Brickstones annual magazine 2015

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

JULY 2015

ERASMUS + PROJECT

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

2015 AUSTRIA * GERMANY * GREECE

ITALY * ROMANIA* SPAIN * SWEDEN

BRICKSTONES MADE IN EUROPE ERASMUS + PROJECT

ANNUAL MAGAZINE JULY 2015

:: EDITORIAL...

:: YOU WILL GET AN INSIGHT OF EUROPEANS WORKING TOGETHER…

Dear Reader

Welcome to our annual project magazine of BRICKS, Brickstones made in Europe, which is the subject of our common Erasmus+ Project. Seven European partner countries (Austria/Germany /Greece/ Italy/Romania/ Spain/Sweden) will write about their experiences, their opinions and insights they received while working on our project and during our meetings.

What are we working on? We want to learn how the environment and social aspects in each European partner country have influenced the way houses have been built in the past. We have organized an exhibition presenting model houses of a rural and also of an urban neighbourhood. To understand why these houses have been built in this particular way we have presented detailed background information on panels.

During our first meeting in Eskilstuna our students gave presentations about this topic to a wider public. Visits to an ancient forgery and to examples of typical buildings of the last centuries in Eskilstuna and Stockholm have given us insights about housing in Sweden in the past. (see our website [email protected])

We not only focus on the past. At our meeting in Pregarten we explored the newly built school, admiring not only the thoughtful architecture (the teachers were involved in the planning), the aesthetics of the building but focusing also on its sustainability. Saving energy is an important issue of our project. Therefore we will organize an energy week on 28

th September to 2

nd October 2015 where all our

schools will be involved. We will report about it in our next magazine!!! Now we will continue working on the aspect building in the present involving experts and visiting building sites in our countries. In our survey among people of all ages and family backgrounds we will find out what people expect from the ideal place to live. What is the infrastructure of their neighbourhood like and what should have to be improved.

With all these background data from our survey we will develop EUROPIA, a place where all our European partners would feel at home and all their demands will be met. Read about it in our next issue! We would like to invite all interested persons to share our experiences and ideas while working on our project. You will get an insight of Europeans working together in an exciting, fulfilling and successful partnership. Although our working language is English, our different backgrounds are conveyed by writing in our national languages as well as in English. May the information about our project contribute to show the value of an intensive European cooperation. …

Gisela Mihajlovic

Project Coordinator August-Renner-Realschule

Rastatt - Germany

CREDITS

NMS Pregarten – Pregarten – Austria

Robert Gstöttenbauer (project coordinator)

Karin Raffeiner (project coordinator)

Lea (student)

Gina (student) Saskia (student) Konstantin (student) Nadina (student) Katrin (student)

August-Renner – Realschule – Rastatt – Germany

Gisela Mihajlovic (project coordinator) Diana Kraft (student) Katharina Ament (student) Miriam Fischer (student) Laura (student) Pascale (student) Fenja (student) Daniel (student) Leah (student) Alisa (student)

3o Geniko Lykeio Larissas – Larissa – Greece

Argyro Arnavitou (project coordinator)

Georgia (student)

Panagiotis (student)

IIS P. Levi – Badia Polesine – Italy

Emanuela Trevisani (project coordinator)

Chiara Zaghini (student) Linda Arfiero (student)

Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1 – Independenta – Romania

Mihaela Mihailescu (project coordinator)

Mihai Novac (teacher) Stroia Elena Andreea (student) Stan Silvia (student) Crețu Adelina Elena (student)

IESO Quercus –Terradillos – Salamanca – Spain

Domingo González (project coordinator) Rubén Rivas (student) Houda Rhoualmi (student) Rocío Benito (student) David Bonilla (student) Amaya Pacheco (student) Isabel Romero (student)

Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna – Sweden

Laima Hamberg (project coordinator) Monica Häggström (project coordinator) Isabella (student) Kevin Laitinen (student) Khan Aga Nazari (student) Lana Lazar (student) Saad Khalid (student) Dani (student) Ikram Ibrahim (student) Emil Eriksson (student) Asel Al-Sabti (student) Suhaam Kassim (student) Menah Al-Muhana (student) Sama Yousif (student) Diana Niskoand (student) Linnéa Tovseth (student) Zahraa Karim (student)

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BRICKSTONES MADE IN EUROPE

ERASMUS + PROJECT

ANNUAL MAGAZINE

JULY 2015

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:: SPAIN...

:: I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY IMPRESSED BY THE CULTURE OF ANCIENT GREECE …

The 3o school Geniko Lykeio Larissas, located in the Greek town of Larissa hosted the 1

st meeting of our Eramus +

project BRICKSTONES. From 19th

to 23rd

of October 2014, teachers representing the seven European schools involved in the project participated in different work sessions in order to launch the project. As a result of these productive debates, important agreements were achieved, and they were summarized in the so called “Minutes Meeting Larissa 2014”:

future meeting dates, forms of communication among the partners, tasks, website, annual magazine… to mention some of the most important. I was eager for this meeting to come. Being the first one of the project, it was expected with the uncertainty and excitement of a blind date: it was the time to know people you had been contacting and working with, via email, since a year ago!

All expectations were overwhelmingly satisfied. The Greek Erasmus + team had prepared a very well organized meeting: productive debates, educational work sessions, visiting the school and the town, Meteora monasteries, Kastraki, Varousi neigbourhood in Trikala, Bolos train station … Considering that the aim of our project is to show how the environment and social aspects have influenced the way houses have been built in different European Countries, walking and sightseeing the architecture of these areas was a very suitable starting point to the implementation of our Erasmus project “Brick stones – made in Europe. The way housing influences our lives in a common Europe”.

No sooner I realized that a Greek school was involved in the project, I checked on the Internet where Larissa was. It was a nice surprise. Personally I was looking forward to visiting the region of Thessalia; this name evokes me the amazing stories I was told when I studied Greek at school: Homer’s Iliad, Achilles, the Trojan War… I must confess that I have always been very impressed by the culture of ancient Greece. Due to this, and the hospitality and care our Greek colleagues showed at every moment, and on the other hand the friendship atmosphere, this meeting experience will be unforgettable.

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Domingo González Spanish Project Coordinator

IESO Quercus

Terradillos – Salamanca, Spain


ERASMUS + PROJECT BRICKSTONES MADE IN EUROPE

ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: SWEDEN...

:: ERASMUS + MEETING IN ESKILSTUNA…

The students from our group are from

Spain, Germany, Greece, Austria and of

course Sweden. Our host families were

very nice and we had a great time with

them. They could speak English so we

could talk with them and communicate.

We learned a lot of things about the other

countries and the other traditions which

was very helpful.

About the education, it is better here because the teachers can understand each other, and the students have more opportunities. In the other countries, like Germany and Greece, the educational system is harder and stricter. For example, here the students are allowed to use their mobile phones and iPads but in the other countries we are not allowed.

We always thought of Sweden as a very cold country with a lot of snow but when we came here we realized that it has indeed cold weather but the people are warm and friendly. We really like the food and it has some similarities with Greek food. Stockholm is a big city with lots of monuments. We really liked it even though it was so cold. We also liked Eskilstuna. Also there is a king here but in our counties we have a president.

This was a great chance for all of us to come here and we wish we could have spent some more time here. We met a lot of people and we made lots of friends and we have invited everyone to visit us in our hometowns. This was a unique experience for all of us. Thank you for the hospitality.

Lea (Austria), Georgia (Greece) Diana (Germany), Rubén Rivas (Spain)

Isabella (Sweden)

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:: ITALY...

:: FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE IN SWEDEN!…

From the 25

th of February to the 3

rd

March 2015, Linda Arfiero and Chiara Zaghini, who are attending the fourth year of the I.I.S. Primo Levi in Badia Polesine (RO), went to Eskilstuna, a town near Stockholm, for a European project Erasmus+ called “Brick stones - made in Europe”.

When we arrived, we met our host families who were kind and helpful. First we noticed the different habits, such as different food and lifestyle (we had dinner at 5! Almost a late lunch!). Nevertheless, we had a great time with all of them, we enjoyed meeting partners from foreign

countries and share experiences, exchanging ideas and enjoying our free time there. It’s an experience that we would like to repeat in order to improve our English, to socialize and to broaden our cultural horizons. When we visited the school, we most liked the 3D room because it is a real way to know and see our human body so it’s easier to learn. We also appreciated the rap song and dance. We were pleased to see modern furniture at school (desks, chairs and electronic books-we don’t have in Italy!). We don’t have a canteen too, so we liked the idea of staying together to have lunch and to educate children to eat healthy food and not to waste food. It was great to meet new friends and exchange ideas with foreign students and work or play with them. As far as the impressions on the European houses are concerned, we noticed that in the northern countries the houses are mainly made of wood and some stones, while in the southern

countries there are more bricks, made up of clay. The windows are smaller in the hottest and coldest countries to preserve hot and cold weather. The roofs are lower in the cold countries to keep the warm inside and to be heated more easily. Many thanks to the Swedish teachers; they were really helpful, kind and friendly. By the way, the models of the houses were a real artefact and they were well displayed by the Swedish staff on a European map. Great work!

