6/11/09

Visit to Bremen : two Belgian diaries

Our travel to Bremen

I think we were all waiting for this travel, but I was also a bit doubting, at the same time. I was afraid the family would be very different from my family and I was afraid not to be able to communicate with them.
When we arrived, I felt very excited and only wanted to meet my pen-friend. I realized that it was good to have contacts with her before the travel, it made things easier. She spoke to me as if I was one of her friends and it made it easy for me.
Of course, I was very disappointed not to be allowed to sleep in her family, as her sister was sick, but, at the same time, it was a good occasion to meet Hendrik. We understood each other very well.
In the beginning, it was not very easy to be in an unknown country, in an unknown family.
I was afraid to speak English and felt alone. But, it was soon over and I adapted easily and, in the end, I was able to speak, even if it was with a lot of mistakes. I think thee activities were good (sports, free time, visits…) and it made the contact easier. Everything was well organized. I really enjoyed the trip, I could meet many new people and we all liked it very much.
I want to thank the teachers, the organizing committee and all the families very much for this nice experience.
Clara Pastor

I really enjoyed this trip. Everything was well organized to welcome us. The first day we did a boat trip. Our correspondent was very friendly with us and good contacts were made on the very first day.
We have activities such as football, volleyball and climbing. This trip allowed me to improve my English and discover another culture and other people. I spent great moments with other partners and I had the chance to meet the project launcher. I’m really happy to have participated in this project and I am very happy to have seen the Werder Bremen team even though I have unfortunately been unable to attend the mach. I keep wonderful memories of good times.
In short, the Comenius project was for me a good way to improve my English and to spend good moments with other people. I really enjoyed participating in this project; I have an excellent memory of those moments.
François Capitao Martins

6/8/09

Leisure activities: several aspects / Simón Vázquez

BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT

We are living in a world with many opportunities for young people, but we are living in a world with many risks and dangers too. Both factors are different in the past and are different now because of different ways of life, different societies, different technologies and in consequence different leisure activities. These facts mark an appreciable difference between us, young people of nowadays, and them, young people of our grandparents’ generations. For example, when they were young, going to school was so difficult, and people who study a lot were respected by another people and classmates, today this is totally in an opposite way, it seems as people who wants to learn make their classmates laugh. In the past having food to eat was a great lucky, Nowadays people throw food regardless of hunger in the world. These and many other differences are due to a consumer society, which is moving very fast, in which our life quality is growing but undiscovered troubles are growing too.


GOOD AND BAD LEISURES ACTIVITIES.

Free time are the hours, minutes or seconds which we are not working or studying and we can enjoy them in very different ways. Nowadays, teenagers have many different ways to spend their free time, but they often take the wrong ones.
A good way to “enjoy” free time, by many teenagers, with future suffering, is for example BOTELLON when every weekend’s nights millions of teenagers meet in public places to drink alcohol irritating the neighbours and acting like vandals. BOTELLON is very popular regardless the terrible consequences.
Another way how some teenagers spend their free time, fortunately only a few teens take this way, is the way of BULLING. These people enjoy hurting helpless people. For example these “people” choose a weak and alone boy, and they hit and attack him cowardly.
Fortunately all young people don’t take the wrong way. Many teens go out with their friends enjoying a sunny afternoon or they go to the cinema, or they play videogames in a cyber or they go to the library or they read comics. Although these last leisure activities are done by freaks, this is said by some people who sponsor the ignorance.


MY LEISURES ACTIVITIES AND MY FREE TIME.

In Ourense, we have the advantages from a small city but also it sustains in a great way our necessities like a big city. For example, there is no beach, but there are TERMAS CHAVASQUEIRA, near the river, which are very popular in Galicia and Spain. Also we have many and great cultural offerings at AUDITORIO MUNICIPAL, at CASA DA XUVENTUDE or at TEATRO PRINCIPAL. There is one possibility which you can make a show with another people if you join to one of popular drama groups like I did it.
I’m in different drama groups which I spend my free time but I go out with my friends too. One of these groups is EL OBRADOIRO DE TEATRO DE LOLY BUJÁN. I have learnt so much from Loly, She is a great actress, director and also she is a great woman. She gave me the power and courage to create my own film group two years ago. This group has given me great moments of happiness but also very sad moments.
The group is called ATCC [Asociación de Transmisión de Conocimientos Cinematográficos]. It’s composed by young people like me who loves the film world or only wants to spend their free time in a funny way.
We make short films, as SUEÑOS REALES, or another that are being filmed these days, as TI TRANSPLANTAS, which promotes organ donation among young people. Also, we film video clips for groups like SIN MOTIVO or NO SENSE. We are collaborating now with COMENIUS PROJECT, and soon we are travelling to Portugal to expose our works. Last winter we made LA CASA DEL TERROR: EL PSIQUIÁTRICO NÚMERO 8 at CASA DA XUVENTUDE and it was so successful. All tickets were sold out and people came from all Galicia.
We have our own web site [http://www.producciones-atcc.jimdo.com/] where we show all about us and our projects.
Also I spend my free time reading books, surfing on internet, writing my own histories, and learning English while I see TV series subtitled, with voices in original version.
At last I’d like to suggest everybody that they can spend their free time in a productive way because FREE doesn’t mean that we can do all what we want, so we should respect others. I’d like nowadays teenagers to take a look around and ask themselves...

