Reflections upon 5th Comenius Project Meeting – Dunaharaszti, Hungary

Viribus Unitis

http://viribusunitis.org/

7th -11th October 2013

Written by the students of VIII PALO Kraków, Poland

Polish Representatives:

Tadeusz Borucki – deputy head, Anna Krzemińska-Kaczyńska – geography teacher

VIII PALO International Baccalaureate Students: Daria Omilianowska, Magdalena Zawieracz, Jędrzej Miklaszewski, Julia Fiutowska, Justyna Kacińska, Agnieszka Dzido

TOPIC: ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY

1.                  By Magdalena Zawieracz, pre-IB

We arrived to Hungary on Monday, 7th of October, but the official part of the meeting started on Tusday, 8th of October.  Our Hungarian friends welcomed us with open arms. At first we went to the community centere were school choir and band performed Abba songs. It was rather pleasant and very enjoyable. Pupils form Hungary made some special hungarian cookies and cakes for us and they were all so delicious.  Afterwards every  country had an introducing speech about themselves,  school they came from, and a little bit about their country . After lunch there came time for presentations about alternative sources of energy. Each country had a presentation about the wind energy, bio gas, solar panels etc. Though the presentations were very similar, we enjoyed them and we could not wait to show our movie to people form  other countries.  After few hours of presentations there was Hungarian Dance party, and it  was my favourite part of that day. It was a  very nice change  to dance after  spending the whole day on sitting and watching the presentations.

The next day we went to Budapest to explore the city. We saw some beautiful places like The Parliament or  the glorious Budda Castle and  we went to a boat trip on the river Danube. We had some  free time just for ourselves and it was a great adventure to walk through the city streets with a map and get to know the Budapest better . That day we also had a delectable meal in one of the Hungarian restaurants.

On Thursday  we went to the South – Pest waste plant that produces  bio gas and bio energy. We learned a lot about the process of production and we were able to feel how it is to work in a waste plant. The odor was horrible and we could not breath without the scarf. Although it was a very interesting place we were happy when we finally got to our car and went to the hotel. That afternoon there was a farewell party. We had a lot of fun dancing and eating Hungarian food.  We met some new people and we had an amazing time. Unfortunately it was our last day in Hungary, but we will never forget this trip and we will think fondly about it.

I enjoyed this Comenius meeting very much! I can not wait for the next meeting that is going to take place in our beautiful city of Cracow.

2.                  By Julia Fiutowska, pre-IB

The first day of our trip was Monday. We arrived in Dunaharashti at 4PM  and depending where we were suppose to live some of us stayed at the hostel and the rest went with their host families houses. I lived with Dankó family, they live in a small village called Apaj about 30 km from Dunaharashti. After we got to their house I met the whole family and with Lily we went for a walk around Apaj.

On Tuesday all participants of the Comenius Project arrived to the Community Centre where the opening ceremony begun. First the headmaster of the school gave the opening speech both in English and Hungarian, later the local band and school choir performed ABBA songs. The next part of the meeting were intro speeches. Every participating country (Hungary, Czech Republic, Finland, Slovenia, Greece, Turkey, Lithuania, Poland) gave about 10 minutes long speech about themselves. After that we watched a movie about Hungarian school that hosted the project this time and later the most important part of the meeting started. Every country starting with Hungary made a presentation about  alternative energy sources in their country. Some of them were shorted some were longer but each country tried to make their presentation special and unique. The one I remember  best in Finnish students presentation. They not only made a presentation in PowerPoint but also they showed us short interviews they made with workers of factories connected with creation and extraction various kinds of energy. When our Polish team finished our presentation we also showed all students and teachers a short film about Cracow and our school because it is where the next Comenius Project will be held. The last attraction prepared for Tuesday was Hungarian Folk Dance Party. I have to admit we had a lot of fun during that dance. Later all groups came back to hostels or their hosting families but we went with our teachers to see Budapest at night. It was an amazing experience for me because it was my first time in Budapest and I was really amazed by the view. Around 9PM we came back to Dunaharashti and went to sleep.

