Experiences, Impressions, Curiosities

France

Hello, I'm Juliette Garcia I come from France. We went to Craivoa in Romania.

The family was very nice, and they were very welcoming ! People eat all thé Time and so much ! For example, when it was snack time, they went to the Macdonald's and they ate a hamburger ! It was weird... Moreover, they don't eat sugary good, for the breakfast they eat paninis, tomatos, yellow capsicum... It's very strange for me!

When they need to go somewhere, Romanian people often take a yellow taxi. They are lots of them in the city. The driving is so... original. The driver always slam on the brakes, it can be frightening .. They don't clip their safety belt, it's so dangerous...

However, the city is very beautiful, it's modern, there is a big park inside the town, it is so handsome !

To finish, people are very nice and it was a great trip ! And the partners were so nice with us ! I really love them ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

The journey in Romania went very well, I met new people, managed to speak English and enjoyed great moments with the teachers.

What I liked the most was the pottery activity, buggy and archery. It was fantastic but I also enjoyed the party with all the teachers and the partners.

I was pleased to speak English with all the other partners from other countries. The Romanian people are very nice and welcoming. I thank the partners and teachers for organising such an incredible experience.

Laurie

Hi, I'm Elodie, I come from France.

In Romania, I liked the city, the architecture of the old buildings and the nature. The Romanians welcomed us warmly and the family was very nice. I was surprised when I noticed there are no safety belts in bus and they don’t fasten it in cars or taxis. They often use taxi. I was surprised too because they eat 4 or 5 times a day. I will remember this time in Romania all my life.

Latvia

EVA

About the trip to Romania I can say only good. It was a really great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it. I met new people and made new foreign friends. All peers were very kind, interesting and different people. I also loved Craiova city, it was very beautiful and local people were very kind to us. Evenings I spent with my host and other foreign students and my Latvian school mates were great. Romanians have interesting national foods and deserts, when I tasted them, they were good, but I don't eat food like that in Latvia. Also, I think that Latvians don't use cabs so much as Romanian people do, maybe it's because cabs are much more expensive in Latvia.It was really sad to leave so soon, because I got used to those people so fast. But at the end I will never forget this trip to Romania, it was very special in loads of things and I would love to go there again some day.

PATRICIJA

Trip to Romania was a very good expierence. I enjoyed it all. It was interesting to see other culture. Romania is a beautiful country with fabulous landscapes. We visited Bucharest and Craiova. These are great cities. In Bucharest we walked around the park, all the trees were green, outside was warm and sunny. There was the smell of the spring. Craiova is adorable city. There we had the main activities and all of them were great. We visited the centre of the city. I really liked it. There were a lot of flowers around the roads and fountains. I also liked the Univeristy , because it was interesting to see , how Universities look in other countries. We visited „Stefan Velovan College” . I think it’s a great school with great students. One of the days we set off for Coseti Arges,northen of Pitesti, it was a long day ,but full of adventures. There we had pottery,flying fox rides and buggy cart rides . I was realy excited.

I already miss Romania, because there I met a lot of new friends. All people were kind and friendly. It is the best expierence that I have ever had!

NIKS

The trip to Romania was amazing! I really loved it here. The beautiful nature, green leaves and flowers around were so amazing. This week passed so quick, I didn't even want to leave. Everyone was so friendly and nice here. It was really hard to leave Craiova and I really miss everyone. Romania, it's culture, people and architecture, everything about it was perfect! Especially I loved the countryside area in Romania. Everything was so green. Whenever I have an opportunity to return here, I will definitely take it! My host was very nice to me. I miss her and I hope to see her again someday. I miss the Romania, warm weather and people. I really enjoyed it here and I am excited to return here as soon as I have a chance.

ALANS

Our project trip to Romania was amazing and exciting. I gained new experience and new friends. Romania is very beautiful country. I really liked Craiova because it was amazingly beautiful place. I loved that the weather there was warm and sunny because in Latvia it's only getting warmer within days. I also liked the food in Romania, it was delicious and a little bit different than food in my country. The people there was very nice and kind to us. I really miss my foreign friends because we all got really close in just few days. They thought us Romanian words and me with my school mates thought Latvian words. It was awesome. I would love to go there someday again.

