Thursday, March 12, 2015

Le groupe

Avec un mélange d’émotion et de sommeil nous nous sommes trouvés à l’aéroport à 5h du matin. La plupart parmi nous ne nous connaissions pas, mais il y avait quelques choses en commun : le désir d’apprendre le français, de s’amuser et de rigoler. On se dénombrait par premier fois, 1, 2, 3…28 avec quelque difficulté. L’aventure était sur le point de commencer.  

Quand on arrivait à Bruxelles, entre les hauts et les bas du tramway, mouillés sous la pluie belge et en apprenant quelque chose sur le chocolat, on rigolait et l’amitié commençait à se développer. Beaucoup de surprises nous attendions car les professeurs ne nous disions jamais où nous irions. Quelle émotion !!!

On s’amusait bien dans le parlement européen malgré la fatigue nous a trahi. Et le premier jour passait avec la joie d’avoir une journée extraordinaire.




Le lendemain matin, après d’avoir été envahi par des millions de touristes au petit déjeuner (mon dieu ! nous sommes touristes aussi !!!) on va rencontrer nos amis d’Amay, des gens merveilleux qui aimaient beaucoup le fromage. Ils ont préparé un fantastique journée et ils ont été vraiment accueillants. Cette fois, notre petit groupe de 28 est devenu un groupe de beaucoup plus, on a rencontré des amis inoubliables. La séparation a été triste, mais on savait que nous nous retrouverons à Cornellà l’année prochaine.


Et entre rigolo et rigolo, notre groupe devenait plus uni. Nous nous rappelons avec un sourire de la nuit que nous voulions dîner ensemble. On a pris un raccourci pour arriver au resto, et a la fin on a parcouru toute la ville.  C’est drôle !
Après deux jours de cohabitation, le groupe de 28 devenait comme une grande famille.
Cela peut être à cause de notre joie ou notre beauté que dans le musée BD on se dénombrait autre fois et (1, 2, 3,… 15, 15…) Qu’est qu’il passait ? On a deux 15 !!! C’était un nouveau copain qui serait le 29, la famille s’a agrandit et nous avons tellement rigolé.
Et comme oublier la visite à la brasserie, là-bas certains de nos collègues, en grand acte de générosité, ont bu de la bière très amère des autres.
La dernier nit (ooooh) nous sommes tous allés ensemble au Théâtre pour voir la magnifique pièce « Le roi se meurt », et quelle ironie de la vie, qui se sont vraiment morts étaient certains parmi nous, mais à cause du sommeil et fatigue de l’intensité des jours vécus.
Nous nous ont amusé vraiment, et entre rigolo et surprise le voyage était en train de finir. Mais avant de partir à l’aéroport, nous avons laissé un souvenir parfumé à l’auberge dans la chambre des valises (avec une forte odeur de fromage). Cela était un peu bizarre, mais on rigolait beaucoup aussi.
Finalement, pour toute la famille des 28 ces jours pourraient être résumés avec les mots suivants : voyage, Bruxelles, mules et frites, chocolat, Grand Place, Amay et COF, bière, Français, fromage, BD, photo, 1,2,3…28 et plus, Maneken Pis, gaufre… mais surtout rigolo, amitié, joie, surprise et super bonne humeur.
Tout ce bonheur est seulement possible grâce à chacun de vous. Nous voulons simplement dire un extrêmement GRAND MERCI.
Mavi Olivares et David Navo

Temps libre


Nous avons bien profité notre temps libre à Bruxelles ! Nous n’avons pas pu goûter toutes les bières qu’il y a dans Bruxelles mais nous avons bu la plus grande variété possible. Pour faire ça, nous avons fait un « tastet ». Chacun a demandé une bière différente et tous les avons goutées.
Nous avons fait aussi un peu du sport ! Un soir, pour dîner ensemble, nous avons fait le tour « Bruxelles de nuit ». Nous avons marché pendant une heure dans Bruxelles et nous aurions pu arriver en 15 minutes ! Malheureusement, nous n’avons pas pu dîner ensemble parce qu’il n’y avait pas lieu pour tous. Ces choses qui passent !
Nous avons vu aussi les lieus typiques de Bruxelles, nous avons ri beaucoup, nous avons découvert nos collègues, nous avons passé 4 jours incroyables à Bruxelles et nous avons faites des photos très originales et amusantes !

Cristina Mollà et Ester Garcia

Voilà une vídeo resumé de l'aventure!