On Wednesday we went for Budapest tour. Firstly we all met in Buda castle and we spent there two hours. Later we had a boat trip on Danube river. Thru the windows we could see the parliament, which we visited after the boat trip and lunch break.  In my opinion it is a really beautiful building both on the inside and on the outside, it looked very official and the colours that dominated in it: green and gold showed the importance and richness of that place. After that we split from the rest of the group, they went to do  more sightseeing and we had a free time for shopping. Later we came back to our houses to rest before the next day.

Thursday was our last whole day spent in Hungary. In the morning we drove to the South -Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant to see the production of Bio energy. For me that was the least enjoyable part of our project meeting. After that we went to buy our family some souvenirs and we ate lunch, Student’s Workshops at school were suppose to start at 2PM. During those lessons we were divided into three groups and each group did something different. In my group we made a brochure of the meeting in Dunaharashti in which we participated. Than we had to prepare for Farewell Party Diner which started at 6PM and ended with dance party at 10PM. We spent really great time at that dance mostly thanks to a band that was playing. I think all participants would agree that they did a splendid job.

   Friday was the day of our departure. I was sad to leave this place and all memories behind. As a goodbye gift I gave my hosting family souvenirs from Cracow and by my surprise they also gave me a small present. Later we gathered in Dunaharashti and started our journey back home. We arrived in Cracow around 3:30PM, and that was the end of our short adventure.

It was the first Comenius Meeting I participated in, and I have to say it was a really great experience. I met a lot of new people and the family that hosted me was really amazing, and I think I can say that they did everything they possibly could to make my feel welcome and make my stay there special. Also I was able to see a lot of new places thanks to the trips that were organized by the Hungarian team. I am pleasantly surprised by the appearance on Hungarian people. They were all very friendly and despite small communication problems we got along very well.           

3.                  By Agnieszka Dzido, pre-IB

The first, and official part of the meeting started on Tuesday, 8^th of October. At first, we were amazed by the hospitality of our friends, Hungarians. They’ve made an effort to create welcoming signs for the participants in their native language. A Simple, but very nice gesture. Then the opening ceremony begun, performed by the school choir and band which we had real pleasure to listen. After the welcoming, and introduction speeches of each country, there came a time for the most educational part of the meeting, presentations about alternative energy sources. Each presentation was really interesting, and even though they were on the same topic, they were all different, and were carrying some thought- provoking messages. The whole day finished with Hungarian Folk Dance Party which was a very pleasant change after spending rather passive then active day, and by the way a lot of fun! Of course, during the day we got lunch and some other goodies served on the spot.

On the next day, we were sightseeing wonderful Budapest. The most important places we saw were: The Buda Castle and The Parliament. Both were extremely beautiful and definitely worth seeing. Between  them, we had a boat trip on River Danube which let us admire Hungarian architecture. After all we were given some free time to explore the downtown of Budapest by ourselves.

The last day of the meeting (except for the day of departure), we started with visiting the South- Pest wastewater treatment plant to see the production of Bioenergy. A very lecturing trip, yet also a little bit hard to resist because of the bad odor. Later on that day, we were taken to some really involving workshop classes at the school. We finished that day with the farewell party, where I made a lot of new friends, and had some absolutely amazing time until the very last second.

I wanted to thank all the Hungarian participants, for organizing this meeting, and I hope to see you again next time in Poland! J

4.                  By Justyna Kacińska, pre-IB

Introduction

From October the 7^th- 11^th 2013 there was Comenius meeting in Dunaharaszti, Hungary.  Six students from our school took part in this exchange. Three of us were living in hotel and the rest was living in host families.

 Formal parts of meeting were very interesting. During the first day we went to Dunaharaszti community center. The opening was amazing. There was an orchestra and school’s choir performance. Later, every team (Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Finland and Poland) had presentation about their school and renewable resources. On Thursday we went to biogas plant. The trip lasted about 2 hours and our tour guide told us about the processes wastes need to go through to obtain the energy. In the evening there was official dinner gathering all people from countries taking part in Comenius.

Of course, there were informal parts, which were enormous virtues. On Thursday evening and Wednesday we had a chance to explore Budapest. Beautiful buildings and incredibly nice people made this amazing atmosphere, which makes Budapest such a beautiful city. Hungarian team took us for a boat ride through the Danube. Except that we went to the Parliament and, Budai Castle and Citadel.