Chiara Zaghini Linda Arfiero

Italian students

Istituto di Istruzione Superiore P. Levi

Badia Polesine - Italy

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:: ITALY...

:: ESPERIENZE EUROPEE CON ERASMUS +…

“Brick stones – made in Europe”.

Questo è il titolo dell’argomento che verrà affrontato nei prossimi due anni in ognuna delle sette tappe del progetto Erasmus +, a cui parteciperanno alcuni studenti del nostro istituto I.I.S. Primo Levi. L’Erasmus +, simile all’Ex Comenius Project, dà la possibilità a due studenti diversi per ogni incontro, scelti in base alle loro abilità linguistiche (ma non

solo…) di poter viaggiare e confrontarsi con altri ragazzi delle rispettive nazioni participanti: Germania, Spagna, Romania Austria, Grecia, Svezia e naturalmente Italia. Per il corrente anno scolastico 2014/15 le classi coinvolte saranno la 3B SA, 4A SA. e 3A L mentre le attività verranno coordinate dalla prof . E. Trevisani, affiancata dalle prof. C. De Vincentiis, L. Manzalini, R. Carpani e per l’aspetto informatico dalla prof. S. Azzolini. L’argomento trattato verterà sul modo con cui l’evoluzione culturale dei diversi Paesi europei ha modificato le nostre abitazioni. “E’ incredibile notare il cambiamento subito dagli edifici urbani e non, anche nella nostra piccola Badia Polesine ed è stato emozionante presentarli ai paesi stranieri.” Alla base dell’intera ricerca vi sta un approfondimento del tema in analisi;

proprio per questo motivo le sopra citate classi, lo scorso ottobre, si sono recate alla mostra Biennale di architettura a Venezia.

L’Erasmus + è una grande opportunità che viene data agli studenti per fare esperienze a carattere europeo.

Noi ragazzi non dimenticheremo mai le famiglie straniere veramente accoglienti che ci hanno ospitato e tutti gli amici incontrati con i quali abbiamo un continuo rapporto on-line.

B Chiara Zaghini Linda Arfiero

Italian students Istituto di Istruzione Superiore P. Levi


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:: GERMANY...

:: GERMAN STUDENTS’ COMMENTS – MEETING IN ESKILSTUNA…

One week in Sweden

Now we are back from Sweden. I was very lucky to have a chance to be in Sweden and meet other pupils and teachers from other countries. Everyone spoke English in a different way and it sometimes sounded funny but I understood everything.

Before Sweden I thought all the people in Sweden have got blue eyes and blond hair but it wasn´t so, there live many people with immigrant backgrounds.

The school in Sweden wasn´t as big as ours but it was nevertheless very modern and had many different classrooms. Every Swedish pupil gets an Ipad from the school and you can also get free lunch at school. It was my pleasure to take place in such a great project and I would join every time again.

Diana Kraft August-Renner-Realschule

Rastatt - Germany

When we arrived in Sweden my first impression was: What a beautiful country! I've expected more blond and blue-eyed people. I didn't think that there would be so many people with immigrant background. The food we ate wasn't different, but they had more meals with fish and they had a cafeteria in the school.

The people are all very kind and friendly. It was cool to see the royal place in Stockholm. It was new for me seeing the students speaking to the teachers using their first name. It was a good experience and it was so much fun.

We all had the chance to improve our English and I'm very thankful for that. We all want to visit Sweden again. We love Sweden and we miss every single participant of this project.

Katharina Ament August-Renner-Realschule

Rastatt - Germany

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:: GERMANY...

:: GERMAN STUDENTS’ COMMENTS II – MEETING IN ESKILSTUNA…

I was surprised that the school in Sweden has a canteen. I think it’s good to have this. But I was not used to eat Swedish food. I normally don’t like fish. The houses in Sweden are really nice. I loved the art the houses were built. The environment is beautiful. Of course it’s often cold there but there are friendly people and that’s more important. The big supermarket in Eskilstuna is awesome! You can buy all there. There are so many sweets. I’ve never seen this before. The best thing it’s open seven days a week. It was my great stay in Sweden.

Miriam Fischer , 9e

The host family was very nice and the time with the people from the different countries was very funny. It was the first time that I was in Sweden. In my opinion the time was too short for getting to know and I hope I´ll see one or another pupil again. Also the Swedish students were friendly and Eskilstuna is a beautiful city but a little bit expensive to buy many things.

Laura , 8a

Hello! :-) We’re back from Sweden. It was such a great experience for us. Our first impression when we arrived in Sweden was: it is really beautiful. Sweden is more beautiful in reality than in newspaper or on pictures. You can see everywhere the amazing landscape especially Eskilstuna We think it is prettier than Stockholm. With the river that flows in the middle in the city. Eskilstuna is really modern and big. You can only buy a bus ticket in the bus with a credit card, not with money. Because of a display at the bus stop you can see when the next bus will arrive. We liked the typical Swedish houses, made out of wood. In pretty different colours like yellow, red and mint. What wondered us was that they weren’t as many blond and blue eyed people as we thought they were. Many people with immigrant background are living in Sweden. Everyone is very polite and kind to each other. Even though they looked like they weren’t laughing at all. All of us want to visit Sweden again. We hoped that we could eradicate all prejudices about Germany and Germans.

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ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: SPAIN...

:: SPANISH STUDENTS’ COMMENTS – MEETING IN ESKILSTUNA…

On February 26th

, early in the morning, a

small group of four students of IESO QUERCUS school started the trip to Eskilstuna, in Sweden, to participate during a week in the meeting of the Erasmus+ Project BRICKSTONES, and I was in the group. After a long trip we arrived in Eskilstuna late in the evening. The Swedish host families were at the train station to welcome us, and since

We made many interesting activities in the Swedish school and town: the presentation of the model houses and their backgrounds, visiting museums, bowling and the visit to a forge. I liked very much visiting the forge, and I was lucky because I had the possibility of forging: it was the first time I had visited a place like this and it was a special experience. We also visited Stockholm and an outdoor museum, and of course we had time to do some shopping.

The family day on Sunday was very funny; I played basketball and x-box with William, my Swedish partner. Time

passed very fast and I wanted to stay some more days enjoying this wonderful experience, because I was learning many things and practicing English.

I was very lucky taking part in the meeting in Eskilstuna because this experience was extraordinary, amazing and unforgettable; and it was like this because I met people from many countries, and I learnt new and interesting things about their cultures and way of living.

I was waiting for the trip to Sweden to arrive during long weeks, and when the departure day arrived I was nervous and excited.

I keep very nice memories of the meeting and the activities we made at school and

visiting interesting places like the Youth house, the typical houses in the area, the visit to the forge, the town of Stockholm and the visit to the outdoor museum. I think Stockholm is beautiful and I really would like to visit again. I liked to have lunch at the school canteen; we don´t have this in my school and I think it is good to get used to eat all kind of food. Thanks to my Swedish host family for being so kind with me; Suhaam Kassim and her family were always very friendly with me. I wish to meet them again!

Rubén Rivas Gómez Spanish student

IESO Quercus


Houda Rhoualmi Edeouam Spanish student

IESO Quercus


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ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: SWEDEN...

:: PAINTINGS OF OLD HOUSES IN THE AREA OF ESKILSTUNA …

Paintings of old houses in the area of Eskilstuna.

These paintings are made by students during arts lessons. The artists are Khan Aga Nazari 8a, Lana Lazar 8b, Kevin Laitinen 8b och Saad Khalid 8b

Akvareller av hus I Eskilstunaområdet. Eleverna har arbetat med dem i ämnet bild.

Kevin Laitinen Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

Khan Aga Nazari Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

Lana Lazar Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

Saad Khalid Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

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:: SWEDEN...

:: REPORT FROM THE EXCHANGE/VISIT IN ESKILSTUNA …

We are students from Greece, Austria, Romania and Germany and we had the chance to visit Sweden in the Erasmus + project. So we are going to describe our experiences from our trip.

First of all we had the opportunity to listen to stories we haven’t heard before (Silvia, Romania). Moreover we could taste different foods from our hometowns (Katarina, Germany and Saskia, Austria). Furthermore, the fact that we were speaking English all the time made us more sociable. Finally during this trip we learned about the culture from Swedish people (Panagiotis, Greece).

