The WOW-night

Thursday the 26th of september was the last night when people from all countries were together. All the students met at the centre of the city to later on walk together to a restaurant called Ela. Everyone sat down at the tables and ate the delicious food that was served. It would not be a WOW-night without people dancing and singing which is why each country decided to make a performance. We had the chance to experience everything from ABBA to the finnish motoroil. To make sure we will remember this forever the students decided to go to the park to spend as much time as they could together. 

Welcome dinner

Sunday the 23rd of september students from Spain, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Slovenia and Sweden met each other for the first time. The night started with all the students and teachers eating greek traditional food, made by the greek students’ parents. For many of the foreign students it was their first time tasting dishes like mpoureki, pastitsio, ntolmadakia, gemista and tsigkariasto. Afterwards, with live music in the background, we all decided to learn traditional dances like sirto, pentojali and malebijoti. Since there’s always room for desert everyone rushed back to the tables as soon as it was ready. At the end of the night people gathered around the tables and got to know each other on a personal level. As a conclusion everyone went home with fun memories and new friends.

Botanic Park

On 26th of September 2018 we took a bus to the Botanic Park in Crete, Kolympari. The weather was exactly what we needed for the hike in the garden. We were given information about the park by a tourguide. The path we walked was 2.5 kilometers and it took us one and a half hours. There were 3 different climate zones: tropical, mediterrainean and albino. All the zones together included most of the herbs from all around the world. There was some animals in the middle of the park. We saw peacocks, donkeys, dears, badgers and kri-kris. Most of the animals were free walking in the park but some animals were in a enclosure for example the donkeys and dears. We also ate at a restaurant in the botanic park. The meal we were served was made of local products in order to experience the cretan nutrition. You were also able to buy fruits and vegtables that came from the Park.

Technical university of Chania

On Monday 24^th September the Erasmus team visited the technical university. The main purpose of visiting the university was to show us what a university in Greece looks like and to make us interested in learning more about engineering. The university is divided in blocks, each block is specialized in different sectors. The first thing we saw in the university was two electric cars which were presented to us by four students

Afterwards we separated in two groups, each one of them visited a different sector. The first group visited the Transformable Intelligent Environments Laboratory (TUC) lab, in which they informed us about how public buildings can be transformed to make the educational process more pleasant. The second group visited the Robotic apartment and they showed us different technical devices that can be very important in the society, and as an example, drones that can save lives.

In conclusion, we believe that the visit at the university was constructive and interesting.

By: Johanna, Inês, Athina, Nicki, Elli and Eleni

The Ideal Lesson

What is an ideal lesson like? Ideal lesson is an idea from students how the each school systems should work. Each student has its own opinion about the ideal lesson. We will combine our thoughts together. We are a group of students from each country (Slovenia and Greece) and we are going to introduce the topic of our ideal lesson.

First of all, the students think that our lessons should start at 9:00 am to be more productive and concentrated and it should last 45 minutes. Another point is that students should have a good environment for studying and use state-of-the-art equipment. We also suggest more comfortable equipment in classrooms, like chairs. The teachers should have a positive attitude towards students and use a lot of communication. They should give us clear examples so we can understand the topic more and also small tasks during the lessons so we can have teamwork experience and spirit. The teachers need to focus more on psychological and physical health of students and make creative and interactive lessons.

These are some of our suggestions for an ideal lesson.

                                           
By:

        Anja Rešetič (Slovenia)
        Akis Lionis (Greece)
        Valia Gaviotaki (Greece)
        Giannis Kalogerakis (Greece)

Tera Creta

On the 26^th of September we visited the Tera Creta olive oil Company placed in Kolymvari, Chania. First we went to the olive trees field where the tour guide talked to us about how they grow, cultivate and harvest the olives. Next we learnt how they separate the olives from the trees and then we went to the lab where we saw how they test the olives’ quantity, acidity  and quality. 

After that they told us about the extraction of the olive oil through a milling process which is separated in to two categories, the normal and the bio olive oil extraction. Finally we went to bottling section of the factory where they talked about the packaging process and then we tasted the produced olive oil and the olives.

