Evaluation and Experiences

Erasmus+ (Denmark) - Andrew

The Erasmus+ Project has been such an overwhelming experience and I, at first, underestimated how amazing it would be but I was blown away with how amazing it has been. From this experience I have taken not just the knowledge that I have gained about different people’s cultures and religions and their day-to-day lives, how different and or similar they are to ours, but I met some of the most wonderful people that I have ever met and have made real connections with these people so much so that I would call them extremely close friends, who even months after the trip, I am still talking to, to this day.

The trip as a whole has really changed my outlook on people and people’s lives and the way in which are societies have some differences and similarities. I loved the experience so much that I am debating about living out there.

What have I taken from the Erasmus+ Project:

· Verbal communication skills

· Experience that I can add to my CV that show that I have worked with people from all over Europe

· To show that I can work well in a team and be successful in creating something together

· That I have experienced different cultures

· Learnt and taught languages

· The experience of dealing with foreign currency

· But most importantly, I have made friends and connections in a different country.

As a conclusion, I would 100% advocate to people to do the Erasmus+ Project as it’s so beneficial to you as a person and to your learning of other countries cultures and more. I personally am so grateful to have gone and experienced this wonderful project.

Denmark – Erasmus+ Project By Millen

Day One:

This morning, I and the other students met at Manchester Airport, and travelled to Amsterdam and from there to Denmark. It was very exciting because I love travelling and meeting new people! From the Airport, we then travelled until we reached the bus station. We then went to eat at Dominos :D Afterwards we met our Danish partners the first time, they seemed very nice and so did their families. I was partnered with Thea and Freja. We then went to sleep after food and a shower.

Day Two:

This morning we got changed and ate breakfast, we then went to school and sat with our Danish partners while they had their German lessons. I found this very fun as I also learn German at school and could understand the tasks, and participate in lessons. We then were put into groups where I met people I will never forget! Everyone was really nice and as soon as we met each other the ice broke, and we were all like one big family! We started to develop our knowledge on Hamlet and what we might want to do within our production. After school, we went back and had food, shower and sleep.

Day Three:

Today we visited Kronberg Castle! The place where Hamlet was set. We had a nice breakfast and woke up earlier to arrive on time at the coach. The trip was long, but we had a good time anyway and enjoyed seeing the castle. We went into the underground Dungeons and they were very sinister, yet interesting, we explored the darkest and creepiest of rooms with nothing but our phones flashlight, it was very exciting! You could also see Sweden from the castle. It was a Long journey back and when we returned to the house we went straight to sleep after a shower.

Day Four:

Today we spent another day in the school working on our performances. It was very fun, we explored Hamlets different themes and applied them to our own stories and lifestyle. I did a story on Mental Health and there was even a lift in the performance! When we returned back to the house, I had a shower and we all watched Divergent! It was a good movie, we ate apples grapes, Oreos and drank the tea I brought, it was very fun. Later that evening we had dinner and then went to sleep.

Day Five:

Today we performed our performances to everyone, they seemed to enjoy it! Everyone was really good and funny. Before the performance, me and some friends I made went to the supermarket and bought some food. While we were out we also went shopping, we looked in clothes shops and drugstores, I bought a new lip balm and some other nice things! Once we got back to the school we rehearsed our performances and then went onstage. Once we returned back to the house, we had a shower and food and then went to sleep.

Day Six:

Today we went to the Museum and it was beautiful! The displays and artefacts were interesting and the rooms were amazingly decorated. Everything was interactive A We had lunch in the café and bought some souvenirs from the shop. I had so much fun and the view was amazing. When we returned to Arhus, we went to the rainbow museum and it was Amazing, you could see all over Arhus in different colours of the spectrum! We also went shopping that day and had food out. We then travelled back to the house where we ate more food and watched Divergent Two. I then had a shower and went to sleep.

Day Seven: Today we said goodbye to everyone and travelled back to the airport. I don’t think Ive had so many people hug me in my life! There was a sad air around everyone, but that soon disappeared because we knew we would stay in touch. Once we returned home it was late afternoon. Our cars tyre punctured on the M60 and my Dad spent 30 minutes replacing it. When I got home, I talked to everyone I met again and we still keep in touch now!

