2

∞ Issue 2 – “The blue issue”

Heiko Brantsch, Editor ∞

Infinity - Issue 2Seriously, I always wanted to do this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adip-isicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ul-lamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehen-derit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui offi-cia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Well, I hope everyone is confused now.

This is issue 2 of Infinity alias “the blue issue”

Enjoy!

WWW.facEBook.com/LEIpzIg13InfInIty

∞ Issue 2

3 ∞

The rocky road to Leipzig

The Valentine’s Day confrontation

Session photo spread

Meet Lea, the Head Organizer

Eastern German stereotypes

Japanese ukulele-ripping Yetis

SoliTarity?

Infinity: The runner and the turtle

4-5

6-7

8-9

10-11

12

13

14

15

∞ Issue 2

4 Despina Dimitrakopoulou ∞

Dear diary,

Since the discovery of the train, the tram and the airplane, traveling, for the majority of people, is really not that problematic. For my case on the other hand, I believe that traveling by a wooden cart would be a lot easier.

Starting a trip by plane is usually eventless. Apart from initially getting to the wrong gate, with a plane flying to Barcelona, everything flowed normally. After stepping foot in the Leipzig airport though, things started falling apart. Due to a fight with the ticket-machine, that would not accept my money, I saw my train leaving, while my five-euro note was stuck in the wicket. That meant I had to wait for the next train, supposed to come in an hour. One hour and fifteen minutes later, an ice cube holding a bag and a suitcase covered in snow, was seen taking

the train to Leipzig – me. By sheer luck, I glimpsed the stop sign and descended to Hbf. Fortunately, I got on the right tram. Unfortunately, it was the wrong direction. And it took only 11 wrong stops to realize. So I ended up miles out of town, in a deserted tram station, with not enough change to buy another ticket, and my nose about to fall off. Finally I got on the right tram (but got down to the wrong stop!) and after walking for an hour through dark streets and empty parks, unable to feel my toes, I found the hostel!

I learned a lot of things during this trip, but also, I found out that Germans are really sweet, always willing to help any way they can, even a lost, uncoordinated, frozen Greek during the night.

Yours, Despina

Due to the hard weather conditions the trip to Leipzig turned out to be more than a typical adventure. Here are some words stolen from the journalists’ diaries who tried to get to the session.

The rocky road to Leipzig

5

∞ Issue 2

∞ teresa gisinger

Dear diary,

I had a challenging trip to Leipzig. Everything started with an e-mail informing me that my flight was cancelled one day before the session, so I had to call the service centre of the airline and after hours of discussing I luckily got a new flight.

At the day of departure I went to the airport with the expectation to arrive in Leipzig one time but unfortunately my trip turned out to even get more complicated. The snow in Vienna caused a lot of delays and therefore I arrived one hour later than expected. Although, I was running through the whole airport to get my connecting flight, I missed it. I was totally lucky that the staff at the airport helped me out

and without hesitation rebooked me to the next flight. So I had to wait at the Frankfurt airport for another 4 hours. Without internet access and a book it was quite challenging to kill the waiting time. So I went through the whole shops and made a lot of photos and videos form the leaving planes. Glad that I finally made it to Leipzig, the only challenge I had to face was getting to the youth hostel, which, with the help of the lovely organisers turned out to be quite easy. Without problems I took the tram to the hostel and arrived with only an one and half hour delay. Even though this trip was the most exhausting I have ever experienced, the session will definitely outweigh these efforts.

Yours, Teresa

∞ Issue 2

6 marek navrátil ∞

february, the 14th is a very strange day. the main purpose of this holiday is to connect people with love, passion and empathy. Instead, society is torn apart.

Yer, there is no reason to doubt the clear positivity of Valentine’s Day. All the critics limit theirselves to shallow judgments. they often mention that it is a waste of money or black-mail from the businessmen. These arguments do not reflect the big picture, though.

The most relevant aspect, we need to consider is the economy. We must face it – today’s world is all about money. If the economy thrives, people are doing well. In addition, one of the crucial problems of our economic system, nowadays, is the general underconsumption. Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to make people spend their money. When there is no money flowing, there is no way to spread it effectively. Buying your sweetheart an expen-sive box of chocolates represents a way of helping us all prosper.

furthermore, John Lennon once sang that all you need is love. this statement is more present than ever today. many young Europeans focus only on their job and do not really

wish for love and family. this lack of feeling causes our society to degrade. Without passion, people become cold and unfriendly. none of us,

hopefully, wishes to live in a hostile environment with no place for love, passion and empathy.

