Our last day started, again, early. We still had to do a lot of work and there was a trade fair at the school. Skyping would not be possible because of other activities of the participants... We met another colleague of Jon and she was very eager to join us in this project. She had some useful ideas. Afterwards we visited the trade fair at school. I was amazed by the effort all these students put in their project and even more so that they all spoke English so fluently. At first they didn't expect us to be asking questions but they very smoothly answered in English. Also in this school they really try to develop a new product and this I have seen in Belgium. Developing a new project is for the universities. I was very impressed. It was hard to choose one winner.
We had a nice lunch with the principal and the team. It's good to know they support this project so much. Again the situation in Belgium came up again. I wish I could explain this in 10 minutes but I can't. After lunch we set the items we still had to discuss, made new plans and then Jon dropped us off at the station where we took a bus to the airport. When we arrived there at 4 p.m. our flight was cancelled due to the heavy snowfall in Amsterdam. Luckily we could stay in the hotel near the airport. We had to be back the following morning at 5 a.m. At first I couldn't believe what I heard but then again... there's nothing you can do about it so when we arrived at the hotel we immediately warned our families and our colleagues. Normally we would have taken our students to the trade fair in Waasland Shopping Center in St. Niklaas but now this wasn't possible anymore. Furthermore we wanted to cancel the whole thing because of the bad weather conditions. My colleague Sandra Goyvaerts assured me that everything was taken care of and that she would arrange everything with my students... Thank God for that! I'm very lucky to have such a nice colleague I can count on! So when everything was arranged we had time to relax...
At 3 a.m. we were up again and - without breakfast - went to the airport. On our flight to Kopenhagen there were 4 drunken men. Not that they caused trouble but you could smell them... it was awful.... I was scared they were going to be sick all the time but luckily they didn't. In Kopenhagen our flight to Amsterdam was delayed and there was doubt that we could depart... After 2 hours... we could!
Finally we arrived in St. Niklaas at 3 a.m. ... with a lot to tell... My students did a very good job in Waasland shopping center and so did Jef's!
p { margin: 0; }Normally we would have a meeting in the morning with the representative of the Norwegian council for the Comenius projects or in any case with somebody who has a lot of experience with these application forms. Unfortunately Erwin got sick so our meeting was cancelled.
Instead Jon took us to the old cathedral where the remains of the Olav the Saint are. It is called Nidrasdomen. It's an cathedral in roman and gothic style and built on the spot where the Kristkirken stood, above his grave. The oldest part dates from about 1320. It's the biggest medieval building in Norway: 102 m long and 50 meters wide. The rose window is the most beautiful one. The statues in the front are all copies of a famous person, being a saint or a bishop or a pope... He heard a guide say that one of the statues resembles Bob Dylan. I took pictures and hope I can take a better look at them and find him because Jef and I didn't... ;-)
Afterwards he took us the broadcasting tower, 74 meters high. Above is a restaurant called "Egon" and you see them a lot here in Norway. It turns slightly and in one hours you have turned 360°... I thought so when we arrived but I thought my eyes played a trick on me. I didn't dare to place the remark... So it turned out I wasn't wrong afterall. Because the menu is so nice in English I asked a waiter to take it with me so I can show it to my students when they are learning about food and ordering in restaurants.
After lunch we had a skype meeting with Elke in Austria and Inga in Spain. It was awesome! The first time was around 1 p.m. Elke already gave us good advice and we read a lot and made changed to our original preparations. Then we had a little break and worked further and went back on skype at 5 p.m. The connection with Spain was not so well so poor Inga could not understand us half of the time. Sometimes the messages got through via Elke and she sent them to us. We worked late till after 7 and missed our dinner appointment with Monica. We arrived half an hour late.
We went to dinner in a very old Norwegian tavern with traditional Norwegian food. It was very nice. I felt like in Bokrijk. The Belgians will understand that.
Tomorrow we are going to start early because we still have to do a lot of work and complete the application form. Because we also have to check out that means getting up at 6 o'clock and have breakfast at 7... All for a good cause! We all want to succeed in this project!!!
02-02-2012, 22:44 geschreven door
01-02-2012
eerste dag in Trondheim
p { margin: 0; }Zoals ik gisteren al zei, werd het de eerste dag al behoorlijk laat. Jon (uitgesproken "joen") en Monica zijn eigenlijk nog behoorlijk jong. Monica is zwanger en verwacht haar eerste kindje eind mei. Gisterenavond hadden we al lang in het hotel getetterd maar ik viel dan toch bijna flauw van de honger (hahaha) en dan zijn we iets gaan eten aan het kleine haventje. Bar- en barkoud is het buiten maar zoooo mooi... het haventje lag er behoorlijk verlaten bij maar helemaal verlicht met kleine lichtjes. Mijn foto's kan ik hier nog niet laten zien want ik heb een grotere kaart en die gaat niet in Jefs computer. Maar enkele toon ik al nu. Dat zijn dan foto's van Jef.
We kregen de lunch aangeboden van de school. Zelf hebben we de geschenken nog niet kunnen afgeven, gewoon omdat we vandaag enkel gewerkt hebben met Jon. De anderen wipten wel eens binnen of hebben we ontmoet tussen de lessen maar ze moesten verder met hun dagtaak.
