Gymnasium Penzberg

Day 2:

In the morning we got up at 7 am and had breakfast. When we walked to school quite early my host Karolina had time to show me the place where they have PE. That was not so easy because the school area is a big construction area at the moment. Later when everybody had arrived at school we played some funny communicative games together with all the teachers in order to get to know each other a little bit better. After that every group of students presented their country and the town they are from. Besides us there are students from our Norwegian host town Sandnes, Sibiu in Romania, Eisenstadt in Austria and Langon in France.

Each country also gave an overview of the refugee situation in their country and in the area they are living in. It was quite interesting to see that each town has to face different situations and how they manage this.
For lunch and we went back to our host families. Most of the participants met to have a barbecue where we also ate a special type of stickbread. It was with cinnamon and sugar and it was very delicious. In the afternoon, we had a guided tour through the center city of Sandnes. After that we had a little time off and some of the students went shopping, but hardly anybody bought something because everything was so expensive.

In the evening when I was in my host family again Karolina, her little brother and I played some games and watched a movie. Then we got tired and went to sleep; happy and pleased!

Elisa

Day 3

Today I woke up at 7:45 am and had breakfast. After breakfast my host family and other host families went to an Island close to Stavanger by a big ferryboat. It is typical in Norway to have two houses. One where you live, and one where you are at the weekend or on holidays. Most of us met there at one of these houses. We chilled there and grilled some crabs and hamburgers. It was a very windy and cold day. At 4:30 pm we took the ferry back to Stavanger. I felt a bit sick because of the big waves.

Later we all met in Stavanger for a tour guided by Norwegian teachers. Our group was divided in two. We first went to see a former brewery which is now used for cultural activities like concerts and exhibitions. We saw a lot of graffities and some sculptures which are spread all over the city due to the NuArt Festival which is an annual street art event in Stavanger where artists all over the world participate. Then we went through the old city centre and we saw a lot of old houses and one of the oldest churches in Norway.

In the evening my host family and I just chilled on the couch and watched a movie. It was a very beautiful day with very nice people around.

Day 4

Today we stood up at 7 o'clock, because we had to be at the meeting point at 8.15. This time we met in Hoyland Ungdomsskole for an excursion. In this school we had the possibility to attend lessons of an introduction class with students who just started to go to school in Norway. Among those students are also refugees from Eritrea.
There we were divided into two groups. One group, which I was in, went first to a Hip-Hop-dancing lesson with an external professional dancing teacher. It is part of the introduction class to do this dancing lessons for different reasons like getting self-confidence and get in contact with norwegian students. It was so funny to do this, because it is very difficult to make the right moves in a short time. I think we looked like Clowns.
After this we changed with the other group and we went to a classroom where we made a circle with chairs. The teacher asked us about food, activities, friendship and sleep. We had to rate on those topics one by one and explain how much and what we have eaten in the last week, how much we have slept, what activities we have done and how much and what we have done with our friends and family. He gave us a dice and we had to choose a number. (1 is the worst, 6 the best). In the introduction class they often discuss those topics for improving language skills and finding out something about the classmates.

After a short break we altogether met in a classroom and made mixed groups together with the introduction class. With a placemat we tried to discuss things about the things we have learnt before. It was a little bit difficult because of the different language skills but in the end we managed it.

In the afternoon we drove to the Center of migration of Sandnes, where we first got an introduction about the immigration policy of Norway and how the system behind the migration in Sandnes works. After the presentation we visited three homes of minor refugees without parents. Most of them are male and we got information about their life in Norway.
In the evening we went bowling with some other student. 

Paula

Day 5

This day we walked to school at 8 am. There we presented Syria relating to the human rights situation to the other participants. The other countries also gave us a lot of information of countries like Kenya, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Somalia. It was very interesting.

After that we actually wanted to go to the Preikestolen but it was so windy and wet outside that it would have been dangerous if we had went there. So instead we took a walk along the beach. The sand was flying around and pricked in our faces. I think after the trip we all were wet and cold and had half of the beach in our clothes. But in spite of this it was fun and everybody was in a good mood. Then we were in the host families again and Karolina and I watched an Australian cooking show called MasterChef. In the afternoon we two met up with two of the Austrians and their hosts to go shopping. When we got home we went to bed soon. We were so tired; but it was a very nice day.

Elisa

Day 6

Today I woke up again at 7pm. After breakfast my host student and I went to school by foot. It took us twenty minutes. In school we had to do an art project altogether. We had a big, big sheet of white paper, and then we had to write a slogan on it and do our handprint with graffiti on it. That was really fun. After that we went home, but I went with some girls to their home and watched some TV. At six o'clock we all meet us to our farewell dinner. Every country brought something typical for their country. We brought Leberkäse, Speck and Leberwurst and prepared it for the others. Also the host families brought a lot of Norwegian food to the dinner. It was very nice to be together and we all enjoyed it very much. At eight o'clock we finished and went home. Now I'm very full.

Katharina