EXAMINATIONS IN GREECE

Dear friends,
At this time of year all greek students in junior high schools sit in final exams, so they can go on their studies to the next grade. They are examined in every subject taught at school such as maths, physics,chemistry, greek language, greek literature, ancient language, foreign languages, religion, geography. To pass to the next grade they have to get ,at least, 9 and a half as an average mark. This mark comes from the oral marks they have got in the three terms, in each subject, and the mark of the written exams.
The written exams last about a month and are in 12 or 13 subjects.The students come to school three times a week, day after day, to take the exams. The written testa are corrected by the teacher who taught the subject and the final results are announced the last week of June.
Those students who have not managed to get an average of 9,5 in six and more subjects,have to repeat the class. Those who failed to get a pass in 1-5 subjects re-sit in written and oral exams.
Of course , we help students pass to the next grade because gymnasium studies are compulsory in Greece.

Amazing email

Some time ago I wrote about my mother´s memories from WWII.My article was also put on the web pages about stories from those terrible years. And this was very good. I had no idea how many people had read this story and one day when I opened my email post I found a very interesting letter there. This letter was written by Wanda Shannon, the daughter of one of the soldiers from my mum´s Workbook. She sent me her parents´wedding photograph and she wrote about her father´s life. So the man, who had died in the Square wasn´t her father.

This is what she had written.......
My father died of cancer in 1970 at the age of 51. Iwas thankful to read your story and find out where my Dad was and what he did during the war.

Since that time I have been changing letters with this woman who has become very close to my heart.

It is nice to have a lot of friends.

MOTHERS´ DAY

The task of the students was to write a short poem about their mums to celebrate their Mothers´Day.
Bara has written a very nice poem. Here it is.

My mum is my life

Without her I won’t be here today.
My mum is a big support for me.
When I am not OK
She hugs me and gives me
A special warm feeling of safety.
With her
I am immortal.
My mum is my sun.
Her touches are like the sunshine.
She never turns her bag upon me.
When I am sad,
She is sad, too.
When I am happy,
My mum is happy, too.
She is my example.
She is my big help.
Anytime.
She always knows
What has happened to me.
Sometimes I am ashamed
Of my behaviour
But then I say
Sorry, mum.
And she says
OK.
Everyone thinks
Their mum is the kindest, the best.
But all mums are the best.
And I love my mum
As nothing else
In the world.
For all the time.
Sorry, mum-
That I am not
A perfect child.

Karel Vacek
My Mum
She is my best friend.
She is my wonderful sunshine.
She is my beautiful rose.
She is my light in the dark.
She is my sun in the night.
She gives me love.
She is with me when I need help.
She always knows what I need.
She gives me good mood.
She is my and only my mother.
I love her and she loves me.

Ramadan

Our friends from Ordu are very special because we do not know much about their part of the world. They cannot be our eTwinning members yet because Turkey is not in the EU, but never mind, we think that we should know also about the countries where a lot of people go on holiday. Turkey is not only hot weather ,bazaars and sandy beaches in the south. It is also the country with hardworking people who want to open the door of knowledge, the door of understanding to those who want to learn more. My students are the people who have decided to make new penfriends in Turkey. And they do not regret. Their letters are interesting, written in good English and full of new information for us.

Here is one of them

Ramadan is a holy month when people -like us- fast to show their trust to the gods. This festival is very cultural and full of dimsity. This year it started in January on the thirtieth or the thirty-first, which means it has already finished. Next year it will be held. It varies from year to year and place to place. So if you are ever in Indonesia at the time of Ramadan set yourself the challenge to go without food and water from dawn to dusk.
Ramadan is a festival held every year lasting one month. Ramadan's a festival for Muslims around the world particularly Indonesians. During Ramadan over one billion muslims fast during day light. The festival starts at dawn and ends at sunset (dusk). Sick and traveling Muslims and women and children in certain conditions are a exception from fasting. In some places when the fast is on, people cool themselves by pouring cold water on their faces with their mouths closed. During Ramadan, a muslim would pray at the end of the day before their small meal.
When the festival of Ramadan finishes and the month of Shawwal starts the Muslims have a three-day celebration. The celebration is held in the holiday called Id-al-fitr. On this holiday people exchange gifts and family and friends gather to pray in congregation and for large meals they got. In some Muslim cities they celebrate by having a fair for the end of Ramadan.

Last year the Czech students read about this festival Id-al-fitr in the textbooks, but they just read it without any interest. This year when they saw the festival in the letter, they remembered it. It was very different. I learn through my students´letters ,too. And this is that important thing about all our projects. To pass new knowledge, new skills, new abilities on each other, on the students and teachers, to break the barrier between us.

