ERASMUS + SMART WASTE MANAGERS - JOURNAL ENTRIES by Slovenian students

Sunday, May 15

Our starting point was Brnik airport at around quater to eight. After one hour flight we arrived to Belgrade, where our driver Dejan had already been waiting for us with his black van. Dejan told us many interesting stories while driving and we had great time in the van. We needed almost seven hours to reach our final destination - Story Hotel in Targu Jiu. We checked in and unpacked our bags. Then it was high time for our dinner. We successfully used some app which translated Romanian food menu for us, so we were able to order the best things possible. As soon as we were full, we eagerly go back to our hotel where we took a shower and went straight to bed. We are looking forward to meeting our friends tomorrow and learning new things.  

 What about our first impressions and thoughts? Although we spent almost seven hours in the van, we still managed to observe certain things. For example, we noticed that in Romania there were a lot of different houses. Some of them were in extremely poor condition; however, some others were new and modern. What is more, even cars on Romanian roads near Targu Jiu or in the city itself were new, expensive; however, when you go a few kilometres away from the city, you are able to see horse-drawn carriages. Overall, we got the impression that people who live in rural areas also live in poverty.

 Targu Jiu is a beautiful city; however, while looking for a good restaurant, we noticed a lot of abandoned buildings as well. This was not a good sign, since we didn't know what to expect. Finally, our teachers found a good restaurant where we enjoyed some delicious food.

 After dinner our teachers let us spend some quality tijme with our Spanish friends. We haven't seen them since our last exchange in Poland.

 A special moment happened to us at Belgrade airport. We almost felt like stars because there were many journalists and reporters with microphones and TV cameras at our gate waiting for some unknown celebrity. Unfortunately, the reporters were not waiting for us. We were told to go through the exit door as quickly as possible. This was the moment we realized that we would not be on TV. Pitty!

  

                                                                                                               Written by: Ana Mali

 

 

MONDAY, MAY 16

 

On the first day of our staying in the Story hotel we woke up at 7.30am. We had delicious breakfast at 8.30 and after that we walked to the school with other students. It was very hot and the sun was shining brightly. We presented short presentations about energy consumption in our homes. We could see that the consumption of electricity in every different country depends on the season. After that we went on a school tour to see the classrooms. We soon realized that the school is very different from ours. The school is attended by students who want to become successful auto mechanics. Today we had a delicious lunch in the school canteen. Next, we walked back to the hotel to rest a little. After 15 minutes we went to the city center where we split into groups and went on a treasure hunt around the city. Later, we exchanged our money and decided to go to a shopping centre that was about 30 minutes away. Our feet were painful and hurt a lot. Firstly, we went to the store H&M where we bought some nice clothes and a few pieces of accessories. Secondly, we visited the store DM where we bought some makeup and skin care. After that we had to walk all the way back to our hotel. At this point our feet had blisters and they hurt even more. On our way back we stopped at the restaurant called Anna where we had some delicious food. We arrived back to the hotel at approximately 10pm. We hung out for about an hour, got ready and drifted off to sleep. 

I really liked the fun activities we did during our presentation time and I was interested in gathering some interesting facts that we didn't know before about other countries in connection to energy consumption. Moreover, while walking in the city centre I realised that Romanians have so many nice branded cars. They looked all very expensive. The town itself and the houses looked very poor and destroyed so it was weird to see so many brand new BMWs on the side of the roads. The buses are also mostly electrically powered, which was, on the other hand, nice to see. It's so much better for the environment! We didn't see a lot of people on bikes though. Surprisingly, no one to be exact! The street that the hotel is located on is not the nicest and the people we saw weren't either.

 The city centre of Targu Jiu is quite nice and the architecture in the town is nice. I enjoyed spending time and getting to know the students from different countries while going on a treasure hunt. I knew many interesting things about their culture. Overall, I really enjoyed this day even though I came back really tired. It was all worth it!

