Saturday 16 April 2016

Student exchange in Hungary - Day 5

The last day started with the workshop and discussions about the EU. Through various activities such as crosswords and guessing games students had a chance to learn something new about the Erasmus projects. Hungarian students displayed their dancing skills by performing Hungarian, Slovenian and German dance.
After introducing European dances, our hosts showed us to the table full of multicultural food. We could try tasty dishes from all over the world and learn about the national cuisine of Hungary, Lithuania, Germany, Slovenia, etc.
Soon there was nothing left on the table and we were ready to do some real work. Dorka Aron from the European Direct Lecture held a very informative lecture about the European Union. The students had to guess what is the percentage of the people in their country who have positive attitude towards the EU. Their guesses were mostly pretty close and they showed that they know their countries pretty well. Second part of Aron’s lecture included workshop and short quizzes. Students worked in mixed groups, with one representative of each nation in every group, and they had to show their knowledge about the European capital cities, flags, national anthems, food, famous people, etc. Group who showed the best knowledge in this areas got deserved credits and the big applause at the farewell party.
Farewell party was last event of the day. We gathered at the school gym and took our places. It was time to show to our hosts what have we learned about Hungary. Countries were battling against each other to win the prize and get bragging rights. It was a very tight competition, but in the end Croatia took victory and the best Hungarian sweets as a prize.
Hungarian students performed Hungarian dance, and after their lively performance they asked us to join them and dance with them. After learning a few moves, each nation got a chance to present its county. Italy taught us to play Gladiators of Rome, Croatians introduced some little known facts about their country through a quiz, and with the help of other nations, they performed Croatian version of If you’re happy song. Spain spiced things up with Macarena, Lithuania taught us to dance Lithuanian traditional dance, and Turkey brought everyone to the dance floor with Tarkan’s Kiss Kiss. It was a great ending of an amazing week in Szazhalombatta. Written by the Croatian team

Thursday 14 April 2016

Student exchange in Hungary - Day 4

An early start today: at 07:30 am we leave for Budapest! Our first stop in it's the Castle Discrict, an ancient market place where public events were held. St. Mathias's church is named after an ancient king and the church was a crowning place for six centuries.
From the Fishermen's Bastion you can see the whole town and the view on the actual Parliament is really amazing:
In the middle of the Danube stands Marguerite island, now a public park with a sport centre and swimming pool for national competition.
In front of the current presidential residence there is the old royal palace, now hosting the National Gallery as well as the National library.
For the visit to the National Library we had an hungarian guide alongside - lucky fo us, a teacher was here to translate! The building is based on an old one constructed in the XIV century but the actual Library was builded at the end if the XVIII century. During WW II the building was severely damaged by aviation bombs. In the 1950's the Hungarian government decided to use the building as a museum and as the home to the National Library.
The Library itself was founded to collect documents on hungarian people's history on 1802 and on display we've been able to see some of the original books collecetd in the 1800's. The library holds some 9 million books and journals/newspaper as well; there are also maps, poster, music spreads and so on. On the 6th floor there are special collections, as theatre texts, music spreads (like Handel's works), manuscripts (including the oldest text written in hungarian). We've also been shown how the library works today and some Shakespeare's memorabilia - there's a tale about an hungarian refugee that learnt english from Shakespeare's works and was welcomed in England.
After the visit we crossed the Chains Brige and went to the eastern part of town, Pest, for a visit to the Basilica, lunch and free time! This beautiful day ended on Heroes' Square where we took group photos... then back to Szazhalombatta!
Written by the Italian team.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

The memory book of all the activities students made about The Canterville Ghost:

Student exchange in Hungary - Day 3

13th April Wednesday started as an ordinary school day-at 8 in the morning. But activities done during a day were not the same you used to do at school. Firstly students had 2 lessons together with other Hungarian students. They attended Hungarian Literature, English and Italian lessons. They took part in interesting activities. In the literature class, each country had to create a short poem in their native language about colours based on a poem by a Hungarian poet, Kosztolányi Dezső.
In the English lessons they practised some grammar using tense maps and the method of "gamification".
Later we had a drama workshop with two energetic leaders which helped to know each other better. Acting, creating, communicating tasks followed one after another connecting participants to a nice team.
After a short lunch break we continued with the workshops on reader. Divided into international groups students played board games which they had made at home in advance.
Later they took a test on Canterville Ghost on Kahoot platform. That was the most exciting moment of the day as it showed that reading and learning can be really fun. At the end of a hard-working day students learned how to create an online book working with Cliptomize. Using this program you can upload your photos, write your own texts and choose between hundreds of free backgrounds. Later you can share your book with others or make it private.
After the long hard-working say, the students spent the afternoon and the evening with their hosts. Written by the Lithuanian team.

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Student exchange in Hungary - Day 2

Day II , 12th April . We started the journey on time. Everybody was on board and ready to set off. On the way, we drove through Budapest , capital of Hungary.
The best known sights of the Danube bend are : Visegrád and Szentendre , both aim of our trip . Visegrád is located next to Danube and the Rocky hills and played an important role in the lives of the Celts, Avars and Romans. The meaning of the word Visegrád is high fortress.
Nowadays, an important event in Visegrád is the International Palace Games , which takes place when knights in costumes perform castle tournaments, medieval fair, crafting and dance shows to entertain visitors.
A short walking distance away, when the tournament was over we were served the Royal lunch at the Renaissance restaurant. The waiters served us with Royal dishes bringing us back to ancient Royal surroundings while we listened to musicians playing lute music.
In the afternoon we visited Szentendre , the City of Living Art, the Main Square is surrounded by architectural masterpieces , museums, restaurants , cafes and souvenirs shops. In this beautiful town you can experience a Mediterranean atmosphere that few other Hungarian places can offer you . This is a picturesque place for artists to find their inspiration and work. There are a lot of art Museums and galleries .
Written by the Spanish team

Monday 11 April 2016

Student exchange in Hungary - Day 1

11 April 2016
The first day started with welcoming meeting at culture centre of the town. The students of the Arany Janos Altalanos Iskola performed a choir with traditional Hungarian music and a short theatrical play, a scene from 'The Beauty and the Beast'
Then the headmaster of the school showed the parts of the school to the participant students and teams.
Participant students and teachers visited local library. They had a chance to see some remarkable books from different languages. The director of the library gave information about the history of the library.
After having lunch, All the participants students and teachers went to the Archaelogical Park. They watched an informative video about ancient settlements in the town. The participants students and teachers visited sample houses in the Bronze and Iron age villages. Students played a picture mathcing game and they participated in a workshop about making jewellery in the Bronze age in a sample of ancient house.
Written by the Turkish project team