By:

Anna Maria Alexi

Maria Fragiadaki

Dimitris Vourakis

Maria Trashian

Veronika Starc

Luis Silva

Central Market

We were promoting our local products on Tuesday the 25^th of September outside the central market in the center of Chania. Each country had their own table which were decorated with traditional decorations, for example flags. Unfortunately, it was a windy day, which made it hard to keep the things in place. Silk (Spain), candy (Sweden), appetizers (Portugal), pumpkin oil (Slovenia), coffee (Finland) and Kalitsounia (Greece) were some of the products we were promoting.

Some students stayed in the stands, while some tried to attract people to learn about our cultures and try our food and fabrics. Most of the people were tourists and because of that the students needed to cooperate and help each other to interact and make our job better.

This whole event made our English more fluent and gave us more confidence to talk to more people and make them interested. We learned about marketing techniques such as a stay positive and keep going even though you get a “no“ for an answer.

All though most of us were a little bit nervous in the beginning we think we did a wonderful job. We believe collaboration and team work were the keys to our success.

Made by: Josephine Wikhult, Manuela Costa Lina SImantiraki, Argiro Batzaki and Kaisla Iljin.

Slovenian deligation of the second LTT activity in Sveden

Hello from Mateja, Blaž and Jure!  We are participants in the Erasmus +KA2 programme and this year we visited Sweden where we stayed for 5 days. Our expectations were quite lower than the actual outcome. We were all surspised while the week was unfolding.  

My experience from Sweden was amazing! It's always interesting to see different versions of reality. My favorite thing about the programme was the fact that students from all over Europe joined. That way I was able to see how the environment affects the individual (some of the students were more talkative, open, while others were more introverted). Seeing how amazing Sweden's school system is, how their lives seem to be 'organized' I realised how important creativity is. I deeply admire their commitment to expressing creativity. I think all school system should include subjects that require creativity. I also loved the fact that we spoke English all the time; it even became so natural to speak English to my Slovenian friends. The programme, all of the activities and the experiences were really breath-taking and I think the Swedish were fascinating hosts.

Moja izkušnja iz Švedske je bila izjemna! Najbolj zanimivo se mi je zdelo videti drugačne verzije resničnosti. Moja najljubša stvar glede programa je bilo dejstvo, da so bili sodelujoči iz različnih držav Evrope, tako sem lahko videla kako okolje vpliva na posameznika (nekateri sodelujoči so po naravi komunikativni, odprti, medtem ko so nekateri narodi introvertirani). Impresionirana sem bila nad šolskim sistemom Švedske ter kako organizirano življenje imajo. Ugotovila sem kako pomembna je kreativnost. Globoko občudujem njihovo predanost izražanju kreativnosti. Menim, da bi morali vsi šolski sistemi vsebovati izbirne predmete, ki zahtevajo kreativnost. To, da smo veš čas govorili angleško se mi je zdelo popolnoma naravno, celo tako naravno, da sem po pomoti včasih z udeleženci iz Slovenije govorila angleško. Program, vse aktivnosti in na splošno izkušnje so bile izjemne, Švedi pa si zaslužijo ogromno pohvalo za njihovo gostitev!

Mateja Suban

Ko sem zvedel, da bom sodeloval v mednarodnem projektu Erasmus+ sem bil zelo vesel. Ampak najprej je bilo treba narediti nekaj stvari. Najprej smo morali napisati svoj opis, narediti plakat, na katerem smo z kreativnim načinom predstavili svoj življenjepis, opisati svoje mehke veščine ter narisati logotip za projekt. Nato pa je sledil sam obisk Švedske, katerega sem se zelo veselil. Tam sem spoznal veliko novih prijateljev iz različnih držav Evrope ter videl ogromno zanimivih stvari. Vsi smo se zelo zabavali in teden je hitro minil. Obisk Švedske je presegel vsa moja pričakovanja. Zelo sem vesel, da sem lahko bil del takšnega izjemnega projekta, kot je Erasmus+.

When I found out  that I will be a part in a international project, called Erasmus+, I was very excited. But first, we needed to do some things. First we had to write our description, make a poster on which we showcased our CV, make a description of our soft skills and make a logo for the project. Then came the time to visit Swedeg. I couldn't wait for the trip beacuse i always wanted to visit atleast one country in Scandinavia. I met a lot of new friends from all over Europe and saw a lot of interesting things. Ve all had a great time and the week went by fast. Our visit of Sweden exceeded all my expectations. I am glad that I could be a part of such an amazing project like Erasmus+.