Trip to Finland
 
Our trip to Finland was in February so we were greeted by plenty of ice and snow and the air was cold. We caught a bus from the airport to Tikkurila and then we caught a train to Seinäjoki where we were met by our hosts. Up until that point, apart from the language, there was nothing that I saw that was particularly different from any other western country in winter, however, when we stopped at a supermarket and got out of the cars, the ice which we walked was like nothing that I had ever walked on before, it was amazingly thick. When we got to the hotel it was quite a challenge to get across the equally icy car park with our suitcases.
 
 
 
I thought that the view from our bedroom balcony was breathtaking beautiful but it was nothing compared to the impossibly picturesque lakes and the natural wilderness that we saw over the following four days. Many things were packed into those four days, but I think that the most memorable were sledging down a hill on a piece of plastic no bigger than a tea tray and then later, after getting very hot in a huge sauna, jumping into a frozen lake.

 
 
 
 
As a visitor to a new destination, there is often the tendency to rush around so as not to miss any “must-see-highlights”, and in doing so you never get the opportunity to spend time chatting to the locals about their customs or traditions. The Grundtvig project gives you this opportunity. In addition to the afternoon spent on the mountain, our hosts proudly showed us their country; we did a bit of shopping, visited a cathedral, a church, a library and an art gallery – all very simple things, yet it was this simplicity that made it a travel experience to remember. 
 
 
Janet Harriman

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Two Greeks in Finland!!!! (Bourtsoukli foreign language school)




After 10 hours of travelling Tripoli-Athens-Frankfurt-Helsinki-Tikkurila-Seinajoki-Lapua we finally managed to arrive at Seinajoki station at 1:00 am! There we were picked up by a student named Ritva.What a wonderful feeling to find a smiling face waiting for you at the station after such a long trip!

Friday 13/2/15 The moment we woke up and opened the curtains of our room we were amazed by a vast forest covered in snow.It dawned on us....this is Finland! After breakfast the day started with a bus tour, where we had the chance to admire the Finnish architecture and the beautiful snowy landscapes.First stop, Seinajoki.There we visited a cathedral made by the architect Alvar Aalto and learnt interesting facts about his work.
After our visit to the cathedral we were taken aback by our visit to the local library.A big and colourful space filled with modern furniture.Hidden magical worlds with soft carpets and pillows ideal to lure children and adults.A perfect place to read,listen to music and relax.Exiting the library we began to realise why Finnish education is one of the best in the world.













After that we returned to Lapua and visited another cathedral.There we also saw the biggest pipe organ in Finland and even heard its majestic sound when it was played by Katja and Oriol!The time to visit the Adult Education Centre came. Tina and the rest of the teachers showed us around,then the students worked together while we had our meeting.




















Our first day was almost over and we were already feeling inspired by what we learnt and saw.The day ended with dinner in our hotel organised by Tina and her students.We enjoyed a lovely meal, made new friends, heard the talented music group Time it and were even given memorable gifts by Santa Claus!


Saturday 14/2/15 We left our hotel and visited Lapua art museum where we saw an innovative Finnish exhibition.Then since it was snowing we had a bit of fun with some sledges ,outside.
Then we went to the Adult Education Centre.After an informative slideshow presentation about Finland ,the students presented to us the results of their workshop and discussed the impact of the Communitek program.After that we had time to visit some of the classes of the centre and see what students learn upclose.




                                                                                                         
 

Lunchtime arrived and another delicious meal was prepared for us.Among other dishes we tried Rudolph soup...eh ....i mean reindeer soup,which was very tasty!
After a calm morning it was time for some adventure!Simpsio ski resort.We had so much fun riding the sledges and we even cooked sausages on a bonfire.Our last day couldn't end in a more spectacular way.Tina had mentioned something about swimming but none of us could imagine a sauna and then jumping into a frozen river! Team spirit helped and we all enoyed this once- in- a- lifetime experience.Then gathered in a warm room we had our last Finnish meal and sang songs along with a piano and a guitar.









Sunday morning 15/2/15  Temperature -17 celsius.Frowns drawn upon our faces for leaving, but our hearts were filled with joy and gratitude for everything that this trip offered.When in Finland one can feel a constant serene atmosphere which is coupled with the unique beauty of nature.The people we met were very warm and friendly and the quality of the  educational system in general and of the Adult education centre left us speechless.Excellent organisation,a wide variety of courses to choose from and creativity is present everywhere.We whould like to thank deeply Tina , her colleagues and her students!Memories of our visit will linger forever!





























Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Blog entry from Lapuan Sanomat -newspaper. It is in Finnish :) translation coming soon!

