Christmas art exhibition, December 2010

The Romanian school organized the art exhibition on the theme:"Winter HOLY DAYS as seen through the eyes of the children". The opening took place in December 17, 2010 and it was very successful. In the opening. the children from grade 5th A ( our school choir) sang a mini concert of Christmas carols in Romanian, French and English. In the end everyone joined the carols and it was an extraordinary atmosphere. After the opening, the guests: parents, teachers and pupils watched the exhibits, which were exceptional: drawings, Christmas cards and Letters to Santa made us enjoy the spirit of the holidays.
On one of the Christmas cards I read a Letter to Santa, which says:


"Santa, when you descend from the sky
And over the mountains you fly,
Don't forget to bring me a toy
And all the people some joy!
Be near me, dear Santa,
I ask you to stay
Close by me forever
And love me, I pray!"


Isn't this nice!
You can see some photos from the exhibition here.
We all wish you Merry Christmas and A very Happy New Year in 2011!


Here is the link to the article in the newspaper about our Christmas activities in 2010.

The Day of foreign languages 2010

Looking back on the work we have done since the beginning of this Comenius project, the first activity with our students was the celebration of the Day of foreign languages in 2010. The Romanian team celebrated it in the period 27-30 September by presentations made by the students of their posters or Power Point Presentations representing different European countries, with their languages and most important places and people. The students from grade 7A took part in a contest based on knowledge of the countries partners in the Ethno treasure hunt project.The questionnaire for the contest was provided by the Polish partner school. Here are some photos from the activities made by the students from grades 4D, 5A, 6B, 7B, coordinated by their teacher of English, Daniela Buda.
The Polish team designed the Questionnaire to be used for the competitions on this occasion for all partners.
The Lithuanian team organized an activity in which the students made posters presenting the countries partners in the Comenius project "Ethno treasure hunt"

Christmas 2010 - art exhibition: Winter HOLY DAYS as seen through the eyes of the children

Winter holidays are coming for children and teachers from the partner countries. To celebrate them and discover how children reflect the cultural treasures of winter, the Romanian school will organize the art exhibition on the theme: Winter HOLY DAYS as seen through the eyes of the children.
The exhibition will open on December 17, at 10.00 am, and will be on till January 2011.
Visit our blog and website to see photos from our activities.
Please leave comments if you like our work :)

Feedback at the end of the meeting

It was a very interesting week!
Everything went well, food was delicious, people so confident and nice, students so respectful!
Mimma, teacher from Italy

This Comenius  projects gave me the opportunity to come to Romania and know other countries' habits. The experience has been very interesting and useful; people are very friendly and confident.
I think Daniela is a very special person.
See you soon in Italy! We'd be happy to host you all!
Nina, teacher from Italy

I am very happy to be in Baia Mare and I've met very nice people. I feel like I am at home and this experience has helped me understand that there are no barriers among countries and I hope peace among people will be the main aim in the future.
Linda, teacher from Italy

I am very happy to meet you, Daniela, and your colleagues. You are very hospitable, very friendly. You are like us, the Turkish people.
I won't forget my days in Romania. I hope to see you in Turkey. And don't forget, you have a house in Denizli.
Take care of you. And thanks very much for your hospitality.
Hayriye, teacher from Turkey

I'm very happy to meet you. You are very friendly. You and your friends are very hospitable. It is my first travel to Europe. My days in Romania are very nice. See you soon in Turkey.
Tahir, teacher from Turkey

Thank you for the wonderful host you've been, for the wonderful places  you took us to and for the wonderful time spent together!
Dimitar, teacher from Bulgaria


I wish you a successful finalizing of the project and may we keep our friendship and the fond memories of you and Romania for the years to come.
Georgi Ivanov, teacher from Bulgaria

The possibility to travel and meet other people always broadens our minds. We'd like to thank you for the opportunity to meet  you and your country. It was great to see marvelous places and meet wonderful people. Thank you.
Renata and Rima, teachers from Lithuania

We are glad we have met you and other Romanian teachers. We are even more satisfied with getting to know such a wonderful group in our project Ethno treasure hunt.
We have enjoyed so much here that we simply can't wait to meet you in Sicily.
Thank you for everything you have done and for such a great hospitality.
Joanna and Aga, teachers from Poland

