IWONA'S DOUBTS

Iwona has asked me some questions and I am trying to clear up her doubts. I hope to be useful for everybody.

About students

If we manage to find host families for all the foreign students (we already have 14 families), they will live and have meals with their hosts, so they will not have expenses.

The foreign students will go to school with their host students and, while the Spanish students attend their classes, the foreign students will be accompanied by a Spanish teacher. We'll try to organise activities for them. They may take part in some of the classes, but not in all, because it would be very hard for them.

The foreign students will spend their free time with their hosts. I don't know if they will be allowed to go to a night club, but I am sure the host families will take care of them. We organised an exchange among students within a bilateral Comenius project years ago and there was no problem.

We intend to do a schedule, but I prefer to work step by step and I am still looking for host families and trying to arrange the booking of the hotel. When I have finished these two tasks, my headmistress and I will plan the activities and I will let you know them before the meeting.

We are planning a guided tour of Santiago and Padrón and, of course, the foreign students will take part in it. I don't know yet if our Spanish students will participate in it because they shouldn't miss too many classes.

About expenses

As I wrote on the blog, section CLARIFYING POINTS, when we travel to take part in a meeting, each of us will have to pay all our expenses with our own grants (travelling fares, accommodation, meals, etc.). So, when you take part in every meeting, you will have to pay your own expenses, including lunch and dinner.

The school that organizes each meeting can invite the other partners to a welcoming party and, obviously, will pay the excursions and visits that will be organized during the stay: for instance, the guided tour of Santiago and Padrón will be paid by Spain, bus (if necessary) and tickets included. I am thinking in visiting A Coruña or Lugo, two towns with an important Roman heritage: if we do it, we will pay the bus and the tickets (if necessary), but not the meals. Is it clear now?

About the hotel

As I have already told you, the hotels in the centre of Santiago are very small, so I don't know if all the partners will be able to stay at the same hotel. I am trying to book in two hotels that are in the same street. But I am waiting for call phone in order to check the prices.

I hope to have helped you.

Best regards,

Paloma

MEETING IN PADRÓN: HOTELS AND MORE 2

Sorry, I have tried to write a comment more than four times but, at the end, it didn't appear. So I am sending a new post.

Yesterday I sent a message to the hotel and today, when I came back home, I opened my mail and I saw they asked me to contact them. I have tried to do it now but I haven’t managed. I’ll do it tomorrow. I hope there is no problem.

About hosting

I have already found 9 families and I am still looking for. Don’t worry, if the matter is not solved at the end of October, I’ll let you know.

Of course, the Spanish students who offer to host foreign students are going to take part in one of our trips (if they want). And I agree to Nicoleta and to Alexandra: those students who travel in order to take part in a meeting should offer to play the part of hosts when the meeting is held in their own country.

About the funds

Our contract said that we’d receive the funds within 45 days after signing it. We had a little problem because the papers my headmistress signed didn’t have the symbol of E. U. on all the pages, so we were sent a new contract to sign. I am sure we are going to receive the funds but I don’t know when it will be.

About the deadline

We could fix two different dates for the essays and the quiz. We could upload all the quizzes on 15^th (Friday) and the essays on 22^nd (Friday) or 25th (Monday). What do you think?

About the forum

I entered some days ago but, when I tried to do it yesterday, I didn’t manage, I don’t know why. I’ll try it again tomorrow because today it’s too late.

Nicoleta, the first day of the meeting will be the 25^th because Alexandra, Taner and perhaps Iwona will be travelling on 24^th.

If you don’t understand anything or I seem to be too rude, sorry, it’s not my fault, put the blame on my English. Sometimes my head doesn’t work.

Best regards.

MEETING IN PADRÓN: HOTELS AND MORE

Hello,

I am writing to everybody and I am uploading the same message on the blog and on the forum (if I manage)

I regret telling you Hostal La Salle doesn´t have rooms on 26th and 27th, and I think we should book now because I wouldn´t like to be worried about the booking longer. Between Hotel Entrecercas and Hotel Costa Vella I have chosen the first one because Hostal Costa Vella doesn't have any triple rooms.

Alexandra: 2 double rooms (from 24th to 30th)

Nicoleta: 1 triple+1 single (from 23rd to 30th)

Iwona: 3 single (from 24th to 30th)

Bruno: 1 double+1 single (from 23rd to 30th)

Taner: 1 triple+1double (from 24th to 30th)

Is the number of the rooms right? Check it, please, and let me know. I am booking them (actually, I had already booked Alexandra's rooms).

About the students:

I am looking for host families and I have only found 6 till now, but I hope to find families for all the students. I have only spoken to my students (those who study Latin and Greek) but there more student at school. It would be better for me to know the total number:

Alexandra: 3 boys and 1 girl

Nicoleta: 3 boys

Bruno: 3 girls
Taner: 3 girls

And Iwona? Perhaps you have already told me the number but I have just read almost all the messages of the blog and I haven't seen it.

Bruno's colleague has opened a forum and we can to upload our work there. I don't know how to use it (I have never entered Facebook or something like this) but I'll learn.

We have to agree on the deadline to upload the quiz (we have already written our questions) and the essays. I had proposed the date of 12th of November for the essays but I'd prefer to change that deadline because the teachers who have to run it need more time.

What do you think? Looking forward to hearing from you.

MEETING IN PADRÓN: DATES

I am publishing a new post to make me sure everybody reads it (I am sending this message by e mail too)

About the dates:

Taner prefers from 24 to 30.

