DIG_It in France
From 13th
to 21st May the Finnish students that were part of the DIG_IT
program (Erasmus+) took a trip to France. The students also had one day to
visit Amsterdam which is the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam was
beautiful and European even though most of the Finnish students will probably
remember it for the constant smell of pot and very confusing traffic
regulations.
After the one-day
experience in Amsterdam the students headed for a little medieval town called
Pons in France. Pons was a mix of medieval European culture and the culture of
today. People lived in the countryside farming and making wine but every
morning we headed for the center of this little town with modern cars. The
school building itself represented the 1960’s architecture, being a big cube of
concrete with no further decorations. There was also a bigger city nearby with
popular fast food chains like Burger King and McDonalds as well as a
supermarket called EcoFrais.
The
students found the trip a huge success. The French students and teachers had
planned everything out very carefully. Some of the most uplifting experiences
for us two were probably tree climbing and the musical at school. At first I
thought that I’d never do tree climbing but after the instructions, I felt like
giving it a shot and it turned out to be some of the most memorable and exciting
experiences in my life. I even went to climb to 40m after the 20m trail. The
musical was a really touching experience. I would say it combined drama and
humor, the audience as a part of the whole act. It was so emotional and
carefully planned that it made some students near me wipe away tears.
I also have
to praise the pinball machine and pool table at the school. We would need them
in our school too. We also slept very well and fell asleep quite fast every
night, which means that we had a lot to do every day. Thank you all!
- Jaakko Niemelä and Ilari Koski (Finland)