A final farewell!

As our visit to Romania is coming to an end, we aren't particularly looking forward to writing these lines. Our last full day was spent at Pipera, where we sorted out paper work, were given references and made it into the "Book of Honour". After a large number of photographs in uniform (yes suit and tie in nearly 40 degree heat aswell as Niall's rather tight year 9trousers) we enjoyed our final moments with the kids and staff. 

In the evening we were treated to yet another meal at one of Mr Mischie's restaurants with the families and our staff. Once again the food was wonderful and the company even better. We were even fortunate to get a guided tour round the kitchen by Daniel Mischie himself!

After this, followed some frantic packing and a last night in Bucharest. In the morning we returned to breakfast at school, had a few tearful farewells before going to the airport for our journey home. 

We would now like to individually thank everyone...

Matthew:

Well, I can quite honestly say my time in Bucharest has been the high point of my life! The country, culture and most importantly the people have been truly amazing, and some of the friends I have made will remain friends for a very long time! It has been a privilege and an honour, and I cannot sing the praises of Romania and her people enough! One quickly runs out of overused clichés and positive adjectives!

An enormous thank you to Scarborough College and The Olga Gudynn International School, as well as special thanks to Nana Osman (despite her bloody accent), Cristina Binciu (for everything), and the wonderful Tigau family; Nicoleta, Florin, David and Olivia.

Multumesc, La revedere și noroc!

Niall:

I've sat down to try and write this many times, but I fail. No matter what I write I can't seem to do it justice. I won't write Romania was a utopia, because it wasn't. I wont write it was a paradise and everything was perfect, because it wasn't. But I will write I loved every single moment good or bad, because I did. However the only bad moment I can recall is calming down a over-hyped 6 year old angry I beat him at arm wrestling, but that was just part of the job (to deal with being the kid, not to beat the kids at arm wrestling).

Arriving in Romania I had no idea what to expect, it was a complete step beyond, but as soon as I was greeted by my lovely host family at the airport - I knew everything would be fine. In between then and now, I've experienced a blond Robby Williams in a kilt, the poshest Tripe soup you could imagine and a cheeky swig of Palinka. And I can honestly say this experience has changed my understanding of the world, never before would I have imagined going to Romania, or have imagined it being one of the best times of my life, but it was. And even though it is true, there are horse and carts and depressing Ceausecu built tower blocks - it all adds to the intriguing aesthetics of the country. A unique culture and ethos which can only be understood after a traditional midnight swim followed by mango ice cream, watermelon and Ursus. A culture which is carried on throughout the turbulent ages by the proud Romanian people. Some of whom I have the privilege to call my friends and all of whom were some of the best, truest and lovely people I had ever met. I can't thank them, my host family included, and Olga Gudynn enough. Olga Gudynn has excellent facilities and staff - the best I've ever seen, and it created a unique atmosphere which mixed education and fun. I know I had a lot of fun, and learnt a lot along the way, to use a well know phrase, not only did I teach them, but we learnt together.

I can honestly say just like any trip, Romania would just be a place without the people. The people made the trip what it was, not the nice food or cheap beer (50 cents), but I'm sure that helped. So, without writing a 1000 different ways to say thank you, thank you to Olga Gudynn, Dana, Nana, Cristina, the entire Radoi family, Robbie WIlliams, Emil, all the staff at the school and last but not least, the kids. 

I hope you don't think less of us English now that you've seen beyond the tea and bad teeth. 

I'll be back soon. 

Lots of love, 

Niall.

Ellie:

Now being sat back in cold and rainy Scarborough, I've had some time to reflect on my two weeks in Romania. We arrived in Romania on the 15th and I had no idea how the experience would turn out or what to expect, however by the time the first evening was complete I knew my time in Romania was going to be special. And it has been.

It's quite difficult to put into words and explain to those who weren't part of the trip quite how welcoming and how at home the families and teachers from Olga Gudynn made the four of us feel and for that I can't thank them enough. 

The Mischie family who I stayed with had to have been some of the kindest people I've ever met, I was told by many people how lucky I was to be staying with them, and I really was. It's crazy how in two weeks strangers can become hopefully life long friends. 

I'd also like to thank the teachers from the school Floreasca who helped and supported me through out my days there, and also allowed me to get fully involved in school life which has given me many new experiences and skills that I'll use again. 

