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Day 9 16 February 2008 |
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When I applied for this job I could not know that I would be exceptionally lucky. I became the member of the media workshop ex officio and I had no idea who the other workshop members would be, thus I counted with working alone 24/7. Fortunately, my group mates have been incredibly keen on doing computer work so that the composition of the Travelogue went fluently and creatively. We discussed each new idea that popped up and most of the time we agreed on the best ones unanimously. As usual in team works, ours also could not have avoided some professional dilemmas regarding our working methods and ways of elaboration, however we were united in our final goals and we could end up with acceptable compromises. We all believe that the homepage will satisfy the previous expectations and it will give back the activities and moods of our study trip as realistic as possible. As of this time we are about to produce a podcast, with the kind and expert guidance of Ann, our workshop leader. Another task of mine has been the distribution of required equipment among the workshops. While fulfilling this, I functioned according to the classic rules of economics: I restored the fragile equilibrium between demand and supply. For example, if a workshop needed a voice recorder, which could be found �on the other end� of the island, I provided them with it. It has been an exciting work that highlighted the importance of being a computer expert nowadays is rather a must than a pleasant advantage. In addition, it was a very useful working experience as well. Balázs Tatár (Hungarian Group)
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Evening Activities on Achill While staying in Achill, we organized several happenings in the evenings. We had every night to organize an event for ourselves. So it was up to the participants to find something to do. There where almost every evening a couple of people meeting in a cottage sitting together, talking and, through this getting to know each other better. There was also every evening some people meeting in the Annexe Inn, playing pool, mixing up with getting to know and talking to local people. One evening we enjoyed traditional Irish music played by a home music formation called 'Oileán'. They performed a concert for us, usually you have to pay for them, but Stephen Manning, a dear Achiller managed to organize a free gig for us. Special thanks to him! The Annexe was also the place for the karaoke-party organized by our Social-Language-Diversity-Manager, Ugnius Aidas. We had there a lot of fun! Ieva Vengrauskaite (Lithuanian Group)  |
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Cultural Artefacts Workshop Even if we are often not aware of it, most of us have already met somehow Irish artefacts as they are widespread all over Europe. What are exactly cultural artefacts? They are human made, traditional cultural things, including tools, archaeological ruins and findings, instruments for decoration or entertainment, objects related to religion, clothing, housing or architecture. The Celtic cross, the special fences, decoration of graves, different kind of jewelleries and woollen craftwork all belong to this category. The aim of our workshop was to look for these traditional things on Achill Island, to collect them, to try to find their origin, how they changed during the history and what they are used for. For me it was like being a detective trying to find the traps of a foreign culture. We also compare the Irish artefacts with characteristic artefacts of our countries. Artefacts always tell us information about culture, traditions and also about the users. We realised that artefacts on the island are strongly related to the environment here, showing a close relationship between man and nature. Roofs of houses were built in a special way to protect against the wind, the fences are structured to keep the sheep away and even the dominant colours of art (e.g. pottery) are blue and green, referring to the green grass, to the sea and to the sky. In the contents of our workshop we could have a look at the beautiful paintings and photos in the gallery, visited the deserted village and the old cemetery looking for historical and religious artefacts and we also had interesting interviews with locals who invited us to their houses to show us their typical Irish artefacts. Enikö Ravasz (Hungarian Group) |
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Critical Incidents Real intercultural stories
Germany Spain
This year I stayed 7 months in Spain (East Coast) as an Erasmus student. I have never visited Spain and I have never learnt the language. Without preparing myself for different cultural understanding I went the first day to university where I had a reunion with all the other Erasmus. A lot of teacher were there and our partner students who should help us to acclimatise. As a German I went, with outstretched arm, towards a group to say hello..and the last thing I can remember was, that I was kissed many time by students and even teacher. I did not expect that! In the afternoon my flatmate told me, that our teacher asked her if I do not like to be there. Only because I called my teacher by the last name (not first!) and didn�t want to kiss her (left-right). The next day at university I clarified it. And of course, could enjoy the exchange until the last day!
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page by Aneta Przewożna and Balázs Tatár |
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Documentation and Equipment Manager
