Post on 08-Apr-2017
transcript
Thursday, 22nd January 2015
Our train to Frankfurt started at 4.24 am. Nobody really slept that night and some used several alarm clocks because they feared to oversleep.
At the airport in Frankfurt, we met the French team who took the same plane to Thessaloniki. We arrived at Thessaloniki at 2.50 pm where the
Romanian team already waited at the bus for Ioannina. After a 4 hour- ride on the bus, we finally arrived at Ioannina. Of course, we were very
excited. But when we met our exchange partners and their families, we knew everything is going to be alright. They offered us a real warm
welcome.
Friday, 23rd
January 2015
After an impressive welcome ceremony in the gym, we had the possibility to talk to many other students in an icebreaking activity. Then we had
presentations about each nation. The Spanish team presented the results of the online survey about the eating habits of the students. From the
different logos, the Spanish one got the most votes. What a pity for Greece, they had only one vote less than the Spanish logo. At the end of the day,
a Greek teacher taught us how to dance the traditional dance ‘Sirtaki’.
Saturday, 24th
January 2015
After a visit to the Archaeological Museum, we took part in a city game in Ioannina. We walked to important places where some Greek students
gave us information about this site. Finally, we had to answer a question. Those students who could give the right answer, got a piece of a puzzle
which was later put together to one picture of a famous sight in Ioannina.
That day, we had a big meeting with the mayor in the town hall which was filmed and broadcasted on TV. In the afternoon, each team prepared the
salads and everybody could taste the national specialities of the different nations.
Sunday, 25th
January 2015
Originally, a bike tour was planned for that day. But because of a bad weather forecast, there was no fix program and all the students could spend
the day with their host families. Some went on a trip to the mountains, others visited the island of Ioannina and some had a lazy day or met other
students in town.
Monday, 26th
January 2015
A bus picked us up in the morning and took us to the Archaeological Site of Dodona. A guide explained the historical background and told us the
legend of the ancient Greek history. After that historical site, we were taken to a cheese producing factory where the manager explained the different
steps of the production of the famous feta cheese. Because of hygiene rules, we had to dress up with plastic coats which was very funny. In the
afternoon, we had three different workshops. One workshop was about typical herbs in Greece, another offered a sportive game in the gym and in
the third one each nation had to present its part of the rap. Oh my god, we still will have to practise a lot!!!
Tuesday, 27th
January 2015
The day began with attending a German or French lesson at school. Then, a bus picked us up for the visit of a silver manufacture. An employee
explained the process of creating jewelry from the raw material silver. In a shop, we could buy silver rings or bracelets.
The bus took us to a small village in the mountains to a museum of modern art. The artist himself presented his pieces of art and gave explanations.
Back to school, we all got a farewell present. It contained several souvenirs from Greece including typical herbs. In the evening, we went to a
theatre, where a pantomime artist presented a real funny show. Then we were all invited to a restaurant where we had a big dinner. A band played
life music and everybody (nearly everybody) danced the traditional Greek dance the ‘Sirtaki’. It was great to see how the students and teachers from
the different nations danced together and had fun together.
At 9 o’clock in the next morning, it was time to say ‘goodbye.
We had an overwhelming time with students from four different nations and we could experience Greek hospitality in real life. We returned from
our journey with plenty of new and wonderful impressions and our stay will be unforgettable. Many thanks to the organizing teachers, the host
families and to all those persons who helped to realize this exchange visit and made its success possible.