Dear Turkish friends. Thank you for all your letters. We wish you very nice summer holidays and we hope to be in touch with you again.

Old games are still alive

Kostas from Kavasila High school and Alena Mayova from Gymnasium Česká Lípa are both PE teachers. They decided to try a project in the eTwinning,too. The name of the project was The old games are still
alive.It was a short project in which they introduced each other the rules of one old game. The Czech teacher introduced the game BEATING OUT. It was difficult to translate the name into English, but the rules were quite clear.
The Greek teacher described the game called FAININDA, really a very old game.
Then, both teachers tried to teach the games during PE lessons and they also introduced the partner´s school. At the end of the school year the games will be played in public.
The good thing of the project was that both teachers practised ICT tools and also English. The Czech teacher Alena Mayová has started studying English course to be able to communicate better.
When I visited Greece in April 2006 I also went to Kavasila High school. Kostas asked me to take part in his PE lesson and he showed me the way how they had understood the rules of the Czech game. It was so interesting to see this game being played by the Greek children. They found the game too cruel and they didn´t want to hit the players with the ball. They didn´t want to hurt themselves. So instead of hitting the opposite players, they hit the floor and then waited if the ball hit somebody by chance.I explained the rules to them again and in a few minutes they knew how to play the game.
At the end of the lesson they showed me their game which is really very old and comes from the ancient times.Now I will know if the Czech students can play Faininda well. Also the presentation helped us very much

Two students are sending greetings

Dear friends,
we would like to send you the voice of two students. Martin and Martina from the class kvarta B are sending best wishes to the students from our project. It is a pity that we have not seen each other face to face, but thanks to the ICT tools you know our pictures and now you will know our voice too. Have a very nice summer and relax during the holiday. We hope your exams will go without any problems.
The voice of Martin.
The voice of Martina.

Memories from the Greek students

The Greek team visited Czech Republic on a six days trip, from 25th to 30th of April 2006. Here are our experiences from the visit


Agelica Chalkia
A few weeks ago, I and my classmates had the chance to go to Czech Republic and visit Ceska Lipa and the students there. First of all, I have to admit that it was a wonderful experience! We arrived at Prague at 6.00 am (too early)!! We got on a bus and went to Karlovy Vary, a very beautiful city, which was actually like we were in a fairy tale. We stayed there till 3.00 pm and that was our first ‘connection’ with the Czech language. At almost 6 o’clock we arrived at our hotel where Mrs. Kadlecova was waiting for us. We were very tired so we stayed in our hotel to relax. The next day we went to our pen friends’ gymnasium. It was really enormous!!! The classes were very big. But what really surprised me was the gym; it was really big and there were plenty of sports you could do. This was the day that we finally met all the students! Of course, I liked them all! We represented ourselves to them and we showed them a project we made for our town, Thessaloniki. We had a tour of the whole school by the students. The students prepared a concert for us which was really superb. In the evening, we went to our pen friends’ houses for dinner. I and Evangelia went to Bara’s house. We had a really great time!!! We saw many photographs and talked for hours. The third day we went to the gymnasium and then, by bus, we travelled to the city Terezin for some hours and then to Litomerice, an assembly encampment during the 2nd World War. It was amazing and touching at the same time! The fourth day we went by train to the city Liberec and visited the Europe’s most ancient zoo, which was a very interesting and funny experience.!!! When we came back to Ceska Lipa we went to eat altogether at a restaurant and then some of the students went to our hotel to say goodbye. That night was very moving us we really appreciated everything they’ve done for us and we are sad as we won’t see them again for a long time. I really hope they’ll come to Greece soon! The next two days we travelled and stayed at Prague. The first day there Mrs. Kadlecova was with us. We visited museums and churches [which differ a lot from ours]! The last day, we saw some more things but that was unfortunately the day We had to leave. I, personally, was very sad that day, because we were leaving the country we really loved! I will never forget all the boys and girls and I hope they won’t forget us too. They were all very friendly and good people!
Olga Panteliadou
OUR TRIP TO CESKA LIPA (25th –30th of APRIL) In the beginning of this school year I didn’t expect my participation in the “e-twinning” program to be such an exciting experience! Our first approach with the students of the Check school through e- mails was very interesting and started to build a relationship with them… But the best would be to meet them face to face and this gave us the idea to visit them. Our teacher, Mrs. Ganidou and the headmistress encouraged this plan. So, on the 25th of April we traveled by plane to Czech Republic full of expectations and next day we were visiting Ceska Lipa’ school! We found an unforgettable reception by our partners, finally we could speak to each other and walk around the institution: a huge building with roomy areas and fully equipped classrooms (….). We shared a great time with our new friends following a busy schedule: a day at school, dinner with our partner, visit to the concetration camp, wonderful moments at the zoo, last evening at the hotel and finally the farewell… The two last days in Prague will stay in my mind as a barrage of fascinating pictures, art, beauty and crowded streets. We returned late at night of the 30th of April, excausted but satisfied, full of impressions and having the confidence that we shared a unique experience. We all hope to meet our friends soon, this time at our place, continuing this communication which turns to be a real friendship!!!


