England

Comenius Project Culture guide

Intercultural dialogue

through music

Meeting in Birmingham, England November 17th– 21st 2009

Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. It is the most populous British city outside London with a population of 1,016,800.

Birmingham was the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England, a fact which led to it being known as "the workshop of the world" or the "city of a thousand trades".

Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined, it has developed into a national commercial centre, being named as the second-best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business. Birmingham is a national hub for conferences, retail and events along with an established high tech, research and development sector, supported by its three Universities. It is also the fourth-most visited city by foreign visitors in the UK, has the second-largest city economy in the UK and is often referred to as the Second City. It is also home to the largest shopping centre in Europe which is called the Bullring.

Italian student’s Impressions : Youness This year I am really happy because I could realize my dream of going to England, I went with the Comenius project, Comenius is a musical project to which take part some European schools included ours. This journey allowed me to meet many kids of different nationalities. The great thing is that we could understand each other although we had some difficulties with the English language.

The first day we arrived there we were welcomed into their school, I liked the organization of their school very much, unlike ours they have a class for each school subject and then move continuously from one class to another. their classes are more equipped then ours.

The second day we went to visit Cadbury, a chocolate factory, inside there is a nice museum on the history of chocolate...

in the evening we went to visit the Black Country a museum about life in England at the beginning of the century, I liked it very much because I remembered the story of Oliver Twist.

The next day we visited Birmingham, the city where we stayed. I liked city centre very much because it was full of colourful stalls, where you can find everything you need.

Italian student’s Impressions : Aziz On November 17’ I went to Birmingham in England with my classmate and three teachers for the Comenius project “intercultural dialogue through music”. We went there by plane. the flight was not long, it was very comfortable. When we arrived one thing which surprised me was the drive on the left.

I don’t like British climate because it’s often rainy and cold but the people are very nice and friendly . We stayed at the Apollo hotel.

Birmingham is a beautiful town. A place where we had great fun was in the bowling, we also enjoyed our visit to the bullring where we did a lot of shopping .

I liked very much the visit to the " black country" a reconstruction of the old English way of life. Our tour guide was really nice and funny.In the evening we had dinner in a Chinese restaurant.

In my journey I loved England and Birmingham, it's wonderful but I don't like English taps because hot and cold water are separated so we cannot have warm water.

On Friday we had a concert ,each group was very good.

On Friday evening we stayed at the hotel with our European friends, we had great fun.

When we left from England to Italy we were tired and very sad. it was a wonderful experience, we hope to have the opportunity to go there again.

England By Poniatowa From 17th to 21st of November 2009 we and our teachers were in Birmingham where the international meeting took place. It was the meeting within the framework of Comenius Music Project. It was a wonderful time for us. We met new people and we made new friends with students from Germany, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy and Cyprus. During our staying in Birmingham we visited many interesting places, such as: Cadbury World – the chocolate factory, The Black Country Museum – where we had a chance to see how life looked like 100 years ago. We were also in Stratford-upon-Avon where Shakespeare was born. Apart from sightseeing we also worked very hard preparing to the final concert which took place on 20th of November. We sang three Polish patriotic songs.

And finally 21st of November came. It was a special day for most of us – it was the first time we had seen London. It was such a wonderful experience. We saw Big Ben, London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. Exhausted but happy we arrived to London-Luton Airport. We thought that it would only be more or less 5-hour- journey and we would be at home. But nothing like that happened. Because of the weather we had to land in Gdansk and our journey lasted 7 hours longer than we expected. Even though it was the best trip in our lives and we will never forget this special event.

United Kingdom by Tereza Komárková (CZ) Let’s focus on the differences that we can find between the UK and the Czech Republic.

The most obvious one: the United Kingdom is an insular constitutional monarchy with the queen (Elizabeth II) being the head of state.

The Czech Republic, on the other hand, is a landlocked republic with the president (Václav Klaus).

Transport: What comes to my mind now? Yes! Double-deckers that you cannot overlook. To me they represent an optimistic red contrast to the typical bad weather. Red colour is the most visible one in the fog. Also, the English drive on the left which can be really tricky for a person from the Continent. However, we used to do it the same way until WW II. And, of course, you cannot find double-deckers in our country.

Weather: Better in the Czech Republic. Less water pouring on people… which brings about lower resistance to cold for the Czech people.

Food: Typical English food is fish and chips. You

also should not miss vinegar crisps. Cool! Our typical food is beef with creamy sauce and six dumplings as well as pork, cabbage and dumplings (again). Guess which is healthier. ;-p Drinks: The British population traditionally drinks green or black tea whereas wine and beer are more popular with the Czech people.

Lifestyle: People in Britain like gardening as well as repairing their homes. And here comes the difference: an average Englishman lives in his own house, not in a flat.

Also, British dry humour is really specific.

Accommodation: The English usually live in brick houses, i.e. red buildings, while in our country each house has a different colour. Their houses are two-storey while ours are bigger, two-generation types. The English say: "My house is my castle..." Absolutely!

Traditions: They have famous holidays, e.g. St. Valentine’s Day or Halloween. We traditionally celebrate the Easter or the Mother’s Day but not the two British ones.

Sports: England is the birthplace of football. They also play cricket. Typical Czech sports are ice-hockey and volleyball.