 Finally, the most surprising fact today actually happened while we were eating lunch. I gave the headmaster of the school a gift from Slovenia - a bottle of wine. I was very impressed to hear he actually knows a lot about Slovenia. He could locate the region where the wine was produced. He surprised us with the fact that his daughter was born in Jesenice!

                                                                                                                        

Written by: Ajda Grošelj

 

 

TUESDAY, MAY 18

 

We woke up at around 7.30 and got ready. Then we went downstairs for breakfast and delicious coffee. We were full of energy and ready for new adventures! Our bus had already waiting for us. 

 

We drove to another city where we visited a really beautiful museum with historical items and an aquarium. My friends and I enjoyed the bus ride because we listened to different songs from each country, so we learned a lot about new cultures. All of the students enjoyed while visiting the aquarium. We saw many interesting species and observed some colourful fish. We were happy having some free time when we were taking photos of the river Danube (Donava). We were hanging out with Spanish and Portuguese students and talked about our hobbies and our different habits connected to energy waste and consumption. I noticed quite a few major differences regarding energy consumption. Spanish and Portuguese people spend more money and electricity in the summer due to the use of air conditioning. However, in Slovenia we spend more money in the winter because we have to heat our houses and keep them warm.

 

Somewhere on our way we had lunch. Afterwards we went on a bus again. The drive lasted almost two hours as we realized we were on Romanian-Serbian border. We were able to see a magnificent hydropower plant where we heard a lot of interesting facts and information. They produce 15% of all energy that is used in Romania which I didn't know and to me this is an important and interesting fact. Secondly, I was surprised at the fact this hydro power plant is the 2nd largest in Europe. One additional interesting fact is that the day before we came to visit this factory, they had celebrated 50th anniversary of energy production process. We were extremely excited when we entered the area with six turbines. They were huge and loud! Each of them weighs more than 3600 tons! I think everybody should visit such a huge hydropower plant! 

 

When we came back to the hotel, we had a little break because we were all tired from all of the activities we had on our schedules today. At around 8 o'clock we went out for dinner – to “our” restaurant Anna where we ordered our favorite food again. We were having a lot of fun and we laughed a lot. Then, after we finished our amazing dinner, we decided to go back to the hotel. 

 

We were tired, so all of us just went to sleep. It was an amazing day and we learned a lot about cultures and new things that are connected to energy consumption.

 

 

Written by: Katarina Naglič

 

 

 

 

    

WEDNESDAY, 18. MAJ

We woke up at half past seven in the morning. We got ready and went to our teachers' room. Teacher Mojca celebrated her birthday, so we wished her a happy birthday and gave her a small gift. Later, we went downstairs for some delicious breakfast. After the breakfast the bus had already waiting for us outside the hotel. Our destination today was the city of Craiova which is situated about two hours away from our hotel.

Along the way we stopped at an important thermal power plant to find out more about energy waste. We watched an interesting video about all the thermal power plants in Romania and learned some interesting facts about this specific one – Termocentrala Rovinari. The thermal power plants produces one third of all the energy in Romania. They started building it in 1972 and it became usable seven years later. It is the largest thermal power plant in Romania and second largest in Europe. I really liked the video because it was explained how the energy production works. I learned a lot of new and interesting facts about the power plant. After watching the video, we went on a tour through the power plant where we saw numerous turbines and pipes. The Romanian teacher told us about how they crush the coal and then burn it in order to produce energy. She also explained how they filter the toxic fumes, so they don't go straight in the air. In my opinion it was a great experience to see the whole production but it was really noisy and loud because of all the machines inside the factory.

After the tour we went back to our bus and drove to a restaurant where we had lunch. We were all really hungry so it was high time for eat some delicious food!.

We drove for one more hour and arrived to Craiova. It was astonishing; however, although the city is big you can still see signs of poverty. We had two hours of free time so we went to a shopping centre. Firstly, we went to buy some clothes and accessories and later we went to Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee.

Our bus drive was very long and exsausting but it was really fun because we were talking to our  Spanish and Portuguese students almost the whole time. They are all very nice and it is interesting to talk to them and we even took some group photos and videos so we will be able to keep memories later on when we return back to our country. Although some students struggle with English, we all tried to support each other and made some great conversations.

