Varna meeting (May 2019)

Day 9: The Way Back

2019-05-16T22:45:56+03:00

Everything will come to an end at some point. So it was with the joyful time in Varna, too.

At 10 a.m. we were at the airport saying farewell greetings, queuing to the check-in and finally in the plane waiting for the take off.

The way back was nice and relaxed. The flight was on time, the bus was on time and everyone got safely back home.

We are proud of our team. Many of them took brave steps away from their confort zone and managed well!

We all have great memories from this week. We made new friends. We shared the bread and thoughts. We shared the rhythm.

Thank you.

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Days 4 to 8: The Meeting

2019-05-16T22:39:15+03:00

It's always nice to stroll around the city, see new places and meet new people. The Erasmus meetings are not just about freewheeling, as there are presentations, performances and different kind of works to be prepared, rehearsed, presented and discussed.

We were welcomed at school most warmly: A Bulgarian tradition is to share a special kind of bread with their guests by the time of their arrival. The symbolic gesture is strongly related to the main goal of our project: As the project Song of Joy is about sharing, understanding and co-operation, could you not start a project in any better way?

All the countries presented themselves and we enjoyed a dance performance by the students of our hosting school. After a short break we got to work:
The dance workshops, visual arts lessons, discussions and quizzes about the common European ground and cultural specialities were the backbone of the meeting in Varna.

As the official theme for this project is "the new rhythm of Europe", this was also the focus of the meeting. The rhythm is a crucial part of human thinking: the patterns of literature, traditional decorations, dance and music all are different expressions of rhythm. A rhythm may also be seen within our society; the pace of life in every country is slightly different thus expressing rhythm of everyday life.

The meeting in Varna was more or less a prism through which we had a chance to take a peek in many aspects of rhythmical patterns described above.

It was clear that despite of various cultural differences there was even more in common: the songs had same kind of rhythmical patterns, the tales had similar kind of heroes and villains, the dances were about being together and physically in touch with another person. It really doesn't matter if you are dancing to a 7/4 rhythm, and afro-cuban beat or a Finnish polka. The very meaning of sharing is built-in everywhere.

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Day 3: Host families

2019-05-14T18:20:46+03:00

A meeting a new host family is always an adventure: Different habits, different kind of food and more or less a house full of people you actually don't know.

Regarding all possibilities of incidents that might happen, it's really a miracle that usually everything goes fine and after a week it's hard to leave these previous strangers. After two weeks at Golden Sands we checked out from the really nice hotel we had and headed to the city center.

At 3 p.m. there were families waiting for our students. Now the real adventure began.

There's always some things to adjust, but as a whole, these adjustments are usually managed swiftly. After an hour all students had found their place and on their way with their hosts.

Now the teachers had some time to look around. It was pleasant to notice how near the school was and how really nice was the huge park just by the coast line in Varna.

The following day was free for the students to be with their families and to get to know each other. Even if this part is the most important part of international projects at school, there's not much to write about. Sorry. Maybe you have to participate some project to just experince this part yourself.

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Day 1: Here we come

2019-05-04T22:48:50+03:00

When we left Kuopio, it was snowing. A lot. More than a lot.

As the morning of Saturday 4th of May saw the first traits of sun, we were at Helsinki-Vantaa airport passing through the passport control. In Kuopio there was 20-30cm of snow. Yes, in May.

After the three-hour flight to Varna we really started to feel almost embarassingly lucky: 20 degrees, the sun shining from bright blue sky. It was definitely a good choice to spend a couple nights in a hotel, take a short direct flight to Varna and totally escape the horrid weather at home. Believe it or not, this travel plan was mainly set due to the reduced costs. Well, guess sometimes it happens that all the odds are on your side.

At this point it was quite clear that - once again - we have an excellent group of young people travelling to the Erasmus meeting: The atmosphere was supportive and light from the very beginning. So, maybe the reward you see in the photo below is already earned.

There's a lot more to come. Looking forward to the events during our stay in Varna.

Transportation & accommodation

2019-05-06T22:34:22+03:00

3.5.
Train to Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport @ 17.12
The group should be at the railway station @ 17.00.
Arrival at the airport @ 21.48.
Overnight stay at Hilton Helsinki Airport.

4.5.
Early breakfast.
Check-in @ 6.30
Flight D8 492 (Norwegian airlines) to Varna @ 8.00
Arrival to Varna @ 11.00
Transportation to the hotel.

5.5.
Students to the hosting families.

6. - 10.5. Meeting programme

11.5.
Meeting at the airport @ 9.00
Check-in.
Departure from Varna @ 11.50, flight D8 493
Arrival to Helsinki @ 14.45

Lunch at the airport
Minibus to Kuopio @ 15.30
Arrival to Kuopio appr. 20.00

Gallery

2019-04-23T19:29:44+03:00

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PROGRAMME FOR THE BULGARIAN MEETING

2019-05-06T22:31:41+03:00

PROGRAMME FOR THE BULGARIAN MEETING

TUESDAY 07.05

Nice to meet you!

9 – 11.00
Short introduction of the participants.

Traditional meeting, Bulgarian style

Groupings for the workshops

11 - 11.40
Warm up games

Place: School Hall

11.40- 12.00

Bulgarian students' performances

LUNCH 12.00

Workshops

12.40 - 13 .40

Group A: Dance
Group B: Quiz
Group C: Art

14.00 - 15.00

Group A : Quiz
Group B: Dance
Group C: Art

BREAK 15 min

15.15 - 16.15

Group A : Art
Group B: Dance
Group C : Quiz

Students with their hosts

Teachers: Dinner 18.30

WEDNESDAY 08.05.

9.00

Teachers and students at the Festival Complex
Move to the beach: Art in Action

11.40 Back to School Hall

Bulgarian students performing

LUNCH 12.00

Workshops

12.40 -13.40

Group A: Most popular contemporary song
Group B: National dancing
Group C: Attending a Chemistry lesson

14.00 - 15.00

Group A: Dance
Group B: Attending a History lesson
Group C : Most popular contemporary song

BREAK 15 min

15.15- 16.15

Group A: attending a Music lesson
Group B Most popular contemporary song
Group C : Dance

Teachers: Dinner

THURSDAY 09.05.

9.30: Meeting at the school
3rd party organised program. Timetable open.

11 - 11.30 Back to School Hall
11.40 - 12 Bulgarian students performing

LUNCH 12.00

12.40 - 13.40:
Groups FIN & FR: Dance
Groups PL & GER: Drama rehearsal: A favourite folk tale

BREAK 20min

14.00 - 15.00:
Groups PL & GER: Dance
Groups FIN & FR: Drama rehearsal: A favourite folk tale

15 -
A free afternoon

FRIDAY 10.05.

9.30 - 10.30:
Preparing for the final performance

10.30 - 12.00:
Final performance:
Bulgarian dance & choir singing group performance

LUNCH 12.00

12.40 - 14.00
Folk tale performances

Students with their hosts