Alexandra and Iwona, have you booked the flights or not? If you haven't, we could change the dates.
I know Bruno is going to spend a day more, so he doesn't mind the changes.
Nicoleta, please, when do you prefer the meeting to be held? Let me know as soon as possible.

About the hotel and the rooms:

Bruno, Iwona and Taner have chosen Hotel La Salle.

Bruno: a double and a single
Taner: a triple and a double
Iwona: 3 single

Do Alexandra and Nicoleta want to stay at the same hotel? I'd like to book the rooms as soon as possible because we may have problems to book all the rooms at the same hotel.

ESSAY COMPETITION

Loli, the English teacher who takes part in our project, proposes the basis below. Do you agree?

Essay Competition: Who Are We?

Our High School is taking part in a Comenius Project, together with other European schools from five different countries: Greece, Italy, Poland, Rumania and Turkey.

The project is called Building Europe from the Roots and we will work together on different topics, from Mythology, Art or Languages to Maths and Physics. The objective is to realise how much we, Europeans, have in common and how much of what we share has been inherited from Ancient Greece and Rome. We will be working on this project for two academic years and will be receiving students and teachers from those countries in November. Of course, some of us will also visit them during this year and the next…

Essay Competition:  Who are we?

Objective: To introduce our country and its people to the other participants in the Comenius Project.

What to write: You will have to write an essay about what you consider defines us as Galician / Spanish.

Topics: Anything related to what defines us as Galician / Spanish: Language, lifestyle, traditions, music, cinema, literature, arts, fashion, science, sport, typical food, Media and TV, etc.

Layout: The essay can be either a LETTER or a DESCRIPTION (minimum 175 words).

Dead-line: You can hand your composition over to Paloma (the Latin teacher) or to Loli (the English teacher) in the school library before OCTOBER 12th.

v     The best compositions will be uploaded on the web.

v     The students will vote and choose the winner.

v     The winner of the composition will get a book, a music CD and a DVD movie.

CLARIFYING SOME POINTS

Hello everybody!

Responding to your petitions, I‘d like to clarify some points:

About the students’ blog:

In the project we wrote that we’d open two blogs, one for teachers and another one for students. As you know, our blog is already open but we should open another for our students so that we could load the quizzes and the essays on it.

About the quiz:

The idea of a quiz wasn’t mine but I understood it was a way of introducing each other. We haven’t written the questions yet (last week I was really busy and I am still writing my annual school planning) but I had thought to ask some questions like these:

·         How many languages are spoken in Spain? And in Galicia? Where do they come from?

·         What is the most popular folk instrument in Galicia? Could you describe it or load a picture of it?

·         Why is Santiago de Compostela a holy place for Christian people?

The questions should be very easy to solve because we wouldn’t like them to spend a lot of time looking for the solutions.

When all the schools have our own 20 questions ready, we’ll load the six quizzes on the students’ blog simultaneously. The school that solves all the questionnaires first will be the winner, but without a prize.

Students will be able to load everything they want on their blog in order to show their country: music they like, food, photos…

About the essay competition:

I think we should fix the basis. For instance,

Write a letter (minimum 150 or 200 words) to a friend describing your own country or telling what your daily life is like.

Teachers from each school will select the 3 best essays and load them on the students’ blog and then students will vote and choose the winner.

As students don’t usually like writing very much, we could encourage them by giving a prize to the winner: a film, a book, a music CD… from one of the countries involved in the project.

About the hotel

Of course, it is up to you which hotel to choose, but I have some experience from previous Comenius and I recommend you to choose the cheapest option because you are going to spend 6 or 7 days here and, furthermore, you will have to travel four times more.

I have never spent a night in Hostal La Salle but a colleague of mine’s sister works there and I was told it is a clean place. You won’t have many facilities (only TV and a hairdryer) but it is in the centre of the town and very close to the bus station. The train is nicer but I think there are more buses than trains connecting Padrón and Santiago.

Bruno, I believe you can check the prices of the hotel Rúa de Villar on the webpage.

About the airport

We are planning to pick you all up at the airport and take you to the hotel, but just in case we won’t be able, Labacolla Airport is about 10 km from Santiago and there is connection both by bus and taxi. I’ll send you information as soon as I can.

About being hosted in families

Although I know -because I have been to Turkey- that you Turkish people are really hospitable, I had not considered the possibility of hosting teachers in families because we have funds coming from Europe to pay the expenses (accommodation, meals and transport). Anyway, I can speak to my headmistress and to my colleagues and ask whether any of them would be interested. Most of us may find it difficult to accommodate one or two teachers during school and working time, since we’ll have little free time available; another problem would be the lack of room and/or privacy (the flats are not very big) and the language, as most members of the family won’t speak English and will perhaps feel uncomfortable.

About expenses

People from The National Agency have advised me that I should clarify the subject concerning expenses, especially to those partners who have not taken part in a Comenius project previously.

Each of the participant schools is receiving a grant so, when we travel to take part in a meeting, each of us will have to pay all our expenses with our own grants (travelling fares, accommodation, meals, etc.). The school that organizes each meeting can invite the other partners to a welcoming party and, obviously, will pay the excursions and visits that will be organized during the stay.

MEETING IN PADRÓN

Hello.

After reading your suggestions, I think the meeting in Padron could be held between the 23th and the 30th of November.

If everybody agrees about the days, please, let me know. Have you checked the flights?

The following task is to fix how many teachers will take part in it and how many rooms you want me to book. I also need you to tell me what hotel you prefer: Nicoleta and Iwona have chosen Hotel Entrecercas but I don't know what hotel the other partners prefer.

Do you want to be together in the same hotel? (I think it would be better but...)

Would you like me to send you more information about hotels?