Students' testimonies | European Puzzle

LATVIAN TESTIMONIES

FRANCE MOBILITY

In my opinion this project is a great way to learn about diffrent countries all over the world. I went to France and i loved it there,the family that i stayed at were very good people. While we where at France we went to a lot of diffrent places like Vichy, Paris,Clermont -Ferrand and a lot of others. Me and the rest of the Latvian team made friends with the Polish team. All the other teams were great and friendly. Also, it was fun making the presentations, stories for this project, of course some more fun the others, but all in all it was great.This is basicaly why i loved this Project and i would love to do something like this again. (Toms)

The trip to France was astonishing! The people we met there were so nice and they made us feel welcomed, the culture as itself was truly amazing and i couldn't be happier that i got the chance to be there. I loved every single bit of it! We went to places like museums, shops, the local school, the Eiffel tower, the Notre Dame cathedral, the orchestra rehearsal and we even had our own little adventure and so many more places! What made this such a fun experience, was how everything was planned out and hanging out with the new friends made it even better. If i could, i would like to travel again to different countries, learn more about their culture and meet new friends! (Kerija)

On first day when I came to France I couldn't even buy something to eat, because all things there were in English. I felt really confused and scared in such a big country. But then I met my French friend Henintsoa. She was so great and friendly, and actually I started feeling purely normal. And I didn't feel lonely any more. I was a little bit scared to talk, because I had a feeling that my language is terrible. But on the third day of journey I met our Polish friends, and they were so friendly and their language was so good, that I decided I can and want to talk with them. My language now is much better than before the trip. The family where I lived for that week was so great and nice. Maybe they didn't know English so well, but all of them gave me so much positive emotions. This family was really friendly and hospitable. I'll never forget them. And I learned so much about French culture. This journey gave me so much good experience! (Alise)

CZECH MOBILITY
The trip from Latvia to Czech Republic started nearly a year ago, on October 11th. When I found out I would have to be in a bus for 22 hours, I thought it was not worth it. In the bus after about 2 hours, my thoughts changed completely. I found out the people with whom I was going on the trip are actually very fun and interesting. And that was only the start of the whole experience. When we arrived in Prague we were welcomed by the friendliest people on the world. When walking into the school, there was a pleasant sight of all the participating countries flags placed on the walls. We were then lead to the conference room. We were told about Prague and the schedule of our stay. The whole introduction was very envisioning and easily understandable. Over the week we got to visit Prague castle, a church which I don’t remember because I was a bit occupied with talking to the awesome people. And a museum, which was very interesting. I very much enjoyed the presentations about all of the countries UNESCO heritage sites. On the trip I got to know a lot about other cultures and traditions, for example that when in Poland, I probably shouldn’t show my little finger to anyone… Don’t want to be rude. The friends I made on the trip are forever. What I experienced in Czech Republic will be stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. Whenever I smell coffee in the air, I immediately think about Prague. Since I know quite a bit about writing an Erasmus + project, I know the amount of work all of my awesome teachers and the creators of this project put into this. Thank you all so much for this experience! You literally changed my life with this project. (Raivis)

ITALIAN TESTIMONIES

CZECH REPUBLIC MOBILITY

L' esperienza vissuta a Praga, Rep. Ceca, attraverso il progetto interculturale "Comenius, a piece of European puzzle", è stata, per me, molto significativa. Grazie ad essa ho capito che la vera scuola non è fatta solo di libri... altrettanto preziose sono le esperienze concrete; tra queste, certamente, il viaggio: occasione di confronto e accrescimento culturale. Ho compreso che, noi ragazzi italiani, dobbiamo imparare a considerarci studenti d' Europa... nella diversità delle nostre tradizioni, siamo straordinariamente legati dalle stesse passioni...

My experience in Prague, thanks to the Comenius project “ A piece of the European puzzle” was very significant. I understood the real school is not just books…..much more precious are the concrete experiences done, above all my journey to Prague: a real opportunity for discussion and cultural growth .

Thanks to it I realized that we must learn and consider ourselves Italian European students….in spite of our different traditions, we are extraordinarily bound by the same passions and feelings

Davide Sbocchi

Hello !

I’m Leonardo, one of the participants of the “Comenius Project”.

Now I’d like to talk about my experience in October last year. I went to Prague with three of my school friends. During the first day we visited the most important monuments and places in the city and the last day we left the city and it was very difficult, because it was very sad to leave my new friends.

My experience in Czech Republic was very formative and interesting. I really enjoyed it.

Leonardo Calcagnini

FRENCH TESTIMONIES

TURKEY MOBILITY

When my teacher, Mrs Garbès, informed me that I was selected to go to Turkey, I was so happy that I ran back home to tell the news to my parents and nearly fell dow!! This was after weeks of Auvergne traditional dance workshop. Our teacher's mother is an expert in "La Bourrée" dance and she came to teach us. All students enjoyed so much this dance which I had never heard of but was so easy to practice.