Author:
Despina Ganidou
Published:
15.05.2006

The last bell

The students who finish our school have some unwritten rights the last year.In winter they organize a dancing ball for the teachers, parents and their friends. It is always a big event for the whole town. And at the end of their school year they say good bye to everybody at school.

How do they do it? The day when they get the school report is called The Day of the Last Bell.

The finishing students put on various funny masks and custumes and they wait in front of the school building for the teachers and for the younger students. They ask them for money which is used for the final celebration. There is a lot of fun and especially the youngest students are chased and they are watered by perfumes and vingar with water.

During the first lesson the students in costumes visit classes and they sing songs or say some poems. They say GOODBYE to all the younger students who have to stay at school.Sometimes, it is too noisy, but it is only once a year, so we, teachers, have to survive.

Then all the teachers gether in the room and the students thank them for all the lessons and all the education they have received from them. Every teacher gets a flower. Sometimes it is sad, especially when the students are nice and popular. Some classes are really good and so it is not easy to say goodbye to them.

Then the students stay at home for one week. In the students´slang this week is called THE SAINT WEEK. They study very hard because after this free week, they come back to school to pass the oral exams from four subjects. They have fifteen minutes for every subject and they have to speak on the chosen topic. They can study in advance, they have more than fifty tasks from every subject to prepare. The students who study during the whole school year have no problems but those who rely on the Saint Week are often in trouble. When they pass the exam, they get Graduating Final School Report, which is called MATURITA REPORT in my country.

But it is not the end. After this exam,they have to pass the enter exam to the university they want to attend the next year.

GOOD LUCK, graduating students!!! I wish you easy questions and happy future.

Last evening

Our two teachers. Both are called DESPINA.

The last evening arrived and we all were very sad. After the trip to Liberec ,we finished in Pizzeria in Ceska Lipa. The students helped their foreign friends with the menu which was not in English. We all had delicious pizzas and after that we went to the hotel Kahan to say good bye to our friends. Some of the students exchanged small presents, addresses and emails. We will go on with our project next year again, so we will be in touch again. The purpose of the etwinning projects is not visiting the partner school. This was something special and I can say that it has made our partnership more meaningful and we all hope that next year we will see each other again.
The next day the Greek students travelled to Prague and they visited the Exhibition of Charles IV and some other places which are usually visited by the foreigners. I stayed with them for one more day in Prague and when we had to part, I couldn´t speak. I was so touched, too emotional. The people on the coach didn´t understand what was going on. They looked at me in a strange way. For me, it was not only saying GOOD BYE to fantasic people but it was the last link with the other Greek friends who I had visited before. I had to say good bye to all my Greek friends. I am glad that we have the internet which really makes the world a small place. We are close although so far away.
What I really know that I have friends for life in the country which has become very interesting for me.
EFCHARISTO, AHAPYTY FILI. Adio.

LIBEREC

The third day was the time to visit one of the oldest ZOOs in Europe with its famous WHITE TIGERS and funny sea lions. We travelled together, Czech and Greek group. The journey by train was the best place to get to know each other better and better. I was glad when I saw that the groups were mixed. They played some games and tried to create a nice hairdo on John´s head.

The weather was very cold. Some of the students were wearing summer clothes such as Bara and Klarka. She was completely blue. I was worried about their health but they were OK after the trip./ suprise/

We went to see the DINOSAUR EXHIBITION with 3d cinema. It was quite interesting and we took a lot of pictures of the models of the dinosaurs which were really big.

Terezin

The second day was a serious programme, visiting the concentration camp TEREZIN.

Before we went to the camp, we had a lesson about the WWII,and I told them my mother´s story from the end of the war. Some of theCzech students were allowed to go with us.