The teachers Dana, Cristina and Nana deserve a special mention for looking after us and doing all they could to make sure we were happy and comfortable. 

It's difficult to to know what to say other than thank you so much to everyone who was involved, especially Hanna, Niall and Matthew, whose completely different personalities among other things made sure that our time together was far from dull. I know that I'll remember all the memories we've created together for a long time and find myself laughing about them, especially our first lunch time together, you three will know what I mean! 

Hope to see you again soon Bucharest!

Hanna:

Reflecting on my time in Bucharest simply makes me happy. One cannot sum up the special memories that I was fortunate enough to make. The four of us weren't quite sure how this trip would turn out to be, but I can honestly say it went beyond everything I could have imagined. Not only did I get to know the beautiful culture and landscape of this amazing country, I also made friendships that will hopefully last way beyond this trip. These friendships do not only include my Romanian friends, but also Matthew, Niall and Ellie without whom this trip would have only been half as entertaining. 

To sum up my time I have to quote Niall: "I've seen a blond Robbie Williams in a kilt", but also I have been to a traditional wedding and christening, seen Dracula's castle in Transylvania, been inside the second largest building in the world and have been spat on with jogurt by some 3 year old kids in school. This experience has been anything but a routine list! I doubt I will be able to fully get the memories across, as there are simply too many. This exchange programme has to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I would like to thank everyone involved! First of all to Olga Gudynn, who in my opinion has established one of the greatest schools I have visited, where you are allowed to call your teacher by their first name, beacuse in the end of the day they are your friends, Mrs Nixon and Zoe Harrison, who picked the four of us and made all this possible, the OSA for funding each of us and of course the amazing staff in Bucharest. Special mention goes to Christina, Nana and Dana. I can truly call all of them my friends, as all three of them always looked out for us, they tried to show us the most of their beautiful culture and made our visit unforgettable! Another massive thank you goes to the Tigau family, who hosted Matthew and me, they must have been some of the loveliest people I have ever met. Not only did they let us stay with them, they tried their very best to make our time a special one. They certainly succeeded! 

I could probably keep writing for another hour trying to grasp the feeling I have when thinking about this trip, but there has to be an ending. One final thing I would like to say to anyone who reads this though is: The friendship between Romania, England and Germany will remain for a long time and I already cannot wait for our reunion!

I will see you guys very soon, stay in touch!

Lots of Love 

Hanna 

Alright, final offer: 2 camels and a goat...

Saturday evening/Sunday morning saw Matthew and Hanna privileged to attend a Tigau family wedding. Hanna decided that she needed a dress and matching shoes and so dragged Matthew around one of the malls, carrying her bags like a gentleman.
After a slightly late start of 50 min (arriving late at Romanian weddings seems to be the norm) we arrived at the Church to witness the orthodox ceremony, which was very different to the Church of England and the Lutheran services Matthew and Hanna knew.
The service was followed by a huge party involving five course spread over 10 hours, in which Matthew and Hanna made a new friend. This aforementioned friend hardly got to speak to Hanna, as Matthew was trying to "pull dem ladies!". He objects to this statement, but has to admit that he very much enjoyed her company.
Furthermore the bride was stolen, a Romanian tradition, in which the kidnappers demand some strange things for her return. In this case: 2 camels and a goat. Not entirely sure where they found those animals. But the bride returned at midnight! All in all a wonderful night/morning and our congratulations to the newly wedded couple.

Monkey business

Saturday morning dawned early for Hanna, Matthew and Ellie as they were set to attempt a "GoApe" style tree top climbing course. Niall however preferred a more leisurely approach and send the following message: "We'll be late. We like sleeping."
After a short introduction course we were set free to explore the tree tops. Serious team work was required, as some of the challenges seemed impossible for one. (The other Romanian visitors disagreed and managed fine). Which was why Ellie had already found a friend in a Romanian stranger who grabbed on to her, before she nearly fell out of the tree. The shout she gave was:" No Mister! Wait! Catch me!!"
Matthew ended up shoulder charging the tree following a slight zip wire hiccup. The tree is fine. Hanna and Ellie (between falling out of trees) also had the time for a quick female chat/teamtalk (Don‘t fall out again!)

