First of all, thanks to our hosts especially Federica and Alessandra who took care of the arrangements, transportation and us. Italian hospitality was amazing. The hotel was nice and location also great, short walk from the center and the distance from the school wasn’t too much either.
City of Novara is a beautiful old town with a lot of history. The tour in the city centre was interesting and the guide was excellent. It was nice to get know to Liceo Scientifico Statale “A. Antonelli” and its facilities, however, it would have been better if the tour was in small groups. It was also interesting to attend a class and notice that there aren’t great differences in history teaching methods in Italian and Finnish upper secondary schools, even though we didn’t understand everything about the language.
The program could have been tighter, there were a plenty of waiting and spare time too. For us Finns it was also difficult adapt to schedule that wasn’t precise. We managed to achieve the tasks that was planned. That was great.
I think one of the most important functions of the meeting was the social one. It was really nice to meet other teachers from the other European countries, compare our schools, education systems, working hours, wages and also discuss other matters as well. And notice that there are similar problems and difficulties in each country and the pupils are similar no matter which part of Europe they live. It was also a wonderful experience to go to the football match. You could see and feel the enthusiasm of the fans. All the policemen who were maintaining order at the match was quite an experience as well.
We had very good and parallel thoughts of running this project. That is important through the project. When we think same way there won’t be that much challenges.
We are really looking forward to continue this project. Looking forward to see all our friends in Onil.
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