All of us loved the ceremony for different reasons. Firstly we had the chance to meet the other students from all countries and our hosts. Secondly we presented our schools and ourselves so everyone had a general idea about all of us.

But the highlight of the ceremony was the rap song! We also liked the disco and the youth center because we had a lot of fun there and we learned more about each other.

Last but not least we enjoyed the trip to Stockholm. We saw the royal castle and it was amazing to see the old houses at Skansen which still keep the living customs as it was in the past. It was also interesting to get to know something about the blacksmiths’ jobs and traditions.

Written by

Katarina from Germany,

Saskia from Austria, Silvia from Romania

Panagiotis from Greece.

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:: SWEDEN...

:: MY GRANDMOTHER’S OLD LIFE IN IRAQ …

In the early 1970s, my grandmother Hasina married in the city Bartella in Iraq. Life at that time was better than what one knows right now but had not gotten that far in development.

Life 35 years ago

About 35 years ago Hasina lived in an old house outside the city of Mosul. There she lived with three other people, namely her husband and his parents. At the time, she was almost always happy and did not have to worry so much, the war was far away, she says. Surroundings

The house was built in the 1800s of stone

concrete and clay. The house had a large yard and garden. The toilet was behind the kitchen and it was like a hole in the ground. The kitchen had stoves that worked with propane. You cooked the food with pots and pans. At that time it was not difficult to get water as it is now. You had water every day and could fill your water barrels. They got warm water with the water heater and use warm water to take a shower and clean themselves. Nowadays it is more difficult to get water and it is hard to shower like before, says Hasina Heating and electricity

The house was heated by making a fire with wood and it had holes in the ceiling so that the smoke would not stay there but now they have closed the hole because there are other ways that you can heat the house that is better and require less. You got electricity from the municipality and it never went away. Now we do not always have electricity as several electricity places have been destroyed by the war, she says worried. You cannot use things that work by elec-

Her husband was a gardener and it meant that the house had quite a lot of flowers, trees and shrubs. Now we have almost none of it left because my husband was old and could not take care of the garden anymore, she says. The family owned a field that was grown on once a year, but it was not always given crop because it rarely rained. My life has changed very much right now even compared to how it was then, the development has gone up slightly despite everything happening in Iraq, she says with a smile.

Dani

Swedish Student Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

I

tricity so much anymore, because the electricity goes away. Has your life changed since you married?

When I married, I became a housewife, it was common for a woman in that time. A housewife at that time would take care of everything at home, from cleaning to cooking, she says. In those days, we washed by hands and had no washing machine.

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:: SWEDEN...

:: LIFE AND HOUSING IN SOMALIA…

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Many years ago people had different life style. In 1926 many people lived in the villages. Even people who lived in the cities had the same situation. There were 60 families in each village.10 families lived in the same street. All those families knew each other and helped each other. They lived almost as one family. They had a calm and quiet nature, green color which covers large ground behind the house which allowed children to play together. You could hear kids laughing, laughter that makes everyone else feel happy and safe. In the places where the sheep were, there were children too.

In the past they built houses of one floor, because one fire place or two was enough. There are important things out of the house as bathroom. The bathroom was outside the home. The bathroom has not been used for washing clothes, maybe you ask you're self. How do they wash their clothes? The sea was the biggest helper to them. They were taking clothes that needed washing then they used sea water.

Washing time is in the morning, of course, because the night for them was bedtime. Places to sleep varied between families. Members of rich families slept on a bed of wood and poor families they were sleeping on the floor.

Ikram Ibrahim Swedish Student

Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

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:: SWEDEN...

:: SWEDISH HOST STORIES - “No matter where you come from – we are all the same!”…

Those words were said by one of the Swedish students who hosted a girl from one of our partner countries during the meeting in Eskilstuna.

After the exchange, all Swedish hosts were asked to write about their experiences of hosting. The following texts are examples of what they wrote.

Jag blev jätteglad när jag fick beskedet att jag skulle vara värd åt en kille ifrån Österrike. Jag har varit värd såhär förut också. Därför visste jag ungefär hur det skulle bli. Jag trodde att det skulle bli lite svårt med språket och så. Men det blev det inte. Det var lite nervöst första kvällen, men det försvann direkt. Det var jättekul att vara värd och prata engelska. Vi hade jätteroligt tillsammans och var ungefär samma typ av människa, så det blev perfekt. Inga problem eller något, han sa att han trivdes och det tror jag han gjorde. Jag ser verkligen fram emot resan till Österrike! I got very happy when I was told that I was going to host a guy from Austria. I have been hosting like this before so I pretty much knew what it was going to be like. I thought the language was going to be a problem but it wasn’t. The first evening I felt a bit nervous but it disappeared quickly. It was great being a host and speaking English. We had a lot of fun together and we were pretty similar as persons so it was perfect. No problems at all and he said that he was enjoying himself and I believe him. I’m really looking forward to going to Austria!

By Emil Eriksson - Swedish Student

Jag har varit värd och haft en gäst från Tyskland. Innan hon kom var jag väldigt nervös och orolig för hur det skulle bli. Samtidigt så var jag riktigt exalterad och jag längtade. När tjejen kom så blev det lite lugnare och jag var inte lika nervös längre. Vi hade kul tillsammans och hon fick träffa på ganska många av min släkt. Det var en stor möjlighet för mig att utveckla mitt engelska språk och bli ännu mer social. Det kändes riktigt bra och känns fortfarande bra. I hosted a girl from Germany. Before she arrived I was very nervous and worried what it was going to be like. At the same time I was really excited and longed for the day when she would come. When she came I wasn’t nervous any longer and it felt cool. We had good fun together and she got to meet many of my relatives. This opportunity to host was good for me and gave me a chance to enhance my English as well as my social ability. It felt and still feels very good.

By Lana Lazar - Swedish Student

Austrian students and their hosts

German students and their hosts

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:: SWEDEN...

:: SWEDISH HOST STORIES II… Det bästa med besöket var att få träffa nya människor från olika länder och kulturer och att prova på något som man inte gjort förr och det är att någon annan som jag inte har träffat får vara hos mig i en vecka. Jag har lärt mig att umgås med nya människor och prata mer engelska än vad jag vanligen gör, men bäst av allt att vi hade kul. The best thing with being a host was to meet people from different countries and to try something that I had never done before; having someone I don’t know living with me for a week. I have learnt to socialize with new people and to speak more English than I usually do – but best of all – we had so much fun!

By Asel Al-Sabti Swedish student

Jag var värd för en tjej från Spanien. Jag tyckte det var roligt att bli värd för att vi kunde göra flera saker tillsammans som jag inte kan göra med min storasyster. Men det var chill att vara med henne och alla andra från andra länder. I hosted a girl from Spain. I thought it was great to be a host because we did a lot of fun things that I don’t do with my big sister. I liked spending time with her and the others from different countries.

by Suhaam Kassim Swedish student

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Greek students and their hosts

Spanish students and their hosts


ERASMUS + PROJECT


ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: SWEDEN...

:: SWEDISH HOST STORIES III…

We hosted Romanian girls, one each! We went to the train station together to welcome them when they arrived. Before we met them we were both nervous and excited. “Would they like us?”, “Would they like the food” and “What are we going to talk about?” were questions we had. The first night we all felt nervous and it was difficult to speak English. They were also tired after a very long journey. But, as the days passed everything got much better. Speaking English became easier and we had a lot to talk about. We also did a lot of things together, like sleep overs!

In school we had a welcome ceremony and on Thursday afternoon we were all together at the “Youth house” and did many fun things. We also had a disco which was great! We danced all evening and laughed a lot. On Friday in school we had presentations of old typical houses from each country and in the afternoon the guests went to visit the “Rademacher smithies”. On Saturday we all went to Stockholm and that was very fun. First we visited “Skansen” and then we had “free-time”. We went to McDonald’s and went shopping. We were all very tired when we went home.

On Sunday it was family day. We spent the day together shopping and bowling. Unfortunately the Romanians had to leave already on Monday evening. Neither of us hosts thought that we were going to cry as much as we did! It was really sad when they left because we had become such good friends and we promised each other that we would keep in contact. We miss them a lot.

By Menah Al-Muhana, SamaYousif, Diana

Niskoand Linnéa Tovseth Swedish student

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Romanian students and their hosts


ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: GERMANY...