A white Christmas after all - in Finland, of course!

Thursday, February 12. Five teachers from EOI Cornellà – Laura, Karen, Eulàlia, Oriol and Dani – are ready for the cold. It’s early in the morning and two taxis are taking us to the Barcelona airport. Next station: Helsinki!

We land in the Finnish capital in the afternoon, with just enough time to transfer to our second plane to Vaasa. By the time we get there, it’s dark outside, but the cold is bearable as we are all wrapped up in the warmest clothes we’ve ever had – some of them bought for the occasion.

Tiina and Terhy – the headmistress – are there to meet us and drive us to our hotel, some 80 kilometres to the east of Vaasa and not far from Lapua and Seinäjoki.

The one-hour drive to the hotel gives us time to talk with our excellent drivers – we in Barcelona can’t yet understand how both Tiina and Terhy managed to drive with such ease on absolutely frozen roads – and to take in as much as we can of the landscape. Snow everywhere, tall trees, pretty detached houses scattered here and there... So different from Barcelona, so beautiful and – why not mention it? – clean and pure!

We feel at home from the very beginning. Our hosts are unparalleled at organizing the smallest detail to make everyone feel comfortable and... be on time!!! That we were about to find out the following morning, with the start of the activity-filled program prepared for us.

And speaking of feeling at home, the hotel rooms had everything we could ask for plus one thing we don’t recall having ever had anywhere else – a Finnish sauna in each room! All that was left to do on Day 1 was eat a little, meet our Chester colleagues and go to sleep. 17 degrees Celsius below zero outside...

Friday, February 13. Breakfast at the hotel and departure for a bus tour of nearby Seinäjoki, where some of the teachers at Lapuan Kansalaisopisto live. And, yes, the snow we saw the night before was still there. It wasn’t something we just dreamed of! The bus gave us another opportunity to admire the landscape and to get to know each other a bit better.

Seinäjoki is a 60,000+ inhabitant city with beautiful buildings – some of them designed by the internationally renowned architect Alvar Aalto – an important cultural center and an impressive library where everything has been designed to make visitors’ stay a pleasure.

Just a curiosity: in Catalan and Spanish encyclopedias, Alvar Aalto is the first entry you find after ‘a’!! Well, after admiring Aalto’s designs and learning more about the local way of life, we had a little time to do some shopping before having lunch at a nice restaurant. Time to recharge our batteries and get ready for the bus bound for Lapua!

Once in Lapua, where the Finnish partners are based, we visited the Cathedral, where Oriol had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the impressive 6,600 pipe organ – the biggest in the country!

After that, we arrived at the Adult Education Center, where we had an afternoon snack and then left the Communitek students from Chester and Lapua to work together and discuss their experience participating in the project while the teachers held the scheduled project meeting.

What an eventful day! To top it off, a fellowship dinner was organized with live music performed by Katja and two other singers from the school. But, wait a minute! Something was missing. Finland, winter, snow outside... You’re right! Santa Claus popped in when we least expected it and brought presents for everyone. He knew Christmas was long over, but he couldn’t let us go without paying us a visit in person. After all, we were at his home!

Kiitos for such a niche soirée! Pity there was just one more day left...

Saturday, February 14. After having breakfast at the hotel, we were taken to the Vanha Paukku Cultural Center. Massive, with a long history – it used to be no less than a cartridge factory! – and a museum. We learned some more facts and figures about Finland and then we had a look at what the English and Finnish students had discussed the day before as regards the impact that the Communitek Project is having on them. Definitely an enriching experience!

After lunch, it was time for winter sports at the Simpsiö Outdoor Resort. Downhill sledding is not something we can do every day in Barcelona... How funny! And cooking sausages over a bonfire was just the best way to warm everyone up after rolling on the snow for a few times! A bonfire and... a Finnish sauna!

Just in case any of us hadn’t yet gotten rid of the cold, a sauna and winter swimming at a ski cabin would do the rest... And it worked! Most of us didn’t think we’d be able to go into the freezing water after the sauna but – much to our own amazement – we did it! In fact, even two or three times!

Well, it was clear we all deserved a nice dinner party for being so brave. And we had it. This time, even some of the guests stepped forward and sang or played the guitar. How talented people are! A night to remember, just before going back home.


Sunday, February 15. All good things come to an end. Last breakfast at the hotel and back to where we started from – Tiina and Terhy drove us back to Vaasa airport, from where we flew to Helsinki and then on to Barcelona. But no need to be sad! Next sation: Chester. We are so looking forward to it!