Blaž Vogrin

The Erasmus+ project was probably one of the best things that happened to me. Everything started at school when our Tourism teacher offered us the option to sign in to this project. At first, I didn't think much of it. The first thing we had to do was to create a logo and a poster for WOW. Later we had to do a personal description in English. After a while, we went to different employers and gave them a survey on the importance of certain skills for employment. Finally, we had to rate our soft skills and create a creative CV. I was so happy when I found out that I was chosen. The level of my happiness was undescribable.In the beginning, I didn't really think I would go abroad. I traveled to Sween and loved every second of it. I made new friends and became socially more active. I'm really thankful to everyone who made the experience special and to everyone that gave me the opportunity. The project improved my English and social skills.

Projekt Erasmus+ je verjetno ena od najboljših stvari, ki so se mi pripetile. Vse se je začelo, ko nam je učiteljica turizma ponudila možnost, da se priključimo projektu. Na začetku nisem imel nobenih posebnih pričakovanj. Najprej smo si morali izmisliti logotip in plakat projekta WOW. Potem pa opis samega sebe. Čez nekaj časa smo delodajalcem odnesli ankete o pomembnosti določenih sposobnosti za zaposlitev. Pred izmenjavo pa še opis mehkih veščin in kreativen življenjepis. Ko sem ivedel, da sem izbran za potovanje na Švedsko sem bil zelo vesel. Nivo mojega veselja je bil neopisljiv. Na začetku, ko sem se pridružil projektu, se mi še sanjalo ni, da bom potoval. Potoval sem na Švedsko in užival vsako sekundo mojega časa tam. Spoznal sem nove prijatelje in postal bolj socialno aktiven. Resnično sem hvaležen vesm, ki so mojo izkušnjo na Švedskem popestrili, ter tistim, ki so mi to potovanje sploh omogočili. 

Jure Tomše

My experience with a second-hand shop while we were in Varnamo

While we were in Värnamo, we visited a second-hand shop Erikshjälpen. The first thing we heard was the story of Erikshjälpen.

Erik Nilsson was born in 1929 in the region of Småland, Sweden. He was suffering from hemophilia and spent extended periods of his life in hospital. However, instead of feeling pity for himself, he started sending greetings and small gifts to encourage other sick children. He collected postal addresses by listening to a radio program where letters from children were read out. By 1946, when Erik was seventeen years old, his charity work was established. A couple of years later, Eriks was interviewed in this weekly radio program and his work became known to the public. Gifts started to pour in from people around the country of Sweden. Erik died in 1966 only 37 years old but the work he started continues and today thousands of vulnerable children and families around the world are given an opportunity for education and livelihood and are able to shape their own future.

We then took a tour of the shop and bought what we wanted.

The Erasmus project in Portugal - being a host

“The Erasmus+ week was one of the best experiences of my life. As a Portuguese host, I got to
know 5 different cultures, improve my English and show (proudly) to the others how there’s beauty
in every corner of my city. The most important is that I ended this week with a lot of new friends,
with whom I shared laughs, new experiences and opinions.They are wonderful and very special
people. The best part is we are already making plans so we can visit each other during the
summer. It was a very intense week, in the best way possible.

I learned so much about the search for a job, the CV and about hard and soft skills. With this
project, I got to know all kinds of things that will be super useful in the future. I’m very grateful
that I got the chance to be a part of this week. For me, the WOW project is like a bicycle. All the
different and necessary pieces travelled from multiple places to Portugal, where they, with the
help and instructions from our teachers, got together us one piece”
Inês Matos, Portugal.

“This whole week was just fabulous. I was not expecting it to be so good. It was very good to
improve our english skills and to learn more about the culture and about the world of work of
other European countries. It was also fascinating to see that even though we all belong to the
European Union and we are in general similar people we have different ways of working and
also different public and education systems.
In my opinion the greatest thing about it was to meet new friends from other countries with whom
we can now maintain contact and hopefully visit one day”
José Magalhães, Portugal

Swedish experience in Portugal

Our journey began in Alvesta, a small town often used as a meeting point during trips like this. We went by train to Copenhagen were we then catched a flight to Amsterdam and further on to Porto. In Porto we were greeted by the Portuguese teachers who took us to the suburb Matosinhos.

