Fit´n´Green - Mobility

Short- term exchange of groups of pupils ( C2)

Slovak Erasmus+ team visiting partners in Duisburg, Germany

Difficult long-lasting pandemic situation has caused that we were able to participate in our first Short- term exchange of groups of pupils in the second year of running the project Fit ´n´ Green.

Between 21. - 25. March 2022, 11 pupils and 2 project teachers visited our project partner school Krupp- Gymnasium in Duisburg, Germany.

As the city is located in the north- west of Germany, we travelled by plane, flying from Budapest to Dortmund. The journey itself took nine hours and after arriving at the B&B hotel Duisburg, we relaxed and prepared for three days full of activities.

On Tuesday morning, we set off to visit Krupp- Gymnasium. When we entered the school, project teachers and students were already waiting for us. To meet each other face to face was such a great experience after working or communicating via Internet for such a long time.

The day turned out to be full of activities. After the short guided tour of the school by German students, we all ended up participating in team ball games and intensive fitness, led by Tanja, in the school gym. In the afternoon, we met in the city centre where we had lunch together in a local restaurant and then walked across the city to see and to be told about the Duisburg´s landmarks. We finished the day by climbing the illuminated steel attraction Tiger &Turtle, from which we could see the entire night city below us.

On Wednesday, in sunny ,warm weather, both teams decided to explore nature in the countryside. We hiked in slightly hilly forest and fields for two hours and then stopped at the organic farm. The owner of the farm showed and informed us about everything the farm deals with: keeping free- range hens for egg production , keeping cattle and growing vegetables and herbs in a greenhouse without using chemicals. We could touch, feed, taste and eat- the whole experience was interactive and educational.

On Thursday, we travelled by train to Düsseldorf to visit the capital of the region. Despite the fact that it is an industrial city, we got an impression of historical and green city. The best way to see the city was from the TV tower which provided the panoramic views of the river Rhyne, unusual modern architecture, green places, spectacular harbour and beautiful modern bridge. On our way across the city, German students informed us about the landmarks we stopped by. We also saw how interesting it looks when nature is a part of a city- greenery growing from the walls of the modern administrative building , blooming cherry trees and daffodils everywhere...

We really enjoyed the activities, German team prepared for us during the days spent together. We are thankful that we had this opportunity to get to know each other better, to try and learn new things, to practise English and have fun together. We hope that we will soon meet them in Banská Bystrica in Slovakia.

Slovak Erasmus+ team visiting partners in Novi Sad, Serbia

We travelled on our second short- term exchange of groups of pupils to Novi Sad, Serbia from 9 May to 13 May 2022. This is what two Slovak students wrote about the visit:The morning was busy and the hotel restaurant full of people. Tables offered a variety of food: cereals, fresh bread, eggs, butter, vegetables and of course, some traditional Serbian delicatessen: salty pancakes, sausages, cheese rolls, etc. Everybody felt hungry looking at the food.After the breakfast, we had a little time to prepare for our first face- to-face meeting with our Serbian partner school. We met in front of their school building and were introduced to very nice students and project teachers and started communicating in English straight away. After presenting us with the caps bearing the logo of our project, we set off for a walk along the river Danube. We were guided by Dušan, passing the university campus and heading to the Strand- the Novi Sad sandy beach area. We were so surprised that the Danube looks much better in reality than in the pictures, so we did not hesitate to walk into the river and take some pictures. The whole area provided a lot of opportunities for sports activities such as swimming ,basketball, jogging, and a beach volleyball which we played as soon as we borrowed a ball. Novi Sad has a lot of sports facilities- lanes for cycling and roller- blading, outdoor gyms or pedestrian zones and parks for relaxing walks.We had our first lunch in the school training restaurant. At first, we were not sure how to behave as the restaurant seemed too luxurious to us. But after the first bite, we relaxed and enjoyed our delicious lunch. And as a surprise, we were served a delicious caramel dessert with the chocolate topping and vanilla ice- cream.Yummy!!!One warm evening, we decided to walk to the opposite bank of the river to visit Petrovaradin Fortress. We couldn´t take our eyes off the romantic sunset above the river and in a few minutes, our mobiles phones were filled with tens of pictures. We walked back to the city in the darkness and were impressed by the night atmosphere of lit buildings, streets and squares. We saw and felt the history and traditions around us. The idea to sit down and have a smoothie came to our mind immediately after we noticed numerous cafés , bars and crowds enjoying the summer nightlife. Friendly atmosphere, nice people- all this enabled us to make friends easily on our outings with Serbian students. We taught each other words from our mother tongues and had a lot of fun together.Outside Novi Sad, we visited historical town Sremski Karlovci where we could see the oldest bilingual grammar school and beautiful churches .Walking through the green royal gardens, we ended up in a modern multi-functional sports playground where girls took a chance to play volleyball while boys were enjoying the game of basketball.Finally, we must say that the entire Slovak team enjoyed this exchange very much. We mustn´t be sad that it´s over, maybe we should look into the future and start planning our comeback here.Thank you Erasmus+ for wonderful experiences and beautiful memories.Ema Margita Gnidová and Martina Segečová

German Erasmus+ team visiting partners in Slovakia, Banská Bystrica

After a long and exhausting journey to Banská Bystrica in Slovakia, we were finally able to see the Slovak students again on the second day. First we visited the school of our project partners, where we were warmly welcomed with coffee and homemade cake, and then we played team games together in the sports hall. The Slovakian students and their project teachers then took us through their former mining town and around lunchtime we went to a restaurant in the beautiful city center.The next day we hiked 6km to a hut on Mount Baranec in the Western Tatras and we chatted a lot along the way. We then had pancakes for lunch at the hut at the summit to strengthen ourselves for the way back, which led past waterfalls and through dense forests.
On the third and last day together, we first visited a tofu farm and learned a lot about the production and marketing of soy products. Of course, we were also allowed to taste some of the products. Then we walked up to the Harmanec Cave, which is very impressive and big. We ended the trip with a delicious ice cream on the main square of Banská Bystrica and finally said goodbye to each other. On the fifth and last day we made our way home again. All in all, the days in Banská Bystrica were very successful and enjoyable.
Josefine Löbler, EF Photos