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IES Condes de Saldana
Meetings
Comenius
Schoolproject Meeting
Cologne
3rd
– 7th February 2007
Programme
|
Saturday, 03.02.07 |
|
|
|
Meeting at Airport
Cologne/Cologne Central Station by arrangement |
|
19.00 |
Dinner in a restaurant
(Brewery Sion) close to your hotel |
|
Sunday, 04.02.07 |
|
|
9.40 11.00 - 12.30 |
Meeting at Cologne
Central Station (Flower Shop) We will go to Bonn
(former capital of Germany) by train House of History
(History of Germany from 1945): We will have a guided
tour |
|
13.00 |
Lunch in an Italian
restaurant close to the museum (about10 €) |
|
14.30 |
(weather permitting!) - We will go to the
famous “Drachenfels” to have a
beautiful view across the Valley of the River Rhine - and/or: We will walk
through the former governmental district to the River Rhine, sightseeing of
Bonn |
|
19.00 |
Teachers: Meeting at the
hotel Pupils: Activities with
their families |
|
Monday 05.02.07 |
|
|
8.00 |
Pupils: Attend lessons
with their hosts |
|
9.00 – 10.30 |
Teachers:
Comenius-meeting -
Who will work on the
website? -
Subjects/articles for
the website -
Application for 3rd year -
What has been achieved
so far? -
How to go on -
Next Comenius meeting in
Saldana |
|
13.30 |
Lunch at school
(invitation) |
|
14.45 |
Departure to city |
|
16.00 – 18.30 |
Guided tour through
Cologne and Cologne Cathedral (on foot) |
|
afterwards |
Freetime activities/
meeting with the teachers |
|
Tuesday, 06.02.07 |
|
|
8.00 |
Pupils attend lessons
with their hosts |
|
8.30 – 10.00 |
Teachers: Comenius
meeting at school |
|
10.30 – 12.00 |
Apprentice Training
Centre/Chamber of Crafts (associated partner): Guided tour in English |
|
13.00 |
Lunch in staff canteen |
|
14.00 – 16.00 |
Mrs Lenke (colleague at
BvS) will guide us through “Museum für Angewandte Kunst”/Museum of Applied
Arts Pupils will attend an
Art Workshop |
|
16.30 – 17.30 |
We will go ta a café in
the city centre to have a typical “Rheinische Kaffeetafel” (5,50 €) |
|
afterwards |
Discover Cologne on your
own Shopping? |
|
20.00 |
Meeting with the
teachers Pupils: Activities with
their families |
|
Wednesday, 07.02.07 |
|
|
After breakfast |
Departure Pupils/teachers leaving
in the afternoon: Freetime/attend lessons
again (with their hosts) |
Visiting Norway
Comenius Project – Norway Visit
– 23-27th September 2006
Since working with this project for the past
three years, we have finally had the chance to have the wonderful experience
of visiting the village of one of the other participating schools in the
Comenius Opening Doors Project.
At 6 o’clock on Saturday morning, we all met at Bristol Bus Station to
catch our bus to Heathrow Airport to board the first flight to Oslo,
Norway. We then caught another plane,
an internal flight, to Alesund. Next, one of the teachers from the Norwegian
schools picked us up from the airport and transported us to our host’s
houses. We arrived at our destination
in Stryn at approximately 12.30pm, a long day of travelling behind us.
The day
after we arrived, our first day in Stryn, we visited one of the local tourist
attractions, Briksdalsbreen Glacier.
Here we climbed up a small mountain, passing various waterfalls and
beautiful scenery on the way up. Upon
reaching the glacier, we admired the breathtaking views and walked inside the
glacier. We then walked half way back
down the mountain, stopping to eat our sandwiches by the side of a waterfall.
In the
afternoon, we went home, unpacked and socialised with our host families
before having our first proper Norwegian meal. After a long day, we retired to our beds to get some rest. The following day we attended Norwegian
School, accompanying our hosts and following them around their normal school
routine. Attending Norwegian School
was a real culture shock to us, and observing the differences and yet
similarities in their education system compared to ours, fascinated us.