:: BESUCH DES STADT - UND GRÜNPLANUNGSAMTS DER STADT RASTATT VISIT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TOWN PLANNING IN RASTATT…

Schüler der Erasmus+ AG der ARRS besuchten letzte Woche in Begleitung von Frau Mihajlovic und Herrn Schatzinger das Stadtplanungsamt der Stadt Rastatt, um sich über Bauvorhaben der Stadt und die Bedeutung von Bebauungs- und Flächennutzungsplänen in diesem Zusammenhang zu informieren. Herr Reck-Kehl vom Stadtplanungsamt beantwortete die Fragen der Schüler und

stellte in einer informativen Präsentation die Grundlagen der städtebaulichen Entwicklung der Stadt Rastatt vor. Dabei wurden die geplanten Neubaugebiete der Stadt angesprochen und auch die demographische Entwicklung Rastatts mit den zukünftigen stadtplanerischen Herausforderungen skizziert. Damit gewannen die Schüler wichtige Einsichten, um das Erasmus+-Projekt “Bricks“ an unserer Schule weiter zu entwickeln. Beim nächsten Treffen in Österreich können wir die unterschiedlichen Voraussetzungen bei der Bauplanung in den Partnerländern vergleichen. On April 27th ten students of the ARRS Rastatt were invited to the department of town planning at the town hall in Rastatt where they were welcomed by Mr Rech-Kehl. Before the meeting the students had

worked out a number of questions dealing with the issue of housing, town planning and the demographic development of Rastatt.

Mr Rech-Kehl explained the different levels of planning authorities that determine the way a region looks like and will develop in the future. The regional planning of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, for example, decides about the location of traffic and main energy routes /corridors and about recreation areas which are excluded from any sort of building activities.

So the students gained an insight about planning of towns and neighbourhoods which will be important to plan our EUROPIA- the ideal neighbourhood for all European partners.

Gisela Mihajlovic Project Coordinator

August-Renner-Realschule - Rastatt - Germany

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:: SPAIN...

:: HOUSES EXHIBITION IN ESKILSTUNA…

To study the way housing influences people‟s life, our students started exploring how people lived in the past and in the present in their local environments, collecting information and visiting the area in order to decide the houses (rural and urban) which could be used as models in the Houses Exhibition to be presented in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

As models for the Housing Exhibition we have chosen two houses: one represents a farmhouse in La Vellés, a village of La Armuña, an agricultural district near the school IESO QUERCUS; the other shows a typical town house in Urbanización El Encinar, the neighbourhood where the IESO QUERCUS is located. Both of them will be presented in the Exhibition together with their background information on panels.

The district of “La Armuña” is located in the North of Salamanca, in the border with the provinces of Zamora and Valladolid. Its name comes from the Arabic language and means „orchard‟. It is supposed that the Arabs, who ruled this part of Spain during more than 200 years, gave this name to the district because it is very good for agriculture.

Houses in the area are made of stone or brick and they have two floors. In the ground floor was the kitchen and the living room, and the bedrooms were in the upper floor. This house for the model is 125 years old and is in the village of „La Vellés‟. The model representing a house in El Encinar neighbourhood was built in 1980, and it is made of red bricks and has four floors. It is divided in apartments. The apartments are 80 m2 and has 3 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The garage is in the basement..


IESO Quercus


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:: ROMANIA...

:: SWEDEN - A JOURNEY ONE CANNOT FORGET…

După o lungă perioadă de stres și emoții cauzate de perioada simulărilor oficiale ale Evaluării Naționale, elevele clasei a VIII-a B Ifrim Andra, Pătrașcu Andreea, Stan Silvia și Stroia Andreea, alături de domnii directori, au avut oportunitatea de a-și „reîncarca bateriile” în schimbul de experiență internațional din Suedia. Mobilitatea din Suedia este cea de-a doua din cadrul proiectului ERASMUS+ „Brickstones-made in Europe”. S-a desfășurat în orașul Eskilstuna aflat în apropierea Stockholm-ului (n.r. capitala Suediei), în perioada 25.02-4.03.2015. Eskilstuna, oraşul în care am locuit este unul foarte curat şi aerisit, în care am găsit şi magazine pentru suveniruri, cât şi monumente deosebit de importante pentru acesta. Într-una dintre zile am vizitat capitala, Stockholm, unde am avut ocazia să aflăm că Suedia este o monarhie, condusă de un rege, în faţa palatului regal fiind soldaţi care îl supravegheau. Capitala se bucură de amplasamentul pe marginea Mării Baltice, oferind o deosebită panoramă. Ca în orice oraş, regăsim centrul vechi, deosebit pentru faptul că aici se află palatul regal şi cele două clădiri care te asigură că eşti în Suedia.

After a long time of stressful simulation exams, the 8

th grade pupils Stan Silvia,

Ifrim Andra, Pătrașcu Andreea and Stroia Andreea alongside with the headmistress and the assistant director had the chance to refill their batteries by taking advantage of the exchange of international experience to Sweden.

The travel to Sweden is the second one within the ERASMUS+ „Brickstones-made in Europe” project. It took place in the town called Eskilstuna near Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, during February 25

th-March 3

rd 2015.

Eskilstuna, the town where we stayed for a while, was a very clean one and where we also visited some important monuments for their history. We stayed there three days, one of which, we visited the capital, Stockholm having thus the opportunity to find out that Sweden is a monarchy and the soldiers in front of the palace were kind of a royal guard who were there to protect the royal family.

The capital lies on the shore of the Baltic Sea, offering thus a spectacular view to all visitors. Very much all cities there is an old historic centre, spectacular indeed as here one can admire the royal palace and two more buildings that stand real proof you are for sure in Sweden.

Ever since we were on the way to Sweden we were really sure it would be an unforgettable experience. Both on the way to and back , we had to stopover to Amsterdam, a highly crowded and impressive airport, and where we also got the chance to meet people from all over the world and from where we could fly anywhere we would like to. After this long and toilsome journey that lasted almost a day we arrived safely to our hosts who welcomed us warmly. By living with the Swedish we had the opportunity to know new people with life stories of the most diverse and special kind.

One of the things that left a special impression was that host families were from Iraq, actually refugees from religious reasons, only one of them was actually from Sweden. And they were not the only ones. In Skiftingehus school, home school, we had the opportunity to meet hundreds of immigrant children with various appearances and religious orientation: the mulattos to white with blond hair and blue eyes from Muslims to Christians, mostly Catholics, Protestants, even atheists. But one fact we could learn is that all this did not matter to them, all being good friends, leaving aside the appearance or the religious beliefs.

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As far as classes were concerned, students wore no uniform, had Internet access at all times and were allowed to use their own phones. Moreover, the school gives the students an I pad which could be used the classes whenever needed. These devices were stored in a "locker room" with several cabinets for I Pad for every student. The school is built as a complex that has laboratories for most subjects. For example, we visited the biology lab where we had a lesson exemplified on a board to run special 3D documentary. At noon they were dining in the school canteen, which was divided into two areas, one for small children in kindergarten and the other for secondary school classes. Both teachers and students were having lunch. They had a room for physical education where there could be various activities. Students felt no desire to leave the school premises because the school was provided with special places for spending

breaks. During our stay there we had different activities and visited museums where I could see how the houses from that area were built. On one of the nights we stayed there was a disco, at a youth center where during the day we had physical activities such as looking for little keys into flour, a race we had to compete in bags as there were

two teams one at the end of a rope and the another trying to beat opponents etc. We feel it was a wonderful experience where we could learn history in a practical way, we are sure we each know now more than we ever knew about the participating countries. We had the opportunity to make friends with who we communicate at present, and we would also like to meet again because it was a great pleasure to know and to live even if for a short while with them. Stroia Elena Andreea and Stan Silvia

Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1 Independenta - Romania

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:: SPAIN...

:: VISIT TO A TOWN PLANNING ARQUITECT IN EL ENCINAR - SALAMANCA…

On Tuesday 21st April the students who will take part in the meeting in Pregarten interviwed Ms Isidora González Calvo, a civil engineer technician and mother of Noelia and Lucía, two students of IESO QUERCUS school. She has been working as civil engineer technician for 21 years, and explained us that actually she is making drawings and plans for renovating homes, premises and new buildings. We were talking during a long time because we had many questions to be answered.

