The sixth week: the international week!

On Monday the international week started... Eight foreign students came to join us here in Haderslev for the whole week. Three of them are from Germany, two are from Portugal and Austria and one from Holland. What is an international week? Students from around Europe join here to look at languages and language learning as an essential element in building our future students' and children's intercultural competence. It is important to get to know new cultures from around Europe. This will give you the opportunity to broaden your horizon.

We started the day by presenting ourselves to each other. I worked together with Melanie Nagel from Germany. She wants to become a primary teacher and her subjects are mathematics, biology and English. Afterwards we had a lesson with Jette about body language. She showed us that every person has his own body language. People use their hands while speaking, they sit down in a certain way, they move their feet and arms, etc..

We worked in small groups and picked cards with images on it. We had to guess what that person showed through his body language.

Afterwards we learned them our Irish and country line-dance. We had a lot of fun. I explained our dance to the international students, you can see that on the following picture:

After lunch the international students had their first Danish lesson. They learned how to present themselves and how to ask each other "How are you?": Hej! Hvordan gar det? Det gar godt, tak.

In the afternoon I went home and I read in my book. I don't have an internet connection at my appartment anymore so I went to school before dinner to send some e-mails. From 6 pm until 9 pm there was a "Get-together-evening" with the international students and their hosts. We ate pasta, meat balls, salad, bread, turcky and lots of other delicious things. We spent a great evening and we had a lot of fun. We also sang two songs together. (This is a Danish tradition.. They always sing together when they have a meeting.)

I went home at 9 pm and I went to bed at around 11pm.

On Tuesday we met each other in the new cantine and we had a lesson about intercultural competence and stereotypes. Our teacher for today was Mister Daniel.. We worked in groups with Danish students and with the international students. Our first task was to make a mind map about Danmark. How do we see Denmark? Is the culture different than in our home countries? What about the educational system? Not to mention the weather... :-) The second task was also a mind map and a drawing about another country than our home country. My group had to present Portugal. On our drawing you can see a Portugese boy standing on the beach. The sun is shining and he is holding a guitar in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. He also has a football near his feet.. Portugal is known for its famous players. For my group Portugal is a country of music, sport, good weather, parties, culture, food and wine.

Afterwards we had a lesson about rhymes and songs, learning and teaching potential. Our teacher Karen Aro asked us to bring typical rhymes and songs from our home country. We had to teach our song or rhyme to the other students and then sing it together. Manu and I taught them: "Ne regarde pas le renard qui passe, regardez seulement quand il est passé". This is a game you play in a circle. Another person, the "fox", is walking around the circle with a cloth in his hand. The others are singing the small song. When the fox drops the cloth behind someone, that person has to run after the fox and touch him. We had a lot of fun. You can have a look at the pictures:

After our linch break we went on an excursion to Ribe. We visited the Viking museum and the old town. Even though the weather was horrible, we had a nice afternoon.

We returned to Haderslev at 6 pm and then went home. I worked a bit on my computer, read in my book and I went to bed at 10 pm. I was very tired..

On Wednesday Kate, Daniel and me visited the VUC school in Haderslev. This is a centre for adults. They get a second chance here to learn subjects they didn't have in secondary school or subjects they are interested in like cooking, computer lessons, etc. The building was very modern and in every class there was a 'smartboard'. This suprised me a lot. I had never seen one before and here I could try them out! I was so impressed..

In the afternoon we made mind maps about the school visits. It was interested to see that every group wrote down the same elements : curriculum, opportunity, freedom, materials, family and ability. Unfortunately the Hip Hop lesson was canceled because the teacher was ill. I went back home at 4 pm and read in my book. I made pasta in the evening and went to bed at around 10.30 pm.

On Thursday we attended a lecture from 9 am until 11 am about 'soundscapes' (: stories with every day sounds like cars, people talking, bells ringing, etc). We listened to "soundscapes from Vienna". The guest teacher here was Mag. Jutta Kleedorfer from Austria. She told us two beautiful stories too: 'Zack Bumm' and 'The Dunkeys'. I liked these stories a lot..

In the afternoon there was "The International day" where the erasmus students had their own stand. We showed the visitors something special from our home countries but also the things we learned and created here in Haderslev during our Erasmus stay such as our amazing weblogs! We also offered the visitors some biscuits, cake, candy and beer from Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic. There were also many other stands about other foreign countries. Through this International day we could meet different cultures and also taste them. I learned a lot and I espacially liked the Nepal stand where we could admire pictures Danish students made during their practise there.

In the evening there was the "European Song Contest"! This was really a lot of fun.. This amazing evening was organised by Thora, she was a great host, and one of the members of the jury was Jette. I sang together with Tim and Mireille "Ik leef niet meer voor jou" by Marco Borsato. A great song. But, unfortunately we didn't win the contest.. The race was between Portugal with Joao and José, the Czech Republic with Kate, Iva and Sylvie and Germany with Daniel, Sabrina, Sarah and Melanie. Finally the Czech Republic won with a song about a beautiful princess.

We also ate delicious pizzas..

Afterwards we all went to the Crazy Daisy to dance.. We had a great evening! I went to bed at around 3 am.

On Friday we met at school at 9 am and we worked in small groups on our portfolios about the International Week. Afterwards one member of each group presented his or her portfolio to the other groups. In the afternoon we had a late lunch together. We ate hot dogs, salami, Portugese bread, cake, etc. It was delicious.. I ate a lot! After dinner the International students returned back home. We had a great week all together.

In the evening I went to bed very early (9 pm) and I stayed long in bed on Saturday morning. I only got up at 10.30 am. In the afternoon I came to school to work on the internet and in the evening I went to Kafka's with Kate, Iva and Iva's sister Petra. I went to bed at 11.30 pm.

On Sunday I came to school in the morning to go on the internet and in the afternoon I prepared my bags to go and see Gerard in Alkmaar. I washed and ironed my clothes. In the evening I went to bed early to be fit on Monday.