... Should I do what is RIGHT or what is EASY?


Pictures taken by Simón Vázquez.

by SIMÓN VÁZQUEZ LÓPEZ, 1º BACH B

6/7/09

Rockeye 2009 - Photos & Press release of this event


Here are some pictures of our ROCKEYE 2009 - Rock Festival.






Here are as well some examples of the echo this event got in our town:
La Región, 23-05-2009

Posted by Picasa

6/4/09

Bremen - Das Viertel

As already seen by some of you in Bremen. I would like to show you in a very personal approach the district I live in and like very much.
Enjoy!
by Ányos
(movie created by Ányos Szabo and Jan-Hendrik Hahn)

Interview / Antía Salve

Things have changed a lot since the past to the present, and the ways to have a good time and spend our free time too.
There are a lot of young people who spend their free time watching TV, playing videogames or just doing nothing, not realising that there are many more things to do.

INTERVIEW

I asked a 24 years old girl, María, to discover what her opinion about that change is and what her leisure activities were.

1. Did you have much free time when you were about my age?
No, I didn’t have much free time, because I had a lot of lessons in the morning, and in the afternoon, every day I went to an academy.
Also the time I was at home I spent it studying.

2. What were your hobbies?
Going out with my friends, going to the cinema, to pubs, parties. Besides, in summer holidays I went to the beach or to the pool and sometimes I practised aerobics in a gym.

3. Did other youngsters enjoy doing the same things?
Yes, because I shared the activities with may school friends or local neighbours.

4. What did your parents think about it?
My mother liked me having fun, but some days she told me off for not arriving on time and she didn’t agree with some of my friends.

5. What is your opinion about the way young people spend their free time nowadays?
I think that the youngsters don’t spend their time in a good way. Especially the kids, because their usual activities are to stay at home, watching TV or playing the videogames.

6. Haw do you think that this could change?
In my opinion, they should take activities in the open-air like sports: basketball, volleyball. In this way, teenagers would be at least with company and not like a lot of them, alone in their houses.

7. What are your leisure activities now?
Although I have to work, I have time for going swimming to a gym and going out with friends.

CONCLUSION
In my opinion, people some years ago spent their time having fun in a more healthy way.
Because nowadays the teenagers make activities individually at home, instead of carrying out other hobbies with different people and in different places.

by Antía Salve Bouzo, 1º BACH C

6/3/09

Abuse of Alcohol - Binge Drinking

During our course studies we worked out different presentations on the topic abuse of alcohol. E.g. we thought of places where the so-called binge-drinking (excessive drinking) takes place, researched statistics and damages caused by alcohol. This is what we we found out about the topic and presented during the meeting in Bremen:

Meeting points to drink in Bremen
First we tell you something about the “Discomeile”. The “Discomeile” is a street near the main station, where you can find many different discos and bars. Examples for discos are “Stubu” and “La Viva”, they promote themselves with free entrance up to 11 pm. At “1€ Bar” you can get every alcoholic drink for one euro.
Each disco has their own discopromotion´, for example “Tequila Party”,where you can drink the whole night tequila for one euro. Another one is “It’s your birthday”, it means, if you come with eight friends you all get free entrance and a bottle of vodka for free.
Furthermore in Bremen there are also special events where many people drink a lot of alcohol:
At the “Freimarkt” (big fairground happening once a year and lasting for 2 weeks) is a “Bayernzelt” where many people sit in and drink liters of beer.
The carnival parade is another one. There you go with different wagons through the city and also drink a lot of alcohol.
During the World- and European championship many people met at the “Domshof” in the city centre of Bremen to watch the match and enjoy the great atmosphere. There public viewing of important Werder Bremen matches (e.g. German cup final) takes place too.
A Northern German tradition is the “Kohlfahrt”. The adults go with a little wagon, play games and drink quickies, in the end they go eating.
Last but not least many youth celebrate house parties, these are meetings just to drink, where everybody brings some alcohol with them. Often they play drinking games, mostly with cards and cubes.
by Christopher & Jennifer