GINTA

This was great experience how much different cultures on the same planet can be.. there was some surprising habbits people doing in Romania. This wasn’t my first time in Romania so this was a chance to see country from different side. Talk about differences and lives in both of our countries. But at the end it’s always hard to say goodbye, it doesn’t matter from which country you come and how old are you.

Czech Republic

From my point of view Youtopia is a amazing project for students to communicate with other people in foreign countries.

The trip to Romania was unforgettable experience and I'm glad that I participated this project. It gave me chances to practise my English and learn new things.

The hosts was decent and I'm satisfied with everything.

Tony

This was my best experience in my life. People in Romania are friendly. I was very surprised by great meals in my hosts family and it was fun all the time. I love this place and I'm grateful for this chance.

Katka

When I was on my way to Romania I was really nervous about these people and i was scared that they won't understand my English. I'm glad I was mistaken. The week was incredible. People were friendly, kind, willing to help and patient.

I really liked fountains and flowerbeds in the middle of city. It was beautiful, but i was really sad about stray dogs. I wanted to take at least one of them home and take care of him. But I couldn't.

I think the whole project (in Romania) was fun, educational and great experience.

Lucie

The trip to Romania was very good and amazing. I enjoyed and I really loved it. Craiova is really very nice and wonderful city. I loved the parks in Craiova. People in all Romania are very friendly and kind. I really loved this place and I am very happy for this chance.

Hana

Greece

Romania

It was a wonderful life experience .We cooperated, we talked, we shared ideas, we had fun, and I even got to be good friends not only with one person, but with all those who came from different countries.

The fact that the children came from different parts of the world was a step forward, a step that helped me to speak in another language, go out of the ordinary, to do new things, to participate in various projects and help to organize something new, different from what I do every day. I would repeat this experience whenever I got the chance, I would not hesitate .

It was an unforgettable experience!

We participated in very interesting activities such as: workshops, roleplays and even a tour of Craiova.I had the chance to communicate with my fellow international students finding out many things about their cultures, hometowns, and societies and soon, we made a bond with people that were just foreigners some days ago.Overall, it was an amazing experience, the only thing that i personally regret is the fact that i may never get the chance to see all of them ever again.

Daniel

It was a wonderful week that I will always remember .The fact that I got to discover and understand another cultures made me belive more in the fact that we are all the same although we live in other countries.

We had workshops, free- time activities and of course a lot of fun.The workshops were about the old people's situation in diferent countries in Europe. The other activities were about this and how to get to know and to learn to understand eachother.

I hosted a French girl at my house,so more fun - I got to practice my French too not only my English. I made a lot of friends and I still keep in touch with them,most of all with Elise that I talk to almost every day.

IT WAS GREAT!

Andreea

It was one of the most interesting weeks of my life. I had the chance to meet so many new people from different countries with different traditions and cultures. Everybody was so kind and nice and we could communicate and exchange a lot about everyone's passions, habits, traditions. We made the tour of the city together,we did nice workshops where we became closer, even more, friends. I learned a lot of new and interesting things about every country and I met lovely people. It was a unforgettable experience!

Simina

All the students were very friendly and nice people, we showed them our „Nicolae Romanescu” Park, the downtown, the ”Marin Sorescu” Theatre, the City hall, practically we made a city tour and Eva loved it. At school, we made workshops and we painted clay vases, we made presentantions and we socialized very well.

Not only Eva, but all the teenagers that I met said that they would come back in Craiova if they had the chance.

In conclusion, it was a really great week, it gave me the chance to find out new things about many cultures, to socialize with everyone and make new friends.

Miruna

I was one of the Romanian hosts and it was one of the most interesting experiences. I'm so glad for takinga part in this project. I learnt many new things from my new friends. One of my favorite things was the expression "Es tevi milu" (I love you). We spent 3 amazing days having a lot of fun, making new friends and creating funny objects. I will never forget our last night - it was the best night. We all danced and laughed. I hope that one day I will see all of you again.

One message for my friends: Es tevi milu Latvija! and for the French girls: You're amazing dancers.

