pátek 16. května 2014

Tomek from Suwalki wrote a diary in the Czech Republic

4th April (Friday) In accordance with previously set term we left our school at 2 o’clock. During the journey we talked and listened to music. At 7 o’clock we arrived at the airport in Warsaw, where we checked-in. Then we took off at 9 o’clock. The flight was a quite pleasurable experience. At half past ten we were already in Prague, but we had to wait until 1 p.m. for Turks. After that we went to school for lunch, which, like every other school meal was at most eatable. Then came the moment to meet families. Fortunately, my Czech parents turned out to be very nice people, just like my host – Ben. In the afternoon, we went with Adrian, his host and Ben for ice cream. After coming back home, we arranged a session in front of the computer. During the supper I started first conversation with my Czech parents. I was tired of new impressions, so I went to bed quite early. 5th April (Saturday) Fortunately I lived near the school so I didn't to have get up early. After breakfast we went to school. There were waiting integration activities for us. Then we were divided into six groups. Each of them consisted of three Czechs, a Turk, an Italian and a Pole. We were supposed to work in these groups until the end of our stay in Prague. At first we had to choose a topic of the film, which we would accomplish through seven days. We decided to make a romantic comedy. After eating lunch with Ben, Jan and Adrian and their hosts we went to a shop for people interested in metal music. The shop was named “Nosferatu”. It’s a pity that we don’t have one in Suwalki. The next destination of our trip was a climbing wall. It was really fun! I climbed onto few of them. The night was coming, so we came back home. The supper was waiting for us and after it we went to bed. 6th April (Sunday) That day we went to see a castle. At first we saw guard’s change. Then we visited The Golden Lane, museum of torture, throne room and saw royal insignia. In the meantime we shot a few scenes of our film. We finished sightseeing at 5 p.m. and then we went to the pizzeria with Ben, Vojte and Jan. That’s how another day in Prague ended. 7th April (Monday) On that day we went to classes of three types: drama classes, plastic classes and dancing classes. We were divided into three groups , and each of them had different classes simultaneously. We started from drama ones, where we were learning how to play different scenes and in the end we had to prepare a horror one. Next were dancing lessons , and although I’m not into dancing, I enjoyed these classes. We learned three different types of dance. The last were art classes. We were making lemons with quite an interesting technique – by using a knife and plasticine. At the end there was lunch waiting for us at school, which couldn’t compare to our Czech parents’ meals. After leaving the school we went on a laser game. It’s like paintball, but instead of balls with paint lasers are used. It’s definitely great fun, although very exhausting. We ended the day by eating ice cream in the shopping centre. 8th April (Tuesday) This time we were taken to a TV studio. I admit I was surprised by the amount of world class films which were shot there. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see too much because of the ongoing works. We were only shown the warehouses, although it was still an impressive view. In the afternoon we went to a department store to shoot another scenes. After that we had some free time in the shopping mall. 9th April (Wednesday) In the morning we went to a market, but the staff on many stalls was the same. Certainly the viewpoint, from which the sight of Prague was fabulous. After the dinner we watched movies made by certain countries , then we started making initial setup of what we managed to shoot. We spent the rest of the day with Ben, at home. 10th April (Thursday) From the sunrise we started making the setup. It was a long process. After that we watched the effects of each group’s work. The last point of our trip was visiting the Visegrad Castle and it’s casemates . We took a lot of photos. In the evening we had an official “goodbye” supper with families. Then we went back home to pack ourselves. We we going to have a flight on Friday morning. 11th April (Friday) Unfortunately it was the last day in Prague. In the morning we had to say goodbye to our families. The Italians took off much earlier, so we had to say them goodbye the previous evening. At the airport the said goodbye to Turks and Czechs who were waiting for us at the airpoirt. Luckily we will meet some of them next year in Poland. That’s how our short trip to Czech Republic has ended. Tomek

čtvrtek 15. května 2014

Turkish report from the Czech Republic mobility

Our group arrived to Prague Airport on the 4th of April 2014 on a Friday noon and we were taken to the school by the coordinator. At school met with the host families around 2 pm. On the next day Saturday morning the students got together at school and started to meet with the other groups. First we had a warming up activity day and after that we watched all the videos from the Sicily project. We were given ideas about what and how we could shoot. Then we were divided into international groups and we had to come up with an idea our filming. Every group had a presentation of their day in their country and the way of life to the other students. On Sunday we went to the Prague Castle and with their theme the students started to shoot film in various parts of the castle. All students worked in their international groups and started to work. On Monday we had our official invitation by the headmaster and we had workshops the whole day at school. The workshops were on Fimo, Drama and Dancing. On Tuesday we visited the Barrandov Film Studios and we had the chance to see costumes and film studios for acting and also we saw some furniture which are used in films. And in the afternoon we spent time at a shopping mall where we had our further shooting. On Wednesday we went to the Old Square in order to shoot our further film, got on the Tower and we had a beautiful view of Prague, and we watched the Astronomical Watch Tower and spent time at the Easter Market. After that we went back to school and finished the other country’s presentations. On the Thursday we met at the school and spent the whole morning putting our film together. And we edited our films, added some music and if there was a missing part we tried to shoot some parts again. And after that all the groups showed their video. On Friday we met at the school and we went to the airport with our hosting friends. During the project the Czech students prepared language booklet and we got a beautiful t-shirts from the Czech school.

pondělí 12. května 2014

Iva talks about our Comenius week in Prague

After school, on a hot and sunny afternoon, we, with the girls decided to go for ice cream despite the fact that our Polish and Turkish guests were on the way to school. Our plan failed and we ran up the street to meet our new friends. We managed to come just in the last minute and we managed to introduce ourselves and welcome our guests. A few times I looked around at the new faces. They were all strangers to me. Suddenly I thought it would be really hard to be friends with them. And that it will be hard to speak English all the time. We took them for lunch, where we did not talk much and there is no wonder, after such a long journey they were all exhausted. So we took them home to the families and their first day in Prague ended. The next day at school we did all sorts of different activities to get to know each other and to say something about ourselves. Some of us already knew each other from Sicily but most of us, like me, did not know anyone. Our main task was to shoot a video, which we then had to get together and create a film about Prague. During our activities we all got to know each other. We had a lot of fun and it was as if we had known each other forever. We did not speak only English, but we also learned a few words in Italian, Polish and Turkish. We walked around the monuments and made legendary SELFIES. We visited Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge, the ZOO but we also walked around shopping malls and the markets in Prague centre. Everybody liked something else. After school, we mostly walked around in groups, where our friends know each other. We showed them the beautiful faces of Prague seen via our eyes, but we also took our friends wherever they wanted to go. A day before their departure, we met for dinner at a pizzeria and thereby ended a week full of fun, adventure and, mainly, we made some new friends. Friday, the departing day and the last day with us, was the hardest. Just imagine. The whole week we were together, we had only one week to become friends and everything went by so fast and suddenly, when we finally made friends, they had to leave. I regretted that I had not spoken to all of our international guests more. I realized this too late. We hugged for the last time and said goodbye and the worst feeling was, that I will never see some of them again. It was very sad at the airport. I'm really glad I signed up for the Comenius project even though I could not accommodate. I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate in it. I appreciate I have really good friends that I respect and even now when the project work in Prague has finished, I keep writing with some of the friends. I learned a new things and most importantly, I experienced a lot of experiences that I will never forget and to think about our time together, it will always make me smile.