Niall eventually turned up, well rested we must add, and joined us for the final route, which seemed to contain nothing than more zip wires.
Niall and Ellie proceeded to go out for Pizza, while Matthew and Hanna had a slightly more unusual commitment...

Emil's school of driving i.e Racing

Friday afternoon was going to be the day at which we had to prove ourselves on the race track - in true Romanian style (of course). The main advice we were given: "Speed is your friend. No braking."
The first race took place in slower cars, which unfortunately resulted in a Romanian win.
The second race used more powerful and faster cars and team England was let down by the withdrawal of Ellie. Nevertheless Mr Harris was able to win the race with a quarter of a second over David. Laser Tag revenged!

Making it onto the big screen!

As our time in Romania is slowly and unfortunately coming to an end, the school decided to film us four muppets in action...
After a few changes of plans, Hanna read Peter Pan to the older kids, instead of her Nursery class, as her lack of Romania wasn't really helping. There followed a small game before Matthew took over. He attempted to explain and run "Capture the flag", which met with success, despite some language difficulties ("Victor what team are you in?" Answer: "Yes.") and multiple explanations. Matthew's diagrams and demonstrations were put to shame by the children translating amongst themselves.
As Ellie was unaware that the filming took place after lunch, she was forced to repeat the mornings exercises, with decidedly less enthusiasm from the kids the second time round.
Even Niall's obstacle course required 4 takes, as the kids did not quite understand the clock wise and counter clock wise directions. We were told that some video material exists after all. BUT we will not be posting it here...
Although if we are ever down and fancy cheering up, we know where to go!

On another note Harris finally got Facebook!

Blimey that's a big one !?

After two days of teaching, the staff organised a trip to the Palace of Parliament, which is the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon. The gigantic building contains 12 floors, over 1000 rooms and took 13 years and over 3 billion US dollars to build. Suffice to say, we were quite impressed.
After a slight hiccup in which Ellie had a ginger moment and forgot her passport, which we had been told the day before was essential for entrance, we travelled to the palace ( meeting Ellie with a slight delay) and spent an hour being toured around.
In this time it turned out we had only seen about 5% of the building!
Following our visit, we walked through the old city and had lunch at one of the restaurants of Ellie's host family (thank you Mischie family for the invitation) .
To say that we were full after the meal would be a serious understatement, as we had eaten a large amount of excellent Romanian delicacies, Matthew complained that he used to be quite fit, now he is not so sure anymore...
The day ended back at the Olga Gudynn school with Matthew jumping in the pool and Hanna thrashing everyone at table tennis, including teachers. Niall refuses to admit the defeat.

More teaching days

Matthew + Hanna (Pipera):

For the senior school this week's theme was "adventure", meaning that Matthew was going to spend a large amount of time singing scout songs (there was a violent argument over the Americanisation of a large number of English scout songs by Nana), playing excessive amounts of tag and all in near 40 degree heat. Matthew felt he deserved a quite swim in the pool after all that ...
Tuesday dawned with more heat, and after a repeat of singing rubbishy american scout songs (Matthew is refusing to let the point go) the Kids were all taken to the park. Matthew was disappointed to not quite be small enough to go on the slide. There then followed a nature hunt, and attempting to put up a small tent in the woods near the park. Matthew's
assertions that the poles were the wrong size and shape, that there were no pegs nor guy-ropes was met with derision from Mr Byron. Matthew was right...

Hanna on the other hand was spending her day with Anca (Nursery teacher) and a crazy bunch of 3-6 year olds. Helping the children eat turned out to be more difficult than expected, as yoghurt ended up not only in children's faces but tables, chairs and clothing. Being strengthened by this, the next task was helping the boys and girls to get changed for the upcoming swimming lesson, which was followed by a german class. The singing of German nursery songs brought back many memories of Hanna's own childhood (yes, sorry forgot to mention that she is German and was one of the many international boarders at Scarborough College). As the afternoon is mostly nap time, Hanna joined Matthew and the others for a Table tennis competition with the teachers followed by a swim.
The next day Hanna was officially introduced as "Miss Hanna" during friendship circle, an activity during which the children talk about their summer.

