Act 4 Env

My Erasmus reflection

As any other adventure would, this trip involved in the Erasmus programme came to change my perspective around. Being able to experience another culture while learning is absolutely one of the greatest sketches ever invented.

I’m writing this letter on the last day of my mini trip to Greece while trying not to be affected by the post-Erasmus depression. All I want to do is to talk about it and show the 1,000 photos I took with my camera. By reading that, you probably caught on to the fact that travelling is one of my top 3 favourite things to do. It’s not that you must bring it, it’s just the memories can be revived in a better way. That’s my argument. I can say with my heart that Erasmus changed my relationship with travelling.

People often say that studying abroad for a while means 80% partying, 20% learning. And that is a false assumption. Now, that I’m all informed about this matter, I can explain that since the first second you gain touch with a different culture from yours, you are gradually improving simultaneously your skills and growing your mindset: It challenges you professionally and personally. School may be a smaller part of the whole point of the Erasmus, but it is still there. You can deny it. You came across different teachers and students and try new activities while improving another language besides your mother tongue. That’s what happened to me. I got more comfortable with the English language. And most importantly, I learned how to live in the moment and appreciate the small things in life.

I’m beyond stunned by Greece. The food, the schools, the way of their living got me falling for this country. First of all, I have to thank the teachers, both from my country and the foreign teachers, for trying to make us feel the most comfortable as possible and making sure we enjoyed this trip the way it’s supposed to. But I must give my best regards to the Greek teacher, Nicholas Ntogas, for being 100% welcoming and taking care of everything. Every day was planned to the minute so we could feel the Greek essence in our bodies. Thank you, Professor Nicholas Ntogas.

I’ve heard many times in my life and probably will hear it more but the friends you made on an Erasmus trip are the friends you can take for a lifetime. Being able to travel to another country within a learning programme can genuinely re-evaluate your whole concept of friendship. You start believing that people from opposed locations and ways of living can create a strong connection, even if you sometimes can’t understand each other.

In conclusion, all I will say is that Erasmus helped me redefine my mindset and encourage me to professionally pursue my dreams and to stop being so uptight and start being more confident about the things I do.

Sofia V.

What to say about my Erasmus experience in Greece?

This was a lifetime experience that I'll never forget. I had the opportunity to meet different people, experienced a different culture, and made new friends. All days were filled with lots of joy, fun, knowledge, adventure, and many nice places to visit. We’ve been 4 days in Trikala, the main desination of our trip. A very nice city full of history, where we were very well received. Everybody was very friendly and nice to us.

I will never forget Acropolis, in Athens and Meteora, among other beautiful places that we’ve visited.

The week stayed in Greece passed within the blink of an eye and I feel myself to be a very lucky person as I had the chance to go for Erasmus.

Catarina

Erasmus – Greece

Hi! I’m Madalena from Portugal :)

I really enjoyed this trip to Greece with my friends and teachers especially because it was the first time that I left my country, and we could stay in two different cities: Athens and Trikala. It was also the first time that I could practice my English with people from other countries: Spain, Croatia, Romania, and Greece. It was really great because we could help each other to understand everyone.

On one of the first days in Trikala, we went to the Greek school and shared our presentations about our country, city, school, and projects that we made about the environment and especially about recycling. We also did some activities with the greek students and teachers about information and electronic technologies.

Besides that, we had the opportunity to visit The Acropolis in Athens, The Oracle of Delphi and lots of museums like the Natural History Museum and Mushroom Museum.The latter when we went to Meteora to visit the monasteries. We also saw the beautiful and historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens and walked on the bridge of Pyli in Trikala. I also loved The Mill of the Elves, because Christmas is one of the most beautiful times of the year and we had so much fun there.

Both in Athens and Trikala, we tried a few typical Greek dishes like Moussaka, Pasticcio, Greek salads and some sauces with yoghurt and feta cheese, and last but not the least – the famous Greek yoghurt. I really liked most of these recipes and I recommend them.

I had so much fun with my friends in Greece! I dare say I’m completely in love with this country because there were lots of cats all over the streets and they were so sweet and just wanted affection.

Finally, I just wanted to let you know that I’m so thankful for this opportunity and that my friends and I made some Spanish friends that we will keep in touch with and who I’d love to meet again one day. I will always keep this trip in my heart and the closer relationship that we developed with our teachers too.

Madalena P.

Participating in this Erasmus project has been an experience that I will remember forever. I think that everyone that has a chance should participate because it is an amazing experience.

During our week in Greece, we visited a lot of emblematic monuments and places and learned a lot about Greek culture. We visited museums across the country and heard all the stories behind the statues and art objects that were there. It was a very cultural trip, an incredible way to learn about Greek and European history.

We met a lot of people from different countries and made some friends. The good thing about this project is that you can have contact with lots of different cultures with students from different countries.

Because of Covid, we were not able to experience the real Erasmus experience and stay with a family and live with them for a week. Despite that, we had an amazing experience. We had to be cautious because we didn’t want to catch Covid, but we were still able to do amusing things.

I would love to participate in another Erasmus programme in the future because I think it makes you a better person and you learn things about yourself and about culture. During this week we had moments that I will cherish for life and tell everyone about.

Renata