THINKING ABOUT VALUES IN A DEMOCRATIC EUROPE

If someone will ask me if the EVS is a waste of time and money, I will answer seriously: “No, of course not!”.
Actually the life during the EVS is very different from the everyday life in your own country: you receive a job, a flat, food, a ticket for the public transports. Some people take care of you, in case of need. You can meet frequently many people from all over the world. Not just from Europe and you don’t get bored. These people have, more or less, the same way of thinking that you have. You can share with them the same ideas. So, you really think that a better and fair world could be possible.
After a while you come back home with a wide smile on your face and, like a new Jesus, you say to everybody that it is actually very easy. We can do something concrete for our planet: “Just believe me! I have tried it and it works!”. We just have to accept each other, to respect the environment and you keep talking for hours about some other interesting stuff. Is it so hard to understand and to realize? Well, the people look at you incredulous and you feel like a sort of contemporary hippie seeing flowers and smiling, colorful cats everywhere.
That was most of the time the people’s reaction after the EVS. So, I started to believe that the everyday life is pretty different.
A few days ago I had a job interview and the guy of HR seated in front me looked very stressed (and with the hands he was at the same time writing something with the computer) and he talked almost all the time about money, success and competition. They seemed to be the most important values. Well, I am not that kind of person. During the EVS we talked about a better ethic.
Then I came back home quite skeptic and I had a lunch with some friends. The food was delicious: we talked about trips, art, religion and … European politic. Basically the idea was that a “Europe” with a common culture is not possible because we are too different. I tried to explain that the idea is a little bit too medieval but they answered that I am too emotional. I felt like living in the feudal middle age society, having lunch in a big medieval living room of a castle placed on the top of a hill. No, sadly I was just at the home and the year was 2011. During the EVS I heard always that a common European culture is possible.
A week ago I took part in a meeting to get to know some other European projects. One of the country presented the program, the way of living, the food, the economy and so on. At the end of Power Point presentation they said that if we like how the country is we can take part in the project. Otherwise we are free to go home because we won’t change this culture. I mean, I don’t want to change their culture but it would be great if we can learn something from them and they can take something from our way of living. So not just one direction but more than ones. Someone talked me about this theory during the EVS.
Conclusion: EVS is a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to share very positive values and to start to create an European consciousness. But it’s not enough, I think we have to do more and the path is not that easy. We just don’t have to give up!