Conclusion

To conclude I think the meeting in Hungary was really amazing. People from other countries were nice and hopefully there were almost no problem with hosting families. We had great time in taking part in program that promotes healthier and better for our planet life. Now we are looking forward to organizing the next meeting in Poland in February 2014.

5.                  By Jędrzej Miklaszewski, pre-IB

Firstly we had to get there, the road wasn’t so boring because of our lovely geography teacher, who organized all this project meeting to Hungary. When we finally get there those who were living in the families met them and those who were sleeping in the hostel  started to unpacking themselves. On Tuesday we have in plan the official part of meeting in Hungary which was that all the countries (Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Turkey, Lithuania and last but not least- Poland) have to present the renewable energy in their countries (wind, solar, biogas, geothermal, , water, ).  I’ve been twice in Budapest and every time it makes me really excited. It’s such a  beautiful place where I could surely live in. On Wednesday we were exploring the Budapest from the best sites , we’ve visited old castle on the top  of the hill and the beautiful and exciting parliament, but before that we took a boat trip upon the main Budapest river Danube which was cool too.  On Thursday we were taken to waste plant center, which was really really stinky but also very interesting. In this place they produce biogases  and bioenergy with waste plants, unfortunately our clothes didn’t smell beautifully after all. In the evening we have official ending of our meeting on Hungary, which was really cool and we have so great time with all of those project participants and the greatest part I think was the party which was on the last evening  everyone danced and it was so great. I miss all of these people but they will come to Poland in February so its time for us to show our national and local green city!

Organized by VIII PALO school project coordinator AK-K

Our Comenius Project Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Our Comenius Project Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Viribus Unitis - help the world with joint efforts!

2013

From the very beginning I had big expectations from this project. First of all I really love travelling so I was very happy to be able to visit green Ljubljana.  Secondly – I was looking forward to meet new people, get to know their culture, outlook and all the differences between our countries. The last from the most important aspects was the language – I had a wonderful occasion to practise my language skills. And so I did! Furthermore, I learned some new words in Slovenian – “hvala!”.

Just as we arrived to Ljubljana, we met our native guide – Jaka. Our group immediately found him very friendly. He also had the same sense of humor, so every time we went out with him we had a lot of fun. He also introduced us to his friend Daniel. And so we already had two new native friends. On the second day the students of the hosting school prepared for us a quick tour around the building, showed us the classrooms where we could see how things worked and we could talk with the teachers.

During next few days we had a chance to get familiar with students from other countries. Students that I personally remember the most were from Czech Republic and Turkey with whom I had a pleasure to work with during creating posters on recycling.

In the evenings we had enough time to look around in Ljubljana, do some shopping and drink hot chocolate while admiring the view of the city. The teachers also had planned a small tour to the castle of Ljubljana, Predjama castle (which was simply breathtaking), and Postojna cave where I took many photos. The great national Slovenian heritage was presented to all ECO-PARTENRSJ

The most important and awaited parts of the whole trip were our presentations. I was very nervous before our “Mineral resources” presentation, but the audience was very sympathetic and full of enthusiasm. Despite the technical problems, even our short play about Cracow’s culture worked out nicely. I also had a chance to present some green photos from Kraków taken by me to the participants of Comenius which was a big pleasure and pride for me.

I would certainly wish to take part in such event again. I also can’t wait to greet student from different countries here, in Poland, and to listen to teachers from India and the USA as they are going to visit our school soon.

I would like to thank for this chance, and I hope to come to Ljubljana once again in the future.

Agnieszka Kunstman, IB 1

Reflections upon 1st Comenius Project Meeting – Yalova, Turkey

Viribus Unitis

http://viribusunitis.org/

6th -9th November 2012

Written by the students of VIII PALO Kraków, Poland

IB2 class student: Maciek Bielski :

Preparations for our meeting in Yalova within the Comenius project started in mid-October, just after we

made our team consisting of me and my three classmates: Gabriela, Karolina and Weronika. We have started

from gathering useful data that would help us with preparing the presentation on the project’s main theme

– water. Each of us was allotted the questions that we were supposed to answer the presentation. We were

also asked to prepare a questionnaire that we published on the Internet in order to get as many answers as

we could. In the mean time we managed to make a plan of our preceding visit in Istanbul and organize things

such as hostel etc. Then, after collecting all needed data, we made the presentation that we were about to

show in Turkey.

