Course of the meeting in Germany
The first international Comenius meeting under the title "Only aware can act fair. Students for sustainable food and trade" was held in Ulm (Germany) in November 2013. Teachers and students of partnership schools from Germany, Portugal, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Turkey took part in it.
On the first day all the participants gathered in Internationaler Bund School. A group from each country showed a presentation of their school: a type of school, its specialization and sections. After the presentation everyone was invited to the international snack. There was traditional food, which was brought by the participants from their home countries. Everyone wanted to try unknown dishes and experience new tastes. After the break a workshop on the issue of "Ecological footprint" was organized and each participant could calculate their own "ecological footprint".
After the activities at school we went on a guided tour around Ulm. We had an opportunity to see interesting sights and learn some facts from their history. For example, we visited a famous Gothic cathedral with the tallest spire in the world ( 161.53 m high and 768 steps ), the old Fishermen's Quarter by the River Blau with cobbled streets and picturesque footbridges. One of the attractions of the Fishermen's Quarter is a slanting house. This is a house from the 16th century which has been included in the Guinness Record Book as "the most crooked hotel of the world". Next we visited Ulm City Hall which was built in 1370 and had a lot of colourful frescoes dating back to the 16th century. At the top of the City Hall there is an astronomical watch dating from 1520. In the end we could enjoy a meal, do some shopping or just have a good time in a holiday atmosphere of a Christmas Fair.
A visit to a Fair Trade shop was an entirely new experience for most of the participants. There were various sweets, drinks, decorations, toys, clothes and many other goods. One of the saleswomen – there are about 40 volunteers working there – in her short lecture explained us main ideas and principles of Fair Trade. Then we had a chance to have some coffee, tea, juice or try some biscuits as well as to support manufacturers of the Global South buying their products.
The program of the stay offered a visit to an ecological farm in the suburbs of Ulm and a marketplace where we could buy fruit and vegetables from ecological cultivation.
We were greatly interested in visiting Bread Museum – which is the only museum of that kind in the world. We could learn about different methods of baking bread throughout centuries in different parts of the world.
Besides the work on the project we had time to have a rest and go sightseeing, e.g. we went bowling. We played for 2 hours and it was a good chance for integration with people from different countries. We all had really good time. A visit to Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart was a wonderful surprise prepared by the organizers, which made a great impression on everyone. In a beautiful modern building the history of the company and its products is presented alongside with the contemporary events in the world. That high-tech, even futuristic way of the exhibition took our breath away.
We will remember the meeting in Ulm as friendly and warm, and a beautiful holiday atmosphere of the medieval city with its illumination and Weihnahtsmarkt, which attracts tourists from all over the world, definitely attributed to it.