When we got to Terezin, our tour guide was a black man from Zambia ,from Africa. It was not very easy to understand him, but the students were OK. Later the boys said that they had understood a lot. I was very pleased to hear that. Visiting the camp is always very sad and when we imagine those difficult conditions they lived in, we are glad that we don´t have this experience from our personal life. We finished the day in Novy Bor in the Glass museum and our friends could also buy some glass for their parents there. It was a good day and we were lucky that the storm came in the late afternoon.

Our Greek friends have arrived

After a long time of planning, chatting and exchanging emails the day D has arrived. On 25th April in the evening, a group of nine students and two teachers came to Ceska Lipa. They came from Thessaloniki, from our partner school. We have been working on the project together for almost ten months and so their visit was something very special for all of us. We couldn´t wait to meet them at school.
They came the next day in the morning and we had a lesson together. Then our school prepared a concert for our students and the guests and our Greek friends also sang one song and showed us a Greek dance.

In the afternoon after lunch, when the Greeks tried a typical Czech dish dumplings and vegetable cream sauce/ they didn´t like it very much/, we all went to the centre of the town. The Czech students had prepared a presentation about Ceska Lipa and Mr Lofler made a film about it. The film is very beautiful. After this activity the Czech students took their friends in their families. Many of them were a bit shy, because it was for the first time in their life when they had to use English in a different way than at school. Everythings was great and when they brought the Greeks back to the hotel, nobody was shy at all.

Czech Easter a letter from our librarian Renata

Hello my dear friend Lena,
Thank you very much for your beautiful present which Nada brought to me. I have to apology that I haven’t written earlier, but I was really very busy. Now I am going to write about Easter in the Czech Republic.



The Holy week
Flower Sunday { 9th April}
the Sunday before Easter which celebrates triumphal coming of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem and several days before his crucifixion. On this day, people clean their homes and they sweep out soot.
Also our family cleans the flat and we get ready for Easter.

Green Thursday { 13th April}

The name comes from the custom that people had to eat only green things at this day. It is also because during the Last supper Jesus Christ was eating green lettuce when the soldiers got him.

Great Friday { 14th April}

It was the day when Jesus Christ suffered a lot, when he died on the cross. It is the time of the meditation, fasting and silence.

White Saturday {15th April}

Everybody is preparing for Easter Sunday. Women bake Easter lamb, hot cross buns, delicious dishes. Men make pomlazka{ pleated willow twigs decorated with ribbons}, women and children decorate Easter eggs

In my family we bake the Easter lamb and I decorate the eggs. My son isn’t very interested in this activity.

Easter Sunday { 16th April}
It is Jesus Christ’s resurrection. All the people celebrate, they visit grandparents, some people go to cemeteries to remember their dear relatives.

Easter Monday { 17th April}
This is the most important day in my country. In the early morning boys and men go carolling. They go from house to house and they say Easter rhymes. They ask for eggs. The girls and women are whipped by the POMLAZKA. They give the boys eggs and the men some alcohol.
One of the customs of this day is that you have to wear something new not to be poo-pooed by the lamb. The other custom says that if the woman is not whipped, she will dry. This is the only day when men can beat women in public.

There are some other customs after Easter such as putting up a MAJKA, which is a trunk from a very tall tree decorated at the top with ribbons. This MAJKA must be watched by the men from the village. When it is stolen by the boys from the next village , it is a very bad reputation.

The last day of April, Czech people burn witches at the stake. It is a very old custom which meaning is to say goodbye to winter, too.

That is all for today. Have a very nice time and I will write soon again.

Love Renata

.

This is what Anastasia a greek student of Kavasila high school, wrote about Mrs Nada's Kadlecova visit to her school.

Mrs Nada Kadlecova, the etwinning partner- teacher from Czech Republic, visited our school just before Easter holidays. She was very friendly and kind. She looked happy. I think, because she was with us ,here in Greece. We met her in the school library where she gave us small presents from our czech friends- partners. She, also, gave us a box of chocolates which disappeared immediately! We saw a DVD which she had brought for our school. It was about her country and the place where they live. I learnt many things about my partner,Martin, from her. About her school ,too.

I liked her very much. It was a very good idea to come at our school. Some students told me that she must be a nice teacher. They had a lesson with her. I dedicate the photo to her. It has been taken in the old city of Veria. I wish one day she comes again, but with our partners.It would be great if we met altogether!

National competition in Prague

Karolina Buresova took part in the National Competition in English in Prague on 3rd May.

There were representatives from all the regions of our country. Although Karolina was one of the youngest, she did very well and was on 4th place. We hope that next year she will win.

My congratulations!!!

