A few words about my visit to Gavle: When we arrived in Gävle, our hosts students were already waiting for us. It was brilliant to meet them again, 6 month later after their visit to Chotebor. On the day after our arrival we all together went out to play bowling and in the afternoon we gathered in the park and went for a walk. On Sunday we had a guided tour by bus round the surroundings. After our lunch we visited the Furuviks Zoo. It was really enjoyable. We saw many animals for instance the chimpanzee who was throwing rocks at zoo visitors. On the next day we visited Vasa school which is a modern and progressive secondary school where we admired their library with ancient books. We also went for a guided walk around Gävle and we saw the picturesque old Gävle and its surroundings. In the afternoon we had the “Swedish lesson for beginners“ which was very funny. After that we went by bus to the coast Bönan. And we saw panaromatic views of the open sea and we climebed up an old lighthouse. On Tuesday we visited the cirkus department at Vasa school. And we liked it very much because it's unusual for us. We learned how to juggle! We also went fishing on that day. On Wednesday we met the city manager in the Town Hall and enjoyed browsing through the stores at the Valbo Shopping Centre. But time was passing quickly and suddenly it was Thursday, the last day before our journey back to the Czech Republic. So we visited two more museums - The County Museum and The Swedish Railway Museum as well. In the evening we had the farewell dinner and then we departed for Stockholm very early in the morning. Our journey home took twenty-four long hours.
I think I should say something about my host family and experiences: I have to say it was absolutely stunning and impressive. I've never been to an ex-change programme like this. My host family was very nice. I spend entirely different week there and it is a big experience for me.The thing I liked the best was that Gävle is a wonderful green city with lots of peaceful leisure areas located by the sea .
Markéta Gajdorusová
Gymnázium Chotěboř, the Czech Republic, 2009
The trip to Sweden
About one month ago, me and some people from other classes visited the Swedish city called Gavle – it was an exchange program. First we went to Stockholm. The journey to Stockholm took about 26 hours! I thought, I would die, but then Ididn´t. We spent one night and day there. It was really interesting. In the morning, the day after our arrival, we walked around the city and we saw many beautiful sights and of course shops J Then we went by boat to a skansen with zoo. It isn´t common to go by boat in the Czech Republic, so everyone was excited! J
In the evening we packed our baggage and we travelled by bus to Gavle. There we met our host students and their families. I was really pleased, because Tamara´s family was really really nice and kind. Especially her mother. I liked her very much, but unfortunately, she couldn´t speak English, but nevertheless, we understand each other very well. She was a great cook, and because she came from Chile, I ate some typical Chilean food. And also some typical Swedish food.
I had my own room with a computer and the bathroom was next to the room. Every day we went to school by bus and we were always late. J
During our visit in Gavle we saw many interesting things such as museums, for example a museum with trains, of course the city, the city manager, zoo and the school of our host students…One day, we joined them in their lessons. I think all of us were very surprised, because it was so different from our school and probably from most schools in the Czech Republic.
The first thing, which surprised me was, that it seemed they were doing nothing. They spent most of their time in a school canteen or school cafe or out of the school. Of course, they do something, but they don´t have the school order as strict as we do. The other thing, which surprised me was, how easy their Maths was. They learned, what we had learned about two or three years ago and they were in the last year.
Yeah!! I mainly forgot. The third surprising thing for me was their school canteen. It was much much much better than ours. They could choose from many kinds of food, for example vegetarian. It also tasted much better than in our canteen.
In the evenings we had programs all together (except teachers). On the first or second day we had a party. On another day we played a game in the park. It was something like softball, but easier and funnier. And during the other days we visited their favorite cafes.
On the last day we had a farewell dinner. Students and teachers met together in the school. After the dinner we spent some time in an apartment, we talked and played some games and after that we came back to houses of our host students and we left at four o´clock in the morning.
The journey back took about 28 hours and I thought, I would die again. But I didn´t again.
I must say, I´m glad, I was there and met so many great people. I hope, I will see them soon.
Martina Juránková
Gymnázium Chotěboř, the Czech Republic, 2009