Two hours passed  so quickly and we had to drive back to our hotel in Targu Jiu. We took a short rest and then went to the city center for dinner. It was very delicious and overall it was a pleasant experience because our waiter was a very pleasant and funny guy and he could speak English quite well!

Later that night there was a concert in the city centre and we decided to go. We were having a lot of fun even thought we didn't know the singer. After the concert we were all very tired so we went back to our hotel. We did some face masks and then we went to sleep.


                                                                                          Written by: Sara Eniko

 

  

THURSDAY, MAY 19

 

On the fifth and last day of our staying at the Story hotel, we woke up and, as usually, ate our breakfast. After breakfast, all the participants of mobility went to a hotel’s conference room where we split into six groups. Each group consisted of mixed nationality students. Firstly, we were shown how electricity is produced on the basis of renewable resources such as water, wind and sun. Secondly, each group made a presentation about the topic they were given. The presentations were very interesting, since there were some great ideas gathered on how to save energy in school, city, village, hotel and factory. Afterwards we had a little competition for the best photo of the week. Each country posted five photos and then we voted for the best one.

After presentations we had some free time. We hung out with our friend from Spain a bit and then went to our rooms for about an hour to write our diary entries. After lunch we enjoyed in the city centre, we had free time until 8 o'clock.

In the evening we had our last dinner together. It was time to dance and have some fun! Each country picked a few songs and gave instructions how to dance. At first it was a bit awkward and we were a bit shy; however, soon everybody got relaxed and started enjoying. We were really surprised how good Spanish teachers can dance. Nobody wanted to leave when it was time to leave. Everything comes to an end, so we said goodbye to our new friends and make some last wonderful memories together.

                                                                                          Written by: Lenča Miklavčič

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY, MAY 19

On the last day of our mobility, we woke up at 8 o' clock. We all packed our things and got dressed. We ate breakfast which was delicious as usually and we also grab the opportunity and took some croissants and other food to eat on our way to airport.

We were ready to go, but we were also quite sad, because we made some good friends and we didn't want to separate. Unfortunetely, we didn't have a choice, so we placed our luggage into the van.

While driving, teachers were talking to our driver Dejan in Serbian and girls were listening to music and sleeping most of the time towards the Belgrade Airport. Somewehere in the middle of our way back to the airport, driver stopped the van, so we could eat some snacks and stretch our legs. We stopped on the spot with a magnificent view of the valley.

 

Once at the airport, we were quite excited because we knew we were not far from our homes. We said goodbye to our kind driver Dejan (Jumbo Travel) who was very sweet all the way and I think we won't forget him easily. He even bought us one basket of fresh strawberries on our first day while travelling to Romania! He was really nice and he was always cheerful and talkative.

We went throught airport security and we waited for our flight for about an hour and a half. We had a delay but then our airplane was finally ready and we got on the airport bus which took us straight towards our airplane.

Our take off was gentle and comfortable, so we enjoyed it. I think we all love to fly.
Our landing wasn't as nice as our take off, but we survived which matters the most.

We were so happy to meet our families again and we almost ran to the airport exit without our luggage. Our parents were already waiting for us and it was a pleasant reunion. That was the end of our journey and we all can say it was an unforgettable experience. We would do it again and again if we could 😊

 

                                                                                                        Written by: Sara Kosmač

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobility to Targu Jiu ( Romania) by Spanish Students.

 From 15th to 20th May we went to our fifth mobility, Targu Jiu, in Romania.

On Sunday we left l’Ampolla at 2:30 in the morning, we took a plane to Paris Beauvais and there at half past three another plane to Craiova, Romania. Then we took a bus to Targu Jiu, where we were staying for the whole week. We were  more than 18 hours travelling.

On Monday we woke up at 8:30 for breakfast and the Romanian people took us to their school at 9:30, we walked to the school for about 20 minutes.  When we arrived we went directly to a room with the rest of the students, where we played a game to introduce each other with the other students from different countries. Then we made presentations about the electricity bills from our own houses to compare them  with the ones from other countries, then we went to have a look at the school and when we finished we went to have lunch in a building next to the school.