In the afternoon, we then had a meeting
between all of students and pupils from all of the countries involved in the
Comenius Project. We discussed the
future of the Comenius project, and exchanged ideas between the different
schools. It gave us the chance to
express our views of the Comenius project and to really interact and find
ways to improve the way in which the project is conducted.
Then, that evening, the school had prepared a ‘party’ for everyone
involved in the Comenius project, including one year from their school, and
all of the foreign students. A few
bands from their school provided some music, and refreshments were provided
from the canteen. One memory that we
will take away from this evening was the traditional Norwegian dance that we
all performed to traditional Norwegian music.
On our
final day in Norway, we visited the school again, this time to participate in
a Comenius themed assembly for the whole school. The students from each country had to have a small presentation
about their country and school, ending with a present giving ceremony. This was also accompanied by dancing,
singing and music from the students of the Norwegian school.
That evening, we had a farewell get-together at the local bowling
alley to play a few games with our newly made friends before we had to leave
for home again. After saying our
goodbyes to everyone but our hosts, we retired home, to pack and get ready
for a long days travel the following day.
Getting up at 6am the next morning, we were at the bus stop for 7.30am
ready to get the five coaches, two boats, two car journeys, and two planes
home. We arrived back in Bristol at
2.30am the following morning, and caught a few hours sleep before coming into
school again the same morning, ready to have meeting with some Russian
visitors in the school!
Being
able to stay with a host family whilst on our trip enriched our experience
beyond our beliefs. To have stayed in
a hotel, would have distanced us from our Norwegian friends and would not
have allowed us to create the friendships and experience the real Norwegian
way of living that we did. Our
feelings of apprehension were soon forgotten when we arrived at our hosts
houses as their generosity and kindness made us really welcome.
We feel really privileged to have had the
opportunity to have this experience and want to thank the school for giving
us this chance. To be given the
opportunity to visit and experience such a culturally different part of the
world has broadened our knowledge and understanding of life outside Bristol,
and given us the encouragement and enthusiasm to continue pushing this
project forward in as many ways as possible.
We feel that we have really benefited from this experience, finding
life in another country both intriguing and captivating as we found ourselves
in a parallel universe, so similar and yet so different to our home.
One of the most important things we felt
that we learnt whilst away was just how judgemental we, as a country,
are. Socially, physically, racially,
we divide ourselves, creating barriers and friction between us. Yet in Norway, they seem to have broken
these barriers of prejudice, making us feel almost ashamed of our countries
naive way of thinking. We learnt that
they don’t judge so much for physical appearances, how much money you have or
the way you speak, but more for who you really are, and we feel privileged to
have experienced their feeling of equality.
Once more, we would like to thank everyone involved for allowing this
wonderful experience to have taken place.
Thank you.
By Alex Purnell, Carla
Southworth and Cicely Kilgarriff, Year 10.
Comenius Meeting in
Saldaña/Spain
By Jenny and Katrin from Germany
On Saturday (March 4th)
the Germans, two teachers
(M. Liboschik & B. Nowak) and four pupils (Katrin Proietti, Oliver
Hölzer,
David Hagenkötter & Jenny Böttcher), met at 5.30am at a bus stop close to
our school in Cologne (Vogelsang) and drove to Düsseldorf Airport.
We checked in and our plane started at 7.50am.
During the flight of about two hours most of us listened to music and slept
most of the time.
From Madrid Airport we took a bus to the main railway station in Madrid where
we had a wonderful meal. After that we waited for the Norwegians to
arrive;
Katrin walked around with a yellow sign written COMENIUS on it in her hands.
It looked very funny, because Katrin is the smallest one of us.
When we were recognized by the
Norwegians and had said hello, we bought our tickets for the train. The three
hours trip to Palencia was very nice and funny. Some were very tired, but we
talked a lot and we understood each other very well. We talked in English and
German and everyone knew what everybody else meant. We teached the Norwegians
some German songs, but they did not understand it at all.
When we
arrived in Saldaña, our Spanish friends who where supposed to be our hosts
for the few days in Spain were already waiting for us, because the Norwegian
pupils and we German pupils stayed with families. The English pupils and all
the teachers stayed in a hotel in Saldaña.
We went
to the houses or drove there by car and when we arrived, everyone made
something different.
