situation in each country. You can try to find information from the internet or call the authorities and interview them. Here are some questions you should try to get some answers to:

• How can youth unemployment and/or exclusion be seen in your country? Is it a big problem?
• How is society trying to take care of these problems?
• What kind of attitudes are there among people in your own country towards youth unemployment and exclusion and how can these attitudes be seen in everyday life?
• How has the membership of EU affected these problems?

Problems of employment

Try to find some background information about some problems of employment. How can these problems be seen in everyday life and how are they being taken care of in your country? How is the (future) membership of EU affecting these things?

1. Racism and inequality of sexes in a work place:
• Discrimination, sexual harassment, difficulties of getting hired, underpayment, exploitative work...
• Are these issues regarded as a big problem in your country and what are the government and society doing to fix it?
2. Short-term jobs
• How common are they?
• Are they considered a good or bad thing?
• Which groups suffer from undesirable short-term jobs and which groups regard them as a positive phenomenon?
3. Unfair working circumstances
• Underpayment, unhealthy work environment (noise, pollutants and other dangers), inadequate occupational health care, overlong work shifts -Are you aware of the legislation of employment and are these rights respected in your country?
4. Illegal workers and black-market work

• How common are these phenomena in your country?
• Who are the most affected groups?
• What are the consequences, good and bad?
  

Youth employment

Prepare to answer the following questions:

• What kind of possibilities does a young person have to find a job in your country?
• What are the requirements (do they need to know the language, are they qualified with the degree from their own country to find a job of their own branch of interest in your country, etc.)?
  

Travel Reimbursements

Travel costs will be reimbursed up to 70%. In order to get the reimbursements, bring the following documents with you:

• ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS (we will make copies of your return tickets for us)
• INVOICES (if you have any) from the company where you bought the tickets (travel agency etc.). This is very important for flight tickets.
• ALL RECEIPTS to prove that you have actually paid for your tickets.

If you have any questions or cannot produce these documents, please contact the treasurer of AEGEE-Helsinki, Juha.

T-Shirts

We want to buy special T-shirts with the logo of the exchange on them. The shirts will be dark blue with long sleeves (since we're in cold Finland). The shirts will cost 5 euros per person and will be handed out at the beginning of the event so that you will have a lot of time to wear them! In order to get one you need to send Soili the information of the size of your shirt and pay the 5 in cash in Finland. The participants might get the t-shirts for free, depends on our budget. We will let you know the final price during the exchange.

A list of things you need:

• Passport
• Ingredients for national evening
• Swimsuit and towel for sauna
• Warm clothes
• Clothes for partying (it's up to you, but you've been warned)
• Sleeping bag
• Documents for travel reimbursement
• Camera 

This project is organized with the financial support of the European Union.
The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the EU.

Updated 04.01.2007 - webmaster