American relatives

Some time after my article I got a letter from America from the relatives of Wallace Baumgardner. His daughter wrote one of the letters. She did not know how her father had died and so she was grateful that I had written my article. She recognized her father in one of the signatures. From time to time we exchange some e mails. I know that I have done something what my mum always wanted to do. I have found the relatives. The relatives of the brave soldiers who had brought freedom into my country. I always tell my students this story and show them all those pictures and signatures. We mustn´t forget. Our ancesters do not deserve it.

Day V is coming

8th May is the Victory Day. It is the day when WWII finished. I always remember my dear mother who used to tell me about those horrible times, about the children who had died during last minutes of the war, about American soldiers who came to Plzen but were killed in the main square. Here is her story.

Wars are really so bad and useless and I hate them. During the war my mum lived in Pilsen, a town in the West of the Czech Republic. There was a factory SKODA which produced machines, I think locomotives and lorries. Then the German army came and the factory was transferred into war industry and produced anti aeronautical missiles. My uncle had to work in the factory. He was forced by the Germans like many other Czech men. Once he told me that when nobody had been looking (there were guards everywhere) he put sand into the missile to spoil it.
My mum was a teacher. She had to teach German. If she had refused, she would have been sent to Germany. It was called total embattled. Her school was on the outskirts of the town where only poor people lived in bungalows with no cellars. They had no chance to survive the bomb attack. The worst attacks from Allied bombers, English and American, came at the end of winter in 1945. One night there were so many attacks that my mum's family stayed in the cellar the whole night. The next morning when my mum came to school there were only five children from the thirty. Twenty-five children had been killed. My mum took the five kids out .They found some snow flakes and decorated empty desks. They put candles on the desks and went home. The school was closed for the rest of the war. I am crying even now while I am writing about this terrible story from the war. It is so touching and I remember my mum when she had told me it. I found some old pictures among my mum's documents and here is a photo of her with the class before the air attack .
My mother was a great story teller and it is a pity that she isn't alive. She would have deserved to celebrate the 61 st anniversary of the end of the WWII. That is why I am writing her memories instead of her.
Then April 1945 came and people could smell the freedom in the air. First American tanks arrived in Pilsen square and Czech people ran to greet them. My mother was young, heartbroken from the loss of her school children and she was so happy to see the liberators. She wanted to remember that moment all her life.
She took her work book. It was the book all the people had to have. She opened the book and the American soldiers wrote their names and addresses there. Suddenly she heard a noise and the soldier who was just writing his name fell dead on the ground. He was killed by a German sniper.
My mum wanted to find his family but she couldn't speak English and so it was not easy. I still have her book with the names and addresses of the American soldiers who liberated the west of our country. The soldier who was the last who signed the book was called Elmer D. Martin, I can also read the name Wallace Baumgardner from Astoria, Illinois and Edward Falishi from Wisconsin.
Wars are led by nations but ordinary people are those who suffer the most. And I can only wish to all of us to live our life in peace and freedom and that is why it is so important to write these memories as the memento and the warning.

The end of my trip to Greece

I haven’t finished my diary from Greece yet. The last day after my birthday, I went to Thessaloniki. Despina Ganidou and her friend Despina, the headmistress, came for me to Veria in the morning.
It was so sad to say good buy to my friends Eleni and her husband in Veria. I wanted to tell them so many important things, but I couldn’t speak. It was too emotional. I was very sad that I was leaving my friends.
Thessaloniki is a very large city with about one million inhabitants and four hours were definitely not enough. But I was grateful for everything I could see in this beautiful place. First of all, we visited the old walls on the hill. These were Byzantine walls of Thessaloniki. I could admire the silhouette of the mount Olympus in the distance.
The next place which we visited was the famous White Tower, one of the important landmarks of the city. I was very interested in its long history. Thessaloniki is the city which is very close to our country. The two brothers Cyril and Methodus came from this place to our territory. They brought the alphabet and Christianity to our countries. They translated holy books.
I also visited the Archeological museum, two churches and one of the biggest and most beautiful squares in Europe Aristoteles Square. It is really very huge and interesting. The time was passing very quickly and at the end my new friends invited me for a nice lunch by the sea.
While we were eating we made some plans about the visit of Greek children in our school at the end of April. It was good. Although I wasn’t with my twin sister Eleni, I was still in touch with Greece and I was looking forward to coming Greek stay in my town.
Suddenly our eTwinning programme had a different image. It wasn’t only letter writing, we were real people and we were speaking about meeting of our students. It was so exciting. I think that we have done much more that the idea of the eTwinning cooperation was.