Istanbul welcomed us with warm weather and great atmosphere. Three days we spent there were great part

of our whole trip, as we could not only see but also experience life there. We were sightseeing the oldest

part of the city with all the monuments and mosques, which will certainly be remembered for a long time.

Then we went to Yalova for the project itself. Our host-families greeted us with great hospitality, it is

perceived as really enlightening experience. We managed to make new friends and we are looking out for

other meetings.

VIII PALO – IB World School – Kraków, Poland. http://www.viiipalo.krakow.pl/

Page 2

IB2 class student - Weronika Kiebzak:

Our trip to Turkey was undoubtedly an interesting experience. We started our preparations long before the

actual depart by gathering information on conditions of water in Cracow and preparing a presentation. We

carried out a penetrating research that deepened our knowledge on this subject. In Turkey, we were able to

watch the presentations of other countries. During our stay in Yalova we found various ways to

communicate with our host families and other participants of the Comenius. Luckily, we were able to make

new friendships. We were also astonished by the great hospitability of Turkish people. We were treated as

members of our host families and our correspondents saw us off with tears.

During our stay we spent 3 days in Istanbul and a few days in Yalova. We were able to observe cultural

differences between Polish and Turkish people and even between citizens of those two cities. Moreover, we

were very pleased with the atmosphere of Istanbul, which was rather surprising, as we had heard that this is

a dangerous city. Still, it must be admitted that Istanbul has a specific atmosphere that can’t be compared to

any other European city. Is it surprising how many differences there are between Istanbul and Yalova

although they are so close.

All in all, our trip to Turkey was very inspiring. We have many new experiences, we managed to work

collaboratively with others on WATER, we developed our organizational skills and increased our awareness

of the cultural diversity across the world.

IB2 class student - Karolina Sioda:

On 10th November me and three other students from my class had a chance to go to Turkey for a six day

trip. Three days of our journey we spent in Istanbul living just by the Blue Mosque. We saw a lot of amazing

places and monuments and mosques including Hagia Sophia and Marmara Sea coast. After three days of

fruitful sightseeing mostly around Sultanahmet district, we went with students from Partner countries to a

small city called Yalova. It is on the opposite side of Marmara sea and it is a small village. We went there for

the Comenius project, which aim is to unite people from all Europe, exchange each participant country's

culture and to discuss a important ecological issue. In our project, during the first meeting we were talking

about water and it's resources. Each group talked about their water reservoirs, drinking water and sewage

systems. We also had a chance to see water treatment plant and Yalova's water source.

The whole trip was a great experience and opportunity to try Turkish cuisine (kebab is much better in

Poland, but Turkish tea is just amazing!), know their religion and customs better. Also knowing people from

Slovenia, Latvia or Finland and other partner schools was really nice and we had a great time there. We are

all looking forward for next meeting hopefully in Slovenia!

Organized by PACK school project coordinator AK-K

TV report - Meeting at Dunaharaszti

Tv program about the project meeting on Kisduna Television

Project Meeting at Duanaharaszti, Hungary

On Monday we took a morning train to Budapest at 6:35 a.m. Trip to there was pretty fun because we had each other to talk with. After we arrived, we were taken to the school in a mini-bus, where we met our hosts. Our first impression of the town was good, not really exactly the same we imagined. We also met the students from other countries and had a great time. After that we went to their houses. The host family was really nice. On the Tuesday morning we went to the hall where we stayed for about a whole day. We really liked the school choir and the school orchestra. Students from Hungary, Finland, Turkey, Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic and also we had presentations about alternative energy sources. Between both parts of presentations we took a lunch break. I think that lunch was tasty. Part after presentations where we were dancing Hungarian national dances was pretty fun and at the same time we learned something new. After presentations and dancing part we spent some time with our hosts or just went to their houses. That day was pretty productive, we learned a lot of new information about alternative energy sources of other countries.