Overall I thought that this was an amazing trip and experience I met so many new people who I have made good friends with and still keep in contact with. I learnt so many new things revolving around Hamlet and Shakespeare, parts of new languages and their culture. I tried so many new things that I never thought I would, and it made me more confident with my performance and Drama skills. I learnt new things about other cultures, some of which shocked me, yet they were good all the same. This trip allowed me to learn more about other cultures and also my own. It helped me develop new skills and quenched my ambitions to travel. I constantly felt welcomed, and happy, all thanks to the amazing people I met and the different culture/scenery around me. I would recommend the trip to everyone because of this, I am sure others will enjoy the trip just as much as I did! I hope more opportunities like this will be available for me in the future, and others too!

Yasemin from Turkey(Denmark)

This is my take on our adventure on going to Denmark. If I have to explain it in one word ,it would have to be ‘’amazing’’ .

First of all my exchange girl turned out to be very friendly an we were able to bond in a lot of ways . Other than her , the other Erasmus students turned out great ! I still talk with them and share a lot of personel stuff too.

As for the interraction in the claroom’s while working on the 15 minutes act, I was able to learn a lot of new techniques and also was able to learn more of Hamlet and it’s story. I was able to go more in dept with Ophelia’s death and re-anact the scene . It was also very eye-opening to see it in a different perspetive .Other than our projects , the whole feel to Denmark was great although the weather was a little hersh . Their taste pallets were nice but rather not my style . Their lifestyle is very structured whereas they use bikes to go to everywhere . Their museums are very interesting especially the rainbow . You get it see the whole city in different colours. Also , the whole museum had very different ideas than the normal museums . It had an art form you wouldn’t see everywhere. All in all , I am greatful for being a part of Erasmus.

Deniz from Turkey(Denmark)

When we arrived to Denmark my Exchange friend came to the bus station and she hugged me a lot. She is so sweet and so beatiful. We have so many things in common. She is a football player and her family was so kind . At the school in Denmark ı made lots of friends with Erasmus Clup. I also love my English teachers. At our first day I was so happy and excited . I dont know will my newclasmates love me or hate me. After that ı understood that they love me becaus they behave to me kind. I also thought that I was so lucky because they put me in the some class with my lovely Erasmus Clup mate Göksu. Days had passed quiclky and when Thursday came we prepared an act and showed it to other students and the teachers who helped us. It was so exciting . When we are at the stage I was proud myself that ı did. I thought again that . I was so lucky to be here with this wonderful clup. I want to thank to my Eramus Clup mates and teachers for helping me to see new countries , having new friends and experiences. It was also sad to leave there but what makes me happy is knowing that they will come to our country one day. I am looking forward to it.

Göksu from Turkey(Denmark)

First of all it was an adventure that i will not find again in my life. I want to explain my life in Denmark. First day we went to our exchange friends house and met them. My friend’s name is Rebekka and definitely her family is so kind and cheerful. They cooked really good foods and I absolutely like them! Our first day at school was very exciting. We met all students and went different classes. We played games and laughed so much. I will miss my teacher who came from England . We practise theatre a little bit in first day. All mornings we prepared our own sandwiches and went to school on foot. The weather was so cold. When we started practise the theatre i really enjoyed. They were very kind and friendly.We watched film in morning with all classes and we listen them maths lessons and help them to the quentions. Rebekkas family tooked me to Aquarium last day we went to shopping mall to buy lots of things with Rebekka. I think everything was expensive.I made Turkish coffee for them. We went to kronburg castle. It was so huge and magnificient. I had the chance to take lots of beautiful photos.

Vangelis Chatzikonstantinou , ( Greek student) Xanthi -Greece 2017 (Denmark mobility)

How many experiences can be connected with the phrase “ WE HAD GREAT TIME” ??

For me and my teammates at least, there are so many memories from our trip to Denmark, that all can be described by that phrase.

Erasmus Plus is an international program/ project that provides communication with different countries and of course the opportunity to meet new cultures. From my point of view as a student the whole experience was simply wonderful! When we were told that our E-twinning program gone a level higher , to Erasmus +, we were very happy .We instantly started to organize our trip and our staff, such as videos presenting Xanthi and Hellas, some drama exercises etc.