She told us interesting things about the origin of our neighbourhood that we didn´t know, for example how El Encinar started: in the late seventies, facing the possibility of setting up an important military base in the nearby town of Alba de Tormes, the construction of this housing estate of El Encinar was started. The first inhabitants settled down in 1980. The typical buildings are red brick faced blocks of flats of three or four floors. The buildings are from 90 to 100 square metres. They have three bedrooms and a living room. The current price is about 900 euros square metre. Most of the blocks of flats have got garage, in the basement of the building, which were bought when the flat. She also explained us how the neighbourhood is designed and the things that can be improved in the future. Otherwise, we think that El Encinar is a good place to live: there is a preschool, a primary school, a secondary school, a public health centre, a library, a church, sport facilities, swimming pool, two supermarkets and a bakery and a beautiful natural environment. But some other

facilities are needed: a shopping centre, cinema, cultural venues for children, young people and adults. Finally Ms Isidora González Calvo showed us the tools she used to work, in particular a computer programme called Autocard. “ In the past I sat at a drawing board and I used rules and other drafting devices. I think my job is funny, entertaining and interesting” she said.

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:: SPAIN...

:: ENTREVISTA…

El día 25 de abril, por la tarde, quedamos David, Amaya, Rocío e Isabel para entrevistar a Isidora González Calvo, delineante y madre de Noelia y Lucía, compañeras nuestras en el IESO QUERCUS. El motivo de la entrevista era conocer la actual problemática de la vivienda y recoger información sobre El Encinar, sus orígenes y características urbanísticas. La información obtenida en esta entrevista, junto con las encuestas medioambientales realizadas a principio de curso a alumnos y profesores, y las que se están realizando a las familias sobre cómo se vive en la localidad y el estudio del consumo energético en el hogar, servirá de reflexión para mejorar nuestra calidad de vida, y observar cómo la vivienda y su entorno influyen en la forma de vivir nuestras vidas.

1. Buenas tardes. Sabemos que eres delineante. ¿Podrías explicarnos en qué consiste tu trabajo? ¿Cuántos años llevas ejerciéndolo?

Respuesta: Realizar los planos para

reformas de viviendas, locales y también para nuevas construcciones. Llevo 21 años trabajando de delineante

2. ¿Qué estudios universitarios tuviste que realizar para convertirte en delineante? ¿Por qué te decidiste por este ámbito profesional y no por otro cualquiera?

Respuesta: No realicé estudios universitarios, fueron de Formación Profesional. Estudié Delineante de la construcción. Me gustaba mucho el dibujo lineal.

3. Si tuvieras que describir tu trabajo diario, ¿Cómo lo harías? ¿Qué herramientas profesionales utilizas habitualmente?

Respuesta: Realizo planos utilizando el ordenador, en concreto un programa que se llama Autocard. Antes se utilizaba más las reglas y mesas especiales. Mi trabajo me parece divertido, entretenido e interesante.

4. ¿Ha afectado mucho la crisis económica a tu profesión?

Respuesta: Mucho, se ha dejado de construir y durante un tiempo tampoco había reformas.

5. ¿Y a ti personalmente?

Respuesta: Han sido unos años con menos trabajo pero he trabajado siempre.

6. ¿Te gusta tu trabajo? ¿Por qué?

Respuesta: Mucho. Es un trabajo creativo y variado. Estás en contacto con la gente.

7. Háblanos un poco de la construcción de la Urbanización de El Encinar

Respuesta: A finales de los 70, ante la posibilidad de que se construya un cuartel en las cercanías de Alba de Tormes, se inicia la construcción de las urbanizaciones de los Cisnes y El Encinar. Los primeros habitantes llegan en 1980. La construcción predominante son bloques de viviendas de 3 o 4 alturas, y una media de tres pisos por planta. Debido a la orografía del terreno las calles de la urbanización presentan grandes desniveles. Las fachadas son de ladrillo caravista o cotegrán.

8. ¿Cuáles son las características más comunes de las viviendas? ¿Cuál es su precio actual?

Respuesta: Las viviendas son de 90 a 100 metros cuadrados. Constan de tres habitaciones más salón. El precio actual ronda los 900 euros por metro cuadrado. La mayoría de los bloques cuentas con plazas de garaje que se compraban

además de la vivienda.

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Rocío Benito, David Bonilla, Amaya Pacheco & Isabel Romero

IESO Quercus


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:: GREECE...

:: TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN GREEK ISLANDS…

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Greek students at work

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:: AUSTRIA...

:: STATEMENTS OF OUR STUDENTS ABOUT THE MEETING IN SWEDEN…

It was my first fly to Sweden and I loved it. My host family was great and I enjoyed the time with them, also with the other hosts. I think the highlight was bowling with Saskia, Reham (my host), Nour (Saskia's host), Suham (host of Houda) and Houda (my spainish girl). I had a great time with them.

The last day was very hard for us, because we spent a great time with the hosts and I will never forget the time in Sweden. I miss them all so much.

Gina

My host family was really nice and they really took care of me. I think school in Sweden is really cool, because of the ipads and because they are allowed to call the teachers by their first name. The highlight for me was the visit to Stockholm. I think it is a beautiful city. It was exciting to see the royal palace, but I think that the, soldiers were a bit scary. To sum up: I think it was a really good experience, because you could learn about the country and how people live there. And I found out that not everybody in Sweden

has got blond hair and blue eyes. There are also many immigrants.

Saskia The host family was very nice, because the mother cooked the best and most nutritious food that I have ever eaten in an another country. The students in the school were always nice and friendly. It was my first flight and I liked it very much. In my opinion it was the greatest journey that I have ever made at school time and it was a great experience and a perfect possibility to improve my English. Konstantin

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:: AUSTRIA...

:: EDUCATION CENTER PREGARTEN…

The new school center Pregarten, consis- ting a secondary school and the “Polyte-- chnische Schule”, has the structure of a village. In fact, it is as much as several small villages, embedded in a large school community. Each of these microcosms work autonomously and on its own, but also in the great macrocosm school. This architectural concept promotes and supports on one hand, the individual care, on the other hand also the community as a class or as a school.

The school center Pregarten is open and inviting. Through a spacious forecourt you enter the school, this is called the big square, from here you enter one of the schools. Here, at a central location are the administrations of the two schools, the library and the shared special class-

rooms. The dining room is located the library and the shared special classrooms. The dining room is located on the town square. By combining dining room and music room you can create a large hall, which can be used for events.

The glass panels of the assembly hall allow a generous connection to the garden.

Robert Gstöttenbauer Austrian Project Coordinator NMS Pregarten – Pregarten - Austria

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:: AUSTRIA...

:: DIE SCHULE ALS MIKROKOSMOS…

Das neue Bildungszentrum Pregarten hat die Struktur eines Dorfes. Genaugenom-- men handelt es sich sogar um mehrere kleine Dörfer, eingebunden in eine große Schulgemeinde. Jeder die-ser Mikrokos-- men (Cluster) funktioniert für sich alleine, aber auch im großen Makrokosmus Schule. Dieses architektonische Konzept fördert und unterstützt einerseits optimal die individuelle Betreuung, andererseits auch die Klassen und Schulgemeinschaft. Das Bildungszentrum Pregarten ist offen und einladend. Über den großzügigen Schulvorplatz betritt man eine lichtdurch- Flutete Aula, die beide Schulen verbindet. Hier, an zentraler Stelle, befindet sich die Verwaltung der beiden Schulen, die Bibliothek und die gemeinsam genutzten Sonderunterrichtsräume. Der Speisebe- reich schließt an die Aula an und ist multifunktional nutzbar. Durch das Zusammenlegen von Speisebereich und Musiksaal entsteht ein großzügiger Raum, der gemeinsam mit dem zuschalt-baren Turnsaal gut für Veranstaltungen und Feste genutzt werden kann. Raumhohe Glasflächen zum Garten lassen Innen- und Außenraum miteinander verschmelzen.

Die Unterrichtsräume orientieren sich nach außen. Die Marktplätze beziehungs- weise Kommunikationszonen orientieren sich nach innen, mit Zugang zu einem verbindenden Innenhof. Die Unterrichtsräume haben einen annähernd quadratischen Grundriss und bieten so ein Höchstmaß an Flexibilität bei der Möblierung. Zwischen den Klassen werden zuschaltbare Gruppen- räume eingeplant. In der Polytechnische Schule werden jeweils zwei Klassen mittels Schiebewänden zu einer Großklasse verbunden, um noch mehr Flexibilität im Unterricht bieten zu können. Lehrerarbeitsräume werden in die Cluster integriert, um die pädagogisch wertvolle Nähe von Lehrenden Lind Lernenden zu ermöglichen. Das Raum-konzept bietet immer wieder Öffnungen und Durchblicke, Lufträume und Terrassen.

Offene Räume und Nischen wechseln einander ab und erzeugen Lernräume mit unterschiedlichem Charakter. Das Raum- konzept bietet die Möglichkeit zum häufigen Methodenwechsel im Unterricht, der für erfolgreiches Lernen notwendig ist. Es gibt keine Gänge, die nur der Erschließung von Räumen dienen. Die ErschließLingsflächen werden so geplant, dass sie gleichzeitig die Qualität für Lern-und Aufenthaltsräume aufweisen. Dadurch entsteht ein kompakter, wirtschaftlicher Grundriss, der den Flächenbedarf von vergleichbaren Schulprojekten unterschreitet.

