17. 8. 2008


CONGRATULATIONS TO ITALY AND TURKEY

In our second poll those 10 readers who voted awarded the Italian and Turkish teams "gold medals" for their cooking in the Day of National quisine. Congratulations to Noci and Antalya! :-) Also the second poll had its winner in Italy, 4 out of 11 who voted would like the Italians to organise Breaking Stereotypes 2009! Well, we´ll see :-) And a new poll is prepared again, so you are welcome to take part in it. Have a nice rest of your holiday! Martin

31. 7. 2008


POLL RESULTS

15 participants of the project took part in the poll on this blog. I am very happy that the majority of them really liked the camp, 12 participants found it excellent. And your favourite activity? 66 per cent voted for National evenings! This would be my choice, too! :-) Thanks a lot to everybody who voted and gave us a feedback. On the right hand side of the blog you can see new polls now, you´re invited to vote again!

We have already finished our work on dvd with photos and a film taken during the project run, we will send everything to your school in August. Enjoy your time on holiday! Regards from the Czech republic! Martin

9. 7. 2008

After Breaking Stereotypes 2008-Reka,CZ


Dear All,

Thank you all for the successful project which we have just fulfilled. I have had some around more than 100 camp projects all over the world so far, but I strongly believe that this has been one of the most appreciated and successful projects. And I also believe that most of you have broken the stereotypes which you had in your minds before you arrived.

And now, I guess that these days are quite hard for you nowadays... you miss your friends in the camp... you miss the activities (even you call some of them unnecessary) ... you miss the food... the trips... country presentations... No, I am not going to dance!... trekking on the mountains... David getting sunburnt... Radegast... you miss looking for Armando... sports activities... girls' choir from Havirov... even you miss somebody throw you into the pool... games like tutti frutti... sitting and sleeping in the corridor... corridor parties... changing your rooms...and we, put you into your rooms back... dining hall chats (!)... thunder and stormy night... you also miss that scarry cable car. bobsleigh track... bus trips. places without borders... kofola ... and you miss the last night which you wished not to end... nutella girls and Latvian friends' leaves early in the morning... farewells... and wishes like "Hope to see you at Breaking Stereotypes-2009 in ......" and everything you remember.

But soon, you will start telling your friends and families about your experiences and other cultures you have gained at the camp which has been one of the aims of the project.

Thank you once again Martin, thank you Zdenka, thank you David, and thank you George and Peter, thank you Lord Mayor of Reka, thank you Lucy, Vlad'ka, Gabriella and all Czech Girls and THANK YOU ALL for the good cooperation and communication you have provided during the project. You made our stay in Czech Republic wonderful !

And we hope to meet again in another project.

Always remember that every beautiful thing has an end. And every end has a new beginning to recover...

Take care you all and keep in touch with each other please.

TJ

5. 7. 2008


BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008
FEW DAYS AFTER

Hallo friends! In this blog I tried to sum up the days of our camp. I did not try to write any "funny stories" or put the "funniest" photos from the project, I just wanted to put all the activities and programme together to remind you what you went through in the project meeting. This space on the blog is now yours to write your comments, stories, narrations, simply anything you liked at the camp. I will be waiting for your memories of the Breaking Stereotypes 2008! Best regards to your countries, see you in any other Youth project!! Martin

BREAKING STEREOTYPES - DAY 10

Everything has its end and the same with our project. We all had beautiful ten days (at least I hope so) in a beautiful place. But it was time to leave... In the morning the Polish group left and after lunch the last groups had to go to their way back home - to Spain, Turkey or just Karvina. The Turkish group stayed in Karvina one more night, so we met for a farewell dinner and on Friday evening the youth project Breaking Stereotypes 2008 was over.

We hope that you enjoyed the time in the Czech republic and that we will meet at a youth project in 2009 or any other project in the future. Remember all the good things from the camp, stay in touch with your friends and see you at Breaking Stereotypes 2009!! :-)


BREAKING STEREOTYPES - DAY 9
We are slowly approaching the final. We went through almost all the activities that had been planned and there were just a few hours till the end of the project left. In the morning we saw a performance of a children choir from Havirov. They prepared a set of folk, national and English songs for us. Then my colleagues started a game called "The day of Trifids". Each group had a leader who was the only one who could see, all the others were "blind" as their eyes were covered by kerchieves. The leader´s task was to bring as many members of his team as possible through a difficult terrain full of "poisonous" plants, nobody could touch them or step on them. And who won? The Turkish were the fastest and they also brought the highest number of their members to the finish. After lunch we played some evaluation games and then the last presentation took part - the Italian girls (nicknamed "nutella team") showed their presentation. During the song Che sará everybody started to understand that we are near the end of the project. For this night the bedtime was cancelled so that everybody could enjoy their friends before departure time comes. Our town also stayed "up" till the very morning, when the Latvians and Italians got on the bus to Karvina as the first two teams...The good-bye time was coming...
BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 - DAY 8