Occasions like Valentine’s Day help combat this phenom-enon. Single people who often have hard time communi-

cating with the opposite gender can consider february 14th a chance to ‘’break the curse’’ and find a lover. The presence of all the hearts and teddybears makes all boundaries go away.

for the already existing couples, who miss some kind of a spark, Saint Valentine’s is the perfect opportunity to refind

it. Boyfriends and husbands struggle to remember birthdays, anniversaries and other similar events. the 14th of february

is the only certainty during the whole year filled with ‘’important events’’. For those sceptics who claim that it is a waste of money:

if there is one area which should not be a target of austerity, than it is love, marriage and cheering the spouse.

a safe haven for desperate husbands. an anchor for those searching for love. and most importantly, a major help to the economy. that

is why Valentine’s Day represents pure goodness.

Valentine’s: A win-win

vs.

vs.

∞ Issue 2

∞ onur can Ucarer

Valentine’s Day? No.That day of the year again! February 14th, the Valentine’s Day tradition began more than 1000 years ago with writing poems. But now, it has become a worldwide event which cre-ates a revenue of millions of dollars within just one single day. While I do like the main idea of this day, I don’t really seem to understand the way it’s being celebrated nowadays.

Buying a gift just because it’s the day of “love” seems a really pretended act to me. In the beginning of this Valentine’s Day tradition, people used to write poems and letters to their lovers or making special gifts but now, this is a huge commercial event. Every shopping mall change their design specially for this day, making fancy pink products while just trying to get the attention of boys who are looking for presents. this old tradition has completely lost its main aim.

Valentine’s Day nowadays is terrible for everybody, for single people and also couples. this tradition has become more of a stressful event than a love day for the not-single peo-ple. Every person who has a partner is looking for a present weeks before and yet, even if they find it, they can’t know if their boyfriend/girlfriend is going to like it. Many think that when they buy an expensive gift, they are going to make their lover happy. as I see it, this is totally not what Valentine’s Day is supposed to be. Most of these people don’t even mention the word love. This is just a task that has to be done in the second week of february. this tradition ought to keep the couples tighter together, but let’s face it: Can you imag-ine how many couples have been in a fight just because of Valen-tine’s Day?

When we look at the other side, it becomes apparent that singles are suffer from this event, too, maybe even more so than couples. It con-stantly reminds them about their loneliness. When they’re at home, they see Valentine’s Day related ads on TV and the internet. When they go outside, they see hearts and pink presents in shops every-where.

Love is an intensive feeling and I think that using such a feeling to earn money this way is really wrong. The role Valentine’s day origi-nally was playing, used to be really nice and genuine but nowa-days, I and many others believe that Valentine’s day is really overrated and the tradition has been certainly mislead.

7vs.

vs.

∞ Issue 2

10 onur can Ucarer ∞

Meet Lea, the Head Organizer

Describe your task as a fruit.a strawberry maybe. I have roots but I can also spread. I’m doing something on my own but on the other hand I also have a whole team.

Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber?Or. I pick the “or” between them.

What does “infinity” mean to you? a journey. a journey with a certain aim.

What do you think of the Pope resigning? I am afraid of who comes next!

Your best moment of 2012? I went to Sweden for my Erasmus se-mester. We were bathing in the lake and eating homemade blueberry cake during the night. It was perfect.

You have organised 5 sessions and you will organise 2 more in the upcoming months. Where does your love to organising come from? What I like most is watching the progress. Everybody puts some effort into it and along with this team work, something great develops and I like being a part of it.

Could you describe the perfect organizer?a perfect orga is motivated and reliable. He/she is proactive and accepts deci-sions but on the other hand, never stops thinking about being critical at some points.

Describe your funniest EYP experience so far. I was an international organizer at the amsterdam IS and I was a member of team cow. at the farewell party, every-body wore chic and classy clothes and we entered the party wearing our cow costumes so that was one of the funni-est memories for me.