We had a very busy week, but a very pleasant one. We met very warm and interesting people, no matter their  mother tongue or religion. I could practice my English a bit. The activities were varied and interesting. It would have been better if there had been more time to take them on more outings to see the wonderful places around Baia Mare. The documentary trip was the cherry on the cake, as we had lots of fun together.
Lucian, Geography teacher from Romania

I was very happy to get involved in the organisation of the festivities for the official launching of the project, which I believe was very successful.
Our guests, young and young at heart, have been very special. The children integrated into the classes they visited. The universal language of childhood  was the link between them. Such an experience is beneficial for adults and students alike, and it helps us to improve our socializing and communication skills.
Anamaria, Maths teacher from Romania

It was a special week for us, a beneficial, I hope, experience for adults and especially for children. It was a good opportunity for all to use their English, communication and socialization skills. As a mother, hosting a girl, it was not an easy task, but I hope we managed the situation well. The Turkish girls were special, very communicative, open minded and willing to learn a few things about Romania and especially Baia Mare.
Laura, RE teacher from Romania, host parent


The official launching of this project was another opportunity to promote the Rromani children and their traditional dances as well as our costumes. Congratulations for the very good organization of the event. It is an honour for me to be able to contribute to the improving of the school's image in the community.
Loredana, Rromani language teacher from Romania

I am so very happy to be in Romania. I liked your country and the host families. I am glad that I took part in this project and had the chance to know you. This is the best week I have ever had in my life. I hope I will visit Romania sometime in my life. You are a nice nation. All the people treated us so kindly. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I hope to see you in Turley. I will never forget you.
Seyma, student from Turkey


It was a big pleasure for me to visit Baia Mare and the other interesting places. I'll never forget this trip. I met so many people, so many kind and funny people! Your country is very beautiful, but you have to see ours, so I officially invite you and the Romanian children in our town Rouse! I'll be waiting for you.
Vanina, student from Bulgaria

I am really happy to be in this project. It was a great pleasure for me to get to know you and your culture. I liked your students, the host family, your city and your lifestyle. I will never forget the people and the city where I spent one of the best weeks of my life.
Yaren, student from Turkey


I will never forget the moments I've been in Baia Mare, the new people I met here. I will never forget Romania because of the good and funny people, ethno treasures and you. You helped with my problems. Thank you for everything.
Jovita, student from Lithuania

In this project "Ethno treasure hunt" I saw Romanian people. They are happy. I am happy, too. This is my first visit to Europe and the world. I will never forget you and your help. You are very good. Thank you for everything.
Ieva, student from Lithuania


This week has been very interesting for me. I learnt a lot of words in English and Polish. I enjoyed meeting Tomek. I'm waiting forward to meet him again in Poland.
Vasile, student from Romania

I had a lot of fun with the Bulgarian colleagues. I learnt a lot of words in English and Bulgarian. I am sorry they had to leave so soon. I hope to meet them again when we go to Bulgaria.
Edi, student from Romania

This week has been one of my best and different ones. I met new people and learnt how to communicate with them by various means.
George, student from Romania

This week was an extraordinary experience for me. I learnt that it is very important to learn foreign languages in order to be able to communicate with people from different countries. You can never know when you need foreign languages, especially English.
Raul, student from Romania


It was a special week, when we could use our English speaking skills to communicate with the children from the partner countries. I liked it very much. English helped us to better communicate with the children from the other countries, even if we were different.
Sergiu Pop, student from Romania

It has been an unforgetable week that showed us that, even if we are from different countries, we can communicate and become friends.
Sergiu Spatar, student from Romania

This week has been the most beautiful one for me this year. The Turlish girls are very nice. We learned a lot of things from them and they learned from us. On the day they left, one of them told me "I will miss you." I know I will never forget that.
Iulia, student from Romania

The Turkish girls were very communicative, even if they could not speak English very well. We used only basic words. I was impressed when Yaren gave me her locket as a sign of friendship. I will never forget this week.
Larisa, student from Romania


It was a very nice week. We spoke English with the children from Turkey and Poland. We used our English to communicate. We learnt some words in Turkish and Polish and they learnt some words in Romanian. We had fun together.
Andreea, student from Romania

It was a very nice experience. We talked, laughed and played together. We learnt a lot of things from each other. We had fun togehter. I'm sure we will never forget this experience.
Ema, student from Romania