Daarna hebben we tot 17.30 u doorgewerkt aan ons project. Morgen gaan we videochatten met Elke. Inga zit in Spanje en die gaan we ook proberen te bereiken. Jon had haar school al bezocht dus als zij niet kan reageren, gaat hij contact opnemen met haar directeur.
Op de terugweg naar het hotel zijn we langs de schansspringpiste gereden. Ondertussen was het zeker -20° buiten, te koud om zelf te gaan langlaufen, wat eigenlijk het plan was. In de bergen is het dan nóg kouder en daarvoor hebben we niet de juiste kledij bij.
Morgen hebben we een afspraak met een kenner van het Comeniusproject en in de namiddag gaan we verder werken. Hieronder al enkele foto's van gisteren en vandaag!
01-02-2012, 22:14 geschreven door
31-01-2012
aankomst in Trondheim
We waren vroeg vertrokken omdat we mogelijk file konden hebben door de lichte sneeuwval maar dat viel heel goed mee. We waren dus al om 11 uur op Schiphol. Goed geregeld van de Jef, uitstappen in de bocht tussen vertrekhal 2 en 3 en daar kwam een zeer vriendelijke man van Central Parking de auto afhalen. Inchecken hadden we gisteren al online gedaan. De bagage afdroppen, was ook een piece of cake. De Hollanders zijn toch vriendelijke mensen. Dat valt echt op. En het is niet tegen hun goesting, of gespeeld...
Toen we aan het wachten waren aan gate B18 zagen we Matthias Coppens op krukken aanschuiven voor de vlucht naar Brussel. Hij zag er zeer verfrommeld uit ;-), precies of hij had een week niet geslapen en zich gewassen... ;-)
Allez... we konden eindelijk vertrekken om 13.45 u. Ik had last van mijn oren met het opstijgen.... De schrik sloeg al om mijn hart want ik wou niet met een oorontsteking aankomen. Dat heb ik al eens meegemaakt op de vlucht naar Kreta. KLM is een fantastische vliegmaatschappij, zeer vriendelijk en gul. We kregen gratis 2 drankjes naar keuze én 2 sandwiches. Tof!
Het was maar een 2-urenvlucht over de Waddeneilanden en het IJselmeer. De zon ging onder aan de andere kant al dus wij hadden de donkere kant, jammer... Ook jammer dat ik mijn fototoestel niet bij de hand had. De landingsbaan lag vlak naast de fjord dus vlogen we over het water zo op de landingsbaan met aan de zijkant een prachtige zonsondergang. Toen was het -10° C. Dat viel dus nog mee.
We pakten de SAS-bus naar het Radison Royal Garden Hotel waar Jon ons zou opwachten. Ja, prachtig landschap hé... die busrit van 35 minuten naar Trondheim... gewoonweg onbeschrijfelijk... zo mooi... Toen we uitstapten, stond Jon aan de bushalte... Ik had hem mij vééél ouder voorgesteld (eigenlijk zo onze leeftijd) maar neen hoor, hij is al 38 maar je schat hem juist 30 of zo... Een boom van vent, zeker een meter 90... Hij liep met ons tot aan het Rica Bakklandet Hotel, vlak naast de rivier aan een haventje... Jammer genoeg hebben we geen kamer met uitzicht op die rivier. Het is wel een heel prachtige kamer maar geen kasten... Onze kleren blijven dus in de koffer... Voor de rest is het dik in orde. Toen we terug beneden kwamen, was Monica er ook bijgekomen en we hebben al bijna 2 uur gebabbeld over het programma van de komende dagen. Daarna zijn we iets gaan eten. Toen was het al 20.30 u... Nu ga ik nog de brief van de directeur vertalen voor de Tiller Upper Secondary school, mijn PowerPointpresentatie even aanpassen en dan ga ik slapen. Morgenvroeg starten we om 08.30 u want we hebben heel veel werk voor de boeg! Ik kijk er naar uit.
To all the participants of the preparatory meeting of the Comenius-project in Trondheim
Dear colleagues
Tine De Cnodder's enthousiasm when she came to tell me some months ago about the Comenius project, made me browse on the internet for more information. I liked the goals of this project immediately. It's fantastic that students can learn about the diversity in Europe on so many levels. This can only contribute to a better understanding and respect for each individual. Participating in this project is for the students important for their personal development and view on society. They have to realise they can learn from everybody. Students from different countries can broaden their horizon and realise that in the current society cooperation across borders is a necessity and mutual respect is the foundation of a prospering Europe.
From this point of vue, I am glad to participate in the project. For our students who grow up in a metropolitan multicultural context, it is important that they devolop the proper skills for this and gain as much experience in this as possible.
I fully appreciate that beside your daily task and your private life you still take on such commitment. This is not evidently. Of course it will take up a lot of time, organisation and planning to realise this project. I wish to express my full cooperation by making sure that on professional and logistic level this can be possible.
I am convinced that this project will also be an enriching experience for all of you. It will give you an extra value in your future teaching techniques.
Wholeheartedly I wish you a lot of success with the completion of this project.
My very best regards
Jan Claus Principal Campus St. Willebrord St. Willebrord - H. Familie