For
example my family showed me around in Saldaña and the little village, where
Mónica, the girl of my family, lives. She introduced me to some of her
friends and we went to an Internet-Café, where we met one of her cousins and
a friend of him. We were chatting for an hour and some of Mónica’s friends
liked to see me with her webcam at msn. It was very funny for me.
We went
home afterwards and had a great big dinner, it is very different from dinner
in Germany. In Germany we normally have dinner at 7.00m, but in Spain they start at 10.00pm, it is so late.
After the dinner Mónica’s cousin came over and I wanted to talk to him, but
he can only speak a little bit English. I got tired very quickly, so we went
to bed at ca. 11.30pm.
In
addition, I know that Katrin and the girl of her Spanish family went to some
discos in Saldaña, she went to bed at ca. 2.00am.
On
Sunday (March 5th) everyone had to be at the hotel at 10am for a
trip to “La montaña Palentina”. We drove by bus and talked to the English,
Spanish and Norwegian pupils and collected the e-mail addresses of everybody
in the bus. And of course Oliver filmed us all the time (I think it’s a very
funny video, and maybe he will send it to everyone who wants to have it).
After the guided tour through this monastery we drove to “La cueva de los Franceses”; were we saw a church in a natural cave.
After that we had lunch in Aguilar de Campoo, a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and some examples of Romanic churches.
We
first had Paella then meat with vegetables and then a desert in a very nice
restaurant. However, it was enormous and very good. We talked to the others
about their lunches in England, Norway and Spain and about our lunches in
Germany, it was very interesting.
After lunch we drove by bus to
“Parador Nacional” in Cervera and some had
coffee and the other ones enjoyed the countryside, talked, hade fun in
the snow and took some photos of the beautiful countryside. In addition, Mr.
Nowak (German teacher) laid down on a bench and enjoyed the sun.
After a
while we drove to a little beautiful museum in Cervera and had a guided tour.
A lady told us the stories about everything in the museum in Spanish and one
of the Spanish teachers translated in English. It was very interesting and we
had a lot of fun in the museum, because Katrin had stolen Josh’s hotel keys
for getting in the hotel Sunday night, and Josh and James tried everything to
get their keys back.
We got
back to Saldaña at 8.00pm and were picked up by our hosts and brought back to
the houses where we lived. With Mónica and her mother we visited Mónica’s
aunt, her cousin and her grand-parents. We talked a little bit about Germany
and went back to Mónica’s house at 10pm and had dinner. After dinner we
watched Spanish TV, but I could not understand a lot. At 12.00pm we went to
bed because we knew we had to stand up very early next morning. The school
bus is due to arrive at 7.00am.
On
Monday (March 6th) we went to school with our host friends and
took part in different lessons. We had lessons in Spanish but we did not
understand it at all. We had physics and maths. We did not understand the
language, but we knew the topics. Then from 11.10 to 11.40 we had a break,
talked to the other pupils and had breakfast and cacao or coffee. After the
break, we joint a lesson in the class of our host friends.
After
that meeting we had to wait for our friends in front of the school. While
waiting we enjoyed the sun. We took the bus again for driving home and having
lunch.
At 16.00
we all met at the hotel drove to Palencia by bus and had a guided tour of the
town and its churches. After that we had some free time to do some shopping
in small groups. We went in many shops and bought some new clothes. The boys
of our group did not like our shopping tour, because we were ca. 6 or 8 girls
and just two boys. After our little shopping tour we had dinner in a pizzeria
and it was very funny, as the Spanish pupils had to order for us, because the
waiter did not understand English and we could not speak Spanish. After a
short time some English pupils and our German boys came to the pizzeria and
had their dinner, too. Oliver ate too much so that he became ill the next
days. At 21.45 we met at the bus again and drove back to the hotel in
Saldaña, where Mónica’s mother waited for us to take us home where we went to
bed very soon.
On
Tuesday (March 7th) we stood up early, had breakfast and went to
the bus stop. Our friends had a trip to a theatre this day, so we attended
the art class of Rafa. It was very funny we had to introducee ourselves in
English or, who could in Spanish, and the Spanish pupils had to introducee
themselves in English.