Niall (Davilla):

Niall helped design an obstacle course complete with trixy tired, tables and "spooky" scenery. The kids were then guided around the route by the staff and unfortunately some children were unable to complete the race due to the sizzling heat and the "spooky" spirit of the course. After this Niall spent playtime with the kids before witnessing the ritual feeding, which can only be described as something near to a military operation. Then the younger children went to sleep and Niall went to supervise the older ones before he was raced back to the main campus in Pipera by the Olga Gudynn's very own Michael Schuhmacher, a man who is most possibly the stig and is certainly a thing of legends, a man who has many names whilst only responding to one, a man who can speak every language without saying a word, a man who is know for his agility behind the wheel and his ability to eat a whole platter of meat in record time... this man is Emil "The Legend". After Niall and Emil dodged through the traffic with horrifying speed, with little regard to rules (something common to Romanian drivers) they quickly touched down at Pipera after a few terrifying moments. Emil calmly said "Salut Anglia" and shook Niall's hand. The whole experience is hard to describe and the only thing slightly comparable is when the Millennium Falcon is packed into light speed by Chewbacca. To all drivers out there: Stay safe!



Eleanor (Floresca):

Day two in Floreasca was another enjoyable day for Ellie. The relaxed nature of the summer school, which benefits both the children and the teachers, continued. The day began again with breakfast, yet another messy affair, especially for the two year olds.

The theme of the week is Captain Hook, so the day began fittingly with a few short clips of the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and the kids were asked questions about the story. Then it was time to prepare for swimming. The preparation for this took much longer than Ellie had anticipated, who knew it was so hard to get about 15 kids changed and in to a bus? The kids greatly enjoyed their time in the pool on the Pipera site, and Ellie enjoyed a brief but worthwhile catch up with Matthew and Hanna. The bus journey back to Floreasca seemed much longer than the journey there with the anticipation of lunch hanging over everyone's heads.

Lunch was had and naps were taken, including by Ellie, who slipped off to sleep for a minute whilst the kids were sleeping. Day two was over and soon day three began.

Day three involved fun activities surrounding the theme of Captain Hook. The kids competed in a race to get treasure, at least Ellie thinks that was the aim of the race, as they were discussing it in Romanian. The kids also made a large banner titled 'The Adventures of Captain Hook', in which all were involved in cutting, sticking, colouring and painting. The end result was an impressive one and all the children were proud to take photo with it. The kids then played their own games in the hall, and Ellie got roped in to a drawing competition with a five year old which she very clearly lost. Then again naps were had by the kids and Ellie managed to stay awake for this one!

Transylvania...actually a very nice place!

On our first weekend the school very kindly laid on a visit to the mountains of Transylvania with visits to the castles of Peles and Bran. The latter is know for being Dracula's castle. As we had all expected black skies, towering mountains, pouring rain and bright eyes moving in the dark, we were pleasantly surprised how beautiful Transylvania was.
After visiting Peles castle (summer residency of the Romanian royal family) we had our lunch break, involving an intense male bonding session between Matthew, Niall our driver Emil "The legend"and a giant platter of roast meat, we visited the aforementioned Bran Castle, before relaxing with some very nice cold lemonade and ice cream in Brasov. (Note: lemonade in Romania is generally home made and served with either honey or sugar, which you use to sweeten to taste).
Matthew and Hanna stayed over night in Transylvania, while the others returned to Bucharest.

The following day, Ellie enjoyed a pool party with 7 year olds, while Niall had a quite day, followed by a BBQ. Matthew and Hanna journeyed deeper in the Transylvanian mountains before returning to Bucharest. 

Britons unite with Robbie Williams in Bucharest !?

The evening of day 3 was rather eventful for Hanna and Niall, as they were lucky enough to get their hand on some very last minute tickets for Robbie Williams's show in front of the GIANT presidential palace. Following this amazing show, listening to not only classics such as "Let me entertain you" but also Queen's "Bohemian Rapsody", they went for some late night pizza and ice-cream in Bucharest's old city.

Meanwhile, more mundanely Ellie was enjoying a family trip out in the Bucharest old city and Matthew was still trying to make up for his defeat on Lazer Tag on the Xbox against David...

Teaching Day 1

As the four of us are located at three different sites, we will individually recount our experiences of day 3:

Matthew + Hanna (Pipera):

After a large and filling breakfast made by Mrs Lumi, one of the school's dinner ladies, we were introduced to Nana (English Teacher) , who was going to spent the day with us. Matthew was especially delighted to hear that the Lego Exhibition was part of the day's events. Following this Nana and Hanna decided to have a leisurely and civilized rest playing pool, while Matthew and his host brother David opted for Laser Tag...which Matthew promptly lost! A rematch was demanded...