In the afternoon we went to the center of the town where we made a game to know the town with transnational groups.  Afterwards we had two hours to go visit the town by ourselves. When the two hours finished we went to have dinner at a restaurant and went back to the hotel to sleep.

It was an interesting day because we started to get to know the students from the other countries and the town, but it was a little bit weird because we didn’t know anything about the people and the country.

On Tuesday we  woke up at around 8:30 a.m, because we met all the group at 9 a.m for breakfast. Our bus was already waiting  for us at 9:20 a.m. 

We went to another city where we visited a beautiful museum with historical items and an aquarium. During the bus ride we listened to different songs from every country, learning new cultures.

After that we got on a bus again and started driving for an hour to a hydro power plant where we heard a lot of interesting information. This hydro power plant produces 15% of all energy that is used in Romania, furthermore, this is the 2nd biggest hydro power plant in Europe. 

and the day before we came to visit this factory they celebrated their 50th year of producing energy. 

After that, we went to a restaurant called Anna. Where they make very good food. Then, after we finished our amazing dinner we decided to go back to the hotel. 

 

We were tired, so all of us just went to sleep. It was an amazing day and we learned a lot about cultures and new things that are connected with energy waste.

On Wednesday, we also got up at 8:30 and went to have breakfast and be ready at 9:15 to take the bus and start the day.

This day we went to thermal factory that produces energy in the morning, when we arrived we entered to a meeting room, were they played a video of the factory and explained its history, and then we were separated in two groups, one of the groups went to take a look around the factory and the other stayed in the meeting room discussing about ways to reduce pollution 

After that we went to have lunch on a road hotel and when we finished we headed to Craiova, there we had two hours to visit the center of the city and we stayed practically all the time in the shopping center. When the two hours finished we met to go to the bus and go to the hotel, we had free time to have shower and we went to have dinner at a restaurant.

It was a relaxed day because we were all day in a bus, but we could enjoy one of the biggest Romanian cities around the town we were staying in.

Thursday was the last day we woke up in Romania, we woke up like the previous days, but that day, we had a little more time for breakfast, because today we didn't have to leave the hotel, because everything we were going to do was right there in another room.

At 9:30 we went to a room where all the teachers and all the students were, and there they did different groups where the different students from each country were mixed, and once the groups were done it was time to work. to begin with, there were three groups that made a kind of "tent" where we were told how a different project works, for example, there was one that was based on the energy of light from the sun, and this was that, a fan and a light sensor were connected by different cables to small solar panels, then put artificial light, ie light from a light bulb, and then these devices worked, and then it did with sunlight, and it worked the same way.

Meanwhile, the other 3 groups worked on some posters explaining, defending or anything else as requested, and once finished the groups changed.

The posters were then presented to the rest of the students and teachers.

Once the presentations were over, they let us do what we wanted, so we went to the city center for lunch, and then we went back to the hotel and we could do whatever we wanted, and then in the afternoon we had to shower and prepare for the joint dinner, so around 20:30 we were having dinner, once the dinner is over, we have to put songs typical of our country and dance them, but then it will last and they put on a lot more songs which we will dance to and have a lot of fun together.

At the  end of the night, they showed us a cake with the Erasmus project logo, and then gave each one a certificate of attendance.

And to finish we had to have our suitcase ready, because at 2:00 we left to  the airport.

Here you have a video with the photos we took!!!

MOBILITY TO SLOVENIA, ZIRI ( 20TH TO 25TH MARCH 2022)

 On Monday, we arrived at the school by bus. Then we all went to a classroom with all the other countries, there the Slovenian teachers made a introduccion about Ziri and the school. When that finished we played a little game to get to know each other better, after what we did a tour for the school. Then, we ate at the same school. In the afternoon we did a tour for the town, Ziri. Finally we were given a talk about Clothes Waste, the topic of our mobility.

