Comenius International Visit – Uplands Väsby, Stockholm, Sweden

Evaluation Report

From 3rd to 8th May, 2011.

Since the beginning this experience was great and it was a pleasure for me.

This visit started even before we went to Sweden. We had to know each other

and prepare our performance.

In the first day everyone was very nervous, because

for some it was the first flight, for others it was the first

time leaving their parents but everyone was nervous

because it was a new experience: going to a foreign

country and staying in a family that we didn’t know.

But in spite of the nervousness, I think everyone was

excited and motivated.

To get to Upplands Väsby, the Portuguese delegation had to go on a long trip

and we took about 15 hours on it.

When I met my host family, I was very tired and I

couldn’t talk and interact with the family as I

would like. Actually, I would like to interact and

introduce me right after I met them because the

time was short and I couldn’t waste time.

My host family was composed by the mother

Marie, the stepfather Anders and the daughter

Clara. They were very nice and still are, we keep

in touch by facebook.

The day we spent in Stockholm was amazing.

Stockholm is a city very different from mine. I think

for a European Capital City it is very calm. I loved

the fact of people being always in touch with the

Nature; they went to their jobs by bycicle or public

transports taking care of the environment.

The old city made me remember about my city,

because Oporto is also a city with Muslim and

Roman origins, so it’s very old with narrow streets

and old buildings. I liked it a lot.

I enjoyed a lot the Vasa Museum. We don’t have anything

like that in Portugal and I’d never seen anything like it. In the

museum we could know more about the Viking culture,

which is very interesting.

When we visited Runby Skola, I noticed that for a Middle

School it’s quite large and with good conditions. The

activities we did there were so different from the activities

we do in Portugal. I loved the

woodwork class, I’m not good on

it, but it was very fun. We also had

the wheel chair and blind sports activities, which was

very difficult for me, because I can’t deal with the

idea of being unable to see or walk. The Swedish class

was the most interesting and funny part of that day.

Swedish is difficult but I learnt some expressions.

Other thing I noticed is that the school is very

connected with forest and forest activities. We could try it on Friday. Since

doing our own bread to the game we played, everything was great, funny,

amazing. I don’t have words to describe it.

Saturday came and with it the best day of

this visit. Family day, as it was called, was

the day when I was closer to my host family.

We went to Stockholm where I bought some

souvenirs. Then, we had lunch at Hard Rock

Café. My host mother was very nice taking

me there. I really wanted to go there.

Unfortunately,

everything that is good ends quickly and the last

day came. We had to say goodbye very early,

because our flight was right after lunch time and the

airport was quite far from where we were.

For my personal development this experience was

very important. It opened me new horizons,

different backgrounds and new wishes. It gave

me the opportunity to know other cultures, not

only Swedish, but also the people that was in the

project (Italian, Spanish, English, Turkish and

Hungarian) .

But the highlight for me was when my host

student, Clara, sang with my Portuguese friend. At

the end they hugged each other. It was very

emotive and for me it meant a lot because Clara

is very shy and she’s not used to singing in front of

an audience, but she did it when I asked her to.

I was very happy with the food

because I was afraid of not liking

it, but I loved it. About the communication, I think it was easy

because everyone spoke English quite good. The worst thing

was the weather. It was very cold and rainy.

I can’t evaluate this in a scale because there isn’t

any mark able to describe or evaluate it. Words

like amazing, awesome, great, unforgettable

are not enough.

Now, I going to finish this report with a quote very important to

me and to my friend about this experience:

“Don’t cry because it’s over, Smile because it happened “

Ana Catarina Marques Mendonça