The road to BIEN, Tallinn 2006
In the beginning there was nothing. And then a small group of Estonian youngsters visited a town in the country of Sweden to join a festival. At the last day of this festival they left having given a promise to almost 200 people to organise and plan for this magnificent festival only one year later. This is the story about how that went.
- One year ago I had never even heard of BIEN! she says.
- But in august 2005 I moved to Estonia from my home country Finland. I then started working in the youth organisation that happened to be the one to organise the festival of 2006.
So she and the very devoted Estonian youngsters immediately started the process of planning. They were to create a festival containing properly working workshops, visits, prayers, meditations, accommodation, parties and all those other things that make a great festival.
Along with an international team containing people from some of the other BIEN-countries the Estonians worked hard on putting things together. They all brought their ideas on how to solve the occurring problems. Someone thought of the city part Nõmme as the perfect place to hold the festival, someone else came up with the idea of opening night, accommodation, concerts and so on.
- It’s amazing how much our volunteers have worked for the festival and how dedicated they have been to making this festival really great! Titta says with a big smile on her face. She also adds that they all have been working with all their heart up until the very last minute. All of them were in Nõmme to make the final preparations already one week before the first festival guests arrived.
- The best thing about doing this has been to see that when people are working together we can do amazing things!
Considering the result of the festival I think we all can agree with her on that.
Hanna, Sweden
Night-café with karaoke
BIEN night-café was very good this year. The prices were very nice and there were many drinks and tasty cakes to choose from. We could take a cup of coffee and enjoy karaoke or just talk to our friends in the cosy environment.
Estonians, Polish people and Latvians were the once taking part. Most active were the Estonian girls and the far most popular songs were those of ABBA, especially Dancing Queen. I think the Monday karaoke was a good start of karaoke-week!
Vaiko, Estonia and Marina, Russia
Small groups and leaders
Small groups are one of the most important parts of the BIEN-festival. Here we can discuss various themes and get to know each other better!
We made an interview with Kestutis, who is the leader of one of the small groups.
Kestutis, what do you think about small groups?
K: I think it’s a good way to get to know each other.
What languages are you speaking?
K: We try to speak English, but some people don’t understand English very well, so we try to translate into Russian.
Are the people active?
K: They are interested in themes.
Did you do the same things last year?
K: It was quite similar.
Do you like to be a leader?
K: Yes, I do.
We also made an interview with Tatjana, who also is a small-group-leader.
What do you think about the small groups?
T: They are very useful. It helps people to express opinions. Sometimes it’s also good to hear other people’s opinions to create your own.
From where do you take ideas for the small groups?
T: Mainly from the mediations in church.
Greta and Lina, Lithuania
Estonian söök, or: how to get 10 kg fatter in four days
Home in Russia most often I eat sausages and butter-bread-sandwiches. That’s mostly because I’m lazy detested cooking. Here in Estonia my first shock was porridge, which I haven’t eaten since I was five years old.
When it comes to other specialities, the things connected with food are always at hand: ceramic cups, bought in lovely little shops of Old City, to drink in during evenings in the company of your beloved, and of course baked Almonds, which seem to be some kind of medieval chips. And last thing connected to food are the very friendly Estonian pigeons. They are always so closely connected to your food, that even now, when I’m sitting on the bench writing this article, two of them are walking around my legs. Only from Christian feelings I’ll go to a kiosk and buy some snack, otherwise they will soon eat me…
Elina, Russia
Churches of Nõmme
One of the days during the festival we visited some churches in the area where we were living: Nõmme. This short article contains a few facts about these.
Nikolai von Glenn was a rich German who owned many lands in Nõmme, which was at the end of 19 century a small town near Tallinn. Nikolai von Glenn and his son Manfred were Baptists.
Marina, Russia