Last message

Hi everyone,

As you can see, I completely forgot to write my last message. I apologise for this.
Well, my feelings when I came back. I can only say I was happy because I missed Belgium of course but I was also sad. I’ve met many different people in Latvia and I will miss them. I will probably never see them again.

I’ve been there for 3 months I know it is not a lot in a whole life but these are still 3 months very different than if I had passed 3 months in Belgium. I learned a lot, I learned to live in a different country, a very dynamic country but heavily struck by the economical crises with people with different mentalities, different interests and priorities, different ways of living, I learned to be autonomous, responsible …

If I had the choice to do it again, I would! This was a great opportunity to see something different, to live something different.

I don’t think I changed during this three month. Well, maybe I changed my point of view about the Baltic countries and the people there.

The things I will always keep in mind are the kindness and the generosity of Latvians.

I don’t know what to write more so this is my last message on this blog.

See you at the exams,

Stéphanie

Goodbye Bilthoven

Hello!

I completely forgot to write the last topic!

So, what are my feelings now that i'm back...
I'm happy to have had such a good experience.

I met people, i lived a different lifestyle...
All that was extremely learnfull!

I learned a lot at school too: I never had the chance to be confront with pupils who has psychological matters. I feel more self confident now.

If I had to do it again, I certainly would!

I'm just a bit disapointed about the language. I didn't practice as much as I wanted.
The teachers wanted to practice their French, and during the classes, I spoke French too.
So it should have been better to live in a family.

I will encourage the other students to go abroad!

Home sweet home!

I'm so happy to be back ... if you put the huge quantity of work aside ;-)
My experience in Finland has been extremely difficult, what actually surprised me at first because I thought I could adapt to any situation easily. But hopefully I've been able to find myself a satisfying way of living there, even though it wasn't as good as expected.
Now that I'm back, I really don't regret anything, because I enjoy every little moment I spend here. I noticed how much I missed people, things, habits and most of all, the way you feel when you have your life under control.
I hope I won't have to do it again, but I'm glad I did. I've changed a lot even if of course I remain the same for most people. I've learned to assume difficult moments without complaining all the time and polluting the atmosphere around me. I've discovered that looking for hapiness everywhere but where you are is a huge waste of time (at least I didn't wait to be 70 to notice that ;-) ). I met a lot of amazing people who taught me their culture and still keep in touch ... which means lots of free holiday destinations! And finally, I understood I could trust myself and that we are often stronger than we think.
I FEEL JUST GREAT!!!

And good luck to everybody until the end of this period! 3LG WINNERS ;-)

Hy everybody,

Welcome back in Belgium to all of you! The following days are going to be difficult, cheer up!
Yesterday, I had my last day at the EHSAL and the students told me that they will miss us .... you see that Flemish and French speaking people can live together and also appreciate each other! (joke). I think it was a good and interesting experience but also a difficult one. I was snowed under work and I had not the opportunity to take advantage of the experience ... too bad! I think it will be better for the next students who will go to a Belgian Flemish school if they could totally depend of this school. It is very difficult to integrate a program when you are still busy with another one. We were good accepted by the other students but we didn't really belong to the group; they had their activities and we had ours. What I always will keep in my memory is that we were very good welcomed by the students but also by the lectors, I really appreciated that. I'm very happy to see you back on Monday and I wish you (even if you have a lot of work) a nice weekend.

Anne-Marie

Break a leg! ;-)

Hi everyone!

A small post to wish you all good luck in these times of darkness! Always bear in mind that at the end of all this, it's holiday time! ;-)
I know these are hard times but, and I know it's only of meager consolation to you, it's the same for the professors (yes, believe it or not!)... All on the same boat, then! ;-)
Good luck everyone, then!

The end

Hello everybody!

This is it. My stay in Malta has come to an end and I'm back in my beloved city of Brussels! Well yes, beloved. Having lived far from Belgium has made me realize how much I'm in need of pollution, traffic jams and busy shopping streets!

Even though I've missed Brussels quite a lot during my stay, this Comenius project was a unique experience for me.
First of all because it made face real life: cook, have more responsabilities, do the washing-up everyday and not waste money were some of these "challenges".
Furthermore, it was also very interesting as I've had the opportunity to discover a new country with its traditions, helping me to get more aware of European cultures.
It was also of course great due to the fact I've improved my English thanks to a daily total immersion and also because I've had the chance to give personal and diverse lesson plans without any pressure.

If I had to do it again, I would definitely agree despite the difficulty of living far from home.

To sum up this experience, I'd say it was great and was worth doing it once in a lifetime.

See you soon and good luck for revisions!!!!

David

finished...

Hiiiii !

We are all back now and I enjoy seeing my family and friends back. Before leaving my second school, on the last day, there was an assembly for me. One teacher took some pictures with me and the children and they offered me some Welsh tea, a cup with the Welsh dragon and a card.
They thanked me to have contributed to Llangadog children’s education. I was very pleased with that.
Before going back to Belgium, I wanted absolutely to see my first school back because I promised. I slept at my first headteacher’s house and in the morning, I saw the staff and the children. I felt very happy to see them back. It was the same impression as if you saw an old friend that you haden’t seen for ages. It was strange. I was very happy and a bit stressed at the same time. It was difficult for me to leave because the oldest girls were ready to go back with me. They didn’t want me to leave.

So, to summerize, I would say this experience has been rich concerning the work, the school, the staff, and the children even if there were negative things. Everybody told me to come back.
I am glad to have been able to give lessons all the time. I felt quite self confident when I taught. Moreover, in the second school, I took small groups of 8 or 9 children.

People asked me if Welsh people were open minded, open on the World because they only to know their country. They are so proud of their country and their language. They are proud of being bilingual. But I answered that every year, they take an assistant like me and I think that’s a proof they are open on other countries. When I told people I came from Belgium, they were interested and asked me more questions.

3 months were sufficient for myself to discover the Welsh culture, the education and methodology at school but at the same time, I am a little nostalgic when watching the pictures.
If I had been in a city and with no Welsh but only English, it would have been perfect.

see you ... for the exams some of you :D