 The third day in Hungary, Wednesday, we took a tour around Budapest. First we saw the castle, then we took a ride on a boat called Legenda. Before we went to parliament, we took a lunch break. Most of students went to Burger King. The parliament was beautiful, and I still remember a lot of information about the parliament and also the crown. In the evening we rode to the famous statue of Liberty. I like the day because it was also very interesting and at the same time we got some free time to explore Budapest a little by ourselves, too. The view from the statue of Liberty in the night is just stunning, just like Budapest itself. I definitely want to visit Budapest one more time (or more of course).

 Thursday had up and downs. I didn’t like a tour of a Bioenergy plant, mostly because of its smell, but at the same time it was pretty interesting. We drove back to school, where we had workshop class. We built some kind of wind turbines made of paper. The best part was, of course, farewell dinner. Food was good, music was great, we could talk to other students just in case if we never talked before. We felt like we could relax a bit and do more socializing because we learned so much in the past three days. Everything ended too soon, around 10 p.m.

 On Friday morning we went to buy souvenirs and things like that and then just went to the meeting point from where we were taken to the train station. We said our last goodbyes (but I hope they really aren’t the last ones) to the hosts and host families and got on 1 p.m. train back to Ljubljana. The whole week was just great, I met a lot of new people and connected more with ones I knew before, learned a lot of things which I’d probably never would without this exchange. I think it’s important to know these things and I wish more people would be aware of it, so I think the whole project is great and I hope I’ll get lucky so I can attend some more exchanges.

Patricia Arh 2.C

MONDAY

On the 7th of October 2013 we took the train  started the trip to Budapest, Hungary. Train travelled through Croatia so we had to go to Zagreb first and than we arrived to Dunaharaszti where we were accommodated. The trip was very fun with good company, so the 10-hour ride wasn't boring. When we arrived to Dunaharaszti around 5 pm we first met our hosts and their professors, and they took us to their school. The hosts welcomed us very nicely and we've quickly became friends. Three of us were accommodated in the apartment. We had to cook by ourselves. On Monday we didn't have any plans so we had free time in the evening.

TUESDAY

We woke up at 6.30 and started our day with fresh breakfast. This day was the most important for us because we had presentations about alternative sources of energy. We went to the community center where the Hungarian hosts had prepared drinks and desserts. We began with presentation of our countries and our professors spoke about importance of the energy sources for our world etc. Than we started presentations about energy sources. Every country had to present few sources of energy (Wind energy, bioenergy, solar energy, alternative sources of energy etc.). I think that's very good to share our information about energy in our countries to make world better.

WEDNESDAY    

Wednesday was the most interesting day for me, because we saw the metropolis Budapest, a very interesting, beautiful and huge city. The best sight in town was the view from Fisherman Bastion from where you can see greater part of the city. We had a walk around those attractions such as Liberty statue, the Minister's house, Eagle statue etc. After that we went to the boat from where we saw attractions from other view. Than we had a lunch break at McDonalds. After lunch we  visited Budapest parliament and the crown of the king. After that we went sightseeing of beautiful Budapest at night. I've never seen so beautiful town at the night. Everything is illuminated and that view just take your breath away. After sightseeing we went to our hosts or apartments to prepare for next day.

THURSDAY

On tursday we went to visit the production of bioenergy in Sewage Works near Budapest. Their mission is to establish environment friendly technologies. They produce biogas through its activities and apart from its wastewater collection and treatment core activities. We didn't like the smell in there but it was still interesting to see the most eco way of energy production. After seeing bioenergy production we went to Dunaharaszti where Hungarian students and their teachers prepared work for us. We were divided in few groups. One group was making wind turbines, another was making presentations on computers, and the third one was making fridge magnets etc. Than we had a farewell dinner in a prestigious restaurant. We really enjoyed there. Food was really great, band made a great atmosphere, so that was really great evening for us. Our professor played the drums with band and yeah, he is the best. We were so enthusiastic about him. Then came the last words from each country, their thanks ...