Three days left till the end of the project...For Wednesday afternoon there were scheduled activities connected with our whole-day trips. First the groups were making and drawing posters where they showed their national costumes. This activity was connected with our visit to Roznov and the performance of folk dancers. The second activity was carried out in mixed international groups and each of them was asked to think of all possible places that have or had problems because of state borders. Everybody could compare this list with what they experienced the day before - free walk in three different countries. Before lunch we also had a visit from our school, so everybody could meet our headmaster and the future general secretary of the school. After lunch we went to the playgrounds again to complete our matches in ringo and volleyball. Two p.E. teachers came to be arbiters of the matches, too. We all could have a swim for the last time here at the Javor hotel swimming pool. The evening programme was traditional - a national evening, now the Polish one. The group from Poland prepared their presentation, role-play of a poem, then Natalia sang a song and they all taught the others to dance "krakowiak". The last point in the programme (but not planned) was a night by candles :-) The storm outside was so strong that there was no electricity in the village. Nevertheless, we enjoyed sitting and talking in a candlelight, didn´t we?

BREAKING STEREOTYPES - DAY 7

The seventh day was a day of a whole-day activity called "Places without borders" We went to places which lie at the border with Poland and Slovakia. First we visited Karvina where we divided our group into two parts and each of them visited a different part of the Karvina´s chateau. Then we had a break for one hour (well, some of us for an hour and a half, am I right? :-) ) to walk in the town centre. In Karvina we finally got online and could send messages and emails to our relatives and friends. From Karvina we continued to Mosty u Jablunkova where some of us had lunch, the others enjoyed bobsleigh track and other entertainment. The last point of our journey was Hrcava, the most easterly village in the Czech republic and Trojmezi, which is a triple border with Slovakia and Poland. Our EUROTEAM has already been there so we knew what to look for....for the others it was a surprise. We had some rest in Slovakia, took some photos in Poland and went back to a horrible way up back to Hrcava. We arrived back at the camp before dinner and in the evening we could enjoy another national evening - now it was the Spanish turn.
BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 - DAY 6

After the weekend the run of the project continued with sport matches in volleyball and ringo, in the afternoon all the teams cooked, baked, cut, sliced and tasted the delicious meals of the others. Yes, that was The day of national quisine. A few minutes before 3 p.m. the doors at the town hall opened and all teams ran inside to grab everything they needed for their cooking - knives, forks, graters, pans, pots, bowls etc. Each team was making some traditional dishes, the Czech team worked on potato cakes, scrambled eggs on fried bread and a garlic spread on rolls. And of course the most popular drink for the participants - Kofola :-) All members gave a hand and all the teams worked really very hard! The Spanish made for example gazpacho - a kind of cold tomato soup, the Italian girls prepared spaghetti with a tomato sauce, the Turkish offered their favourite sweets Turkish delight, some vegetable cakes and of course traditional Turkish tea and coffee. The Latvians had on their national table black bread, tea and typical Latvian cheese. Everybody worked as hard as he could and after some two hours the tasting could start. We also welcomed some villagers and of course the Lord Mayor with his family. The Turkish showed them how to prepare their typical coffee and gave them a nice present - a coffee pot and turkish cups. Well, I liked the most the Czech quisine, so I tried to appear as near the czech table as possible :-) The potato cakes were really delicious! And a good snack should be followed by a good coffee, so I could not refuse a cup of fresh turkish coffee, of course :-) I hope we all enjoyed that afternoon! In the evening there was a Latvian turn to present their country - they decorated the room with twigs and sprigs, showed us a presentation of Latvia and their school, and taught everybody to dance Latvian national dances. To be honest, I liked that National evening most of all.

BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 - DAY 5
Sunday - almost the half of our project. The programme for this day is mostly relaxing - in the morning sport activities at the swimming pool at the Javor Hotel, in the afternoon relax at the camp and a visit of our ex-student and MISS Czech Republic 2008, Zuzana Jandova and after dinner the second National evening - Turkey. After Saturday´s hiking everybody enjoyed the pleasant water in the swimming pool, the weather was wonderful, so we went to probably the most popular place of the project. After a few games in the afternoon and a short visit of the last Czech MISS we moved to the town where Turkish team was getting ready for their presentation. Lord Mayor of Reka, who helped us a lot with organising the project, was also a guest of the evening. The Turkish students prepared for us a presentation of Turkey, Antalya and other famous places, a hena night - or how a man asks a woman to marry him and typical Turkish dance. For those who have never been to Turkey it really must have been something quite new.
BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 - DAY 4

