Student's impressions about the project-meeting in Turkey

      " Our journey to Turkey...

 ....was great! The weather was fine and beside having fun we learned a lot of things. The first two days were a little bit difficult because everything was new. At school and with our teachers we worked hard to get along and impress the others and for everything to be okay: WE PLAYED DRAMAS, WE ASSISTED TO CLASSES, WE WORKED TOGETHER. We made a lot of new friends, the Turkish people are very friendly and kind. We also visited fascinating places: we went to the underground city and the most great:we flew with the hot air baloon. The landscape was beautiful! I miss our friends there,but May is coming soon:)

             P.S:I learned some words in Turkish: Gyunaydin=Good morning

                                                                        Tesekurler=Thank you

                                                                         Afiyet olsun=Good apetite"

MADALINA SAVIN, 7TH GRADE

Meeting with EBRU

"The door was open…The ground floor of the building was full of drawings, pots, refrigerator magnets, all colorful and tempting your eyes. Floral and abstract paintings were hung to be purchased. The light from the little room was muild, and the heat was calling you to her when you passed near the shop. Inside the room someone  was drawing,  happy into her loneliness…..We entered and discovered the artist: an old lady who makes magic drawings using some special colors and water…It looks amazing but very difficult too!

This technique is named EBRU or Marbling:”Marbling is a decorative art performed by transferring the designs from the surface of the water to the paper. The dyes are prepared with ox gall and the water is given its consistency by using gum tragacanth and starch”. This are the scientific explanations. But for us it was just magic! This technique is  very old, dating from 15th century and it has a great importance in Turkish Arts and Islamic Arts too. This kind of drawing can be applied on paper, silk, ceramic, glass -I bought a painted silk scarf for my mom.

I and the other Ioana decided to try this!I sprayed the water with orange and yellow color, I made some blue and green circles then I transformed them into stars. It was not easy! The time flied very quickly… and that geometric shapes became art! We were very proud of us!The artist explained us that because of this special technique every drawing is unique.I took my drawing with me at home to show it to my family, my friends and especially to my art teacher.

I was very happy for this opportunity  to discover this amazing art!"

IOANA BODEAN, 7TH GRADE

An unforgettable experience

"Project HUGE DESIGNERS was a chance to know better our colleagues and teachers. We visited the country, their habits, religion and our new Turkish friends. Of course I gave everything I had our best to do everything very well. Every day we lived experiences as: balloon flight, landscapes, students and teachers in school, families who made us feel comfortable. There were unforgettable moments. School and teaching methods have impressed us very much, the food was very good, although some people did not found their tastes in Turkish food… our new friends were very hospitable and friendly and their families as well.
It was a "trip" from which I learned something and we enjoyed every minute spent together and with our new friends who we miss very much. We are moving on with this project and we are looking forward for the next great moments."

ALEXANDRA ANDREI, 8^TH GRADE

Amazing Comenius experience

"When we arrived at school in the first day, we got together all children and we started to share our first opinions, we started to laugh, to sing and to repeat all over again all our funny phrases, for getting happier. In English! We were trying to make us feel comfortable because this was our first travel outside the country without parents.

 After half an hour, we noticed that around us, Turkish students made a huuuuge circle! We were felt really weird! It seems that we are different??? But ..after a while, we got the point! They were waiting for us…..they were  eager to meet us, to talk with us,….they wanted to spend time with us,  to know who we are, to get knowing us…better and better. They admired our national costumes and started to clap their hands  when  they saw that we were ready to perform our drama!

That was a moment when we felt PROUD TO BE ROMANIANS!

How were the next days?

Happiness, joy, amusement, craziness, sadness... FRIENDSHIP ! We played our dramas, we assisted at English classes, we sang,  we danced, ….workshops…. together we made friendship bracelets, masks, we tried to communicate and to collaborate as well as we could. We even have learned some Turkish words as : “Multumesc! /Teşekkürler! “, “Pa! /Güle güle!”,  “Buna dimineata! /Günaydın!”, “Noapte buna!/ Iyi geceler! “ , “Buna ziua!/Merhaba!”, “Ceai /Çay”, “Servetel/ Peçete”, “Ciorba /Çorba”. We visited lots of nice places, we flew with the hot air balloon and all the Turkish officialities wanted to meet us. Our adoptive families for a week have been very careful with us, the food was tasty even if not everyone liked it, and the landscapes and historical places left us speechless.           

Instead of conclusions:

WE ARE AN UNBEATABLE TEAM! WE ARE HUGE DESIGNERS! WE ARE SIMPLY THE BEST!

At the end, the unexpected happened…we have to say goodbye to our adoptive families, to our brothers and sisters from Ortahisar….

The street flows under the feet, the hands in the pockets.

The head it’s always in the clouds, it’s normal for....dreamers.

Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.

  Forget all what you lost, all what you wanted, all what you didn’t  had,

Forget the time that past away...an end it’s a new beginning.  And it was good, even if we had little problems. Because lots had come and lots had gone…..

Now, we wait our Comenius friends to come to Romania.

 May 2011 is our next meeting date!"

Lorena Cosulet 6th grade & Kiduletz 5th grade