FRIDAY

Friday was time to depart from Hungary and our friends. Around 12 pm we met at the restaurant where we had a farewell dinner, sat in the minibus and went to the train station, followed by a farewell from our hosts. Our train went 1.30 pm. I wish I come back to Hungary again, because I've really enjoyed there. My opinion about people there is that they are really friendly, they've accepted us really well. I've no bad words for them. I wish I will meet them once in my life again. Thanks to all who have given me the opportunity to see Hungary, to meet people there, to learn something new.

Tilen Resnik, 3.G

Workshop in Ljubljana

Od 8. do 12. aprila se je na naši šoli odvijal projekt »Viribus Unitis - Help the world with joint efforts« (http://viribusunitis.org/ ) v programu Comenius šolska partnerstva. Projekt, finaciran iz evropskih sredstev, je osredotočen na ekološke probleme, v katerem sodelujejo dijaki stari od 14-20 let. Štiri glavne teme, katere povezujejo projekt so: problematika vodnih virov, ločevanje odpadkov, ekološki odtisa in druga ekološka področja. Sodelovalo je 60 dijakov in učiteljev iz sedmih različnih držav. Predstavile so se nam Finska, Madžarska, Češka, Litva, Poljska, Turčija in Grčija. Dijaki naše šole so imeli enkratno priložnost in sicer gostiti dijaka iz ene izmed sedmih držav. Tudi sama sem se ponudila in tako gostila dijakinjo iz Finske. Bilo je enkratno in neponovljivo doživetje. Prvi dan smo se vsi skupaj prvič zbrali v učilnici 310. Vsaka država je imela nalogo raziskati o kateri ekološki temi ali problemu bo predstavljala širši publiki. Jaz in Nejc sva celotno zadevo povezovala, da nebi prišlo do zmede. Tako smo veliko novega izvedeli o topli gredi, segrevanju zemlje,… Celotna zadeva je potekala vse tja do 10 ure, nato pa so imeli dijaki organiziran ogled šole. Po ogledu je sledilo nadaljevanje predstavitev. Po končanih predstavitvah, pa se je vsaka država posebej še predstavila. Dan smo zaključili v bowling centru Arena v Ljubljani. Tam smo imeli možnost še bolje spoznati vsakega posebej. Naslednji dan so imeli gostujoči dijaki organiziran ogled Ljubljanskega gradu, nato pa smo se odpravili v Španske borce. Ogledali smo si šolsko predstavo, ob enem pa so se tudi druge šole predstavile nam. s svojimi tradicionalnimi plesi, pesmimi ali navadami. Vse skupaj je bilo zelo zanimivo in ob enem smo izvedeli marsikaj zanimivega. Po končani prireditvi smo se odpravili v šolo. Imeli smo delavnice, zopet na temo ekologija. Dijaki so se pomešali med seboj v 5 različnih skupin. Njihova glavna naloga je bila pripraviti plakat in predstavitev na določeno temo. Tako so imeli čas se spoznati drug z drugim in izvedeti kaj več o ekologiji in problemih. V šolskem studiju pa smo snemali krajše intervjuje. Izbrali smo 7 dijakov in 7 učiteljev iz vsake države. Na kratko smo jih izprašali o bivanju v Sloveniji, zanimivih krajih ki so jih videli itd. Vse skupaj se je zaključilo okoli pete ure popoldan. Na četrtek smo se v jutranjih urah odpravili z avtobusom proti Postojni. Tam smo si ogledali grad in muzej, potem pa še Postonjsko jamo. Dijaki in učitelji so bili zelo zadovoljni in navdušeni nad našimi lepotami Slovenije. Tako je dan hitro prešel v večer. Zopet smo se še zadnjič zbrali v gostilni Vodnikov hram, kjer smo celotno doživetje zaključili ob večerji in s podelitvami certifikatov. Zabavali so nas Mladi Gamsi in skupina Imset. Tako smo vse skupaj zaključili. Naslednji dan so se prve odpravile proti domu finke, nato pa so jim sledile še ostale države. Madžari so se odpravili zadnji in sicer v soboto. Vesela sem, da sem imela možnost gostiti nekoga iz druge države, sodelovati pri projektu in tako ob enem spoznati veliko novih ljudi. Upam, da se v oktobru zopet snidemo, ko se naši dijaki odpravljajo na Madžarsko. Katja Vesel, 3. G

My trip to Greece

I had such an amazing time in Greece. I wish I could go back, I already miss all the things..the sun, the sea, all the people, everything to be honest. I' m going to guide you through my journey.