Diana

Poland

First of all – I have to say that I have had wonderful time with awesome people and one day I want to come back to Romania! In Poland, many of Polish people have some stereotypes, also of Romanian people, but when I arrived in Bucharest and I started to visit this city I was shocked! A lot of green places – parks, beautiful buildings, streets, shops, the biggest building I’ve ever seen – the Parliament, and my favorite place – Old Town, I just fell in love with this city. Second shock was that every person we asked for directions, understood and could answer in English! Other different thing for me is e.g. parks for dogs, it is great idea! In Poland we don’t have such kind of parks, in Romania there are some of them. Really cheap taxis are great, it was funny because in Poland we use buses or trams to travel, taxis are expensive thing which we use once in a while, in Romania we traveled to school, to centre, everywhere by taxi (and they are yellow, I love it too, just like in New York! :D). In Bucharest everything was very expensive, maybe because it’s a capital city of Romania, but in Craiova it was opposite – food, cosmetics, everything was really cheap! One of the best things was school! The biggest school I have ever seen, with park, fountain, this school has its own garden, completely opposite to Polish school! Last and the most important thing – people. I was only for a week in Romania but it was one of the best weeks ever, a lot of laughter, fun, travel, visiting beautiful places, learning new things and new friendships. I want to say BIG thank you to every person I met, I’ll be back one day!

Natalia , age 17 Poland

Together with Comenius Project I went to Romania, where I spent a week. Bucharest amazed me. It does not look like it is described by stereotypes. The city is clean and full of greenery, while buildings and architecture are impressive. People we asked for directions were nice, very helpful and almost all spoke English. Capital has separate parks especially for dogs. I think it is a great idea, Polish cities lack such places. I would like playgrounds like that to be in Poland. They look like small palaces full of swings and slides. Craiova is also a beautiful city. Some of the buildings and the old town are very similar to those in Lodz. That makes me feel like at home. Throughout our stay there were plenty of tours, workshops, sightseeing, I did not even notice how fast the time passed.

On the last day in Craiova, organizers arranged for us a party in the restaurant, it was a great idea.The whole evening was filled with different music.I have also learned traditional Romanian dance. The amazing thing is that all the hosts were able to dance the dance perfectly.

I had a great time. I would recommend Romania to everybody, it's a place where I met many friends, and the amazing and interesting people. I also encourage everyone to participate in similar projects and a trip to new, interesting places.

I am very happy that I went there, I had an unforgettable adventure.

Ania Szałkucka, 17 Poland

During our stay in Romania, I was really surprised because of the fact that there is so many parks for the animals and also big and well-maintained playgrounds. Most of the passers-by spoke English so it was really easy to communicate with them. Our teachers were very kind and thoughtful. The biggest surprise for me was,that in Romania taxis have the same colors and they are really cheap. The trip was very interesting for me and I’m really happy that I could take part in it and see many beautiful places.

Daria Sobór, 17 , Poland

Turkey

We were in Romania from the 20th of April till the 24th.We had a great time there,Romanians are very friendly and hospitable.The Romanian food was delicious although it was different for us.On the first day of our activities we went to Stefan Velovan School.We loved the school. It is a big school in a park.We planted trees to strenghten the bonds with each other.

We took many pictures at the Romanescu park.The park was fantastic.On Wednesday we went to Cosesti-Arges where we had the chance to try the flying fox,make pottery and many more.It was a great experience for all of us.Our teachers also joined all the activities.We want to Thank the Romanian team fort he great effort they made to make us feel at home.

Hope to meet somewhere again.

The Turkish team

(Dilek Hız, Serkan Güngör, Hilal Daş and Mehmet Ayrıç)

Italy

I got on really well with my host even if we had problems with the language... Romania is very similar to Italy, for example at school, people's behaviour and habits, food and traditions. I didn't find any negative aspects. I really liked the monuments of the beautiful cities and friendship with the students of the other countries.

FRANCESCO TASSELLI

It was a great experience for me, the first time I went abroad. I was very well with my host and in Craiova I felt at home. It was very interesting to visit the school and see the differences...I had some problems with food.

I really liked the town and its monuments.

MATTIA BIASI