It was a very special week, full of activities, especially after the time spent together with the project group.  After school we went shopping, shooting pool, or sightseeing in the city. In the evenings we listened to music till late. We had lots of fun during the documentary trip,  too. We learnt a lot of words in English and Turkish.
I hope to meet them again when we go to Turkey.
Bogdan, student from Romania

It was an extraordinary week, with lots of fun, lots of music and little sleep. I think the girls from Turkey were very communicative and had lots of fun here. I hope we'll have fun together, too, when we go to Turkey.
Dan, student from Romania

The three children who visited us were very nice. We learnt some Turkish words, too. It was am amazing experience.
Raluca, student from Romania

It was a special week for us. Our Turkish guests were very nice, communicative and happy. I am really glad I had the opportunity to meet them. I will never forget this experience.
Patricia, student from Romania

It was a fun week, Our foreign guests were very nice. I'll never forget them. I hope they can come to Baia Mare again.
Camelia, student from Romania

It was a lovely week, full of interesting activities. I hope our guests had a great time here. I also hope they will come again.
Florin, student from Romania

Ethno treasure hunt 1st project meeting. Baia Mare November 2010

In November 8-13, we held the 1st project meeting, hosted by School "Vasile Alecsandri from Baia Mare, Romania.
It was the opportunity to meet the partners and get to know each other.
We had a busy schedule for the meeting: visiting the school, meeting the school headmistress, Mrs. Adina Cosma, who received the gusests in the traditional Romanian style: with bread and salt, meaning that we share our cultural treasures with our guests.
Then we worked on the project documents: work programme, responsibilities, deciding which end products will be made and the deadlines for them, etc.
We had demonstrative classes in Romanian language and literature (proposed by Adina Iosif), English language (Daniela Buda) and Arts and crafts - an Origami workshop ( Marcela Zaplac).
The Romanian sports team organized some international teacher-student football matches. All participants won the matches as they had lots of fun.
We officially launched the project, using as venue the stage of the Puppet Theatre from Baia Mare, as we expected many guests to come and see what we want to do. Then we presented the project objectives and activities planned for the 2 years, and the partners presented their schools. The activity ended with a very nice show of songs in Romanian and foreign languages ( grade 5A, coordinated by Adrian Iercosan and Daniela Buda), a scketch written by Caragiale and performed by students from grade 8A (coordinated by Adina Iosif), a traditional Romanian dance (coordinated by Mariana Deac), a Gypsy dance (coordinated by Loredana Mihaly), the school's Cheerleaders (coordinated by Clara Ambrus) and, last but not least, a Romanian winter tradition performed by the students coordinated by Maria Costea.
We also visited some cultural sights, important and relevant for our project: the Ethnographic and Village Museums from Baia Mare, Sighetu Marmatiei and Bistrita, the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, Maramures, the beautiful Monastery from Barsana, Maramures, the Mineralogic Museum from Baia Mare, etc. We also visited Mr. Dracula at his castle at Tihuta, and we were lucky enough to find him at home.
We had some very interesting international evenings, with songs and dances specific to the countries involved. We had lots of fun together and we made friends.
I think this is the best project team anyone can ever ask for, because we work very well and have lots of  fun together.
Through the camaraderie and involvement of all partners in the project activities, I believe this project is already successful. Each of the people involved in the project (children, parents and teachers alike) have learnt a lot of things during the time spent together and I'm sure this will go on during the two years of the project, and it may last even longer.

Romanian version:

