LAST POST

Hello, everyone!

This is the last post we're going to write, because our project ends next week.
We only have the oral presentation left and we hope our project was interesting and will leave a good mark.
We think that this project was good, even though it was tiring and we haven't had much time to work on it at school.

We won't see you in our next post! :(

-A-L

The Netherlands. Last day.

SATURDAY 20^TH MAY

On Saturday, we woke up early because we had to take the bus to Amsterdam. It was sad because had to say goodbye to our Dutch and German friends. 

Once there, we walked around the city and we had a lot of fun. We were very tired but we still wanted to see the important places in Amsterdam so we kept on walking. 

In the end, we had to say goodbye also to our Italian friends too.

We finally took the plane to go back home and even we were really tired, we wanted to enjoy the last part of the trip and we didn't fall asleep.

It has been an amazing experience and we have learnt a lot from different cultures! I enjoyed every single minute and if I have in the future another chance to go abroad for some days, I'll join!

See you in our next post!

-A 

The Netherlands. Seventh day.

FRIDAY 19^TH MAY

We all woke up around six and seven in the morning. We got ready and we all went by bicycle to school. 

The program were international lessons by Allessandra and Roser, again, we went to the Italian’s teacher class because we couldn’t go to ours. Allessandra’s class was too easy, we already knew most of the stuff, and she was reading all the time from the power point. 

But well, later on we went outside to take a group picture. After that, we went back inside into the building to finish some project work. We had some time to rest and we had lunch. 

                                           

At 17:00h the parents came to school, we made the challenge while eating Chinese food for dinner. At around 19:00 we all went to Femke’s house, we had lots of fun! Finally, we all went to our houses to prepare everything for Saturday. 

See you in our next post!

-A

The Netherlands. Sixth day.

THURSDAY 18^TH MAY

On Thursday, we had to be at school at 8:45h to take the bus and go to the Wageningen University. There, we visited the facilities and a scientist that works there, explained us the climate change consequences in water systems. We did a little quiz with the first day groups that Frans made. That was quite interesting.

After that, we went to the NIIO, an eco-friendly building where some scientists work. They explained us some things related to toilet wastes and plants but it was quite boring. We had lunch there and we went back home. All of us (Spanish students) fell asleep in the bus!

In the evening we all did different things but some of us went to Minka’s house and we had a lot of fun!

See you in our next post!

-A

The Netherlands. Fifth day.

WEDNESDAY 17^TH MAY

Wednesday was a very nice day, at 8:30 we had to be at school so, according to the stereotype, we obviously took our bikes.

When we arrived, two workshops and two international lessons were waiting for us. We were very tired and I have to admit that they didn’t appeal us very much.

The first one was in charge of our Spanish teachers and in groups we had to create an NGO and made a poster to promote it.

In the second one the Dutch, German and Italian students had made some experiments related with climate change and we had to look at them and see what they had done (they were all awesome and I think it was the workshop we liked the most).

In the international lessons, two Italian teachers explained us what the circular economy was, which economical model we have nowadays… Well, I think you can imagine what kind of stuff we talked about…

The long-awaited hour of lunch arrived, you may be thinking of having lunch at half past two and if you think that, you are completely wrong. We had lunch at 11:30!!!

After lunch we could decide between doing sport (football or volleyball) or sing in a karaoke. Half of us decided to do sport (wrong choice because that day, nobody knows why, we had 29 degrees).

It was finally four o’ clock and we went to Floor’s house, a very nice Dutch girl who let us destroy her house trying to cook Italian food (obviously in charge of the Italian students) and Nutella croissants. 

See you in our next post!

-A

The Netherlands. Fourth day.

TUESDAY 16^TH MAY

We got up at seven on the morning to get to school by bicycle at 9:00 am. We first had some workshops related to the main problem known as global warming. 

Later, we had a lecture by skype from the Dutch National Metrological Institute that I found a little boring.

We had an hour more or less to have lunch and rest a little bit since we were really tired. After lunch, everyone could choose between international lessons by Walter or by Marta, but we had to go to Walter’s, since Marta is already our teacher. 