Why was Leipzig chosen as a city to organise the Regional Selection Conference? What did you aim for as a national committee?Honestly, I am studying in Halle. At first, we were thinking about organising the session there because I wanted to hon-our my hometown because it’s often neglected although it’s beautiful. But unfortunately, no one in Halle supported us. Usually, we aim to organise ses-sions at schools but no school in Halle or its surroundings wanted to support so that’s why we chose Leipzig. It’s nearby and we can find all the necessary things around.

11

∞ Issue 2

∞ Veronika Datzer

Meet Lea, the Head Organizer

What is your favourite part of an EYP session? As an organiser, I think I’ll enjoy the closing ceremony the most. There I’ll see the result of 10 months of work and I can see in the participant’s faces whether the effort I put in this session was worth or not.

What advice do you have for somebody who would like to organise a session? Dare to take responsibility because that’s how you can get far.

Thank you for the Interview!

∞ Issue 2

12 Veronika Datzer ∞

ones that should free themselves from any stereotypes. these are the very persons that make the change. as long as there is the tolerance, acceptance and the eagerness to experience some-thing new, the argument of a tributary attitude cannot persist. these days, a trabant is one of a kind. Being equipped with barely two seat-belts attached to the front seats, no real airbags, and a maximum speed of about 70 km/h it is “Oldie“ and also “Goldie“, but it is not up to date. you go by tra-bant because you are feeling nostalgic, you want experience something differ-ent, but you won’t go to work by it. the only stereotype being proven is the big amount of square-shaped buildings. Sitting in one right now, you, dear read-er will realise that this is true. But the question to ask yourself is: “Does this matter?” There are stereotypes about germans, Italians, frenchmen and many more. But then again, when it all comes down, what really matters are the individual personalities of people rather than the countries or areas where they grew up.

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” that is what albert Einstein said. trav-elling to Eastern germany, a part of the country with a very different historical background, certain stereotypes come to one’s mind. Although Germany has been reunited for more than 20 years the unconscious thought of two sepa-rated “Germanys” is remaining. What Eastern german people are supposed to be is indeed a collection of preju-dices. they are bathing naked, have a tributary attitude and still nostalgically dream about the good old times when everyone had a certain and firm posi-tion within society. When trabants were the only cars and houses were square shaped.the attitude of being a member of so-ciety, but not being a real individual, is what one could connect with the system of Socialism. Still, is it even possible that within two decades of a new gov-ernment, a different social system and the freedom to pursue any dreams de-sired, this vision persists? What is indis-pensable at this point is to think of the new generation. the youth of today, the

Bavarians are defined by Oktoberfest, folk dresses and enormous amount of beer. People from the North of Germany are having fish for every meal, and the attitude of some is supposed to be rather unfriendly. And then there is Eastern Germany.

EastErn GErman stErEotypEs

> Easter(n) bunnies are bathing naked.

∞ Issue 2

13∞ marek navrátil

Almost every aspect of the session has been explained at some point. Organisers, chairs, journalists – their job is obvious. But there have been rumours about a mys-terious group of people.

they introduced themselves before the start of committee Work. It has been cleared that they are responsible for the selection of delegations. they have been wandering around committee rooms, observing. It is only obvious that their presence rouses doubts... and con-spiracy. Let’s mention the most popular ones.

1. gHoStS

at the committee room, they seem to be invisible. a theory has emerged that it is no coincidence – the jury is a group of supernatural creatures. they can walk through walls, whisper in the air and scare random bypassers. the cause of their death and turn into ghosts remains unknown though. nevertheless, our paper went investigative. We found out that this conspiracy does not have any real basis. We touched the jury mem-bers and we can confirm now that they are flesh-based.

2. kgB agEntS

Sneaking around with notebooks, watching delegates. for some people at the session is this a clear signal that the jury members are not what they are said to be. their agenda during the committee Work is to look for personal details and possible danger to Russia.

Japanese ukulele-ripping Yetis?

they carry a cell phone in their pockets with a direct connection to moscow. the Infinity will take the liberty to prove this theory wrong. the jury members used to be kgB agents, but they dropped this job before the session to stay impartial and righteous.