First we all met at the train station in Ljubljana where we waited for a mini van which then took us to the Ronchi airport. I was really excited and at the same time nervous because it was my first flight with an airplane. But it wasn't that scary and I must say the view from the plane was gorgeous. We were able to see miles and miles away. 

 

 

 

 When we landed a bus drove us to the city where we met the families who were we staying with. I was a bit tired that day, so as soon as we arrived to the house I took a little nap.

The next day we went to school in the morning where we and all the other students had their presentations. I didn't expect there would be so many students and it was interesting seeing and listening to such different people, the languages were really diverse. After the presentations we had a workshop where we made and also sang a song about waste. Later that day we were able to go anywhere we wanted so we met with some of the others students and we went for a long walk through Athens. It's a really big and beautiful city but almost every street looks exactly the same, so if I was alone I would have gotten lost the first second.   

 

 

 On Wednesday we had a guided tour. First we went to the Parthenon, it's really beautiful but also really enormous. After that we also visited the Acropolis Museum where we saw how Athens incurred and also old parts of the city. After the tour we went back to the school where we had a workshop again. We painted empty boxes of eggs, it was really fun and while we were doing this we also had a chance to communicate with other students and get to know them and their country better.

 

 

And then it was already Thursday, our journey was coming to an end very quickly. We went to the Borre museum where we saw a  whole collection of interesting paintings made out of recycled materials. After that we visited the Marathon race museum where they had a lot of medals, scores from the past year and they even had shoes from some of the contestants. We also saw the Dam of Marathon which is really big and provides water to the city. After all of this we went to the beach where we ate delicious and also unusual food and ran up and down the beach but because the wind was blowing so much we got sand in our shoes, hair, bags and pretty much everywhere. At the end of the day we had dinner somewhere in the center of the city. We had a had a lot of fun that evening, we were dancing and having fun with other students and teachers.

 

 

 So the journey was at its end. We only had one more day before we went home, so we wanted to make the most of our last day in Greece. We went for an one out trip with all of the students, even the Greeks to Sounio. We had a really great view on the sea. All of us really started to like each other and we got along really well and because we didn't want to say goodbye yet, we decided that we should spend our last day together as long as possible.

 

We met in front of the hotel and first went for a walk through the center of Athens where we had a chance to buy souvenirs and anything else we wanted to. After that we had a desire to go to Starbucks and just like magic POOF! and we were there. There we met some of the other students and spent the the rest of our night there.

 

 

I didn't expect that I would have such an splendid time and I also didn't think that it would be so hard to say goodbye to all of the amazing people I met, I really got attached  to all of them. But we promised that one day, all of us will meet someday somewhere. And I'm really excited and thrilled to host some of you guys here in Slovenia.   

Athens

I was really nervous because it was my first time on the airplane, but it was ok. The view was amazing, but I slept most of the trip there. When we came to Athens we met our hosting families. I was staying with Melina and she hosted me and Greta from Lithuania.

At first I thought the houses are very beautiful and big, the streets are very narrow and there were no pedestrian crossing. In the afternoon we went to the mall and i was surprised how much people were shopping and they have so many shops but they are a mess.

On Tuesday we went to school and students from Greece were representing their country and their way to recycle. In the afternoon we had our presentation and it was interesting. That thay i first ate gyros and feta and i really liked it.

On Wednesday we meet in school and went to see acropolis and it was very interesting. We saw the old greek theater and on the top we had amazing veiw.  We also saw the house of really famous criminal that is now in jail and his house is really big and expensive. In the evening we went to dinner to get to know other students better.

On Thursday we went to a museum called Borre museum. It's split in two parts. First part was art made of recycled materials and i think it's really awesome, that things that we would normally throw in the trash can be beautiful art. The second part is original old house of this one artist and in the house there was a lot of plates that were good china. Later on we went to the Marathon race museum. And we learned about the history of olympics. We also saw the lake that was build by hand. In the evening we had goodbye dinner and we had a lot of fun. It was interesting watching people dance especially teachers.