On Tuesday we visited the shoe factory- Alpina, in Žiri. We learnt about its history and the history of this craft in Žiri. We talked about many different types of shoes. Then we went to the factory and saw all of the machines, which are used to make them. We talked about the materials they use to make them and about waste in other shoe factories. Then we went back to the school in Žiri.

  After the visit to the factory, we went to school. There we developed some E-poster s about the lecture we heard the day before, but first we listened to the Slovenian teacher who explained how to do them. In the E-posters we wrote about the ways we can cut down on  our clothes waste.

Ljubljana

We went to Ljubljana on the 22 nd of March (Tuesday) and we arrived at Kongres square where  Pia gave us an introduction of the history of Kongress square and Timotej about the Ljubljana Castle, then we went to Ljubljanica river and after a bit of walking we arrived at the river Ljubljanica where Katarina spoke about the history of it’s bridges and finally arrived at Robbov fountain where Lenča taught us its history. 

After all this, the teachers left us alone to enjoy our time left in Ljubljana where we went to coffee shops, second hand shops and saw its beauty.

General info of Ljubljana:

250000 people live in Ljubljana

size: 163,8 km²

height: 295m above sea level

Wednesday´s workshops

We left Cerkno at 07:30 am and arrived in Žiri at 08:20 am. At 09:00 we went to  Škofja Loka and started the activities.

In Škofja Loka we went to Kreativni Center Kreativnice- Creative Hub, the activities consisted on stamping and painting ecological materials, they were explained to the students by Lili- owner of the atelier. 

After having the experience of creating our own stamp materials, we went to Handicraft center DUO, where a worker showed us how to make wool. 

Then we went for a lunch break, in the city. 

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Bled Lake, when we arrived the teachers told us that we had 3 hours to do whatever we wanted.

At first, we all saw the ducks that were swimming on the lake, then we started feeding them with bread. After this we took a walk around the lake thinking about what we were going to do, some of us went to explore the hole lake walking for hours around it, taking photos... the other ones took the boat and went to an island on the middle of the lake, where they bought kremšnita (cream cake).

At the end of the day we all met, and got back to the hotel.

We felt free, because we were in a very natural place and having fun with all our friends.

24th of March Thursday

Today was a beautiful day. In the morning we took the bus and went to the school, where we learned how to sew and we did a piece with wool.

It was a very interesting day in which we learned a Slovenian tradition .

I think it was enjoyable but you must be careful and patient while you’re doing it.

After this, we met with international groups and prepared an article about the days of the Erasmus.

After lunch we did the presentations of the e-posters, they were about tips to reduce Clothes Waste that we had prepared on Wednesday.

In the evening we had lunch together and we were given the certificates of the mobility. 

HERE IS VIDEO WITH THE PHOTOS OF THE MOBILITY CREATED BY SPANISH STUDENTS!

The third meeting of the KA 229 “Smart Waste Managers” project

 The third meeting of the KA 229 "Smart Waste Managers" project took place in Poland. During the week, September 19-23, the third short-term mobility within the “Smart Waste Managers” project took place, with the reference number 2019-1-ES01-KA229-063988_5. Liceul Auto “Traian-Vuia” from Targu-Jiu was represented by 5 students, accompanied by 2 teachers.

 On September 19, the partner countries, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and of course Romania stayed at the "Warminski Hotel" in Olsztyn, and  met around 19:00 with the coordinator Danuta Fuchs. The team from Turkey could not be physically present, given the epidemiological context of the country, but participated in most of the discussions online.

            The first activities took place on September 20 at the "Szkola Podstawowa, No. 2" in Olsztyn. The school management greeted the partner countries and toured the unit, respecting the protection norms, anti Covid-19. Each participating country presented through a power point material the school unit from which they come. This was followed by ice-breaking activities, which were carried out by creating transnational groups with a supervising teacher. Each group conducted research on food waste in each partner country and produced a material entitled "Food waste in numbers".