All kinds of projects have their favourite days which are whole day trips or activities connected with visiting new places and towns. On our journeys we could visit Side, Manavgat or Myra in Turkey, Toledo in Spain or Naples and Pompei in Italy and the same it was also during our camp. We prepared two whole day activities in the mountains and Saturday was the day of the first one. Our programme began in Trojanovice where we got on a cable car that took us up to Pustevny, a place famous for its folk culture. For the Latvians it might have been the highest mountain they got to :-) but I think that for the others it was also something unusual and new. The day was called "Learn about our culture and traditions" and the first task to do was prepared just in Pustevny. The mixed international groups were supposed to draw a picture of a folk building in Pustevny as they can imagine it after 50 years. Some groups did the work honestly, some others were not fond of such drawing very much. Maybe a lack of fantasy? :-) After a short break for buying souvenirs and snacks we walked on to the statue of Radegast and then to the Chapel of Cyril and Metodej. Although the programme was not very tiring, some of us hurt themselves either because of sun or because of terrain. The next stop on our way was an old wooden village of Roznov pod Radhostem. We were lucky as we could also see a performance of a folk dance group. The activities of the day were then carried on during the last days at the camp. Well, the day focused on Czech folk culture and traditions we finished with some shopping in Ostrava and then we returned back to the camp tired, hurt and sunburnt. The next whole day trip is going to come on Tuesday.


BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 - DAY 3
For Friday morning we planned sport activities - matches in volleyball and ringo, so we moved to the area of the Javor hotel to enjoy some sports. As there were two playgrounds, four teams played their matches and the rest could enjoy the water in the swimming pool (well, some people unvoluntarily...) Sport matches began first in mixed international teams, but later we changed it for national teams. The results of the matches are not important as much as the fact that everybody could try some sport. Some foreign campers have never seen ringo game before but they learned quickly. In the afternoon we set out for a walk in the near or far (hallo Armando :-) ) surroundings of Reka. Some people managed to get back for snack, the others had to hurry up to get dinner at least. The terrain research was thorough at least from biological point of view - dog-fleas, nettles and other delights of nature. The evening programme since Friday was formed by National performances and presentations and as the guest country we were the first to start. Our presentation consisted of Barca´s and Patrika´s dances, powerpoint presentations and role-play which was a mix of a most popular czech comedy and theatre (or rather a film) play by Vladka, Anicka, Rita and Gabriela. The Czech team finished its national evening with a polka dance. Then the baton was given to the second team - Turkey. Bedtime was scheduled for midnight, but we realised that not many people can read their watch :-)
BREAKING STEROTYPES 2008 - DAY 2

All the participants are accommodated, well, some of them (Italians and some Czechs) cannot stand very much that there is nobody from their country in their room :-) Well, that is the rule! Team leaders agreed on the same way of accommodation as in the previous camp in Turkey two years ago. The project day started with a traditional activity called "Fears and expectations", all teams also hang their posters about other countries. Almost whole the project day was about ice-breaking and team-building games, so that everybody could get to know with the others. The weather was great (I am not going to compare the Czech "great" weather to Turkish, Spanish or Italian....), so all the games were played outside. And what were the games? Well, for example "Circle of names", "Animals" (oops, it could have been a bit better to present animals, couldn´t it?) , "Tutti frutti" etc. Later in the afternoon we could also see some games in international groups with names and symbols they created.

4. 7. 2008


BREAKING STEROTYPES 2008 - DAY 1

Wednesday 18th June was the day when everything started. In the morning we brought all the necessary stuff to Reka, hang the banners and posters and as the first participants accommodated in the rooms. In the afternoon teams from Spain and Poland arrived. The Latvians stuck on their way as they got off the train in a different town than they were supposed to and the connections was a bit more difficult then. You know, it is not so difficult to get off at another station in spite of a good direction, is it? So the Latvians had to wait for the second bus which took them together with the Turkish and Italian group to the camp. In the evening we were complete and all the teams could get involved into project activities :-)

24. 6. 2008


BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008 IN RUN

Our youth project is at the second half now, everything goes smoothly. We managed to do almost all planned activities - ice-breaking games, volleyball and ringo matches, presentations of the Czech Republic, Turkey and Latvia, trip to Pustevny and Roznov connected with project activities etc. Yesterday we had a Day of national quisine, students cooked typical meals of their countries and tried what the others prepared. Now we are just on the second trip to Karvina, Mosty u Jablunkova and Hrcava - we are having the activities called "Places without borders". In the morning all participants visited the chateau in Karvina, now we are having lunch in Mosty and then we are going to the "triple border" in Hrcava - Trojmezi where the students will have activities connected with European borders. During the project we also had some visits - lord mayor of Reka and other representatives of the village and our ex-student Zuzana Jandova, who is MISS Czech Republic 2008. Students are enjoying the camp, we are also lucky with the weather. Tonight the Spanish group is organising their presentation, tomorrow the Polish and the Italians will complete the presentation activities.

