Questionnaire on students' willingness to participate in the project, and for reflection on their role in the process.

Dear students participating in the Comenius eco-project in Thessaloniki, 

Please fill in the online form before the meeting on the following webpage:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dExXRUZjbUtBUXdONTZDTXJydUJPQlE6MQ

Thanking you for your feedback!  

Isabel Barbosa
Comenius Coordinator, Portugal

Meeting in Thessaloniki 2013

Comenius Project “Eco-responsible? Yes, we can!”

Meeting in Thessaloniki- 2013

Programme

Sunday,  27th	Arrival
Monday, 28th	Morning	Afternoon
	Welcome Reception at school Visit to school Group activities at school Light lunch at school	Sightseeing on foot and by local bus
Tuesday, 29th	Visit to American Farm School of Thessaloniki ·         Guided touring and farming activities ·         Light brunch at the school’s canteen ·         Planting of Trees ·         Shopping at a Mall
Wednesday, 30th	Trip to Edessa ·         Visit to Pella Museum ·         Thermal Springs of Pozar ·         Walking to the waterfalls area of Edessa ·         Lunch at restaurant
Thursday, 31st	Morning		Evening
	‘Alexandros Hall’ Project presentations Photo Exhibition (theme ‘TREE’) Teachers’ meeting and coffee at school		Farewell dinner at traditional restaurant
Friday, 1st	Departure

To watch a video on Thessaloniki, please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/v/IsKdcAkW0No&hl=en&fs=1

             

Solidarity « touch » of our project to help a green-flag school in Uganda: some news

“The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.” Albert Schweitzer

They could install a first water tank and buy a stove that uses less wood with the money sent by Finland and Belgium + a contribution from an Ugandan association.

Portugal also sent its contribution (620€) thanks to different activities they organized to raise money and the selling of the wonderful photo-book about our stay in Romania…They bought a second stove and are so thankful! They are really impressed by our generosity!

They need a second water tank…we hope we will be able to help them after the big action taking place in Collège Saint-Barthélemy (Liège,Belgium).

We can make things different if we “bring our brick to the building… “

Eco-supportive?- Yes, we can!

Mrs Françoise

Impression of Braga

Romanian students’ impressions of their trip to Braga, Portugal, 14th - 21st October, 2012

The week we spent in Braga was amazing first, because i had never left Romania, and to saw a completely different country from mine and see the way how they live, tastes in music, food, activities, impressed me, and second, I had the opportunity not only too see Portugal, but getting to know students from Greece, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, all the students became my friends because they were so warm and friendly. And the teachers also, i saw they were very friendly too, happy and funny.
I had never imagined i would make so much good frinds to talk to and make jokes, have fun, explore a different country together!
I will never forget those moments and i will try to keep in touch as much as I can, and hopefully we will se eachother one day. One of the BEST moment of my live!

Thank you all! Amarandi-Hriscu Laura, 17 years old

Impressions of Braga

Belgian students’ impressions of their trip to Braga, Portugal, 14th - 21st October, 2012

Hello everyone !

We hope you are all fine! We want to say the meeting in Braga was an amazing and unforgettable week…It was fantastic to have all those activities with all of you. What a chance to meet people from 5 different countries with different languages and cultures! That was a real pleasure to make new friends and share our lives.

Thanks to the Portuguese for their wonderful welcoming! Your country is very cheerful and we discovered incredible landscapes like Bom Jesus and Geres.

The Belgian team

Belgian Eco-friendliness

In Belgium people care about their environment more than we in Finland. I have noticed that streets are cleaner and there aren’t trashes. But sometimes you can see a lot of waste in forests, people’s old stuff that they don’t need anymore. I heard from my host dad that you can get a fine if you litter.

Now because it’s autumn and trees drop their leaves, somebody always cleans the streets after that. I went to an outlet village here in Belgium and the place was so clean that I have never seen anything like that before. I didn’t even see one butt of a cigarette.

My host family recycles almost everything, empty bottles, paper, organic waste etc. And they have got two chickens for accessory food. At school Belgians use a lot of paper and it’s not so ecological. We have only two books and everything else is in paper copies. But in school corridors there are bins for plastic bottles and paper.

Tiina Välimaa (a Finnish exchange student in Liége, Belgium)

Comenius Exchange Student Noora Savola Exploring Life in Portugal

Hi!