Walter’s international class was pretty boring and we did not like the fact that he was all the time reading from his PowerPoint instead of explaining it with his words, it would have been better if it had been more dynamic. 

Tuesday’s afternoon was very interesting; we went to Zwillbrock, Germany to a biological station. We saw a lot of birds and we learnt a lot about flamingos. 

After that we all went to Marieke’s house, by bike of course, we had dinner, we played games and we had a lot of fun! After that we all went home to rest. 

See you in our next post!

-A

Thirteenth week

Hello, everyone!

This week, we were all answering the surveys. Each class had a document where they could find all the surveys the groups have done, so we dedicated the hour to do that. There were twelve surveys that everyone had to answer, and one survey that only needed to be answered by eight people. 
The problem was the Internet connection, that didn't work well, so not every survey could be responded.

See you in our next post!

-L

The Netherlands. Third day.

MONDAY 15^TH MAY

We cycled to the school and we arrived at 9:00h. 

There, Frans divided us in 9 groups to do a tour around the school. After that we went to our host’s classes to see how they learn here and then, we had a break to have lunch. 
After that we had our first international lesson with Amos, the German teacher, about our carbon footprint. It was really interesting because we realised that we have to reduce our waste.

Later, we cycled to Voshaar to do a survival route in the forest and it was very fun. We built a boat, we made fire and finally we climbed through the trees. 

At the afternoon, we went back home and Dutch students cooked typical Dutch food for us, it was very tasty!

See you in our next post!

-A

The Netherlands. Second day.

SUNDAY 14^TH MAY

On Sunday morning we went by bicycle to play farmers golf. It was a different experience. The game was also different. We played with a soccer ball land with a boot in the end of a wood stick. We were playing by teams (more a less 4-5 in each team and we were mixed).

We were surrounded by cows and cow shit, some people stepped on some shits, it was very funny, except for the person who stepped on. 

Then we had lunch all together, we had some pancakes. They were delicious!!

Later, we cycled back home, we had a shower and then we had dinner. At eight o’clock we went to Iris’ house, after some time there with some students from all the countries we went to sleep, we were all very tired!!

See you in our next post!
-A

Twelfth week

Hello, everyone!

We're going to explain you what did the groups do in this week of the Research Project:

Groups 1, 2 and 3 were doing the surveys.

Group 4: They were translating all the information.

Group 5: They planned the budget for the bikes' route and did a web about biking to let people know what they do so they can find all the information there.

Group 7: They were also translating; they bought an electric car and are waiting for it to arrive so they can build it.

Group 9: There was only one of the boys in the group, and he was answering the hypothesis. He also searched information about the cleanest city in the world, Copenhagen.

Group 10: Pedro was translating all the information while Guillem was searching and writing new info about different electric batteries and electric motorbikes (where you can find it, the quantity of batteries sell in Europe and advantages).

Group 11: They were still doing the route of the garbage truck.

Group 12: They started the Power Point and did a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages.

Group 13: Some of them searched applications to travel and search travels, and the others were preparing a travel.

Group 14: They started the Power Point about how do people go to school.

They were all trying to finish their projects.

See you in our next post!

-L

The Netherlands. First day.

SATURDAY 13^TH MAY

We left Barcelona at 09:00h. We were very nervous! 

We arrived in Amsterdam at 11:00h, and we met the Dutch and German people at the airport. The Italians hadn't arrived yet. We went by bus to the centre of Amsterdam and it was really beautiful! We walked around the city and then we went shopping.

After having lunch, the Italian students arrived in Amsterdam.

And then, after some more free time around the city, we went to Groenlo and all the foreign students went to their hosts’ houses. 

It was the first night and first contact with the rest of the family.  

I felt really comfortable with my host, even though she was really shy and quiet.

See you in our next post!

-A

Eleventh week

Hello everyone!

This is eleventh and we now know that there will be one of us going to the Netherlands (one of the other countries working on this Erasmus+ project) in the next days, and we will keep you up. There will be German, Italian and obviously, the Dutch students.