3. pHILoSopHERS

according to one version are the ju-rors here for a totally different purpose than most people think. they are not associated with the Eyp anyhow. they are local wisemen who visit this part of Leipzig to do their ‘’job’’. Like the usu-al philosopher, they sit in a room and think about the world, life and universe. the discussions in the committees are only a background. the only reason why they don’t have the typical antic full beard (?) is that they do not want peo-ple to know about their occupation. and some of them are women, which does not corespond with the beard either. the results of their contemplation remain un-known. Since we discovered their actual affiliation to the EYP, this theory is easy to refuse as well.

Do not fear the jury. they are normal humans just like you are.

… Or are they?

∞ Issue 2

14 Despina Dimitrakopoulou ∞

With the economic crisis, clash and division have come to our doorstep. Words of blame are being shouted out on television screens, entire nations are put under the loophole and European cooperation seems to be a forgotten term. In spite of the diplomatic moves made by representatives of each country, the actual results of their efforts seem more focused on national policies than on European cooper-ation. Instead of working towards a common goal, European countries seem to hide behind excuses while aiming to acquire national profit.

Writing from the perspective of a resident in a country tightly bonded to the Euro-crisis, everything connected to the E.U. seems writ-ten on a red canvas. Whether or not what we read and listen to in the media is true or false, panic is the spreading among us anyway. It feels like the future we’ve dreamt about, while being under the false promises of the E.U., is now falling apart. the stability of the union we believe in only needs an economic threat to be demolished. In order to protect and increase national gain, European countries seem ready to take the necessary steps, even if it means excluding a nation from the Union or imple-menting harsh rules that “will sometime in the future repair the faulty economy”. Extreme plans of action and austerity measures have become an everyday reality. In fact, however,

the course of the crisis many implemented measures were made in violation of national institutions, leaving the international communi-ty untouched.

Inside the E.U. the whole situation is not viewed passively. from naming the countries in debt the p.I.g.S. of the Union, to being in favour of the expulsion of certain countries from the euro zone and the union, it is under-stood that the overall feeling is indignation. However, if we want to really understand the source of this crisis, it would be wrong to overlook the fact that corruption always has two sides, and that a judgment that ignores the historical background can only be false. there have been a lot of accumulating, international, mistakes that brought us here, and pointing the finger to only one direction will not solve the problem. Indeed, such an approach can only make it worse, while fear of a fall-down, anger and diplomatic disputes are a vicious cycle.

the European Union was built on the pillars of trust, of international aid and solidarity. as the economic crisis moves on, a bigger threat hoovers above us, the E.U. crisis of solidarity. Will we let the European countries forget the union they promised and a future with uncondi-tional solidarity?

SoliTarity?The European dream – a Union of countries bound together and moving as one. It is a Union that brings progress and prosperity, casting aside the differences that tear us apart but, has solidarity in the E.U. become a dangerous, solitary game of solitaire?

∞ Issue 2

15∞ maja zalewska

Infinity is a very tricky concept to work with, as evidenced by the ancient Greek philosophers. They had a hard time trying to comprehend the idea of infinity, or zero. For them it was not simply an issue of mathematical formulas to prove, but a serious moral and existential problem.

for instance, zeno of Elea came up with the concept of a runner and a turtle, racing. the runner, being confident, let the turtle have a head start. Zeno assumed that whenever the runner caught up with the turtle, it had already moved further forward. therefore, the runner could never get ahead of the turtle. However, if Zeno had considered the concept of infinity, it would have been possible for the man to overhaul the animal.

Even though in the times of the boom of science many mathematical problems had been solved, the infinite theory was left undefined. There were still many questions bothering the scientists about the dimensions of numbers and sets, such as:

• How many times can we add the same number?• What is the biggest number then? Is there any at all?• What is the cardinal number of integers? • Does it equal the cardinal number of real numbers?• How many real numbers are there between two integers?• Are there more than one types of infinity?

aforementioned questions are more or less answered nowadays; nevertheless, there are still many uncertainties to them. But this is exactly what the whole idea of infinity is about.

The infinity is the key to understand the universe. When you eventually realise its meaning, it will turn your life upside down. you will understand that all your problems are really irrelevant and trivial. your huge amount of worries will shrink to R2 sphere, while the essence of life is in Rn, where n diverges.

Infinity, most often denoted as ∞, is an unbounded quantity that is greater than every real number. The symbol itself was first introduced in 1655 by John Wallis, an English cryptographer.

InfinityThe runner and The TurTle