I’m Noora Savola and I’m going to write you about being an exchange student. I’m seventeen years old and I’m from Oulu, Finland. I will be studying in Braga, Portugal for three months. I’ve already been in here for almost two months now, so I have time left about a month.

When I came here, the first thing that was new for me and surprised me was the cheek kisses. On the night when my plane landed here and I met my mentor teacher and my host family, they greeted me with two kisses on the cheeks and it felt so weird at first because in Finland we only shake hands when we meet a new person. While I’ve been here I have also noticed that people in here are more close to each other and make more physical contact to other people. For example, when I’m walking in the street with my friends, they can walk really close to each other or even hold hands.  And in Finland, we always have some space between us while we’re walking and nobody takes so much physical contact to other people. But now I’ve got more used to it and it doesn’t feel that weird anymore. 

The school and the lessons in here aren’t so much different from ones in Finland (except the school doesn’t use heating system and sometimes it can be really cold!).  One of the differences that comes up to my mind is that the teachers in here demand more respect.  I mean that in Finland the teachers and the students are equal and you can doubt what they are saying and discuss about it. Another thing what was new for me is that we don’t get free lunch from school every day and the lunch break is so much longer.  Oh yes! I almost forgot. The schools are so much bigger in here!

I have to say that Portuguese people are very friendly and hospitable. Everybody has been so nice to me and I’ve made many good friends in here. I have enjoyed my time a lot.  I love this country and its people and I hope I will gain more good memories and experiences.

Impressions of Braga

Finnish students’ impressions of their trip to Braga, Portugal, 14th - 21st October, 2012

Drums were played when we arrived to
Escola Secundária Sá de Miranda
I didn't think anyone else than Mercury himself
can sing as perfectly Bohemian Rhapsody
Well Elsa did!
We had only a week time to be there
We tried our best to enjoy every minute,
Even every raindrop...
Isabel told us that the Water Pavilion was an optical illusion
The trip to Geres, I'll never forget
Portugal has amazing natureI miss all those memories with my host family
Every time I think about the time in Praga,
Fado is playing it's self in my brain

Óla!

I went to Braga for one week two weeks ago and those days were awesome in every way. The first day in Braga was really cool because then I really got to know my host sis and then I saw my good friend Noora for a long time. During the first day we went to Bom Jesus which was, in my opinion, the most beautiful place of all the places we visited during the whole trip. In the evening I went shopping with my host family in Braga Park. On Tuesday we went to Porto to see the city and the harbor of Porto. From Porto we went to Guimarães which is the European Capital of Culture 2012. On Tuesday we also went to see the Water Pavilion, where they had different and very cool demonstrations of water. Before Water Pavilion we went for a walk in the City Park and the park was huge and it was very beautiful too. On Wednesday we made a trip to Gerês National Park where we saw mountains. The scenery there was awesome! Thursday's highlight was the dinner with the whole group in a restaurant where they had traditional Portuguese food. The food was delicious, except the animal organs which I found quite terrible! ;) There was also an amazing fado singer in the restaurant.
I had such an amazing time in Braga and I really think that the time went way too fast. Braga was such a nice place that I think some day I'll go back to Braga again. All the people were so friendly and nice to me and that is something I'll miss for the rest of my life. But the most I will miss my host family who were the best host family I could ever dream of! I'm looking forward to getting back to Braga! 

Thanks to all who were in Braga!
Love, Veera

Questionnaire on the Meeting in Braga

Dear students that participated in the Comenius eco-project in Braga, 

 

It is important for us to know your opinion about the meeting in Braga. Did the visit meet your expectations? Did you enjoy this experience?

Please fill in the online form on the following webpage:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dEpFUEFSSjZHWERna1BYU2lxTmlZNWc6MQ

Thanking you for your feedback!  

Isabel Barbosa
Comenius Coordinator, Portugal

Impressions of Braga

Greek students’ impressions of their trip to Braga, Portugal, 14th - 20th October, 2012

In Portugal we had so much fun !

We met new people and we had  wonderful  moments with them there.

I miss all the things we were doing together, our performances, our jokes, our walks, our games  and I miss everybody, too.

Lots of kisses from Greece !

Agapi Kyrtsidou, 15 years old.

I am lost for words...words can't describe how wonderful this week was, not only for me but for all of us. I had the chance to meet warm and friendly people from different countries. I consider myself lucky meeting all those teachers and students and I hope that we will keep in touch and we will meet each other again one day...