Robert Gstöttenbauer

Austrian Project Coordinator NMS Pregarten – Pregarten - Austria

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:: GERMANY...

:: NMS PREGARTEN IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCHOOL WE HAVE EVER SEEN …

NMS Pregarten is the most beautiful school we have ever seen. The most exciting thing of staying in families at project meetings is of course to meet the students from the other

countries for the first time.

But being together at the Prater in Vienna, having fun together on rollercoasters and auto scooters made us very confident and we started speaking English with each other from the start. We could also practice our English the next

day when we explored Vienna in mixed groups – one student from each country.

We found out that we got along very well.

We were still excited – but a little bit less nervous – to meet our host parents in Linz at the railway station.

The next day we made presentations about ourselves and found out about the others’ interests and hobbies when we said “If I were a building I would be … because….” Especially the Austrian students were very funny when they compared themselves to buildings. We

liked that very much.

It was very unusual for us to have lunch at school – we don’t have a cafeteria at

our school!

Now we come to the point of our article:

THE AUSTRIAN SCHOOL IS FABULOUS

- Long windows that let in light. - Places where you can relax. - Outdoor playgrounds and even

an indoor swimming pool. - Interactive smart boards in every

classroom. - Two teachers for one class

(with fewer students than at our school)

- Lots of space to store things. - Wearing slippers gave us a

feeling of being at home. - A quiet and friendly atmosphere.

I’m sure we have forgotten something. But it is enough to make us start thinking:

What could we change at our school?

Our school should be more quiet.

We need space to meet and relax and to work quietly.

We would like to have single tables and adjustable chairs Where short and tall students

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can sit on. And of course rolling chairs. Fantastic!

What we also found interesting was the visit to Linz. Especially the museum about modern technology was great. We could have spent there many more hours. And the last day, the celebration of the Europe Day was also a highlight. But this is not in our report. Leah and Alisa will write about it. It is a pity that we can’t meet in Pregarten every year but this would be too much work for Robert and Karin who had a lot of work organizing this meeting. It’s a pity.

Pascale, Fenja, Daniel German students


How we celebrated the Europe Day at our project meeting More than 60 young people from our partner countries came together to celebrate the Europe Day on May 9

th at the school

in Pregarten. All the students had brought pictures about their countries and then we made posters together in mixed groups which were later presented to the audience. Each poster showed typical aspects of the partner countries.

We also prepared typical dishes of our countries for the celebration in the two kitchens of the school. In the evening we had a great party. The school band with teachers and students opened the party and all of a sudden created a great party atmosphere. Our Europe song “99 EU balloons” after a song of Nena made clear why we had this party. All the people in the audience waved blue balloons with the EU logo while we were singing the song. Then the dancing performances of the students and their teachers of the partner countries started. This was a great experience for us because we could all join in and learn a lot about the way our partners celebrate with modern or traditional dances at home. At the end everybody including the host parents were singing and dancing and had a lot of fun.

Oh, we forgot. We also had the great job of choosing between all the delicious dishes we had prepared in the morning. There were Greek salads, Italian spaghetti, Romanian soup, Spanish sausages Austrian dumplings and other national specialities which tasted really great because we had done our best. At the end of the evening we met outside the school carrying paper houses with candles inside. Some students also held torches and illuminated the scenery. Then students from each country read out little

Texts about what we can contribute as a country to Europe. This was part of our celebration of the Europe Day. It was so beautiful to see all the houses put together and the lights shining that some of us became very sad. We also were sad because we had to say good-bye to the other students as this was our last day together.

Leah and Alisa German students


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:: ITALY...

:: I LIKED THE YOUTH FESTIVAL …

The Erasmus project involves students from seven different countries. The meeting in Austria was very interesting. When we arrived in Vienna, we visited many places and museums. When we met the others of the project, the Austrian teachers divided us into groups and we walked through the capital city using a

map.

We arrived at the host families in the evening of the second day. My host family was very friendly and I enjoyed a lot the time with them. I loved the family day. In the morning we went shopping

and in the afternoon we played mini-golf.

I liked the youth festival with the presentation of typical dances and songs from Spain, Greece, Sweden, Germany, Romania and Italy. We also ate food cooked by us and the other students.

The day in Linz was amazing because teachers brought us to see the Arts Electronica Center, a museum in which there is every kind of technological and

electronic innovation.

I spent a wonderful time even with the other host families. A beautiful friendship was born and the last day was very hard for everyone. Luckily some girls are going to come to Italy this summer so I hope to

see them soon.

Il viaggio in Austria è stato molto entusiasmante! È nata una grande amicizia tra molti ragazzi del progetto e sono molto contenta di riuscire a mantenere i contatti con alcuni di loro. È stata un’esperienza da ripetere

sicuramente.

Italian students Istituto di Istruzione Superiore P. Levi


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:: SWEDEN...

:: ÖSTERRIKE… .

Vi åkte flygplan från Arlanda till huvudstaden Wien i Österrike. Därefter åkte vi tunnelbana till hotellet. Vi lämnade våra saker på rummet som Lana och jag delade. Efter det gick vi ut tillsammans för att kolla runt i Wien. Vi hade jätteroligt och vi åkte jätteroliga karuseller. På kvällen mötte vi alla dom andra eleverna som kom från andra länder. Grekerna, tyskarna, rumänerna och spanjorerna. Vi åkte karuseller med dom och vi hade otroligt kul. Vi gick tillbaka till hotellet och sov.

På morgonen åt vi frukost och det var det bästa av det hela. Man kunde se allt man önskade sig att äta på en frukost. Vädret var jättehärligt när vi var ute med de andra eleverna. Tillsammans med dom hade vi en fotoorientering. Vi gick runt och tog bilder på jättefina och typiska byggnader för landet. Efter det fick vi fritid för att äta eller shoppa.

Vi och några från de andra länderna åt tillsammans och satt och snackade tills alla skulle träffas igen. Vi gick tillbaka till hotellet för att hämta våra väskor och åka tåg till staden Linz där vi skulle träffa värdarna. Vi träffade dom på tågstationen och åkte sen hem med dom. Eli, min värd, var jättetrevlig och det var hennes familj också. När vi kom hem fick jag träffa mamman, pappan, de fyra barnen och jag fick också träffa Elis mormor och morfar och alla hennes morbröder. Vi satt och åt mat och de frågade mig en massa saker om Sverige och min familj. Dom berättade också en massa saker om Österrike och sig själva. Mamman jobbar som lärare och pappan jobbar hemifrån med metallhantverk. Pappan var också jätteduktig på att laga mat och han hjälpte mamman jättemycket. Dom var jättetrevliga och jag kände mig verkligen hemma. Allt var bekvämt och jag älskade det.

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Huset de bodde i var jättestort och otroligt fint. Jag fick ett eget rum! Huset var byggt av både trä och tegel. Elis mormor och morfar bodde på första våningen och Elis familj över dom. Huset låg vid skogen och bergen. Det var jättefint. Dom hade också många söta kaniner, kycklingar och jättesmå sköldpaddor. På familjedagen var det jättejätteroligt. Dagen började med att vi åkte tillsammans till Elis lillebrors fotbollsmatch. Det var jättekul! Efter det åkte vi hem och åt typisk österrikisk mat. Det var kalkon med ris och potatis och sallad. Det var otroligt gott. Till efterrätt åt vi pannkakor med sylt som Elis mormor hade gjort. När vi hade ätit klart åkte jag, Eli och hennes syster till staden Linz. Där träffade vi Felix, Saalah och deras värdar. Vi hade jättekul tillsammans. Vi åkte karuseller, shoppade och åt tillsammans. På kvällen satt vi alla tillsammans och kollade på en film och hade jätteroligt. När Eli och jag åkte buss till skolan var jag jätteintresserad och ville bara komma fram! Skolan var stor och fin och allt var

nytt. Det var också många elever som var indelade i klasser. Elis klass var jättetrevlig och ställde många frågor om min skola och om Sverige. Därefter hade vi fysik. Det var inte så bra tyckte jag. Det var svårt att fatta och jag tycker vi har bättre utbildning i Sverige. Området runt Pregarten var väldigt tomt och det fanns nästan inga affärer, men däremot fanns det jättefina gamla byggnader. Europadagen var det bästa jag haft av hela resan. Vi lagade pannkakor och hade knäckebröd med ost och kaviar samt godis. Det var typiskt svenskt! Vi smakade typisk mat från dom andra länderna och det var jättegott. Vi fick dansa deras typiska danser från länderna och vi visade våran dans. Alla tyckte att det var jättekul. Sen satt vi tillsammans och snackade och hade kul. Jag använde engelskan jättebra och om jag inte förstod nått översatte jag ordet. Det var jätteroligt att snacka engelska. Jag lärde mig en massa nya ord.