            On September 21, the participating countries were surprised to participate in a workshop entitled "Healthy eating pyramid and how to reduce food waste at home and in school" in which they learned from several Polish nutrition experts what the food pyramid is and how to prevent it. food waste. At the "Food Bank" in Olsztyn, a chef guided the same transnational groups created the day before to cook healthily, involving absolutely all participants. Students enriched their knowledge by learning about waste selection but also about placing food in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage. There are a few tricks to avoid wasting food. The day ended with a tour of our host city, Olstyn.

            The third day started with the early embarkation of the participating countries in a bus to go to the beautiful port city of Gdansk. Accompanied by a guide, we visited the most important tourist attractions and we were given a history lesson about the first attempted revolution in 1980 that would overthrow the communist regime under Poland, which is considered the beginning of communist revolutions throughout Europe. .

            September 23rd was practically the summary of the meeting that took place at the host school. On the last day, the transnational groups made a presentation in which they focused their knowledge on the prevention of food waste at school and at home. They created their own food pyramid and made presentations in which they mentioned the financial statistics of each country regarding food waste.

            The fixation of knowledge has been achieved through this latest dissemination, the enormous amounts of money lost in each country and pollution, all of which have raised everyone's awareness of improving their own lifestyle.

            The evening ended with a festive dinner, where diplomas were handed out for each partner country at the Warmynski Hotel, where we were accommodated. The students made friends and broke up at the end of the evening.

 Zoom Webinar On Water Waste  : 26 January 2022: The Speaker : Harry Waters has worked in private language academies and schools in Argentina, Brazil, China, Vietnam, Australia, Spain and the UK. His primary focus has been language development among teenagers. His classes have a focus on learning through fun and developing language with games and video. He has a keen interest in pronunciation, for which he has given talks across Spain, and recently bringing the online classroom to life. 

MOBILITY TO OLSZTYN BY SLOVENIAN STUDENTS

 Hello everybody! Here are the impressions and opions about the mobility to Olzstyn that the Slovenian students who went there have. 

We had a such great time and we want to repeat the experience! 

 DIFUSSION OF THE PROJECT IN PORTUGAL 

PRESENTATION

Here is the presentation Portuguese students used to do the presentation of the project.

Erasmus Days Activities

 GENIAL PRESENTATION by Zeynep Gülmez on Genially

 MOBILTY TO OLSZTYN BY PORTUGUESE STUDENTS.

Here you can find our diaries telling about the our experience in Olsztyn! We hope you like it and encourge you to live an experience like this! 

MOBILITY TO OLSZTYN IN POLAND

 MOBILITY TO OLSZTYN ( POLAND) BY SPANISH STUDENTS.

Last week , from 19 to 24 of September the students Ariadna Buera, Eva Forés, Francesc Garcia,

Sergi Curto i Paula Turon were taking part in “Smart Waste Managers“ in Olsztyn, Polonia.

The first day of the journey the teacher presented the schools and Irmina

created the transnational groups, with which the students were working all the trip.

The first afternoon we had free time to get to know the city and the other members of the project

.The next day we headed to the local food bank,where we learned cooking techniques

and were given a talk about how not to waste food and another one of the benefits it would bring.

When we finished the presentations we were cooking a salad and an apple with cinnamon

and typical jam of the village. and this was our lunch. In the afternoon the Polish students took

us on a tour of the old part of the town.Later we went to see a beautiful lake.

The next day we took a bus to Gdansk, a city we all fell in love with.

Once we arrived in the city, we had a guide who would take us and tell the story of the most

important places. That same day we were given free time to buy souvenirs and then we went

to lunch with all the members of the project.The last day that we were with the other countries

we'worked at the school until half of the day and we presented the presentations done with the

transnational groups. Later on, we went to take a walk by the zone of the shopping centre with

the Portuguese students. At night we had dinner with all countries together to say goodbye and

to get  our Erasmus certificates.

Here you can see the a video with some photo of our stay!!!

We made more friends with the Portuguese and the Slovaks. Every evening we played

cards with the Portuguese students . We learnt a lot of English as we could only communicate in

English .About the food waste project we learned some different ways of how not to waste food

and the benefits of following the advice. We would repeat this experience a thousand times again.