Then
someone asked me whether I like one Spanish boy. I said that I didn’t know
him and that I’ve got a boyfriend in Germany. They said I could have one in
Germany and one in Spain and gave me his e-mail address.
So we
started and everyone wrote his or her
e-mail address in my book. That was very funny! At 9.20am, Magdalena
showed us around in the school. In addition from 10.20 to 11.10 we had an
attendance to a lesson with Montse. Then we had a break from 11.10 to 11.40.
After
this break we visited the popular street market in Saldaña, it was a very
beautiful market. Everyone wanted us to buy something as they noticed that we
were not from Spain.
After
our short visit to the market we went to a little pub or something like that,
drank some coke and played some billiard. At 14.20 we met our friends at the
school again and drove home by school bus for having lunch.
After
that we had a “short” walk along the pilgrimage route towards Santiago de
Compostela [it wasn’t short, but when teachers said that it’s short than it
has to be short or you’re in trouble ;-)]. Then we visited “Villalcazar de
Sirga” and “Frómista”.
We were
back at the hotel at 20.00 and the teachers and the English pupils changed
clothes. Then we went to the pub where someone of us have been after the
visit to the market. There we had a farewell dinner with all the students and
teachers. We were together for the last time and talked a lot and had a lot
of fun. We enjoyed it very much, because we knew that it was the last evening
we could be together so happy.
We went
home at ca. 11.00pm because I was very tired this evening. At home I packed
my luggage and went to bed at 1:30; it was to late, because the following
morning we had to get up at 6.00am.
On
Wednesday (March 8th) we got up at 6.00am, ate something and I
were supplied with packed lunches for the train with my bag nearly
overcrowded.
We met
at 7.00am.
When
everyone had put his or her luggage into the bus, it was time to say
“goodbye” to the families and to our Spanish friends. It was terrible and I
think I wasn’t the only one who cried a little bit, because it’s so hard to
say goodbye after such a wonderful time with many very good new friends. And
I think I’m not the only one who misses everybody of the English, Spanish and
Norwegian pupils! Or is there anyone who doesn’t miss someone of our Comenius
Meeting in Saldaña???
So we
sat in the bus with the English and Norwegian pupils and talked about the
good time we had in Spain and drove to the railway station in Palencia, where
we had to say goodbye to the English and went to the train with the
Norwegians. And this was the second hard part of our journey back to Germany.
We
bought the tickets. In the train we listened to music, talked about our time
in Spain, taught Tor from Stryn some German, slept for a while and took some
more photos.
When we arrived in Madrid we had to say goodbye to the Norwegians, too. That was the last hard part for everybody, I think. Wasn’t it?
In Madrid we, the German ones, locked in our luggage and had a sightseeing tour with Mr. Nowak as our city guide. It was very interesting. And it was very warm in Madrid (ca.20°C). We had lunch in a small restaurant and after that we’d got some free time to do some shopping and drink some coffee (just me). We bought some souvenirs and postcards.
When we
met again at the métro, we took the next métro for getting back to the main
railway station of Madrid, looked out our luggage and another train took us
to Madrid Airport, where we checked in and bought something to eat and drink
(you must know: DON’T BUY ANYTHING ANYYTIME AT A AIRPORT IT´S TOO EXPENSIVE,
but we did).
Then we
boarded and waited for the start. When flying Katrin started to laugh and
won’t stop, it was very funny because she didn’t know why she was laughing.
Mr. Liboschik has to sit next to her and so she couldn’t see me and stopped
laughing. I was talking to much as Mr. Nowak said, but every time when I’m
very tired I’m talking a lot and won’t stop.
We
arrived in Cologne at ca. 22.20. After having picked up our luggage we went
outside and waited for our parents.
When I
arrived at home I told my parents something about Spain. At midnight I went
to bed.
Next
morning I got up at 6.45am and went to school to shock my friends. Then I
went back home and waited for Katrin. When she arrived, we had a breakfast
and went to school. All our friends waited for us and asked us many questions
about Spain.
Last meeting was in Cologne 24th - 28th of September
Young
journalists writing about the meeting in Cologne
Look at the pictures here
· Comenius
· Bristol - England
· Stryn - Norway
· Cologne - Germany
· IES Condes de Saldana - Spain
· Classfronter