Same day as our arrival we started by visiting the city hall of Matosinhos where we had the opportunity to listen to the mayor and learn about how their society works. Afterwards we had a guided tour around the building and later on went to the school for the first time to meet the hosts and the rest of the Portuguese students. During the trip we had the opportunity to learn about work and study opportunities in the different countries that was visiting like Finland, Slovenia, Spain, Greece and of course the host country Portugal. We also had the chance to taste typical Portuguese food together with our new friends around Europe. 

During the evenings we usually went by metro to Porto to have dinner and see the beautiful city. We visited a multinational technical cooperation who developed electrical cars with stations all over the globe and had a guided tour there as well. One of the days we went by bus all around Porto and the surrounding areas. We got the chance to try the famous port vine in of the most popular wine cellars in Porto, a fantastic experience. The week ended with a last night of dance and a lot of food and drinks. We got the chance to try folk dance from different countries and cultures and also show some of our own traditional dances.

It was a fantastic life experience in many different ways. We got the chance to make a lot of new friends, hopefully friends for life, improve our soft skills and our ability to speak English. Leaving the place was difficult for sure but in today’s society staying in touch is not a problem. We are very grateful for the explicit experiences and all our fabulous new friends from all over Europe, this is something we will never forget and hopefully we will meet all of our new friends again.

If you ever have the opportunity to participate in the Erasmus project, you should!

Gummifabriken Värnamo

Today we received a tour of the Gummifabriken in Värnamo. It used to be a rubber producing factory, but today it serves the municipality of Värnamo in many different ways. It has been renovated into a creative place for meeting (library, restaurant, cinema, etc. ) has an educational program and a technology department. The library has two floors filled with interesting books and places to read in silence and relax. We’re very amazed by the amount of books it has and the space of the library.  After viewing the library, we had lunch at the restaurant that takes places in the ground floor. The restaurant has delicious food and is very stylish with beautiful design. After lunch we recieved the tour of the third floor in which they have the science park and the technology department.

We are very impressed by Sweden’s educational system, especially the way they  include creativity into everything they do. We noticed that they really value education, research and sharing knowledge in general. We think the investment they made was beneficial for the community and will help in the development of the region. Our favorite thing about the company is the union of the cultural, educational , scientific area and entrepreneurship.


/Slovenian team

The cozy night by the fire at Osudden.

We met up at 6.30 p.m on Monday evening at a place called Osudden by the lake called Vidöstern. We started a fire and started toasting marshmallows, hot dogs and the typical Swedish "twist bread", pinnbröd in Swedish!



Osudden was a meeting point and everybody dropped in whenever suited them. Even though the lake was still frozen, Aaron from Finland, took a swim so he had to dry up by the fire. After a while, everybody started to grill their food and then some started to climb trees and explore the area. On the other hand, some stayed by the fire and got to know each other better. Benjamin from Sweden brought a speaker so we played music all evening. Eventually, the battery ran out so everybody started singing together instead.

By the time it turned dark we had to put blankets on to keep warm.We stayed there for a couple of hours until the firewood ran out. We had a really good time, especially the ones that come from southern Europe since they are not used to these kinds of gatherings around the fire. This was a wonderful start for the whole week in Sweden.

The technic centre in Gummifabriken 10.4.2018

Today was the second day here in Värnamo and we visited Gummifabriken. First we went to see the library and after the tour we had lunch. After lunch we went to see the technic section. First we saw a huge 3D-printed dinosaurus head. Then we were walking around and looking at the offices. There was also a "creative office" which was a place to create new ideas. Each office there was for a different company. The guide told us that the offices were free for the first six months and after that the workers and companies would have to start paying rent.

Then we went to see the programming area and our guide told us about the things they usually do there and what equipments they have. For example they had 3D-printers and robots. After that our guide taught us how to do basic programming with iPads and Lego-robot trucks. Then we had approximately 30 minutes to program the mini robot trucks to complete a special track which was made for them. After practicing we had a little competition against the other teams.

We had very much fun there and it was also creative and educational. Gummifabriken was a great experience and the building itself was very modern and welcoming.

First entry

Today, April 10, 2018, our six delegations will have their first editorial office meeting and henceforth articles will follow!