Volunteer work at the 49th international HI conference

49th international conference of the IYHF in Maribor (July 8th to July 12th 2012)

It was my first time to come to Maribor for the Lent festival and it really charmed me (both the city and the festival). The festival has a spirit and soul of its own, especially at night, with that extra magic. After that there was the 49th world conference of youth hostels at the hotel Habakuk, where I was a volunteer in a different way as usually in missions abroad, but still saw everything through the critical student eyes. There was six girls here, with the goal to promote the: Popotniško združenje Slovenije, and wish a warm Slovenian welcome to delegations from abroad, give them gifts (pocket tooth brushes, pocket knives, bags for documents, T-shirts, a scarf and a balloon with a special message seen only after it burst). It was interesting to see ladies with high heels jump on balloons to see the hidden messages. They came from 55 different countries worldwide.

In front of the restaurant Mr. Jurišič had an opening speech, as he was elected the wise-president of the entire international organization. He was followed by other speakers and the evening was concluded with local culinary specialise, topped off with excellent white and red wined of the region. Guests were charmed by the view of the Maribor and the valley, with beautiful nature and in general with the greenness of Slovenia. I’m sure there was no better way to open the conference.

Tuesday was all fancy, with the respect of the voting of the previous day, but the evening was relaxed again in the wine cellar of Vinag, a self-service dinner and champion wines. Late in the evening we concluded the festivities in Poštna ulica, with live music, excellent jazz and made friends with southern friend.

The last day of the conference was coming to the end quickly, so we decided to have a simple raffle and give CDs with selected Slovenian songs to the lucky winners. Mr. Ongart from Thailand invited us to the next conference in two years in Bangkok. The thing I’ll remember the most though is arranging the visas for the sheik of Qatar and also Muslim women from Kuwait and how they loved shoping in the Maribor malls.

With this I’d like to invite others to volunteer and join the Popotniško združenje Slovenije, for you know, the world is round in that’s how it turns.