Hi, I´m Blanca, I´m from Spain and I participated in the last trip of Comenius Project in Szczecin, Poland. The only thing that I want everybody to know is that Comenius is more than a project. Yes, I´m sure that everyone who has been involved in it, thinks in the same way as me. At first, when you don´t know who is your host or who is going to stay in your house, you are a bit afraid and you think that it is only a school activity. But after that, when you are in the foreign country, you realize that it is more than this. When I knew that I was going to go to Poland, I felt really nervous, thinking if Gosia, my host, and me were going to understand each other correctly. Also, I was scared because of our different cultures. On Friday 18th April, when Miriam, my Spanish friend, and I landed in Berlin, all the foreign students were waiting for us. We were the last ones. When I saw Gosia for the first time I felt impressed because she is so tall and I thought that I was a baby next to her. The weekend was fantastic. We had a barbecue with all her friends and it was my first time trying KFC. On Monday we went to the school and all the students had to do a quiz on Poland. My friend Miriam was the winner and I was the third one. In addition to that, we had a lunch with our different traditional food. It was really funny. In the afternoon, we went to watch a show of her school, where some people danced or sung. Finally, on Tuesday we made a trip to Miedzyzdroje, a very beautiful place. Unfortunately, all the good things finish very fast, and on Wednesday, at 8.30 a.m. we had to catch a bus in order to go to Berlin airport. I miss Gosia a lot, and also I miss how her dad cooks. It was incredible! For me, Comenius is a good way to meet people and to make friends. You learn a lot in these days too. I´m looking forward to August because Gosia is going to come to Spain and she is staying in my house for 12 days, so we´ll be able to do plenty of things together! Really, if you have the opportunity to participate in Comenius, don´t hesitate in any moment. Say yes and you will spend a good time! Blanca Cidoncha Cano, Spain

 My Comenius diary

Szczecin 19-24 April 2013

By Manon (IND THUIN, Belgium)

Friday 19.04 ...One, two, three. Let’s go to the airport!.

It’s 7 o’clock. Mme Payen, Mr Guillaume, Sarah, Jérôme, Zoé, Juliette, Annia, Mathieu and myself. We are seven. Seven Belgian students in Zaventhem. We check in our bags, go through customs. Jerome and I ring. We must remove shoes and belt. The Custom officers take Annia’s apple because they think it’s a bomb. We go to the departure gate after some shopping in the duty-free area. Some more time to take photos and we take off. Annia and I are very afraid. We grasp Mathieu’s hands saying we love our family.

It’s 9 o’clock and the plane is in the sky.

One hour later, we land in Western Berlin. We must wait for two hours. We organise a Belgian lunch on the floor. We eat tuc, fruitella and Napoleon. We play at “What’s my name” too with a sheet of paper on our forehead. That was very funny but the German people don’t seem to appreciate. They look at our lunch and our play and don’t laugh.

At 12 o’clock we are hungry but we must go to another airport in East- Berlin to take English and Spanish people. There are two Spanish teachers and their two girls. Jerome loves them at first sight. They are very funny. There are five English people too. Daniel and James will be our future friends. They are very shy! Now we are on the coach. Polish, English, Spanish, Belgian … There are a lot of nationalities but it isn’t a problem. We speak together. “What’s your name? “, “What do you say? Manou? “, “Why are Belgian people so small? “ “Are you big in Belgium? “. We speak about everything and we meet with our Polish hosts. Asia, Bachia, Karla, Eva … A lot of nice and funny girls. And the Polish boys are friendly and very nice too. In our team we have two boys: David and Alex.

But enough for the presentation now ,we are really starving... let’s go and eat. Then we visit the Wall museum. Next, we go near the Wall and we take some photos. At 6 p.m.  we take the coach to Sczecin. It’s a two hour-ride. On the place, we go with our host in their home. I meet with ‘my’family. They are four at home. Five with the dog. I hate this dog. He is ugly! We eat for the dinner. I taste some green cheese with spinach into it. It’s special but delicious. At 10 p.m we go to the city to see the parade. It’s a festival with dancers, acrobats and musicians. All the Comenius students are here and we laugh a lot. The first night is perfect. It is the beginning of a beautiful story.

Saturday, we take the bus and we are going to see Karla, Annia, Bachia, Juliette, David and Alex. We go to the Luna Park. After that, we visit the city. Next, we go to David’s home for a barbecue. We listen to music, we play with a ball. James and David play guitar. The second night is wonderful too.

Sunday, we go shopping with our Comenius partners. We taste pierogi and Bubble tea too. Bubble tea is something to drink. It’s a mishshake or a tea with bubbles into it. When you drink the Bubbles  explode in your mouth. It’s delicious!

In the evening we go to the “Coffee 22”: a pub on top of  a tower. From there you can see the whole Sczecin.  This night was perfect. For the third time in three days.

Monday, we must go to school. We take part to the International Lunch. We visit the school too. Next, we must do our presentation. A 2 p.m we have finished and we go with our new Polish friends in the city. At 6p.m we go to the talent show. A lot of Polish students are here. They dance, sing, make comedy, play guitar … It’s very funny. In the night, we go in the city for a party. We taste the polish drink. 

Tuesday, we take the coach and we go to the Bison’s park. Next, we go to the sea. In the evening, we go to bowling with Polish, English and Spanish friends. For the last night. We want to stay in Poland. This trip is wonderful. We are tired but happy.

                                        

The last day. A lot of memories, a lot of feelings, a lot of love, a lot of beautiful days, a lot of smile and a lot of laughers. We don’t want to go to Belgium. Poland is our new country and we love the Polish people. We don’t think we have known these friends for only five days. They are our friends. Our best Polish friends. We cry. They say they love Belgian people. We still cry and we go on the coach. Nostalgia is here. We return to Berlin. At 5 p.m we take off. At 7 p.m we are in Belgium. We forgot the people can understand the French here. We go by train to Charleroi. It’s the end. Yes, of course. Be careful! That will never be the end in our heart. We won’t forget this people.

I want to tell about life in Poland:

Life in this country is very cheap. A taxi costs 5euro, a trip by bus cost 50cents and a sandwich costs 1euro. Generally, life is four time less expensive than in Belgium. It’s very interesting but not for the clothes. In Poland, there are two big social classes too. The first is the class for people with little money and another is the class for people with a lot of money. The people stay with people of their social class. Finally, the Polish school is very elitist. The best students have their picture on the wall and they are put forward. I don’t like this.  

There are a lot of differences between Poland and Belgium but I’m going to mention five of them:

One: The guys are gentlemen: they carry your bags.

Two: The food is very special: they eat nutela on an omelette.

Three: Five euros that is very expensive for them.

Four:  A city with 51 primary school it’s a small city for the Polish!

Five: All the girls and boys are fantastic.

Comenius is an experience. Comenius is spectacular. Comenius is the future. Comenius is a story. Comenius is memories. Comenius is a chance, a big chance. A beautiful chance. I will never forget this wonderful trip.

                                                                                                                      Manon