Our 3rd meeting for the “Tech 4 Ed” Erasmus Plus project took place in Gheorgheni, Romania from October 2nd to 7th. We were a group consisting of two teachers, Francesco Polizzi and Marco Palermo, and five 11th grade students, Giuseppe Matteo Vindigni, Simone Criscione, Asia Graci, Agnese Cassibba e Stefania Chiaramonte. All of us coming from the E. Fermi High School of Vittoria.
I must say that we felt very welcome since our arrival. It was a long bus trip from Bacau Airport to Gheorgheni, a small town of about 20.000 souls in the Transylvania region, but, as soon as we arrived, we were welcomed by Carmen Ducu, the project coordinator in Romania and all the host families ready to take care of our students. The weather was certainly cold for us, in comparison, but the welcome was quite warm also in the following days.
On Day one at school, all the students and teachers from the countries involved in the project (Romania, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey) met in the Festivity Hall of the Liceul Teoretic “Sfȃntu Nicolae” in Gheorgheni. Some of the Romanian students welcomed us with a performance of local songs and international ones followed by an Ice breaking introduction involving teachers and students and some much needed coffee. In the afternoon we were given a tour of town and we even had a meeting with the town mayor who, by the way, could speak very good English.
On the following day we went on a hiking trip at the Red lake (Lacu Rosu) to admire the scenery and collect sample materials that the students would need for their 3D presentation. Some of us even managed to ford a stream of water without getting wet, jumping from rock to rock.
On day 3 several international students gave us their presentation on the Red Lake in English. This was certainly a good way to practice and improve their language skills in front of an audience.
On day 4, both teachers and students went to visit a Saltmine in the Praid area, part of which was turned into an underground resort where children could cure asthma conditions. Since they had to spend time underground, they equipped the mine with, cafes, toilets, souvenir shops, a church and a state of the art adventure park! There was even cell phone reception 120 metres underground, very useful for the ones of us who couldn’t quit their cell phones.
On day 5, our last official day, we all met at the school for the issuing of certificates and planning the future meetings that will take place in Turkey. In the afternoon, the students had their final meeting at school where they could have a party and say their goodbyes.
Needless to say that, regardless of their nationality, all students bonded among themselves and were very sorry to leave. No matter their language or origins they all seemed to have something in common like music, games, cell phones, you name it… apparently they needed very few words to understand each other well. It was certainly a success under many aspects, the improvement of language skills for one but also the understanding of how they live and what they do in a different country. All this experiences will help them to have a much better understanding of Europe and the world as they will grow up.
All in all, the whole trip was a success, an experience to be certainly repeated with future trips and new projects.
Marco Palermo