Veckan var jättebra och man lärde känna nya människor. Man lärde sig hur det är att vara själv och bra att man lär sig hur man kan klara sin vardag i ett annat land. Skriven av: Zahraa Karim, Skiftingehus skola, Eskilstuna, Sverige This is a story written by a Swedish student girl, Zahraa Karim, from Skiftingehusschool in Eskilstuna, who participated in the meeting in Austria. She writes about impressions and things she and the other students did in Vienna, how she experienced daily life in her host family and activities during the school days. She had a very positive experience and she felt very welcomed in her host family. She thinks the trip to Austria is a memory for life.

Zahraa Karim Swedish student

Skiftingehus – Eskilstuna - Sweden

33



:: ROMANIA...

:: LOGBOOK, AUSTRIA…

I had the chance to visit Vienna during the first two days. I was simply amazed by everything I saw. It's a city worth visiting, a town with a long history and many other sightseeing places any tourist would like to see. What I liked most was the 343 stair tower which was worth climbing as once you reach the high up you can enjoy the most wonderful view. Divided into groups, armed with a map we walked and checked a small part of what Vienna could offer. It was an interesting thing because I learned how to find our way in a totally unknown place and also learned how to work with each other. After such a busy day, full of emotions I was looking forward to meeting my host for the next five days. To my surprise and to my delight, it was a Romanian family and it was so much easier to fit in and talk to her and her family. In the few days that I spent with this family I noticed that they were a united family, which is very important. The whole time I was there I noticed that everything was very clean, people do not throw trash away. Being a mountainous area, we were surrounded by forests, everything was very welcoming, and naturally I became attached to that family, which I never thought it could happen in a few days. Everything was green and the air was fresh. The school. I was amazed at how big it was. I found out that students had moved at the beginning of this school year, so everything was new. All students had their own lockers where they could leave and take the shoes and slippers were used to walk through the school. If teachers saw you had no slippers, you were sent back to your class. The school was divided into clasterne and a certain clastern students were not allowed to go to another. In between, students could

exit the hall where they had tables and sofas. The breaks lasted to 5 and 10 minutes and the break large table lasted an hour. The classes were very well equipped: each class with SMARTBOARD also a large common closet, where their exercise books and textbooks were placed. In addition, there was a glass wall! There were 3 workshops of technological education: two were used for metal and the other one was for wood. The fitness classroom was incredibly large, there could performed any kind of activity because there was a lot of space. There were also two kitchens with everything you need in a kitchen where they could learn to cook. Chemistry and physics laboratories were separated and each was equipped with anything needed to be carried out hours. There were two pools, but they were not open. Basically a dream school where students have all they need. The activities for the celebration of Europe Day were extraordinarily exciting! We cooked, we danced, we sang, we did together posters, traditional dishes which were tasted by all participating countries, we laughed, we had fun! It was like a family! Family Day, the last day I spent in Austria, basically reminded me that you cannot live indefinitely in a story. We spent the whole day only with the host family, it was a special day for me because there I felt like I was home, the whole family being by my side as my departure was getting closer. I left Austria with the feeling that although we speak different languages, we can understand each other very well. We share the same emotions, we have the same goals, we can be friends!

Crețu Adelina Elena Romanian student Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1 Independenta - Romania

.

I

34



:: ROMANIA...

:: AUSTRIA, A GREAT EXPERIENCE…

Încă de la plecare am avut emoții pentru cum va fi această experienţă pentru mine. În trecut am mers în vacanţă şi în alte ţări precum Grecia şi Bulgaria, unde am vizitat obiective turistice, am făcut excursii opţionale, în ideea de a descoperi locuri frumoase şi atractive, creându-mi, astfel, anticipat, o părere despre ce aş putea vedea în Austria. Emoţii am avut de cum am urcat în avion - nu mai călătorisem din clasa a 8-a cu acest mijloc de transport - au continuat în timpul zborului şi s-au risipit în momentul aterizării în Viena. I was impressed by the cleanliness of the streets - without paper and without bottles - by the green spaces, by the silence and also by the fact that people of all ages rode their bikes on the trail. Vienna is famous for its architecture. I was excited about the old buildings and the history of each one in particular especially of Sima Cathedral St. Stephan which is the emblematic place of the city, overlooking the old town of Vienna. Inside the cathedral, I noticed the impressive Baroque altar, the giant organ and the main nave covered by a ribbed vault, supported by tall columns decorated with stone statues. I admired how to renew and strengthen the old center (without in any way affecting residents or traders). Old buildings with historical value, housing banks, today famous companies or brands, all at the sight of tourists. It is a beautiful town, a quiet clean, neat European capital where people are calm, respectful, discreet, simple and tastefully dressed. It is a historical capital and I liked how people have sought to protect and promote history. It is a town where one would not get bored, full of tourists, who believed that this town could be beautiful in any season. Pregarten, a town located a few kilometers from the city of Linz, the third largest business center and from Austria,

was the place where was our partner school. The accommodation was impeccable, with a peace as if we were in a fairytale, which made us feel great. At school I was greeted by both children and teachers who have received us warmly. I felt that they had tried and managed to make us feel like home; people open to communication, modest and jumping on any issue. The school opened with 1 year prior to our coming, it looked flawless, from the workshops of the pupils and to the gym, to the classroom where was a giant monitor, instead of the traditional Blackboard, on working children and to the cooking dish. Mention must be made of the wooden tables arranged inside the school for students who wanted to learn. And these are only few of the conditions enjoyed by children from three localities in the neighboring counties of Pregarten, with far superior to schools from Romania and beyond. In the same school I noticed that there are children with special needs, seamlessly integrated with lessons tailored to their level of understanding, based heavily on games and images. I liked the open dialogue between teachers and students, the way in which the latter were encouraged for every correct answer. During the evening walks after the program, I enjoy the view of the beautifully manicured greens, the backyards of houses filled with flowers and grass, fenced with hedge. All the views made me feel relaxed, tranquil, safe, something I rarely see in my country. All extra-activities organized by our hosts, visit the city of Linz, in the historical town of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, as well as in the Freistadt, another little town from Upper Austria, have reinforced the belief that Austria is an extraordinary country. I had the pleasure to enjoy various menus as far as varied as it is rich, testing the burgers, then the largest şnitel in the world, and other traditional dishes. In sum, we had a beautiful and interesting experience, I'd like to repeat.

Mihai Novac Romanian teacher Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 1 Independenta - Romania

I

35



:: AUSTRIA...

:: AUSTRIAN STUDENTS’ COMMENTS – MEETING IN PREGARTEN…

On Monday I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited but at the same time I was a little bit worried about what if she doesn’t like me or what if she is very shy? So it was a sleepless night for me. We texted each other before but it´s not the same when you see the person in real life. The good thing was that we knew some basic information about each other and it wasn´t so awkward and weird. On Tuesday my mom and me went to the railway station in Linz and waited. I was so excited and nervous at the same time but it was a good feeling. When everybody came up to us I couldn’t find her but then I did and we hugged each other. It was like we have known each other for centuries so I felt very confident around her.

At home we talked a lot and found out that we have so much in common. The days at school were pretty awesome because I met a lot of people and made friends. Everyone was so kind and I liked all of them. On Saturday we had the family day and we went to Pöstlingberg and drove with the Grottenbahn and we all felt like little kids but it was funny. Afterwards we ate some traditional Austrian food. We had a great time and made some good memories together. We are still in contact and I hope I’m going to see her very soon because I miss her so much and she became a part of my life and I’m thankful for this project. If I hadn’t joined this project I wouldn’t have met such a great person and generally all of them!

Nadina 4b Austrian student

NMS Pregarten – Pregarten - Austria

On Tuesday when we stood at the train station I was very nervous. But when I sat in the car with my guest we already had a lot of fun. We often did something with the other hosts of the Spanish pupils. Our Spanish guests often taught us words and phrases and we also taught them some German words.

One day after school we went out for Pizza and then we played mini-golf. We really enjoyed being together but the best things were the day in Linz and the Youth-Festival. Finally I can say it was one of the best weeks in my life because we had the chance to get to know another culture and we were able to improve our English. I was quite surprised how many English words I have learned so far. I hope we’ll meet each other again because I miss my new friend.