On Friday we took a short trip to the beach but it was so windy, we had sand everywhere. When we came back we went to a hotel.

I think i learned a lot on this trip. I would really like to go back one day because we become really good friends. I learned a lot about Greece,  their culture and their history. I also learned some English. It was a great experience and best week of my life.


Maša Alič

 

Week in Athens

It all started on Monday morning. I was so tired because i slept  just 3 hours. At first we went to the airport in Trieste. I wasn't scared of the flight because i did it before. Flight to Rome wasn't so long nor the other  to Athens. We came to Greece around  12 o'clock. We went by bus to Athens and there we met our hosting families.  My hosting family wasn't there, so the principal took me to the family.  At first I met just the guys Pannos and Gorge, they were really nice to me. In the evening we went bowling at the Mall and we played ice hockey, ate pancakes with nutella. They were so good. The both guys were really nice to me. We were really having fun. I really liked them.

The second day we had presentations at school. The presentations were about recycling and waste sorting. The first presentation was given by Checz Republic, the second Turkey, and we were the third. I was so scared what if i forget everything and i stop talking but everything went well. Everybody said that we were really good so we were happy. After the presentations we went home. It was a good day.

On Wednesday we went to Parthenon. It was really hot outside. The Parthenon was so beautiful and interesting. We were walking around Parthenon and taking pictures from the different places. We were having fun, Anja and Maša were jumping around and laughing. It was really good because of sun and everything beautiful around. Then we went to the Acropolis museum. In the museum it wasn't so interesting but i still listened to the guide. I was so exausted that at the end i wasn't able to stand any longer. But than the guide said: 'Now it's over'. I was happy because we went to caffeteria to hot chocolate. It was so good.  I, Anja and Maša were laughung all the time and we were talking about the snow in Slovenia.  After the take off we went back to the school to have the rest of presentations. It was all quite good but ours was the best i think. When we finished with the presentation we had a workshop at the classroom it was so funny because we were colouring the boxes for eggs. I missed the box and coloured Anja just a little. She was so pissed off but I was laughing. We were talking with Xristos and just laughing all the time. It was really good. When we finished it we went to the restaurant where we had dinner.  Xristos was sitting with us and we were talking and laughing and joking. It was really fun. Xristos is really funny and nice guy. We were having so much fun i will never forget. After dinner we went home i just went to bed and fell asleep. I was so tired.

 On Thursday we went to Marathon museum. We were listening about first marathon and Olympic games. It wasn't so long. After museum we went to see the lake of water that it was for Athens. Then we went to the beach. It was a sunny day so it was warm. It was really windy. Sand was everywhere. We were on the beach for 15 min but than we went to fish restaurant where we ate a great fish spread and bread and we drank a frozen coffee frape. When we finished eating we went to the beach again and we were jumping araund and laughing. It was really fun but i had sand everywhere in every single hole. I even ate a little sand. It was awful. Then we went back to school by bus and then to our homes. In the evening we had a dinner in taverna in the center. We were all together, Greek sudents and everyone else. We were joking, dancing, laughing, and learning some Greek and Slovenian words. It was really fun. I was laughing so hard all the time that my stomach burned in the end. It was so so fun really. We were there long in the night and i was really tired. When i came home i just lay in my bed and fell asleep. Friday the last day with my guys. In the morning I had to say goodbey to my hosting family because in the evening we went to the hotel. But after saying goodbye we went with bus to Cape Sunio. It was really windy, and so beautiful, all the cliffs and everything.  After walking around we went to ice coffee, and then to the lunch in some restaurant. We were really having fun with Greek guys. After lunch we went back to Athens and we went to hotel. We were in hotel untill  18 o'clock and then we went out with Greek  and Hungarian guys to Sturbucks coffee shop. We were there all evening and it was fun. And at the 22 o'clock the fairytale ended. We went back to hotel. We said goodbye to everyone. We were all really sad. This week was the best week in my life.  I will never forget it and noone of the guys that I met there. Everybody was so frendly and nice to me. I really liked Greece and I know that I will go back someday. I don't know when but i will. Because I already miss everyone. It was the best.

Urša Šalej