Exchange with Holland

Finally I have weekend after a long, but very exciting week. Our exchange began nov 6th, when 3 classes from 3 different countries arrived to Skals Efterskole - more specific Holland, Ireland and Italy.

It is always difficult to start a conversation in the beginning. You've just meet each other, so what should you talk about when the communication is a bit difficult? The biggest challenge has diffently been talking english with the exchange students. I have been really interested in knowing the other cultures etc, but it has been difficult to communicate, when people are not very good speaking english.
... But! That is only one bad thing compared to all the good things, I've experienced. I think it has been amazing to see, how people has developed themselves during the week. How they were a bit shy the first days, and after the weekend everyone was talking together... Pretty cool!
The nice thing with exchange is, that you'll get new friends from other countries. And even though it might be difficult understanding each other sometimes, I think it is a gift and a very big possibility to learn something new.

I'm already looking forward to the exchange week in Holland in March. I think it's going to be very exciting!

Evaluation of 23.10.08

Today has been a very different day from the other days in this week.
Yesterday I didn't write an evalution - or, I actually did, but I couldn't save it and now it is pointless writing it all again. All I can say is, that yesterday and today has been the most exciting days so fare in this week.
Finally, Rebecca, Thea and I has made our Comenius project finished. Our presentation will take place on monday, so we have still time to rehearse. It has been taking very long time, but I've learned quite a lot about stress and daily habbits, so it's okay. I'm just a bit disappointed that we were told by Lars, that the romanian group didn't do their presentation as we did... Now we're the only one, who's going to present on monday.

And the very big thing of today is of course our guests from Romania. My 2 partners from Spain will arrive today - this evening, and I'm looking very much forward to meet them!

SIP FTW :D

Should abortion be allowed in the EU or not?

I actually don't know. I can see both good and bad things.
In case that you've been raped, it is fair to get an abortion - because you didn't choose yourself to get pregnant. If abortion wasn't allowed in the EU, I believe, that raped girls would try to find other ways making an abortion - which is very bad and not safe.
The bad thing about free abortion is, that if you've got pregnant and didn't use protection when you had sex - then it is your own mistake. You should always protect yourself!
When I'm thinking about free abortion or not, I might say that I think the best thing would be having free abortion. It's the most save, and even though some girls might have an abortion only because they didn't protect them selve as they should do, I think it'll be the best solution for girls, who has been raped. Thinking about how they must feel in their situation makes me feel terrible.
Still, after thinking about my own opinion, this is a topic you can discuss with many different angles. I hope that I'll never come to the situation, where I have to use an abortion or not!

Evaluation of 21.10.08

My group was supposed to make a welcome for our guests from Romania and Spain. Lars told us yesterday, that he would talk with us about our task, because we didn't know what to do - and since Lars haven't been here today, we haven't made a welcome for our guests.
Insteed of that we have been talking in our old group about the Comenius project, so we're trying to get that finished.
I really look forward to make a new project, because this is honestly to boring. And I think that we didn't get enough information for today - and the steering group couldn't help us at all, because they didn't really know more than we did.
I hope it will be better tomorrow.

My personal point of focus

During the next projects I will be more serious and try to work harder. I will try to talk english in all SIP-lessons and in the studyhour - even though it's difficult to remember sometimes, when most of us is danish students. Sometimes I think it's difficult to be consentrated at the morning - even though I get enough sleep at night - so in the coming projects I'll try to be more focused in the first lessons on SIP before the first break.

Home for the first time...

in 14 days and suddenly you realize, how boring it is being home with nothing to do (if I told my mum, that I was bored, I'm sure she would give me some duties). And for the second time I realize how quiet it is at home - and how many things that happens on Skals Efterskole. The difference between my room at home and my room at the school is so big - first of all I'm sharing it with 3 other students, but it has also another personality and another way to live. You can't expect being alone at your room and you can't just leave your stuff at the table thinking that your mum will come and take it away. The only things that is mine is my dresser, my bed and a shelf for school books and other stuff. And even though those 3 things is mine, I still have to make it look nice and still it's only mine for 10 monts, so I have to treat it well.
You may ask yourself, whether you'll get tired of everything at a boarding school when nothing is your own? Well, the answer must be yes and no. You'll always need something that's your own, but at the same time you need to share everything with other girls, and I think that's cool. And I can honestly not imagine how it will be turning back to real life in july 2009, when I'm done with this year. It is with out a doubt my home, and I love it. This is where I love to be - so can't is just be sunday to day, so I can see all my friends again?

- Written by a real 'efterskole' girl. (:

Hey!

My name is Julie and I'm 16 years old. I'm a SIP-student at Skals Efterskole - a boarding school near Viborg in Denmark. This is my second year at SE, and I love being here. It's very special to be on a boarding school - and Denmark is one of the only countries, who has these kinds of schools. Being on a boarding school means, that you're sleeping, eating and going to school together. There are 4 students at each room and 16 students at each floor. As I said, this is my second and last year at this school. Usually you only take one year at a boarding school.

I was told by my teachers to get a profile on www.blogger.com because my class is going on exchange to Ireland, and we're about to write with our partners before meeting. But you're still welcome to write, I won't bite.

- Julie.