13th - 20th March 2010

 

A visit of twenty students

from II Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace in Grudziądz, Poland

to Fjolbrautaskolinn vid Armula in Reykjavik, Iceland

 

Main goals:

·        perform activities related to Human Rights issues

·        train the method of philosophical dialogue

·        meet the partner’s country people & culture

·        try to live Icelandic people’s lives for a while

·        explore Iceland’s nature & wildlife

 

 

The country is beautiful and unique. Grey colours of landscapes which greeted us on the first three days of our stay in Reykjavik soon disappeared in the sun. Covered with snowy mountains, surrounding the capital city, and coated with moss rock make the area special, create the ambience of legendary creatures. Everything seems to be unchanged and untouched for ages as if taken from Tolkien’s stories. Vast emptiness without towns or villages take your breath away, especially the Golden Circle, especially geysers, especially Gullfoss waterfalls. Needless to say  … the Blue Lagoon – something out of this world.

 

As to the city itself … It seemed to us that nobody was in a hurry there. Full of charm houses and scarce tower buildings is something you cannot find elsewhere. What was amazing were bookshops open till late night hours, where you can sit, relax, work on your laptop computer, have a cup of tea.

 

 

 

We have to admit that before we arrived in Reykjavik, we hadn’t realized how much our two cultures differed. For example, we had hoped to find some entertainment in the evenings in pubs, clubs, discos. Unfortunately it turned out that you needed to be at least 21 to enter those places.

 

 

 

Another trait of Icelandic personality was revealed during our philosophical discussions. Our friends from Fjolbrautaskolinn vid Armula were far calmer than us, they did not speak in such an emotional or hectic way as we did. As to Human Rights issues, Icelandic students are more tolerant, but at the same time they are unwilling to disrespect rules and laws. We are also convinced that relationships between teachers and students are more friendly, addressing by first names to one another is simply unusual for us. The fact that nearly every student has a part-time job makes them more independent than us.

 

In spite of numerous differences we were able to communicate and have a good time together. We learn a lot and made friends there.

 

We do not regret any single minute spent in Iceland.

 

And we were lucky … we had returned home just before the volcano near Eyjafjallajoekull glacier “woke up.”

 

Students and teachers from II Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace in Grudziadz, Poland:

 

Jolanta Kamińska & Beata Kasińska – teachers,

 

Students: Filip Biedrzycki, Adrian Brzozowski, Piotr Cybula, Agnieszka Dlugonska, Marta Dominikowska, Alicja Dyrga, Anna Ferlin, Stanisław Grzebieniewski, Ariadna Grzona, Martyna Jankowska, Patrycja Królikiewicz, Anita Kucieba, Jakub Kwiatkowski, Bartłomiej Makowski, Karolina Podemska, Jolanta Ronowska, Piotr Smarzyński, Michalina Szewczuk, Monika Tarnowska, Jakub Wroblewski.