At the Spring Congress, we discuss the future of EESTEC on an international level and set goals that we as an association want to achieve within the next years. Besides this, we vote on a new board, review applications of potential future members (meaning LCs not individual people) and do a ton of other stuff that is somehow related to our association. A congress usually takes about a week, which to be frank is a very long time. Partially this is due to the fact that there are also some activities like a city rally or an international night as well as some working sessions and talks by our sponsors (Making the people who bring the money happy is always important). But the Congress is more than just the official part with all its discussions and voting, it is also a great opportunity to experience the spirit of EESTEC. With (nearly) every branch being there, it becomes one big melting pot of people with different cultures, willing to meet others and to widen their horizon.
Enough general descriptions and explanations. How did my Congress go? The first day started with two working sessions about increasing the knowledge of us as representatives about EESTEC on an international level. As someone who hasn’t been that active on an international level, I profited a lot. I always knew that LC Zurich is proud to represent the crazier side of EESTEC. It still surprised me how many people joined EESTEC to increase their chances for a well-paid job. The focus of most Zurich people is more about meeting people from around Europe and having some sort of escape from their studies. Sadly, the city rally on the third day got cancelled because we needed more time for the official part. But this didn’t stop me and some others to do a spontaneous pub crawl in the evening after the official part was over. Or at least we had planned to do so. The first bar we found had a DJ performing live. We quickly agreed to stay there after listening to a few of his songs.
The evening of the fourth day ended with the international night. For the international night, everyone brings something to eat and something to drink from the region where he or she comes from. This way, one gets to try a ton of different stuff from all around Europe. LC Zurich traditionally shows up with raclette and Ricola Vodka. I’m sure everyone knows what raclette is, but I’m also pretty sure that most people don’t have a clue what Ricola Vodka is. Well, you’ll have to visit an EESTEC event to find out 😉 The party after the international night went wild. Mysteriously, some people showed up a few hours too late for the official part of the next day, and some others were caught resting their eyes for a rather long time during the official part. One participant summed up things pretty neatly: “One does not simply have Congress after an international night.” The days were pretty long and exhausting, but nevertheless we managed to have fun and make those unique friendships which one can only get from EESTEC.
