MEMORIES OF GREEK STUDENTS OF THE 4TH VISIT AT AIGALEO,

ATHENS, GREECE

YoUtopia: Towards Participative Partnerships

Aigaleo, 22-26 September, 2014

Vagia Keke

Thank you all for making us spend so beautiful days while you were here in Greece!

Even though my guest Anna, and all the Latvian kids arrived one day later, we had lots of fun together.

When we went out everyone had a great time, all of our guests seemed like really enjoyed it, so did we, all of the Greek kids  had a lot of fun too. 

The presentations were really interesting, every country had worked hard and the result was pretty admirable!

When we went to the Acropolis we all had a great time as guides!

After that, at Monastiraki it was amazing too.

The last night, the party was really good and unforgettable. We all enjoy it!

I miss all of the kids so much and I hope one day I'll have the chance to see them again! 

Finally, I want to thank Anna, she is an amazing girl and I can't wait to see her again in Latvia! 

Vassia Rigatou

The previous week I think each of us had an unforgettable experience!

First of all and most important we understood the meaning of  the difference since we spent lots of time with  pupils from other countries with different culture and different ways ofthinking. However, we all became friends and it was quite difficult to say goodbye  to these children with whom we made  so strong relationships.

During these days we visited the Acropolis, the Delphi and also Greek students showed the guests other attractive destinations of Athens such as Monastiraki, Plaka, Piraeus.

For me the thing that gave me the greatest pleasure was that a very comfortable and familiar atmosphere was created between Greeks and foreigners! Also, we got used to speaking  English all the time even  if we were talking to our parents ! Generally, the pupils understood how we behave and how friendly Greek people are! I'm very glad that I'm going to meet my hosts in Polsky at November !

Eirini Rigatou

I enjoyed very much this experience! I liked the fact that we were all together, Greeks and guests and that we were spending too much time with them. Also, I felt as if, I had known these guys for years.

For me, the best day was the last one, when we presented our traditions and we organized a special Greek celebration for the foreigners. I will miss those children and especially my guest Alise. I want to have this opportunity one more time and for more days. It was very amazing and I always remember these beautiful four days.

Vasilis Raptis

The days when pupils from other countries came to Greece we spend together a lot of good time. We visited the Parthenon on the Acropolis Hill and the new museum of Acropolis, Vrahakia (little Rocks on the slope of the Acropolis Hill and other attractive destinations of our hometown.

With my guest it was quiet difficult to communicate but however we tried and I learnt a lot of things about him. I hope they enjoyed their stay here and I hope to seem all of them again.

Alexandros Provatas

I had a great time when participating in the program of Comenius and I could say that all these guys were very funny and friendly. I hope I will enjoy the trip to Romania where I will go in some months.

Christos Maliaritsis

I had a very good time the week that the pupils from comenius came to greece. We did our presentations, we met the mayor of Egaleo and we visited many places here in Greece. Although the Latvian pupils came one day later I still managed to spend time with Alan. He is very friendly and funny. I’m glad that I have been his host and I hope one day to meet him again. Also I’ m very glad that I am participating in this program and have met all these great people.

George Skouloufianakishe week that the pupils from Comenius came to Greece I had a great time with them. We visited very interesting places together, spent hours working together on activities and sightseeing too. We really had fun together. These pupils were so kind and friendly. I really miss them and I can’t wait to go Romania myself!!

Aggeliki Lytrivi

We have only spent 3 days with the children but it seemed to be much more because we did so many things together some of which were new for us too. We went to the Acropolis, to Monastiraki and generally we visited the Center of Athens. I was one of the lucky ones who went to the excursion to Delfoi, Galaxidi and Arachova, where all of us had a very good time. The last day we had the opportunity to watch some wonderful traditional Italian dances that were performed by the Italian girls. We also saw Greek dances and tasted Greek foods and deserts. Thank you all for coming from all over the Europe and gave us

the joy to meet you and your culture. All of you were amazing! I should thank Katerina individually for being so receptive and nice. I can't wait to come to your beautiful country Latvia.  . I hope that everyone had such a great time as we did. :)

Vassiliki GeorgopoulouThese days will be remembered by us as a unique experience that enriched us spiritually both through our contact with people from other countries and through the activities in which we participated. . . Certainly it could be described as a life lesson. Through the interaction of people, virtues such as tolerance, respect for diversity, justice thus more sensitive, and various social issues that we face everyday were promoted . . . Alongside our culture became known to the partners’

countries. . . Certainly we and our families lived beautiful moments. We tried to accommodate as best as possible the children and generally to fulfil our aim and plan to the best possible way. All this have become reality thanks to your effort to offer you such a learning experience to us! ! !

