Our students Julián, Nuria, María and Elena, travelled to Tampere, Finland, accompanied by the teachers César and Carmen and tell us their experiences.

Elena Pérez de Rubín Jiménez

My experience in Comenius

My name is Elena, and I am going to talk about my experience in the Comenius proyect in Tampere, Finland.

I have been 6 days in Finland, and I have to say it was a great experience. I enjoyed very much the city and the people I have met there, everybody have been very kind with me.

Thanks to this experience, I have learned many things such as people with different culture, amazing landscapes of Tampere (very different from my city, Malaga) and I have improved my English very much.

I’m looking forward for all the people that are coming in March in Malaga, I am sure it will be a great experience too.

Julián Galán Manzano 1º BACH B

I would describe my trip to Finland as AMAZING. Everything there was fantastic: the school, the people, the teachers. But, I am going to explian it to you in an organised way. The school was really amazing because it was so big and modern. There are a lot of differences between Finish high schools and Spanish high schools, for example: the organisation of timetables is different. In general, they have more free time and more freedom. Something that drew my attention was the fact that breakfast is free for students and teachers. But the best of Finland is people. Finish people are really kind and nice with everyone. Some people say that people from Finalnd are cold, but they are exactly the opposite, they are very close people and they are very helpful.

During this trip I have met other people from different countries such as Italian people, English people … and everyone, no matter their nacionality, were really likeable and friendly. We tavelled with our teachers Mamen and Cesar, who took care of us and treated us so well, they are amazing!. My host family was incredible and suchgood people, so kind and attentive with me. And something that I will never forget is the day we went to a typical Finish sauna and we swam in a frozen lake, it was something new and really extreme.

To sum up, I just can say that this has been a trip that I will never forget and I would describe it as the trip of a lifetime.

Nuria Berdugo Gómez

Hi! My name is Nuria. I’m one of the eighteen students who have had the opportunity to participate in Comenius project. I’m going to tell you about my experience with Comenius, to encourage you to take part.

I went to Tampere, in Finland. It was such a beautiful place! Finland is very different from Malaga, it has a lot of forests and lakes, and it looks very beautiful covered with snow. It’s true that in finland it’s cold, we had -24º one day! But if you keep yourself warm it’s bearable, Im colder here in Malaga than there.

On the first day we were very tired but when we arrived in Tampere and we saw the snow all the tiredness disappeared and we became so excited. Until I touched the snow I couldn’t believe that I was there.

When we left the airport I went to the school and I went with my host, Linnea, to her lessons. She had dance class, so it was very good fun. In the evening I met the family and they were very pleasant.

Their school was amazing; in the classes there wasn’t so many people as in Malaga, they had a lot of material in their library, in their art class, in their music class ( even more than 3 pianos and a drum set!) … and they had areas where they can rest with sofas, tables and computers in the corridors, but the most atonishing thing for me was that they left their bags and coats in the corridors.

The next days, we were all together in the mornings. We had some lectures and we worked on the different educational systems. We also went for a walk to visit a tower near the school. From the top of the tower there was a beautiful view. On other day we went to the Kuru school of foresty, we went for a walk and we took photos in a big area full of snow. It was very beautiful!

In the evenings we also had a great time, we went ice skating, sledging, shopping and on the coldest day we went to the sauna and ice swimming! Outside the temperature was so cold that when we went outside our hair froze, but it was very good fun!!

On the last day until the other comenius students left, we went to some museums in the morning and in the evening I went with elena and some guys to buy souvenirs and to sledge. It was snowing and the snow went into our eyes. Later, we went to the school and we had a farewell party; we ate, sang and danced and we played a game about zombies who run after humans to turn them into zombies. We had a great time but it was also a little sad because we had to say goodbay to each other.

On sunday I spent the morning with the family. Linnea, her brother and I went to a hill to do sledging and it was great, but I fell off the sledge many times! In the evening we met the other people at ‘Megazone’ and we played laser tag. It was awesome!!

On monday morning we had to leave, but I didn’t want to go. Maybe I didn’t talk a lot with the other students, but I have met so many very nice and amusing people who I’ll never forget, and I had a superb time there! I’ll never forget this trip, I hope to go there again and see all of them!

María Díaz

First of all, thanks to all those people who have made this incredible experience possible.

I never thought to participate in a project like this, and travel to a different country. Finland is fantastic, and people are kind and very friendly. And the landscape is amazing, very different from Spain. I had never seen so much snow in my life!

When I arrived at the airport, my friends and I were so nervous. At first, speaking English was very difficult and it was harder to understand. So I had to strive and try to speak English better and more often with the others. And finally, I finished thinking in English, and talk in Spanish with my parents was strange.

With respect to the activities, I think they were perfect. The best, no doubt, was the party. Everybody dancing, singing, laughing… and obviously, taking photos to remember that moment. But the worst part was when we had to leave and say goodbye to everybody, we cry a lot and it was impossible for me to separate from them. I want to return!

I would like to stay more days in Tampere but those few days have been unforgettable. Thanks a lot to make me the happier person of the world!

Spanish students with identical twin sisters from Tampere

Elena, Nuria, María and Julián during lunch time.

Trip to National Park