PREPARATIONS for POZNAŃ
POZNAŃ MEETING
26th February - 2nd March
Monday 26th February
The day began with the arrival of the Swedish and Spanish students to the school. We started with a truly warm welcoming by the teachers and the students in II Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace in Poznan, Poland. The schools’ naturally talented students preformed a variety of Polish songs and dances of which we all enjoyed. A group of girls also entertained us with their beautiful dances as an addition to the performance of the band which played and sang the songs. Students got some presents and broachers about the city of Poznan. After this, we took part in multiple games to warm up. The students were randomly allocated to four teams. The teams had to be diverse and multinational and we spent some minutes to get to know the members of our teams and their names. The teams picked their names and then the games started. The games involved cooperation, action and communication. In one game we were walking in pairs while one foot of each member was knotted with a band to the other member’s foot. In another game we were trying to hold a balloon between two members while walking without using hands. We played other games and every time our laughter and joyful increased together. The aim of the games, which was to get warmed, was actually accomplished and the winning team was announced. Afterwards, the students played another game (Un/fair World Game) where they were supposed to use some assigned resources to produce shapes and try to sell them to the bank. The groups were given different resources, sometimes many and the other time so little. They were able to compromise with the other groups to get what they need as extra papers or a pair of scissors. The aim of this was to understand the reality and consider how some countries live in an unfair society.
After lunch we were supposed to go on a scavenger hunt but the park janitor took down all the codes we were supposed to scan. Later, we arranged the place and the tables to put our food from the three countries what we represented. Since the food was from Sweden, Spain and Poland the appropriate name for the event was International food party. We ate, listened to music and had a lot of fun with our friends from around the world. towards the end we got a traditional and national dance performance from kids. They sang in Polish and danced around in the auditorium. This ended around 7 or 8 pm and after that we went home.
Tuesday 27/02/18
This day started out with the teachers dividing us into groups in accordance to our cultures (which they have done on the first day as well.) and we were asked to organise cook books and colouring books that has a fair trade theme. It was really fun since we get to know more of the people and it also gave us insights on how we should work as a team. Once we’re finished with that, we had a little lunch in the school and then a few minutes after that, we got ourselves ready for the city walk.
The city walk was really fun although it has a major downside to it which was the very cold weather. It was very cold that it’s almost unbearable but it was still fun since we learned a few things as well. We went to many wonderful places. One of them was a very majestic looking church. One very amazing thing in this church is the organ. It was just really fascinating to think how people made this masterpiece. We also learned some things about the city center in Poznan. There were many things like, how the city was once flooded, a Swedish king that was saved from falling by a “roof”, how the statues in the center have special meaning and significance to the history. This happened a bit earlier but we had a little break from walking because it was really cold. The teacher treated us with warm drinks which was very nice of them and we talked and laughed a bit.
Afterwards, some of us chose to go home and some of us wanted to go bowling or buy some souvenirs. To sum it all up, the day was really good and full of new knowledge and history about a country. This, in my opinion, made the trip really fun because we just didn’t just go there to kick back and relax but we also learned. So it was technically like a little “class” as well.
Blog for Wednesday 28/02/18
The culture of Poland in a day
On Wednesday we woke up to yet another freezing day. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the bus ride. It was comfortable, funny and we had a lovely tour guide whose foreign language we had trouble understanding. We first arrived to a natural oil factory, which produced oil from natural ingredients such as flowers and fruits. After listening to an introduction about the production of the oils, we took part in a cooking competition. We were divided into groups and had to use the oil to prepare different kinds appetizers, like salads, hummus, etc. We then took the buss to a castle/museum which contained some of the town’s historical objects and artefacts, as well as objects left behind the owner of the castle. We were told about the significant role he played in the history of the town śmilòw. We then drove to a farm, where we ate the lunch/dinner that was served to us, as well as the appetizers we made in an enormous room. We were then treated to a traditional folkdance, where some of us even got to/were kindly asked to get up and participate. This generous eating, dancing and listening to music (followed by dessert) continued for about three hours. We were very amused by the entertainment, and happy about the amount of food that was available. Some of us even went around the farm and saw horses. Soon after, we took the buss back to the school in Poznan, were we almost immediately each went home with our hosts with full stomachs and happy faces.
Blog entry on Thursday 1st of March.
Two days before the Fair Trade Erasmus project would say «bye» to all the participant countries in cold Poznan the responsible Polish teachers decided to add a bit of adventure in our schedule and leave us with a sweet taste from the Croissant museum. Our day started around 9 like all the previous ones, however, the assemble of both students and the teachers carried in the cafeteria of the school and not in the hall of school as usual since exams were held that day. Many talks from the students and laughs could be heard from the corridor outside of the cafeteria until the lockers. Teachers came and gave us instructions for the day. The first visit would be the croissant museum, a
combination of both history, architecture, culture and pastry. Two kind men welcomed all of us with a warm smile and gave us the chance to learn the secret recipe of the famously delicious sweet. Six students who were brave enough raised their hands and by wearing the appropriate hat and apron offered to help the bakers prepare the dough, the filling and the topping of the croissants. The visit, of course, finished with the taste of a warm croissant to each one of us and a diploma certificating that we got the advanced knowledge on how to bake a croissant and that we learnt the basics of the Poznanian dialect! The day, however, had one more big surprise for us too. An escape room game! In the middle of the city behind the old graffiti-painted walls, there was a building which no one could imagine would have 6 big different rooms full of challenges, puzzles and riddles. The students were divided into groups, according to our own preferences and everybody was given an hour to solve all the puzzles and find the keys to the padlocks. Once the group was done in time the responsible person of that place released the students from that room. Those who did not manage to come out in time got different "punishments". After the fun and adventurous day was finished our teachers let us free to decide what other activities would like to do for the rest of the evening.
Thankfully, most of the hosts had planned to go to the shopping centre named Poznaninum which gave the chance to all of the guests to get some souvenirs for back home.
Sweden - blog 5
Spain - blog 5
THE COOKBOOKS
THE COLOURING BOOKS