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Tuesday 10.1.2023
It was early in the morning when we got on a train to Helsinki. There were four of us, two teachers and two students. This whole day was spent travelling from Finland to Czechia. First we took a train to Helsinki Airport. From there we flew to Warsow and changed planes to fly to Krakow. From Krakow Airport we took another train to a bus/train station near the centre. There we waited for a few hours for our bus to Ostrava. During this time we tried local Polish food and visited a shopping centre. When our bus journey finally started, it took us around three more hours to reach Ostrava. From there we took yet another train to Karvina and there at the station our host sister, her classmate and a teacher were waiting for us. It was well past one in the morning when we finally got to bed.
Wednesday 11.1.2023
This was the day we officially started the 5th meeting. We met up at nine in the morning at a Regional Library near the school. There we had some sweets and drinks and each country held a presentation about their school and country. After this we walked to school to have lunch in the school canteen. After eating we walked some more to the Chateau in Karviná to meet up with town representatives and have a tour around the Chateau. After the tour ended us students walked back to the school together and went to a nearby restaurant to have some dinner.
Thursday 12.1.2023
We started the day by meeting up at the school. There each country presented their school’s results from the “Herbs not pills” surveys. After this we had a short coffee break and then continued on with a lecture and a workshop “Herbs not pills” that was led by a local expert. After the lecture ended we had the chance to try to recognize and name different dried herbs, which was quite fun and interesting. We got to learn a lot about natural remedies and possible uses of herbs.
When everyone had finished their round of naming the herbs, we had the activity I was really excited about: the national cuisine day. Each school had brought some typical foods and sweets and stuff from their home countries and now it was time to taste them. When the preparations were finally ready I was excited to start tasting different foods. It was so wonderful to get to try authentic foods from a variety of different countries and cultures and everything was so very delicious.
After this “lunch” us students head to the school gym to play some basketball and other ball games. We did this for a couple of hours and after that we caught a bus and went to a bowling alley. There we played and ate some food and got to know each other better. It was really fun, especially because I got the highest score in bowling.
Friday 13.1.2023
Once again we started our day by meeting up at the school around 9 o’clock. At the school we got on a bus and started our journey to a nearby city where the Olešná Aquapark was. Today’s activity was swimming and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We also saw that there were signs that said “Sauna” and us Finns got really excited, but sadly the sauna wasn’t open until after we left. But we nonetheless had fun. There were a few slides we tried and the water was fairly warming. We got to spend a few hours playing in the water before it was time to leave and eat some lunch.
Once again we got on the bus and began a fairly short drive to a nearby town called Frýdek-Místek where the restaurant we were going to eat at was. For starters we ate some chicken noodle soup that I really loved. It was so delicious. Our main course was none other than goulash served with steamed bread dumplings. Everything was so good I’m still thinking about these foods. After eating we returned to the school and had the rest of the day off. Luckily no one drowned or anything even though it was Friday the 13th.
Saturday 14.1.2023
This whole day was spent on an excursion to historical and cultural places in the region and city of Olomouc. In the early morning we took a train to Olomouc where we walked around the city and the Czech students gave small presentations and information about different places we visited for example a church, a sun clock, a fountain and things like that. After a couple of hours of walking the students went to a nearby shopping centre to eat lunch and possibly buy some souvenirs and other things. Then we met up with the teachers again and started our walk towards a university where one of the Czech teachers studied. When we finally got back to Karviná everyone was tired so we didn’t hang out or anything even though it was the last day when everyone was still together because tomorrow the first ones would already leave back to their home countries.
Sunday 15.1.2023
We started our day by meeting up at a local football stadium where we got a tour of the place and the local sports club MFK Karviná. We got to see the stadium outside and inside for example the sportsmen’s dressing rooms and wellness room. At the end of the tour we had to say goodbye to the Italians because they had to leave already.
After this we had a few hours to eat lunch and get ready for the farewell ceremony. We ate at our host family’s home and we had some delicious schnitzel, mashed potatoes and noodle soup. When we were done getting ready we headed to the place where the farewell ceremony was held. There we ate some food, watched a short picture show of our time in Karviná, took some pictures and received the certificates of attendance. It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone. There were a lot of tears and hugs seen.
Monday 16.1.2023
This whole day was spent travelling back to Finland. We left from the Karviná train station at the same time as the Portuguese did but we went with different trains. This day went pretty much the same way as the day when we came here. We took a train, a bus, a train, a plane, another plane and then a bus. We arrived in Turku at 2 in the morning.
The End
Anni Nyman ja Taika Heinonen
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