Statistics of Binge Drinking
Our topic was statistics of alcohol abuse. The first statistic of our presentation was “binge drinking among students of university of Stuttgart”. There is information about the students and their behaviour regarding alcohol cosumption given.
The interviewed students are undergraduate women and men, so we can say that men drink more often than women.
On the one hand most men say they drink excessively 1 or 2 times in a week. On the other hand many women say they never drink alcohol.
The second statistic was “beer cosumption in Germany” and the interviewees were over 14 years.
It shows that most people said that they never drink beer but it can also be seen that more than a quarter of the interviewees consumed beer either every day or several times a week.
Our last table was “patients at hospital with alcohol poisoning 2000-2006”. It shows that the number of patients at hospital has constantly been rising.
During our work with this topic, we also came across the consequential damages. They are for example that your liver and your brain gets severe damages. Your body suffers from underfeeding and is toxicated. At that stage when you don’t give your body alcohol you are subject to detox syndrome.
by André and Anna-Lena
statistics taken from:
www.destatis.de, www.uni-stuttgart.de


Finally you had the chance to see a movie made by Dennis and Stefan capturing the topic of alcohol abuse and an alternative to it. This is the result:
(Song 2 not by Blur, music used is under no license and was provided by Medienzentrum Nord Bremen)

6/1/09

Meeting in Bremen - host students' comments


photo taken by Janin

3RD Meeting in Bremen - Comenius - EXCELLENT!!!
Dennis
It was a very good week for me. You got to know new people and we did a lot together what has strengthened the communal spirit. After initial problems we finally talked more what has helped to get to know each other better. Anytime I would participate in such a project again.
Leif
It was really Fanny!
Stefan
So far a well organised project with interesting and likeable participants from a different culture.
Hendrik
Awesome!
Ányos
Last week was very exciting and it made a lot of fun.We need our corres back and miss them very much...
Janina and Charly
Last week was very funny and I got more confident in speaking English.
Janin
The week from 12 May to 17 May was very interesting. It was fun to get to know new people from different cultures.
Melanie
This week was interesting and educative. I liked it very much.
Jessica
A big attempt to have fun with four different cultures and to get to know each other better.
Olesja
The visit of the partners of the Comenius project was very interesting for us and them and they learned much about Bremen. They were all very nice and we did our best to make them feel comfortable.
André
The meeting in Bremen was a huge success that I won't forget in my lifetime because I got to know exciting cultures and people.
Anna-Lena
The week was very educative for me as I got to know different people and their different culture.
Jenny
I liked the week with the Comenius partners very much because I was able to get to know very many nice people from other countries and further more was able to improve my English a little.
Christopher
Spanish easygoingness met German hustle and bustle what led to some nerverecking situations but provided as well the opportunity to brush up or enrich English language skills!
Tobias
(missing ones will follow)


Minutes of the Conference in Bremen

PARTICIPANTS
Bremen (GER) : Andrea Holzinger, Christel Spielhoff, Christian Braun, Frauke Eitmann
Aywaille (BE): Collette Franck, Jacqueline Vanstalle, Sabine Rennotte
Château du Loir (F): Chrystelle Capdecomme, Stéphane Duarte, Flavie Menager
Ourense (ES): Elisa Álvarez Fernández, Raquel Pato Lorenzo, Carmen Babarro, Pablo López Díaz

AGENDA
- Final meeting in Spain
- Meeting in Belgium
- Travelling students
- Intermediate report
- Other

Final meeting in Spain
Andrea presents the fact that it would be very helpful to agree upon the dates of our last meeting in Spain in 2010, taking into consideration all the problems we have according to final exams, evaluations, holidays, etc. After several proposals, the final dates for Spain are the week from the 14th to the 19th March 2010, as further on it will be impossible to arrange a convenient common date.

Meeting in Belgium
The headmaster of the Belgian school sets a fixed date for our stay in Belgium that should be from 21st to the 24th October 2009. As the partners seem to agree, these dates are accepted, even if it implies to reduce our stay for one day.

Travelling students
As there are more French students in Bremen as expected at the beginning, Andrea Holzinger tells us that it would be a reward for the German host students to take them on future travels; so she asks for the possibility of finding hosts for almost two more students in Spain. Elisa Álvarez answers that she will look for a solution and thinks that there won’t be any problem.

Intermediate report
By June 2009 all partners have to submit an intermediate report and there are several items that should be almost similar.
The item related to “Problems” should include the following points:
- Finding dates for common meetings: holidays, evaluations, etc.
- How to work out topics, workshops, etc. regarding our project in lessons? No relation with the different curricula.
- Difficulties in finding hosts
- The whole project’s coordination is strongly influenced by the restrictions of some school headmasters
- Money coordination

Other
Colette Franck presents her problems with our blog as they have worked out different booklets talking about the negative and positive aspects of leisure time [she presents a copy of each of the 9 booklets for each partner]. She asks for a way of putting these results on the blog.
Elisa tells that by means of an internet tool called SCRIBD (www.scribd.com) it is possible to publish several digital formats on the blog.

by Elisa