Brazioti Catherine

I believe getting to know new people and making new friends is something nice, let alone if these friends are from another country. Through this programme we had the opportunity to make such acquaintances, who happen to become part of our family even for just a few days. However you know that you have created a friendship, strong enough to believe that it is going to keep for life

Spyros AsimakopoulosOur Comenius is a superb programme. It gave us the opportunity to get to know other young people from abroad, spend some wonderful days together and share nice moments. They had the chance to come close to our culture and traditions during our visits to different places in Greece, which they really enjoyed. Moreover we joined other hosts and guests in the evenings and enjoyed outings. I am looking forward to travel myself too. I am sure we are going to have a nice time. Destination isn’t important. What matters is kind heart and good company.

Stellina Mpakoula

A few days ago students from different countries visited us and were hosted by Greek pupils as it is arranged in every visit of our Comenius Partnership. That week everything was marvelous.

Despite the fact that the time of hosting was very short here in Greece, the programs that were organized and the guidance were exceptional and we all had a nice time and enjoyed ourselves.

Ntina Palaioudi

It is so amazing that in only four days we came so close with all these pupils that visited us. It was an unbelievable experience and I would do that again without a second thought. We met children with different cultures and backgrounds.

We learnt about our differences and similarities too. We created strong friendships and we continue keeping in touch with them. We hope to meet again sometime. We all miss them and I am anxious to travel myself too.

 

Dadioti Eleni

I am very happy that I met all these kids.We had a very nice time with Raluca. She has learnt a lot of Greek words and me Pomanian ones. I wish we met them again.

The previous week has been a wonderful time for all of us. We are going to miss them all. We would like them to visit us again and keep contact with them. We might be able to host one another sometime in future.

Nick Naselos B class (the Jounior)I would like to tell about my experience this week. I enjoyed the whole happening because I have learnt about the culture of the other guys and we were able to practice our English too. I also enjoy our Comenius Program because I host a guy named Tomas, who is a very nice boy but a ….little shy. We got on well together and I hope in future to be able to participate again in a program like that. I would also like to thank Mrs Kapetanidou about giving me the opportunity to participate in a programme like this.

Chris Patrikis

I have to admit that we had a very good time being all together during the previous week. It has been a fantastic experience. We made new friends. We shared nice moments, we played games in the gym, generally we enjoyed the time we were together.

I liked both our time with teachers on our visits but also our walks with the foreign pupils in the evening. The party was successful too with music from different countries and Greek homemade food. I am sure that I will always remember them and I hope to see them again.

Nikolaos Naselos (senior)

It has been an excellent experience. We met new people and we had a lot of fun together all these days apart from presenting our works and participating in common activities. We visited various places of historical interest, like the Acropolis and we worked together at YiannisRitsos Center.

I want to believe that I have been a good host and that Marine, my guest, to be satisfied. I hope one day we will meet again with these guys. We also had the opportunity to participate in volleyball games . Marine is an exceptionally kind girl with character and we had a lot of fun doing different things like playing play-station and making her learn how to eat a souvlaki.

Stella Mara

I was really excited when it was time to go get Rebecca. I wanted to meet her in person, not only on Facebook. We have some common interests and when I met her and till the time she had to leave I had a really nice time with her. She is an easy going and very friendly girl but what I liked more at her personality is her kindness.

The next day I met more of the kids and reconnected with some of the people that I had already met in Czech Republic. Mostly I came closer with Andrea and Raluca who I had never met before and the Italian girls. During our outings to the Acropolis, Theseio and Monastiraki we had an amazing time. I really miss all of the kids and I hope that we all meet again in the future.

Elena Rapanaki- Sofia Sigala

Our impressions from Comenius project are particularly positive. We all had very beautifully together with our guests and they will remain in our memory.

We had the privilege to get to know pupils from different countries and learn about different cultures. We hope that our guests had a nice stay here in Greece and be pleased with our hosting.

Despite the fact that we come from different countries, we managed to communicate and cooperate as if we have been citizens of the same nationality.