Katrin 4e Austrian student

NMS Pregarten – Pregarten – Austria

I think this project is a really good idea. It’s very interesting to learn something about other countries and to visit them. I think everybody made new friends and learned a lot about different cultures. I really liked to be a host for a student from another country, because so you can get know a person better and learn much more about habits in his country. It was a great week when I visited Sweden. We went to a lot of historical sights there and I never got bored. I’ve learned so much about Sweden and of course a lot about people there. The school in Eskilstuna wasn’t very new but it is a really cool school and I like to go to school there. It also was an interesting week when the people from Sweden, Greece, Spain, Italy, Germany and Rumania stayed in Austria. I think everybody liked it and nobody got bored because it was very well-organized and we all had a lot of fun. Everybody was very sad when the people from the other countries flew home because I think we all liked these people very much. I hope that one day I will see them again and I will be able to talk about two great weeks we had because of this project. I really liked it and I would join this project again.

Lea 4b Austrian student

NMS Pregarten – Pregarten - Austria

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36


ERASMUS + PROJECT


:: AUSTRIA...

:: MEETING REPORT IN PREGARTEN…

3rd Meeting in AUSTRIA / NMS Pregarten: Date: May 4

th – May 10

th, 2015

Participants: 30 students and 16 teachers from Germany, Romania, Greece, Spain and Italy. Concerning the Austrian school 7 classes and 15 teachers were involved in the project and the activities. During the meeting activities related to the project were organized, teachers´ meetings were held and excursions were made.

Activities:

Welcome ceremony: presentation of all hosts and their guests.

Guided tour round the school with focus on the new architecture and the cluster system.

Visiting lessons. Tour through Pregarten.

Visit to Linz and the Ars Electronica Center.

Visit to Vienna. Walk through the city centre.

Visit to Krumau including a guided tour through the city.

Visit to Freistadt including a guided tour in local brewery.

Exhibition of house models and back ground information.

Social activities:

- Get to know each other volleyball Championships - Family Day

- Youth Festival: celebrating the “Day of Europe”

Group activities: - Preparing food for the Youth Festival - Preparing dances and songs - Creating collages: “What our nation stands for”

Teachers´ meeting:

There were two teachers´ meetings with representatives from all countries.

Point of discussion:

- evaluation - energy week - dates - website - magazine - brochure

- next steps in the project

Host families: All students stayed at an Austrian host family. Students as well as their parents and other family members felt very happy during the project week. Most of them said, that it was a unique experience they all had made and that they will never forget that. Celebrating the youth festival and the family day were certainly the highlights of the week and saying goodbye was really hard for quite a lot.

Reflection: It was a great experience to have so many people from different countries here at our school. It was a pleasure for us to show them our new school building and we really enjoyed speaking English for a whole week. Our students were happy to meet other teenagers from different countries. It was very important to them to see how much English they were able to speak and their self- confidence really grew during the week. We hope that most students will keep in contact with their new friends and will be motivated to improve their English. Many colleagues and our headmas ter told us, that they really enjoyed the international meeting at our school. There were a lot of opportunities to talk about school and life in general and so we had many discussions and spent a pleasant time together. Some teachers have already “applied” for the next meeting in Romania! We are all looking forward to our next meeting and to future cooperation.

Robert Gstöttenbauer Karin Raffeiner

Austrian Coordinators NMS Pregarten – Pregarten - Austria

37



:: SPAIN...

:: SPANISH STUDENTS’ COMMENTS – MEETING IN PREGARTEN…

The trip to Pregarten, in Austria, started very early on May 4

th, because we left

Salamanca at 4:10 in the morning to go to the airport in Madrid. That night I was very nervous, and I hardly could sleep because I was going to visit a new country.

I enjoyed a lot the time we spent in Vienna. I think Vienna is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. I was very happy and comfortable with the Austrian host family. They were always taking care of me. I would like to meet them again. The thing I liked most was the youth festival the last day at school, because it was very amusing to know dances from different countries. One thing that surprised me was that people took off their shoes at home and at school: we don´t do that in Spain!

Rocío Benito IESO Quercus


The trip I made last May to Pregarten was a great experience that I would like to repeat. I met a lot of new people from other countries, and I had a very good time. I learnt many things about other cultures and I practiced English, which was very good for me. I noticed that Austrian students are at school more time than in Spain. The school timetable at IESO QUERCUS school is from 8:45 to 2:45 with two short breaks of 20 minutes, and we have lunch at home not at school, so we have lunch very late. It was very early to me to have lunch at 12:30 and also to have dinner at 6:30.

Austrian houses are very beautiful, with gardens, I loved them.

David Bonilla IESO Quercus


My trip to Austria has been the big experience in my life until the moment; it has been unforgettable. I loved this experience because I have learnt to be more independent from my family.

It was great to meet people from different countries. I think the Austrian houses are very modern and beautiful.

I love my school IESO QUERCUS, but I would like to have a school so modern and comfortable as the school in Pregarten. I believe that people in Austria respect the common things more than Spanish people do: I would like some people in Spain were like that.

Amaya Pacheco IESO Quercus


I loved the meeting in Austria because I made new friends, I learnt many things from other countries, I knew different food, I saw the Danube river and visited the world capital city of music: Vienna… and I travelled by plane for the first time in my life! Many new experiences only in a week.

My Austrian family was very nice and I practiced a lot of English with them. The way people in Austria respect the others’ things called my attention very much.

Isabel Romero IESO Quercus


T

38



:: SPAIN...

:: ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS… Scientists claim that natural disaster such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and tsunamis are becoming more frequent and with more devastating effects. Levels of air pollution are extremely high in big cities affecting the health of many citizens, especially children and elderly people. Water pollution is one of the leading worldwide causes of deaths and diseases all over the world, and it accounts for the deaths of many people daily, especially in the Third Word. And what about the continuous rise in temperature on our planet? According to statistics, 2014 might have been the warmest year in recorded History and the current 2015 seems to be even hotter. This situation illustrates that environmen-

tal awareness should be one of today’s most important issues. There is no doubt that climate changing, global warming and sustainable development are public concerns and therefore, the necessity of preserving the environment should not be under discussion nowadays. Awareness of climate change and other environmental concerns has increased, fortunately, in the last few decades, thanks to the emphasis in school to educate for sustainability, documentaries like "An Inconvenient Truth and the popularity of Earth Day, an annual event celebrated worldwide on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. This awareness has resulted in a global preoccupation for the preservation of the environment that has promoted the sense of responsibility in millions of people. One of the consequences of this new social atmosphere is the concern for recycling. On the other hand, local authorities have facilitated and enhanced waste recycling, placing containers and raising sensitivity campaigns to educate citizens in the

culture of the 3-R: reuse, reduce and recycle.

However, despite everything I have said, there are still people that maintain an irresponsible or skeptical attitude on the importance of environmental awareness: they think that nothing wrong is happening with our environment, that everything is under control and there is not reasons to worry.

In conclusion, though the level of understanding on environmental issues has increased significantly in recent years, there is still a lot of work to be done in practice. Politicians and world leaders must behave more convincingly in the defense of nature, and everybody should do the best to spread environmental awareness ‘being and living green’. Surely, the current common Erasmus plus project ‘Brickstones made in Europe’, that seven European partner countries (Austria/Germany /Greece/ Italy /Romania/Spain/Sweden) are developing, will be an interesting contribution in this sense.


IESO Quercus - Terradillos – Salamanca, Spain

S

BULDING A GREENER COMMUNITY

Take a look at this model for urban growth promoted by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council to reduce sprawl and to make communities more environmental responsible.

39



:: GREECE...

:: ERASMUS + MEETING IN LARISSA…

40



:: SWEDEN...

:: ERASMUS + MEETING IN ESKILSTUNA…

4111



:: AUSTRIA...

:: ERASMUS + MEETING IN PREGARTEN…

42



:: PROJECTSCHOOLS...

August Renner Realschule, Rastatt, Germany

30 Geniko Lykeio Larissas, Larissa, Greece

Neue Mittelschule Pregarten, Pregarten, Austria

I.I.S. Primo Levi, Badia Polesine, Italy

Neue Mittelschule Pregarten, Pregarten, Austria Școala Gimnazială nr. 1, Independența, Galați, Romania

IESO QUERCUS, El Encinar, Terradillos, Salamanca

Skiftingehus, Eskilstuna, Sweden

43

ERASMUS + PROJECT

2015 - 2016

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

“Brick stones – made in Europe”

The way housing influences our

lives in a common Europe

Date post:	23-Jul-2016
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Brickstones annual magazine 2015

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