In perioada 8-13 noiembrie 2010, am organizat prima reuniune de proiect, gazduita de Scoala "Vasile Alecsandri" din Baia Mare, Romania.
A fost o buna ocazie sa ne intalnim partenerii  si sa ne cunoastem reciproc.
Am avut un program incarcat: vizitarea scolii, intalnirea cu d-na directoare Adina Cosma, care i-a intampinat pe musafiri in stilul traditional romanesc: cu paine si sare, simbolizand faptul ca noi ne impartasim comorile culturale cu musafirii nostri.
Apoi am lucrat la documentele proiectului: programul de activitati, responsabilitati, am decis care produse finale le vom realiza si termenele de finalizare, etc.
Au fost prezentate cateva lectii deschise: la Limba si literatura romana (propusa de Adina Iosif), la Limba engleza (Daniela Buda) si un atelier de lucru in Origami, propus de Marcela Zaplac.
Echipa de profesori sport din scoala baimareana au organizat si meciuri internationale de fotbal intre elevi si profesori. Toti participantii la meciuri au castigat, deoarece s-au distrat de minune.
Lansarea oficiala a proiectului a fost gazduita de Teatrul de Papusi din Baia Mare, deoarece noi am asteptat multi musafiri sa vina sa vada ce dorim sa realizam cu acest proiect. Au fost prezentate obiectivele proiectului si activitatile ce urmeaza a fi desfasurate pe parcursul celor 2 ani. Apoi s-au prezentat scolile partenere. Ce din urma a fost Scoala "Vasile Alecsandri", care a incheiat programul cu un spectacol pregatit de elevii scolii, indrumati de profesorii lor: un grupaj de cantece in limba romana si limbi straine (coordonat de Adrian Iercosan si Daniela Buda), schita "Justitie" de I.L.Caragiale, prezentata de elevii clasei a 8-a A (coordonati de Adina Iosif), un dans traditional romanesc (coordonat de Mariana Deac), un dans tiganesc (coordonat de Loredana Mihaly), un dans realizat de majoretele scolii (coordonat de Clara Ambrus) si o Sezatoare traditionala din Maramures, pregatita de elevi sub indrumarea d-nei Maria Costea.
Am vizitat si obiective culturale importante si relevante pentru proiectul nostru: Muzeele de Etnografie si ale Satului din Baia Mare, Sighetu Marmatiei si Bistrita, Cimitirul vesel de la Sapanta, Maramures, frumoasa Manastire de la Barsana, Maramures, Muzeul de mineralogie din Baia Mare, etc.  L-am vizitat si pe dl. Dracula, la castelul sau de la Tihuta, si, pre norocul nostru, l-am gasit acasa.
Am petrecut si niste seri internationale foarte interesante, cu dansuri si cantece din tarile partenere. Ne-am distrat impreuna si ne-am imprietenit.
Am convingerea ca aceasta e cea mai buna echipa de proiect pe care si-ar pute-o dori oricine, deoarece muncim bine si ne distram impreuna.
Prin camaraderia si implicarea tuturor partenerilor in toate activitatile proiectului, cred ca acest proiect este deja de succes. Fiecare din persoanele implicate in proiect (atat copii cat si profesori si parinti) au invatat foarte multe lucruri in perioada petrecuta impreuna. Sunt sigura ca acest aspect se va petrece pe toata perioada de doi ani a proiectului, dar si pe mai departe.

Description of the project

This Comenius school project is an ethno treasure hunt for the treasures that each country has regarding costumes and customs observed  at certain religious moments (e.g. Christmas,  Easter,  Ramadan, etc.) as well as at certain moments in a person's life (birth, wedding, burial) and compare them.
As 2010 is considered as the "European year for combating poverty and social exclusion", we will try use the information gathered to help those who are facing poverty and social exclusion increase their self esteem and  courage to face the world and succeed in life, by knowing that there are no big differences between them and people from other countries, regardless of  their skin color, language, religion, etc.
 We believe that being different is a good thing and it makes life more interesting.

We will organize intercultural activities, so that children and teachers, of different ethnicity and religions, can feel at home and valued. We will also involve Rroma children and teachers.

Our products and results will also be shared with higher education institutions, so that they become resources for teachers.

We will use English as means of communication, but we also want to learn or improve our use of other foreign languages (English, Romanian, Turkish, Polish, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Italian.

As end products, we want to make a book/e-book containing the data collected about customs and traditions, published in English and the national languages of the partners; a dictionary of the cuisine terms; a blog and a website of the Project; art exhibitions; photo albums; a coloring book for children, containing the drawings of traditional costumes made by the pupils; a card game using the costumes of different countries; recordings on CDs/DVDs; project dissemination leaflets and Power Point Presentations.

European Coordinator:

Scoala cu cls. I-VIII “Vasile Alecsandri” Baia Mare, Romania

Partners:

Sarayköy Anadolu Lisesi, Denizli, Turkey

Publiczne Gimnasjum Nr. 30 IM. Adama Mickiewcza W Lodzi, Lodz, Poland

Velzys Gymnasium, Panevezys, Lithuania

Istituto Comprensivo Santa Teresa di Riva, Santa Teresa di Riva, Italy

Sredno obstoobrazovatelno uciliste “Vasil Levski”,  Ruse, Bulgaria