Kondithis Ilias

The previous week that was the hosting week we all had very nice time. We went on excursions and educational visits, that kept long hours. The weather was niceso we enjoyed going out at our free time at Aigaleo and Monastiraki. Generally speaking we had an amazing time with all the foreign pupils. I miss them and would like to see them again.

Panteli Danae

I am very happy that I saw you again, even if it was for only five days. I hope to see all of you some other time. We can also keep our contact on facebook or other media. It has been one of my best weeks in my life and it has been a very nice experience. I miss you all.

Admira Mema

The previous week was the best in my life. I had a great time with the girl we were hosting. She loved Athens and the Parthenon and this gave me special joy. I liked that she loved our culture and I appreciated it.

Furthermore, there is something that I will never forget is the way she managed to communicate with my little brother. I am very glad that I participated in this program and meeting all these people from so many different countries.

Dionysia Gouskou

I feel particularly happy as Headmistress of 6o Geniko Lykeio of Aigaleo, because we have been participating in the“YoUtopia Comenius School Partnership”. The experience from previous meetings were amazing. Different people, different ideas and cultures, yet we became “One” a compact “Unit”. Pupils, teachers and parents didn’t want this meeting to end.

So we hosted our partners in Aigaleo. We spend unforgettable moments during carrying out our Comenius works for the Greek project, during our visits of archaeological sites and of course on the last day before partners departure, when the partners visited our school for the farewell party along with traditional Greek food, songs and dances and foreing ones too.

We all became one company. I can’t and won’t forget the full of joy faces of all those people who were involved in the program somehow, especially the parents who responded to our invitation and willingly prepared and offered the meal for everybody in the party. When time to say “farewell’ finally came, we hugged each other and promised to meet again in Lodg, Poland.

In any occasion participation in such programs unite people and promote culture. Getting aware of other educational systems and getting involved in such interactive procedures can lead us aquire a more open attitude towards educational issues, which definitely can lead to improvement of the quality of education in all levels.

Christos Pantelis (Greek Comenius teacher-parent)

The week that we hosted our friends-partners has left us intense signs both in our minds and hearts. We have been longing for our meeting here in Aigaleo, but we were also anxious whether we could successfully curry out our tasks as hosts.

Groups works were magnificent and our meetings, our visits and our excursions were amazing (Sounio, Delphi, Galaxeidi, Acropolis Hill and Museum) too. We had the opportunity to get to know each other better, especially for me that I met the partners for the first time and the pupils too.

As a father of a student that participates in the program, Danae, we had the anxiety to host Alicia, a French student. We hope that we did it. Only such a program like our Comenius can offer us such intense emotional moments that make education better as well as our lives.

I send my warm greetings to all our friends from all countries and we are looking forward to meeting you again in Lodg, Poland.

Angeliki Papaspyropoulou

The greatest pleasure I got from the days when we hosted our partners, was to see them enjoy what is called Greek culture: nature, our food, the places where we go to have fun, our people, the songs and dances our heritage of ancient Greek civilization which was present in every place we visited.

Their enthusiasm made me feel lucky that I still live in this place with so many economic and social problems that have increased dramatically over the years of the crisis, but have not been able to draw away what is called passion for the beauty of life, creativity, imagination and hope from its people.

On the other hand, we have enriched our minds with our foreigners’ own experience, coming from countries that are distant and yet so close to us when we find our common points, our common problems and but also what makes us all passionate.

How to forget the barefoot little Italian girls who danced the Neapolitan dance? How to forget the teachers and students dancing together in the farewell party? The hugs we gave each other at the end left the warmth and joy we shared during those few days, but so intense indeed.

As I was reading our pupils’ memories-impressions, I realized that YoUtopia has done it once again. I still can’t believe the amount of change it is capable to bring about and how much it affects each one of us.

I would like to thank you all, both Greek and foreign students and teachers, as well as parents for helping accomplishing this task of ours, hosting YoUtopia here in Aigaleo, Greece. As time goes by and as the number of visits increases, we feel that this family bond becomes stronger and stronger. Our experience is definitely a lifetime one and we are lucky to be participants in such a successful endeavor.

Your Greek partner and teacher Kapetanidou Theodosia

(Coordinator of the Greek team)

Lifelong learning european programme 2013-2015

Youtopia

Active citizenship

Towards a common goal

The Youtopian kids

Greeting from Greece

See you in PolandRemembering of the

past for a better future