Cyprus PREPARATION ACTIVITIES

The group of Cypriot participants are coming from school "C TESEK, Limassol" from Polemidia, Limassol. Through the school's cooperation, they implemented some preparation activities.

People in Cyprus, like in many other countries, speak up and express themselves in what they do, the way they dress and the way they express themselves to the world. Cultural attitudes towards clothing often reflect social status or identity for example.

Yet, the importance of feelings and self-expression is often not directly discussed, and keyways of self-expression are often done unconsciously by youth and are given no avenue to directly discuss it.

Discussions during this preparatory implementation led to informing the participants about feelings and how important is to express it, and not to be afraid to share what they like, and what creative methods they use to express themselves.

Poster making:

The participants created four posters they want to share with the rest of the group during the youth exchange. These posters focused on their interpretation of speaking up your feelings, but just as importantly its benefits, and methods where you can speak of said feelings. This also delved deeper into the idea of self-expression, and how we present ourselves to the world. The participants discussed what kind of activities they believe people use to express themselves to the world to speak what they feel. They concluded that arts are a central way of expressing yourself, as well as video games, theatre and even fashion. Mental exercises, such as meditation, journaling and breathing exercises also serve to speak up your feelings, and so does cooking and baking.

The 4 Posters:

This poster making and subsequent discussions led to how the participants themselves find avenues to express their own feelings in the city of Limassol.

2 of the participants let out their feelings by sport, so this led to talking about Nea Salaminas football academy, Barcelona football academy as well as Aris Olympiacos Football academy.

Further research was conducted by the participants using the internet to see what centers exist in Limassol that serve as areas where people can use different methods to express feelings.

Interestingly, Paradox Museum was cited as a museum where you can share your own feelings. This is a museum in the city of Limassol with wacky rooms that focus on amusing and intriguing illusions, where the museum takes photos of you where you can express a comedic side of you.

Other examples included the Voice Karaoke Club in Limassol, focusing on expressing your feelings through voice, as well as Loft Dance School, Sketch Art School and the MusicSing School of Music, Dance and Musical Theatre whereas the names suggest dancing, drawing, and singing are used as methods of expressing yourself. In terms of more extreme types of sport, Limassol's Climbing Club was one that was particularly popular among participants.

Lastly, to introduce themselves to the participants who will attend the youth exchange, 4 participants wanted to share themselves, and the method they use to express their feelings in a video.

The above work represents the Cypriot participants' excitement for the Youth Exchange. They are very excited to meet and host the participants from other countries and share their practices that they already do in Cyprus, and just as importantly, learn new and better ways to speak up their feelings, understand the feelings of other participants better and to engage in a great cultural exchange!