After a traditional Romanian lunch, Hanna was fortunate enough to lead an English activity with the infants, discussing pets, hobbies and favourite Disney Heroes, Matthew however was thrown to the sharks, as a lively group of Romanian ten year olds demanded to be taught how to play cricket. The term "wicket" still confuses them...
Following this there was a not so frantic catch up and swim with Eleanor and Niall, when the latter decided to jump into a child's swim ring... (See photo below, he seems to be stuck)

Niall: Davilla

After a a brief tour, Niall was blessed with a native English speaker - an Australian-Romanian by the name of Mr Armont (Armond? (the possibility for spelling in Romanian is endless)). Soon Niall was introduced to the kids, the youngest being one and a half and the oldest being 6-ish. Then after a hectic exchange of about twenty handshakes with about 10 different kids they were acquainted. From this day on Niall was now either ´Neil´or ´Mister Niall´, depending on the child's ability in English. Then came the first activity, to create a compass to navigate ourselves through the dark and mysterious waters surrounding Neverland. Niall was dedicated the role of Captain Hook (Niall is from Whitby, where Captain Cook and many other great men have hailed). Soon Niall was joining in with some excellent young Romanian banter...

Ellie: Floreasca

The first day in Floreasca for Ellie began with being introduced to many of the teachers, many of whose names escape her now. Breakfast was a hectic time with over twenty 2-6 year olds to feed and subsequently clean up. After this followed games outside with Mr Byron, a teacher from Chile who recently joined the school. The kids throughly enjoyed themselves and the games acted as a good ice breaker for Ellie allowing her to get involved straight from the start. Once the games were finished assistance was needed once again with the feeding and cleaning up of the kids as it was time for a snack. Next was French lesson with the four and five year olds, who knew how to introduce themselves, count to ten and sing songs such as 'Sur le point d'avignon', which really impressed Ellie as the majority of them also speak good basic English. The cooks at the school provided a great lunch for the kids and especially for Ellie as they cooked her a no meat meal. Naps were then taken by the youngest kids while Ellie was put to shame in her Lego building skills by the six year olds.

First impressions

After two planes, 1,410.94 miles / 2,270,69 km and 11h of exhausting travel and Matthew's dodgy English humour we finally landed at Henri Conda International Airport. We were met by our host families and taken to various destination all over Bucharest, Matthew and Hanna with the Tigau family, Niall with the Radoi family and Ellie with the Mischie family.

After a good night's sleep we met up at Olga Gudynn International School's main campus at Pipera, where we were met by various members of staff including Dana Efstate (Director of admissions) and Christina Binciu (English Teacher). After introductions we were taken on a tour around the various sites in which we would each be working.
Our first impressions were of a very friendly people and atmosphere, with excellent facilities

(Niall: "They've got a pool!!!")  and students aged 10 whose English was probably better than ours!

See below photos of the day!

Let the journey begin!

This blog contains the thoughts and ideas of four Scarborough College pupils on a period of work experience within the Olga Gudynn International School Bucharest, in the July summer holiday.

Firstly to introduce ourselves: Niall Collinson (aged 16), Eleanor Harvey (aged 17 , Deputy Head of Scarborough College 2015-16), Matthew Harris (aged 18, Senior Prefect of Scarborough College 2014-15) and Hanna Hagemann (aged 18, Deputy Head of Scarborough College 2014-2015). 

From left to right: Niall Collinson, Matthew Harris, Eleanor Harvey and Hanna Hagemann

Secondly a little bit about Scarborough College: 

The College is an independent boarding school located in North Yorkshire's Scarborough. It provides education for pupils aged between 3-18 years old, including GCSEs and the International Baccalaureate for Sixth Form students. (www.scarboroughcollege.co.uk)

Finally some background information on Olga Gudynn International School: 

The school was founded by Olga Gudynn in 2001 and is located in the Pipera district of Bucharest with smaller nurseries and other institutions throughout the city. The school caters for students aged 6-14 with nurseries for younger pupils and all teaching is bilingual with focus on Romanian and English. (www.olgagudynn.ro)