15. 6. 2008

Greetings from Czech Republic

Hi, Spanish group! We are glad to see you in our blog! :)
Our preparations for a camp are finished ! We are looking forward to all groups! Have a good journey to CZ, see you in camp!:)

12. 6. 2008

Hi! we are the Spanish group. We are from Fuenlabrada, some of you have already been here in November : ). We are very glad and happy for can go there and see you another time. Here is our photo:

We are José Ángel (on the left), Adrián Bernabéu, Itziar and Adrián Angelina (who are sitting), Pilar, Raúl and our teacher Lucio. Cheerssss!

We wish see you soon, we are looking forward to it. Bye!!!

25. 5. 2008

PRELIMINARY MEETING
Team leaders from the Czech Republic, Turkey, Spain, Latvia and Poland met at the preliminary meeting of the BS 2008 project. They had a meeting with the headmaster of the school, then the girls from our Euroteam guided them round the school. In the afternoon we went to Řeka and had our first workshop. After dinner the team leaders went to see the campsite and surroundings. We finished the day by watching a film from a Socrates meeting in Portugal. The second project day started with the next workshop and discussion over the camp rules, accommodation, travel details, participants and the programme. Then we went for lunch to Komorní Lhotka where we also had a walk. Afternoon continued in Řeka then where we went to see the bedrooms, kitchen and other rooms in the camp building. We spent the evening in Hnojník at a country festival then. On Sunday those team leaders who stayed did some sightseeings in Těrlicko, Havířov and Karviná. The preliminary meeting is over, let´s look forward to the camp!

20. 5. 2008

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Four weeks before the beginning of the project meeting in Reka the number of boys and girls seems to be clear. Two teams are going to bring only girls to the camp - Italy and the Czech Republic. The Latvian and Turkish team will be made of 2 boys and 4 girls, the Polish group is going to take 3 boys and 3 girls and finally the Spanish are bringing 4 boys and 2 girls.

18. 5. 2008


CZECH TEAM PREPARATORY WEEKEND

The Czech team of the Breaking Stereotypes 2008 spent a preparatory weekend at a tourist cottage in the Girova mountain. We were working on the programme of the camp, walked in the mountains to Hrcava and Trojmezi which are the most easterly places of the Czech republic as well as the places of our project activities. In our free time we also had a bonfire and enjoyed breathing fresh mountain air. Except Friday when we unsuccesfully tried to hide from heavy rain we were lucky with the weather, so the walks in the mountains were quite nice.

8. 5. 2008

PROGRAMME OF THE CAMP
Here is a sketch of the programme of the camp. The project includes a lot af activities, here are just some of them. You will enjoy not only sport games, hiking, EU tasks programme, debates, cultural performances, national evening programmes prepared by the other participants but hopefully a lot of fun and entertainment, too!
June 18 - arrivals, ice-breaking games
June 19 - making teams, ice-breaking and team-making games, host country evening programme
June 20 - sport activities, Treasure hunt, 1st partner country evening
June 21 - "Learn about the Czech culture and traditions" - whole day trip around region
June 22 - sport team activities, relaxing afternoon, 2nd partner country evening
June 23 - sport team activities, National quisine day, 3rd partner country evening
June 24 - "Bordering towns" whole day activity, visiting places on the border with Poland and Slovakia, 4th partner country evening
June 25 - sport activities, hiking with games, 5th partner country evening
June 26 - The day of games, outdoor games, Eurogames, bonfire
June 27 - Evaluation games, farewell lunch, departures
PROGRAMME OF THE PRELIMINARY MEETING

The preliminary meeting will take place in May 23-25 in Karvina and Reka and each participating team will be represented by its team leader.

May 23 - arrivals, visiting Karvina, departure for Reka
May 24 - discussions over the programme of the camp, establishing rules,arranging arrivals of all participants, organisational stuff. Later on visiting the campsite and the surroundings, walk in the mountains
May 25 - departure for Karvina, sightseeing Karvina - the centre, town square, spa park, departures

PARTICIPANTS

Youth project Breaking Stereotypes 2008 will welcome youngs people from the following countries: Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Spain and Turkey. There will be 6 young participants from each country together with their team leaders. The project will be held from June 18 to June 27, 2008 in Reka, a nice place under the Beskydy mountains.
BREAKING STEREOTYPES 2008

Hallo and welcome to the Breaking Stereotypes 2008 blog. Here you will find all kinds of information about the Youth project which is organised by EDUCA and EUROTEAM (Czech Republic) and will take place in Reka at the end of June 2008. Enjoy the blog, you are welcome to add your comments and stories.