During these days I will be updating everyday telling you how it's going!

See you in our next post!

-A

England day 7

Hello, everyone!

This is my last post from England as it's the last day.

We woke up at 6 am and left half an hour later. We went by taxi to get the ferry and ate something while waiting since we hadn't eaten yet, then we got in it.

After that, we went and got the train, which were around 2 hours. We arrived at the airport and realized we had a lot of time before having to get on the plane, meaning about 3 hours or so.

We used the time to buy some last minute presents, including what I bought for me and a card.

All of us had a huge surprise when we saw a lot of our friends from SBA at the airport! They were there because they had to go to a ski trip in Italy. 

We can say it was the last England joy before we got on the plane and left.

The flight wasn't short nor long, it was for about three hours more or less and when we landed, our families were waiting for us.

We went home and that was officially the end of our experience in England!

Thank you for following me in this experience!

See you in our next post!

-R

England day 6

Hello, everyone!

Today was a better day than yesterday as we are all feeling much better now. 
We went to school feeling bad about having to leave. We've made some really good friends and know that it will be hard.
After doing the usual lessons and again eating the food from the canteen, we gave each other our phone numbers and Snapchat usernames so that we can keep in touch.

We went directly to the beach, where we had spare time and could shop. The five of us didn't shop as there was a half-hour walk to there. We stayed near the beach and walked around before meeting everyone in a restaurant near the beach. In fact, it was right in front of it. Megan and Libby, as well as Kelsie, couldn't come to the dinner, but the rest did.
We said our last goodbyes and were sad after realizing we'll probably not see them ever again in our life.

That's it for today.

See you in our next post!

-R

England day 5

Hello, everyone!

Today has been quite an interesting day, since three of us weren't feeling well after eating something that wasn't in good state, yesterday. Daniel and Martí threw up while I was lucky and only got stomach ache.
Despite all, we still went to school and had a different lunch, with something that wouldn't hurt our stomachs.
We skipped one or two periods, the last ones and instead we went to an excursion with the students there (Hayden, Chris, Sophie, Megan, Kelsie and Josh).
We didn't get on a hovercraft, but we did see them. They are a typical type of boat from the isle which can go on water and earth. They have some bags which inflate so that they can float through water. 

After this, we visited a place where they made things with glass and sand (which are the things the Isle of Wight is known for) and bought some more souvenirs. After we ate a little bit of something, we came back to the hotel, not before leaving the SBA students next to their home.
 

That's it for today.

See you in our next post!

-R

England day 4

Hello everyone!

It's our fourth day here and we are really having fun and making friends. We're going to miss this place.
We went to SBA and also ate at the canteen. It was a really cold day and we were freezing. Being this cold, some girls in the school still wear a skirt!
In English we made a debate about music festivals and drugs. Half of the class had to be pro closing all festivals so that drugs weren't consumed, and the other half (where I was) had to be against it. Not a lot of people participated, but I did and it was pretty fun.
Later today (afternoon) we went to see the beach (this time without the fog) and visited some local stores, where I bought some presents for my family and we all bought some cookies, which were REALLY good. We then had some free time and the five of us spent it together.
 

Then, we took a taxi and went to the hotel. Later, we went to have dinner in Merrie Gardens. 

See you in our next post!

-R

England day 3

Hello everyone!

It's the third day in Sandown and we, again, have gone to school meeting with our buddies. Today the fog was almost gone and we could see that the school is much bigger than what we'd thought! They have an enormous climbing wall apart from a football field and in general, lots of space for activities.
We had lunch at the canteen again and are getting used to how things work here and where things are (more or less).
In the afternoon we decided to go for a walk and visit a little bit the town. We were lucky and it was already the dawn, so the views were amazing:

 

We then came back to the hotel and are currently watching (Blanca, Aina, Daniel, Martí and I) a movie in our rooms.

See you in our next post!

-R

England day 2

Hello everyone!