Great Britain vs. Czech Republic – A New Experience by Jan Pavlíček (CZ) You know… I’m from Brno and it’s a really small city. I know what it is like living in a big city (I’ve been to Berlin or Vienna) but still, Birmingham and London amazed me! Awesome cities, awesome people… The first thing which caught my eye was not cars on the left side but a lady who said, “Sorry,” when she hit me by mistake which was weird but it was in English and in England. A change! And also, in my hometown, people are in urry so they do not apologize :-p . Then the hotel. It was super. I love eating so I ate everything because we should try everything new! Something it was really cool but sometimes… You know, I’m not universal. ;-) However, I know you want to know about the differences. Well, I think they are not so big, people are people, maybe more foreigners than in my country, but I’m not from Prague, our capital, you know. However, when I came back to Brno I still speak English, everyday, at school or on the Internet so England gave me strong motivation and experience with languages (I met many people from over eight different countries). I am really glad I could be in this project.

My Stay in England By Jan Sára Jerwanová (CZ) It was my first stay in England and I am really very happy that I participated in the project.

England is a wonderful place! It counts among my favourite countries! Birmingham is a beautiful city with many shops (everything was cheap compared to the Czech Republic!) and in November, there were beautiful Christmas decorations. Also, the people seemed very friendly, helpful and kind. The streets were crowded by people who were shopping for Christmas presents and it surprised me that a lot of people went jogging in the streets or parks, which is something that you will not see in the Czech Republic. As for other differences, British food is really very different to ours and what I find interesting is driving on the left as well as the double-decker buses!

While in the UK, we could see the school which is very nice, though small, with small classes, but really cosy. Our stay there was wellorganized; we were given some free time for shopping. The last day we went to London.

We did not have much time as we were almost running sightseeing not to miss something important. Certainly, I am going to return to England, mainly to London because I would like to see more sights there. We met many new peers from different countries. I will never forget. ;-)

Great Britain 009 by Lucie Štachová (CZ) In November 2009, my friends Sára, Tereza and Honza, our teacher and I visited England. We experienced a lot of adventures, met a lot of new people and saw interesting monuments. We lived in Birmingham, at a hotel called Apollo.

Birmingham is a very beautiful city. I liked the red double-deckers very much and I was excited when I saw the clothes and jewellery in the shops.

Day 1. Our arrival.

Day 2. A walk to the city centre of Birmingham. I liked the Christmas stalls because I love Christmas.

Day 3. We were shown the local school by the students. Then we drew T-shirts with flags of your country. In the afternoon we went to a chocolate factory.

Day 4. I was very tired but we went to the trip to Black Country Museum and I enjoyed it very much. In the evening we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant which we tried to eat with Chinese chopsticks. Hahaha.

Day 5. There was a trip to Stratford where Shakespeare was born. I liked a small shop with Christmas decorations. I was there about an hour. In the evening, we gave a concert.

When the students from the English school sang, my heart sank.

Day 6. A trip to London. We saw the famous monuments, such as Big Ben, London Eye and Tower Bridge. I was a bit disappointed that we could not stay longer.

Day 7. Departure. I look forward to my family and friends but I will miss you.

England by Bulgarians Almost everyone who is a teenager today has heard in their childhood the phrase “The big European family” And when several years ago I heard this myself, I wondered: “What do they mean? What kind of family is this? ” But when we went to England I understood …

We were amazed by their world and their culture, so different from ours. It was beautiful…

But then we managed to show our own culture to many people from different countries.

We saw how charmed were they. Then we felt valuable.

We were part of it all…

We found that people in other countries are not so different from us. We had fun like we already knew each other.

I saw a real example of the “European Family�

England by Gdynia: After the meeting in Birmingham I believe the Comenius program is really great. We all learn to sing and later we go to different countries to present what we have prepared – our national and folk songs.

I went to the project meeting in England – it was very interesting. During the meeting all the students and teachers visited different interesting places such as the chocolate factory, beautiful and large London where we could see and admire Big Ben, other famous sights and also see the change of the guards. Besides, we went bowling and we also went shopping in a very big shopping centre. It was so big that after hours of walking and shopping there my legs hurt!

We enjoyed the visit in St. George’s school in Edgbaston and all the workshops – vocal and art ones. I liked singing folk songs and painting flags on T-shirts.. In my opinion the project concert was a successful and amazing event. I really loved it all.

By Karolina Lipka

The meeting in England was a really great experience. Each day was full of attractions including the visit in an old Victorian city or in Cadbury’s World. The Concert was great and the people we met were fascinating. I will remember that Comenius meeting for a long time.

By Marta Górka

We were in Birmingham by Slovenia On the 19th of November 2009 the five of us, Teja, Monika, my music teacher, my English teacher and I, drove to the Zagreb airport.

We were early, so we had a snack while waiting for the plane. After that we checked in and flew to the Luton airport, which is near London. Then we were taken to Birmingham together with the Italian school, where all other schools were waiting for us. First we unpacked our luggage in rooms and then we went to St. Georges school, where we were having dinner together with the hosting teachers and parents. There were schools from different countries, such as Cyprus, Poland, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, England and Slovenia of course.

In the morning we took a look at a Chocolate factory called Cadbury. It was really interesting and the chocolate was absolutely delicious. Then we had a rehearsal. I played a borrowed guitar and Monika, Teja and our teacher sang.

The next day we saw a »Black country museum« which presented how people lived and how school worked in the past. It was really nice because our guide was such a funny guy. In the evening we went to the centre of Birmingham and did some shopping. I bought a few T-shirts and DVDs. It's a huge city with a population of 7 million people.

On the last day of our stay we had an intercultural show together with other schools.

Each school played or sang a few national songs. People adored us for our unique performance, even Birmingham's mayor came to see the concert. After our last dinner, which was really delicious with various traditional English dishes, the school van took us back to Luton , where we spent a short night in a very a comfortable hotel. Early in the morning we flew back to Zagreb and we were looking forward to see our families again in Slovenske Konjice.

We had a really nice time in England !

Alen Kovše, 1.b