Diana Thomai, 16 years old.

We had some great moments in Portugal. And these moments will always be in our hearts! I remember the interesting sights, the beautiful rivers and the awesome Atlantic ocean!

It was the best week of my life the one I spent in Braga with all of you, students, teachers and Portuguese parents.

We miss you a lot!

It’s difficult for us  now to carry on  with our daily routine because we remember the moments we spent with all of you and cannot concentrate to anything else.

Good luck   to everybody!

We love you and of course we would like to see you again as soon as possible!

Hugs and kisses from Salonica, Greece ♥

Vassili Michali, 16 years old

I remember all of you, students and teachers, and the amazing time we spent together.... it was a fantastic trip and you were very warm and hospitable!
I want to see you again !
I miss you and the beautiful country of Portugal! I enjoyed our walks in the beautiful countryside and the songs we sang all together!

Marios Dellis, 15 years old

My Memories,Your Memories,Our Memories!

Braga, Portugal 14th - 20th October, 2012

The Belgians

The Finns

The Greeks

The Portuguese

The Romanians

Comenius Exchange Student Tiina Välimaa Exploring Life in Belgium

I have been in Liége, Belgium, for a month now. I think the first week was the most challenging time, because then everything was new for me. The language, the culture, the school and the way people greet each other by kissing each other on cheeks.

Belgian life style is not so different and it wasn’t the hardest thing for me to understand, but the school was, and it still is very different from ours in Finland. I go to a private Catholic school here. In Belgium most people are Catholic, but the religion is not emphasized in my family or at our school in any way. By the way, our School is very beautiful, because it’s 100 years old. The school has quite many rules that are new to me. Like during the school day you stay in the school the whole day, you are not allowed to step outside the school area, the gates are closed. Or if you come late to the lesson, you can’t just go to the class and say “Sorry I’m late”, first you have to get a piece of paper from the school office with your name on it and give it to your teacher.

Belgian food is not so different, but the eating habits are. You eat lunch at school at twelve o’clock and the next time you eat is at home at eight o’clock in the evening. For a snack, you usually eat a chocolate bar. In Finland we get a free warm lunch at school every day. In my host family we eat Belgian and Spanish food (because my host dad is Spanish) and it’s very delicious. I particularly like Belgian fries and mayonnaise, they are very good.

In my host family it’s very important that children study every day. There isn’t much time for meeting friends in your free time. For me it’s surprising, because in Finland I’m used to seeing my friends after school every day and of course at weekends too. Over here I spend more time with my host family. At my Belgian home I usually speak English, but I learn a lot of French too. My host dad speaks English with me but my host mum only speaks French and the children of the family, my little brother, Axel, 16, and my little sister Chloe, 14, mostly speak French with me.

The school begins every day at 8:20. The lessons last for fifty minutes and we have three breaks during the day; the first at ten o’clock then the lunch at twelve for one hour and the last at three o’clock in the afternoon. Some students speak English, but like in Finland too, many seem hesitant to use it. Over here English studies aren’t obligatory so older people can’t speak English. My teachers here suppose that I can speak French and they are very surprised when they notice that I can’t say much in French. In Finland I only took a couple of lessons in the basics of French before my exchange, so I really don’t know much about the language and its grammar.

Now after one month the life in Belgium and speaking in both English and in French is kind of normal to me and I’m used to it. It’s getting easier day after day. The other thing I have noticed is that the time seems to fly. I only have two months left of my exchange. Hopefully, I will learn more about Belgium and its people and have a great time here for the rest of the time! 

                                                 Tiina with her Belgian host dog Hestia

Meeting in Braga / Provisional Programme

Sunday, 14th	Arrival
Monday, 15th	Morning	Afternoon
	Welcome Reception at school Visit to school farm Preparation for workshops	Visit to “Bom Jesus” Picnic in the park*
Tuesday, 16th	Group activity at school Trip to Oporto ·         Visit to City Park
Wednesday, 17th	Trip to Gerês National Park Thermal resort Walking in the park Lunch at restaurant Roman geira Sports
Thursday, 18th	Morning	Afternoon
	Visit to the school Workshops Sports games	Visit to “Sete Fontes” (seven springs) complex Farewell dinner at regional restaurant
Friday, 19th	Presentation of workshops’ results	Free for sightseeing and shopping
Saturday, 20th	Departure

* Please bring some typical food to share