Chrismas greeting!

Hi Iceland

Now we are gathered here because we want to wish you a Very Merry Christmas too. We couldn?t make such a nice picture as you but we hope that this will also do it. We know that your winter holidays have already started but we hope that you see this despite of this fact. Ours will start tomorrow and unfortunately it won?t last as long as yours but what could we do? That?s life! So once again a very Merry Christmas and a succesful New Year!

PS: We can?t wait to get to Iceland.

National eTwinning Competition, Budapest Dec12

I'm going to tell you about yesterday. A few weeks ago the Water and Fire team got an invitation to Budapest, to take part in the first national eTwinning competition final. Six projects were invited; two primary and four secondary schools had 30 minutes each to summarise what kind of partnership they are in, and how far they have got with it.

Since the number of team member presenters was limited to five, and - quite naturally - evereyone was eager to go, we needed to draw the names of the lucky ones. So half of the team stayed at home and half got on a minibus in the morning , which took us to the venue. The team decided to share the tasks, and by last Friday we had a nice selection of visuals that helped the presenters: a nice poster - a timeline - with Viki's own illustrations, a poster about newspaper articles and TV news, another poster with a map and pictures of the places we visited together in October, and one more poster showing the ICT tools we use in our project. The boys also prepared a PPT, and the website was also there for everyone to see, or, at least this was the plan.

In fact, the internet connection suddenly broke down, and even the projector's fuse went out, right before we were supposed to start. An almost worst-case scenario, a-la Murphy. By the time the problems were fixed, the speeches of Kata, Zsófi, Mimi, Virág and Dani were over. Luckily both the audience and jury were understanding and patient, so we were able to show the electronic pieces and bits afterwards, in a sort of 'second go'.

After the last presentation we needed to wait for some time, and some team members got a bit nervous..., some other presentations were also very good.

Eventually, the Water and Fire team came first, causing big smiles and cheering among the team members. Sms-es and phone calls were flying across the hall, and soon many in Zalaegerszeg - and probably in Iceland too, knew the good news.

We got home late at night, but happy that eTwinning Hungary rewarded us with an important sum of contribution to our visit to Höfn. I'm sure will make good use of it in February.

We are the Champions!

Great news! This morning I received a mail from Laci:

"We took part in the national Hungarian E-Twinning Competition in Budapest yesterday and we won! First place. Well, we are the champions! The price was 500 000 Hungarian Forint. We can
spend this money on the Icelandic tour..."

Congratulations! We are so proud of you! You're fantastic!

Christmas greetings from Iceland

The holidays are coming! Just a few more days!

We, the Icelanders in the Water-Fire team, want to send our best Christmas greetings and wishes for a Happy New Year to you, our Hungarian team mates and friends and all your families.

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.
                 John and Yoko

We also want to thank you all for the great time we had in Hungary last October. It was a unique time which we will always remember.

We are looking forward to see you in February. Szia.

PS. We had been looking for a Cristmas card to send to you - but we couldn't find one we all liked so we decided to send you this one instead. Cool "jólasveinar"

Saturday - October 22

Usual morning routine with one exception: the Icelandic team is saying good bye to their host families today. We all meet at the bus station, with bags and sandwiches packed, and ready for our last two-day trip.

First stop: Tapolca, a town, close to the now known basalt witness hills, but offering a different geological sight: a cave that was formed in limestone. We take a boat trip in a 200 meters long passageway, which is easier to navigate without the oar but "climbing" rather, on our hands on the ceiling.

Our next stop is Tihany, a small village with a great view on the northern shore of Lake Balaton. We visit the Tihany Abbey, which was founded by András I in 1055. By the time we come out of the museum, it is so foggy and rainy that we do not only miss the nicest view on the lake, but even the nearby pier is lost in the mist. We remind each other: this is the first rainy day in October, we have been really lucky so far.

Another two hours drive and we arrive in Esztergom, a town located on the right bank of the Danube (the left bank of the river is already Slovakia). This is where St. Stephen was born, baptized and crowned (1000 AD). The first Hungarian church was built here, and Magyar tribes were Christianized from here.

But our main reason to come here is of course the Basilica, the largest church in Hungary. The church itself is 118 meters long, the main dome is 100 meters tall. It is monumental, really, even for those who have already been here before. Someone is practising on the organ, which is also huge.

It only takes a short time to reach Visegrád, a historical place in the Danube Bend, where the river bends sharply to the south. We are already waited for in a Jeka student hostel. After dinner the team is ready to take a walk and explore the small town. At the local club and pizza place we can enjoy "and sing along" some well-known hits played by a great band from Esztergom. After a long day we are ready for a good sleep. Can it be true it's time to say good-bye tomorrow?...

Innovative Schools Workshop, 14 November

Innovative Schools Workshop
14 November 2005

Last Monday Kölcsey Ferenc Gimnázium hosted a program for over 60 participants, teachers and administrators from the member schools of the Hungarian Innovative Schools Network. The audience could see presentations on how different ICT (information Communication Technology) tools can be used in schools. But what does Water and Fire have to with all this? Well, we had the opportunity to report on how far we have got with our project. So we talked about how our eTwinning partnership (http://www.etwinning.net/ ) began and developed in the past 11 months or so, and we also showed our precious website! (you can see Dóri, delivering her speech, but where is Emil?)

Sweets Fair - 2 December

Yesterday we held our traditional Sweets Fair at Kölcsey. A nice Christmas tree was put up in the Aula, where several classes decorated their stalls and treated each other with the cakes and cookies they had baked for the occasion. As you can see there was a lot to taste.
Advent is on the way, and many now seem to be preparing their minds and souls for this great holiday.

By the way, good luck in your exams next week, Icelandic Team!!!