On Tuesday we went to Sandown Bay Academy every day and I went to all the classes of my buddies, Libby and Megan. In English we would go to an advanced English class and I was surprised that I could keep up. We worked on a Thomas de Quincey's text about drugs and depression.
We had lunch in the canteen with other friends there, such as Chris, Hayden and Sophie. Later in the afternoon, we went by the minibus around the island and to see the beach, but as there was a lot of fog we couldn't see much:

In general it was a great day.

See you in our next post!

-R

Eleventh week.

Hello, everyone!

In the eleventh week, when we went to ask, the groups were doing:

Group 1: They were correcting the grammar of the surveys, revising an Excel about nationalities that the local government had sent them and searching the language from each nationality.  

          

Group 2: They were finishing the survey that they will do to everyone and creating a new for specific people.

Group 3: They were translating their work.

Group 4: They were searching for more info because they realized it wasn’t enough when they did the pp. 

Group 5: They searched the biking map in China and roads in Sant Quirze del Vallès and Sabadell. They were creating the name and logo for their business.

Group 6: They were searching what the energy is and how to calculate the energy that cars, motorcycles, etc. consume.

Group 7: They were designing with computer the electrical circuit that they will build inside the car to make it work. They’re using “Crocodile Clips” app.

Group 9: They searched for information about what did Denmark do to emit less CO2.

Group 10: They were compring if it's better to use a gasoil car, an electric one or an hybrid car in a period of 25 years.

Group 11: This group was translating information and they haveto send a document with the summary, about the kind of remains, the routes and possible buisness.

Group 12: They started the Power Point.

Group 13, 14, 15: These groups are doing surveys.

Next week is Carnival here so we won't be able to do our projects.

See you in two weeks!

-A-L

Tenth week

Hello everyone!

We're going to explain what were the groups doing the tenth week:

Group 1: They corrected the survey, because some questions weren’t exactly how they wanted.

Group 3: The components of the group weren’t there, so they couldn’t keep going with their project.

Group 5: The components of the group were waiting for Dani to send information from Wight Island and searching for the bicycles’ maps that they couldn’t find last time.

Group 7: They were searching for information about how to build an electric car.

Group 8: Some of the components of the group were reading a climate adaptation report about Wight Island to know more about it so they can have more information for their work, and the others were correcting some of the information they had found.

Group 9: One of the components was searching for information about the solar roads that are being inaugurated in France and the other was still with the information about Copenhagen.

Group 10: They searched for helping plans to finance a renewable car and compare if it’s more expensive to charge it for a long period of time or to fill a deposit.

Group 12: They were searching for pros and contras about public and private transport to see which one is the best to use in your daily life.

Group 13: They searched prices about flies in Spain and Europe and were going to start surveys.

Group 14: They were searching for information about how much it pollutes if you go every day by car to school.

Group 15: They were writing the questions for the survey to see if people would do carpooling or not.

Groups 2 and 6 were writing the questions for the surveys.

Groups 4 and 11 started the Power Point.

See you in our next post!

-L

Ninth week

Hello everyone!

We went to the classes and the ninth week the groups were doing:

Group 1: They finished with the research of information about the multilingualism; they did the hypothesis and made the questions for the surveys. They’re picking people without any patron.

Group 4: The Wi-Fi wasn’t working, so they can’t continue with their work.

Group 5: They did a survey and wrote the answers on the computer. They’re going to calculate how many people they should ask to obtain enough information.

  

Group 7: They started the Power Point and the technology teacher will help them building the electric car.

Group 8: They changed their project and now are from the second block.

Group 9: They were trying to look for solutions to stop the Co2 emissions.

Group 10: They were searching what brands have sold more eco-cars and in what place of Spain more eco-cars are sold. They used information of 2015 because it’s the most recent information they’ve found. They were searching for other types of renewable energies to make a car work.

Group 11: In the latest weeks they have met the Land Use Committee Head of the Local Government of SQV. They asked for information and he is starting to send it to them now.

Group 12: They were making the PowerPoint.

Group 13: They were still searching for information about public and private transport.

Group 15: Searching for information about carpooling.

Groups 2, 3, 6 and 14 have started planning the questions for the survey.

See you in our next post!

-A -L