After the first night in Iasi all project members had their first official meeting at the hotel. They walked, led by the Romanians, to the school „Liceul Teoretic Dimitrie Cantemir“, where every group presented its own school and Erasmus+ projects to the others. Then we had a lunch break and played our first game called "fishing game". There the pupils had to think about sustainability and improve their team skills. In the afternoon were two activities planned. The Italian group prepared the individual parts and explained how to build a beehive with them. At the same time, the Germans showed us how to construct a willow fence to decorate and protect a garden. We placed the finished fences in the school garden around the flowers and took a group photo with the final result. After this long day, we were very hungry and decided to visit the mall, eat together and come in touch with each other.
On the second day, the atmosphere was much more casual and the country groups mixed with others. The host team in their school prepared our next challenge again and we had to build a vertical garden. To do so the teams were randomly mixed to get to know the students from the other countries a bit better. While one team was colouring the wooden planks similar to the flags of the participating countries, the other group was painting halves of plastic bottles to put the flowers inside. All the parts were put together and the result made us happy and proud. Now it represents the network of the European countries through a small project in a Romanian school garden and a big meaning for all of us. In the afternoon, the Romanians organized a city-tour with a very funny and friendly guide. We learnt a lot about the history and development of Romania and especially the city Iasi. Like the day before we went to the mall to have meal together. To make the evening to a perfect one, the host students showed us some trendy pubs and we had a lot of fun.
On our last day together, we made a trip to a beekeeper and honey producer in the proximity of Iasi. There we learnt a lot about the production and marketing of the different types of Romanian honey. After the presentation, the owners prepared samples of honey for us. Then we went to the botanical garden where we discovered different plant species collected in a wonderful park. There we had the challenge to take photos of different types of plants, animals and special places. After three hours of leisure time the last evening started. We were invited to eat in the Trajan hotel and enjoy the time together. After dinner everyone got a present and the certificate of participation. As one of the students and two teachers had their birthdays we all celebrated with them. This last evening improved the team spirit a lot and new friendships began to grow.
We are very thankful for this great experience and the amazing organisation and hospitality of the Romanian team.
Angelika Trickl & Hannah Meier