My friends and I (we were 4 students) were so excited to go to Turkey because we didn't know about Turkish students who would host us, my friend Ozge and I. Then when we arrived in Yalova, we were welcomed by our hosts. Gaye was waiting for us at the ferry in Yalova. Her family was so friendly but we didn't speak much the first day because we are shy.

The school was so beautiful. There were plenty of decorations everywhere and we were welcomed with Loukoums. Children wore traditional Turkish costumes. The food was delicious!On the first day, we met all students and teachers of the partnership for the first time, it was so great to be at last together. We danced, we sang and we played games. We had to talk in English with the other partner students. We visited Ataturk's moving villa and walked on the beach. On the second day we visited Istanbul, it was wonderful! On the final day, we visited the paper museum and we made EBRU, a painting workshop. When we left Yalova, we were so sad but happy to have lived this unforgettable experience.

Feyza Nur, France.

POLAND

With our French and IT teacher, we participate to a workshop called "Citadelle de Culture" and we learn much about French but also other cultures from the world and particularly from our partners of the Comenius group.We worked on biographies about French personalities linked to Education. We had first learnt how to write biographies with our English teacher. We made intensive research and learnt so much about people we didn't know before. We made slideshows and presented them to the class. Then Mrs Garbès told us the great news. We were selected to go to Warsaw! Four students, 2 girls and 2 boys with 2 teachers and our Principal. I (Marie) prepared a list of common phrases to use when in Warsaw with my host family and other partners. I (Jihad) managed to get my host partner's email to exchange with her before our trip. She was really friendly. I (Abdel-Djallil) made research about Poland and Warsaw because I didn't know this country at all.

On our departure day, we had butterflies in the stomach! For me (Marie) it was the first time I took the plane! Warsaw looked wonderful from the plane. When we arrived in Warsaw, our host families were waiting for us. They were really nice and friendly. I (Abdel-Djallil) was so happy because my host family had a swimming-pool inside their house! It was terrific. They also took me to a place where I had fun because I experienced "flying" in the air!

The school was beautiful and the welcome so enjoyable. The kids wore traditional costumes and danced. The food was delicious! Then, we had to present our biographies. We were so scared and impressed because the other students spoke so well english! It ws interesting because we learnt about other personalities from other european countries as well. It was funny because the Polish team had also chosen Marie Curie as a personality. We voted for 12 personalities who would be part of our project calendar. Then we showed videos about extracurricular activities in all our schools. We visited Warsaw, the museum about the second world war, we ate chocolate at Wendel's, visited the Clock Tower, and made a treasure hunt in the Old Town. It was interesting because we had to find clues about the city and so we had to ask questions to people in the street.

When we left Warsaw, we were really sad to leave this beautiful country and the generous families. Thanks to this project we could visit a country which we would probably never have visited. So we are really glad. Polish people are so friendly and welcoming.

Marie, Jihad and Abdel-Djallil, France.

ITALY

With our workshop "Citadelle de Culture", we made research about French gastronomy and selected a number of typically french recipes for our Comenius partnership and for our Italy mobility. The European English class translated those recipes and designed bookmarks for our European partners. We were enthusiastic during the activity because, to tell the truth, we discovered many recipes which we had never heard of. This was really an interesting workshop. Many students of our group tried those recipes at home!

On D-Day, we travelled to Rome, the eternal city, by plane (it was my first time - Bryan) and then to Latina by train. Our hosts were waiting for us at the train station. My host family (Meriem) took me to a beautiful house. They all spoke French! The food was delicious and I think that I put on weight during my stay in Latina! I (Bryan) was warmly welcomed by Pierfilippo and his parents who took me to their home. They took me to a birthday celebration where I played football, ate lots of food and listened to music.

When we arrived at school, we met all the teachers and students. All were very pleased and smiling. There was food everywhere : pizza, cakes, olives, different types of mozzarella, lasagna and tiramisu etc. The school orchestra, led by the music teacher, played the national hymns or all countries. We were all deeply moved about it. We visited the school and took part to a pizza workshop. In the afternoon, we visited the Ninfa gardens. It was so beautiful and impressive!!! Rome visit was rainy but very charming as usual. There were so many statues and monuments (Coliseum, the Vatican) we had a guided tour of the city, we saw the Roman baths. We were impressed by the numerous archeological sites which are well preserved. We also visited the beautiful city of Latina where the mayor of the City Hall welcomed us. Our second activity took us to a nearby Lake where we made watercolor drawings.

The departure was really full of emotions because we had spent unforgettable days together with our Italian families and friends, learning from each other and having fun.