Welcome to Europeia: Airbus
A New Interview Series by United Vietussia
Europeia is a wonderful place, full of people with diverse talents that when put together, make Europeia, well, Europeia. But we can't forget where it all begins. At some point or another, every citizen of Europeia was a newcomer. With my new series "Welcome to Europeia", we'll be talking with some prominent newcomers about how they're getting acclimated to Europeia, and how our integration efforts are working (or, in some areas, lacking).
This six-part series kicks off with Airbus, a citizen who has hopped into the jet stream of Europeia seamlessly, already holding down the position of Citizens' Assembly Chair. I got the chance to sit down with him recently and discuss his quick entry to Europeia.
What jumped out to you about Europeia that made you want to join?
Sheer randomness mostly. I was willing to buy a computer and found somebody whose name here was Grizzli. We were discussing in which way we lose our time online, and he told me about NationStates.
I had been on NationStates before, but was under 13 so NS was mostly about responding to issues for me. Naturally I got bored, left and forgot about this game. So, when I heard other people found it poignant, and understood there was a whole system of forums on and off site that I couldn’t access before I sprang to the occasion. Grizzli then told me that there was a region called Europeia which I would really like, that he didn’t have time for that anymore but really wanted other people like me to try it out.
When I arrived with my nation on NationStates I received this telegram from Penguin Territories, and saw this was something I ought to try. I certainly don’t regret.
What did you have to do when you first received citizenship?
My citizenship was processed exceptionally fast, but during processing and right after I tried to resolve myself to read a couple of laws in the law index every day, with the idea of “a law a day keeps the High Court away”. I also went into other places in the Pine-Euro library, namely the archives, to at least have a shallow understanding of where this region came from.
In your opinion, how did you go from a new citizen to Citizens’ Assembly Chair in such a short period of time?
The open mindedness of Europeians to having new people hold this position definitely helped. Whereas new citizen bids to the Presidency or challenges to the Supreme Chancellery have been met with much criticism and ridicule, Europeians don’t mind electing somebody with no experience to the Chairship when the Assembly is in relative good health, I believe because it is a short term with authority over a section of the forums, so that the impact of a failed term will be much more limited when that term is a CA Chair term than a Presidential term.
Also, like with every election, luck. Luck that my opponents posted either a short platform or a late platform, such that they received less questions during the pre-electoral period and therefore less occasions to conquer votes. Luck to have ended up in a runoff but not in a Senatorial vote. Luck for having received unexpected support. When there is more than one good candidate luck is a factor not to be forgotten.
How have you grown accustomed to Europeia?
Quite well. I must admit though that, at times, it is diverting me from what I should be doing. This region is overwhelming in information and professionalism, but everything is done to make newer citizens more easily involved. There is no such thing as “noobophobia” here, and that helps. Blending in this community has been easy enough for me, and I hope it will be for all new citizens.
What is your favorite aspect of Europeia?
Can I really speak of a favourite aspect if I do not know them all? From what I have seen, my favourite aspect of Europeia is the amount of time people here are ready to dedicate for a completely useless cause. It isn’t like you could put Europeian experience on your resume, yet the people here treat being Europeian as a second profession, taking time to write quality educational material, newspapers, laws, court rulings or platforms. Europeia is drenched with high quality, which makes simply lurching around the forums a pleasant experience.
Do you have any big plans in Europeia coming up that you can tell us about?
I will keep Chairing until the end of my term, and ensuring day to day activity in the Assembly, so that button on the forum page will always be coloured.
I have found worthy counsel within the [Citizens’ Assembly Advisory Board], and am currently working with them on a new angle of the Legislative Training Centre, so I hope I’ll be able to leave the Chairship having installed this. If not, I’ll have all next term in the CAAB to continue this challenging work.
Apart from that, continue activity and understand half…ok….a third of the memes here.
Airbus has certainly made waves as a newcomer, and after this interview, it seems like he's far from done. It's newcomers like him that embody the meaning of the Europeian spirit: if you have a dream and are willing to work hard to make it happen, it's never impossible.
