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Day 6 13 February 2008 |
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My job as Catering Manager starts a couple days before we arrived on Ireland. We needed food and beverages for over 39 participants so I searched for old catering calculations I took some time in advance and contacted the supermarket on Achill one week before. After a lot of E-Mails, calls and faxes to Katja our supervisor, the owner of the supermarket and Sean Connan I orderd the first food and beverages. Keeping all the time the importance of the reception party in my mind I hoped every group will bring some traditional food, beverages and objects with them. It worked very well and the reception party was a big success. Thanks to all students who helped me out to prepare the food. During the week, I have to care that every participant has enough basic food like bread, milk etc. in their cottage. That sounds easier as it really is because we have a lot of activities during the day so I often stand in front of a closed cottage. In that way, my day began a little earlier to make sure to catch every resident before leaving their cottages. As Catering Manager you are not allowed to sleep and have to take care that no cottage left out of food. However, I like my job and enjoy our trip very much. Annika Zigan (German Group) |
Lunchtime Lecture Today I attended a lecture on national stereotypes. It was extremely interesting especially as I was able to see how other country�s see my country. I was surprised to see certain things mentioned which I would have never classed with my country and culture. This helped my understanding of stereotypes and also of my own image. Stereotypes raised many people didn�t associate with their own country. Many stereotypes that I have never heard of before were raised. It was especially interesting to discover how different people saw their own countries. The lecture tried to develop an understanding of how and why stereotypes exist. Media such as film and television give us how I feel the main reason behind stereotypes occurring. We achieved this through a variety of exercises. The first one of which we had to finish several sentences. For example in Germany� and then we completed the sentence. For some instances the answers were the same. However in different cases the answers were very varied. For the English everyone said something different and then what Paul considered other countries saw him were very different. Overall it was a very good lecture. Vytautas Ganiprauskas (Lithuanian Group) |
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Achill Island � an overwhelming experience of nature!
In Ireland the landscape is fabulous! While driving across Achill we saw many different hills and mountains. It is like nothing I have ever seen. Around every turn there is a different lake. The landscape is greener than I imagined. I was surprised to see so many sheep walking free around Achill. As we approached the cottages we could see that there was little buildings and not like the once we had seen in Dublin. Today we went on a tour of the island. It was unexpected to see several beaches so close to where we are staying. There are many beaches on the island and each seems to have something different to offer. The beach across from our cottages is very long and has many stones. Another beach we went to was much smaller but had less stones and the view across from the beach was great! To see mountains, sea, and sand is an experience I have never had before. The other side of the island also offered us the chance to see a cliff face where the waves were very high. We were also told of rocks in the sea which made strange patterns. It was a long ride and interessting ride along the island which is very unique and awesome. Justina Simanaviciute & Birute Kurlaviciute (Lithuanian Group)
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Critical Incidents Real intercultural stories
Hungary Belgium
In high school, I was a proud member of the well-renowned choir of the Reformed Grammar School of Sárospatak, Hungary. Thanks to our enthusiastic leader, we had the chance to enter competitions abroad and in 2001 we successfully qualified for a famous choir-contest in Belgium. To raise funds or simply to �pay� for lodgement, we often gave various �talent-shows�, in which each choir member performed some way. On our way to Belgium, thanks to the connections of the school, we were hosted by a very devout protestant community and its high school. It began to be weird when they required us to perform our show in front of a committee of the school before the real performance. Then they forbid any contact of bodies on scene! We performed love duets originally sung with holding hands, modern and classic dance and many other scenes where physical contact was unavoidable. We were devastated, they even banned trousers for the girls. Later, it became obvious that not only the school board but the whole village shared these ideas. |
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page by Aneta Przewożna and Balázs Tatár
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