|
It was like a dream... It was an unforgettable week!! From 23rd to 29th November we hosted our partners from Comenius-Socrates programme entitled ‘Children of Europe’. Until now we had written emails to our partners and at last we had the opportunity to speak to them. It was really very exciting to see them! Guests from Turkey came to our school on Monday morning, whereas Italian partners arrived at 5 o’clock p.m. They had made a great effort to cover such a long distance and when we saw their smiled faces we knew we got real and wonderful friends. We were really very happy and glad that they were with us but we were hosts and we had to make this visit as much interesting as possible! It was a great challenge for us!!! The schedule of the visit had been established much earlier and we started executing our plan step by step. We started from showing our school and seeing the show of the folk group ‘Płomienie’. The next day our guests were invited to the trip around Bydgoszcz. Every day they came to our school to learn about the way our school work. They had the opportunity to see lessons such as Polish, Maths, Biology and English. A great surprise for our pupils was a PE lesson held by one of the Turkish teachers. Children had a great fun! Our partners from Turkey and Italy were also guests of Opera Nova, where they visited a building and saw a ballet. Finally, they went on a trip to Toruń. Our Polish families which hosted Turkish and Italian children also provided many attractions to our guests. We knew that they even tried to cook original dishes for their wonderful, young guests. Apart from that during all these events we were talking and talking … We were curious about our guests and we asked them a lot of questions. On the other hand, our Turkish and Italian friends were also very interested in our school life, city, Polish tradition and customs. It was a great surprise for us when we discovered so many similarities between all of us! We felt that we were in a joyful company of good friends. On the other hand, we all agreed that we should be proud of our differences, such as our culture, tradition, customs, languages etc. Getting knowledge of our partners’ countries could only help us to broaden our minds and make us more open to the whole world. Dear friends from Turkey and Italy! Thank you for your coming to Poland! We are very happy that we got new friends! The visit of our friends - first relation. On October 23rd our guests visited our school for the first time. They also tasted traditional Polish food and we hope they liked it. Then a group of young dancers called “Plomienie” showed Polish folk dances and our guests had the opportunity to see beautiful outfits worn by the dance group. Tuesday was a rainy day but it didn’t change our plans, we visited The Old Town of Bydgoszcz. Our Turkish and Italian guests saw famous places: The Monument of a Fight and the Martyrdom of Bygoszcz, The Venice of Bydgoszcz, The Parish Church, The White Granary, The Grenaries at Grodzka Street and an interesting sculpture – Crossing the River. Then the sun came out and we could go to Myślęcinek for a walk in The Botanical Garden. On Wednesday our friends could see how and what we learn. They attended Polish, Geography, Maths lessons and a Turkish PE teacher tought the children a game. Then they saw a short play “Jas and Malgosia” (Hansel and Gretel) acted by the first grade. Our Turkish friends showed their folk dance and also beautiful costumes. Thursday was “a shopping day”. Italian and Turkish friends wanted to buy something ‘typical Polish’ so they went to Cepelia. Then it was dinner time. And we (Polish people) could try our friends’ traditional food, Manti from Turkey and Penne al Pomodoro from Italy. In the evening we went to the opera house: Opera Nova. First we colud visit the opera house with the guide next we saw the ballet: “Three colours Chopin in Nohant”. On Friday we had “a hard day work”. We talked about our plans for the next year 2007 / 2008 and we decided about projects and communication. Our Italian and Turkish friends could not only see Bydgoszcz but also Torun, because there was a day trip to Torun on Saturday. Together with the tour guide we were walking around the town and our guests bought souvenirs and famous gingerbread. 
|