Our trip started at 2 of March 2017. After a long trip and nine hours waiting for the next plane at all we finally landed at Aarhus airport at Denmark. We had a very nice welcoming from the families which host us. We were driven to Hammel where the families live. From the next day we met a completely different lifestyle , the Danish one! We were going at the local school with our friends every single day and after two hours of school schedule subjects we leave the classes to be organized in groups to work on Erasmus + project . We had to present Shakespeare ‘s play “Hamlet” through drama techniques in a very modern way. Students from the Metropolitan University of Manchester help this project to be completed. He had our supervisors and all together built a different Hamlet! It was really nice to create and play your own play !

The last day of the program we presented our plays to the families there and we had a little party after that. I am told not to write over five hundred words so I have to stop about here but I could write a whole book out of my experiences in Denmark and generally at Erasmus +

Vangelis Chatzikonstantinou , Xanthi 2017

Charalampos Toumbaris , (Greek student) Xanthi-Greece 2017 (Denmark mobility)

After a big and quite exhausting trip from Greece we finally landed at the Aarhus airport and then our host family took us to their home. I personally liked Denmark from the first sight and people's positive attitude made me feel totally welcome.

The next day was a school day when we saw a little aspect of danish educational system and then our project started with greeting and communication games. The following day we went a trip to a medieval castle and we spent our whole day with all the children. After the end of that day we were all friends. The next two days were actually our preparation for our final performance which was finally very succesfull and all of us enjoyed it.

It was time to leave. We were all very sad but we couldn't do anything else but saying a very difficult good bye. But likely we didn't left immediately. We spent our last two days exploring the amazing capital of Denmark Copenhagen. It was so beautiful that it made our leaving even more difficult.

But we couldn't do another way. We had to return to Greece happy and full of experiences and memories.

Maria Bonova, ( Greek student) Xanthi- Greece 2017 (Denmark mobility)

Erasmus. Denmark. Greece. Three words that someone could think are easy to link together. Just the thought of a programme between the two countries would have been enough to describe the whole thing. In theory. But, what I learnd from a first hand, is that real life has nothing to do with theory. Words are not enough to describe what I experienced this year. What it was like to live in another country, a completely different country, in a completely different family, following a completely different life. Words are not enough to describe the opposite experience, as well. The experience of hosting someone. Someone that you don’t really know very well, but you let them in your home. Someone that doesn’t really know you, but trusts you with themselves. Someone that you might grow to love, even though you’ve only known them for an extremely short time.

I think of myself as someone very lucky. I got to meet people from so many places. First of all, from Denmark. That beautiful country, I barely knew where it was located. I got a glimpse of it and I will never forget it. Even though it was an extremely exhausting trip, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Then we have England. A country, I’ve fallen in love ,long time ago, but barely knowing anything about. I met people from there that I wouldn’t been able to meet even in my wildest dreams. Seeing someone that speaks English as their native tongue. It was amazing. Next stop, Romania. A country I’m really interested in, since I already know some people from there. It was like reviving my last-year experience in a similar programme and it just made my desire to visit Romania even bigger. And of course, Turkey. The country someone, even me, would think that I would be the most accustomed with. I couldn’t be more wrong. Despite knowing a good portion of Turkey's history, it’s geographical location, and even some traditions, I was not prepared to meet the Turkish crew. And last but certainly not least, the university students from Manchester. What delightful presents. Both the groups that I was able to meet, one in Denmark and one in Greece, consisted of some very talented people. With their help and most importantly with their guidance, we were able to prepare the final performances, which I’m sure no one expected to be so good.They knew how to organize us and out time, how to get an actual result from playing games and they most certainly knew how to deal with children. And let me tell you, working with students from different countries, that are almost complete strangers and not all of them know very good English, let’s say it can be tricky.

This programme was one of the best things in my life so far. I feel so grateful I had the chance to be a part of it. Every person that I met, would it be a student, both the university and the high school ones, or a teacher, affected and changed me in their own way. I can say with certainty that I loved every second of it. All the fun that we had, all the new people we met, all the different cultures we grew so fond of. But I also loved all the hard work we had to do. All the exhausting rehearsals that left no time for rest. All the drama that we went through. And of course, all the differences between us that not only did they not break us apart, but they were our connecting mechanism, the glue that held all our pieces together and helped us make the final puzzle, that we call Erasmus.