Slovenian trip: day 2

Day 2: Wednesday

We have started the day with a typical slovenian breakfast. Ursa the responsible for the school library and Lia, the danish volunteer from the "European Solidary Corps" have come to meet us at the hostel.

 After that we have gone up a hill and the school is on top of it. There is a lot of vegetation in the school hall: it looks alive and fresh. A bust of the second world war heroe "Toncke Cec" is set in a corner of the hall. The school was named after this man.

Then we have visited the school library. It is a cossy place, with lots of resources and the soul of the library Ursa has explained the meaning of the posters and signs that were placed there.

In the library we could also see the "Reading Club" sign with the book that we are reading for the eTwinning project and one of the logos the students have created. 

The last photo is the ad of the national month of common reading. It was hold in September. The participants had to be fifteen minutes a day reading together for a month. It can be a group members of a family, friends, school comunity memebers, etc. 

Ursa spoke to us about the "international month to exchange bookmarks project". Once you enroll the project they asign you a school and students have to create bookmarks to send their international mates. That has arisen in me the wish of creating one for Ursa with our school logo. 

After the tour of the school we have visited some students who have just arrived in Slovenia from Bosnia and were practising the city places vocabulary with the help of cards. Itziar and me have also practicipated in the game.  We continue learning words in Slovenian: pekarna means bakery. 

At 10:15 we have met Minja, the 3rd grade English teacher. They learn English through games and songs , without any books. They focus on the fluency and pronuounciation in this level and in fact the pupils had an amazing pronounciation. They have started with a welcome song. Then they have played a game passing a ball to each other and asking and answering questions about animals, colours, ages and the town where they live. They have  practised vocabulary about ilnesses and after that they have put it into practice rolleplaying it. Before ending the class they have played in corners different games in short periods of times. 

1. At 11:10 the students from the Reading Club presented Trbovlje and Slovenia. They were very excited to share with us all the hard work they have been doing for two weeks. One of the students from the group is very gifted in drawing and one his photos was even chosen by the Townhall to be published:

They have also a debate club and we have taken lots of ideas to put into practise in our classes regardeless the language.

After having rested for a while in the hostel, Ursa has brought us to the Etno Museum. The coal mine industry was very important for the developing of the city  and in this museum they try to build a bridge between the past and the future. They explain the story of the mine coal industry using the new technology, such us virtual reality. The ceiling of the room is the turning platform for the town theatre stage where international meetings about the highest technologies are hold. For example the ASIMO ONDO humanoid robot was presented here. The fact of having the most expert ingeneers working in the mines in the past has a lot to do with the fact that they continue developing the highest technology here in Trbovje.  

 The guide has been exceptional, completely recommendable. The wall fresco behind us is a copy of the real one (including the colours) that used to be in the washing room and was the last thing the miners saw before going down. It represents the importance of collaboration  among miners. They had to go always in groups of three so that if something happened to one of them ,,one could go up asking for help and the other could stay.

On our way to have dinner, ....,What a surprise! We have found a telephone booth where you can find books that people let to share with anyone that is interested in reading.

What watch out!!! (POZOR in Slovenian)

and meeting new people and living new experiences with international mates even more!