THE CONFERENCE viewed by the French

 

 

On Monday, November 9th 2009, we went to the "AquaCity Seasons Hotel ", where we met all the other European students : the Turkish , the Slovaks and the French.

The members of the conference
There each partner had to introduce their country.

THE SLOVAK PRESENTATION

 


First, the Slovak students began...We were lucky: it was great entertainment. There were dances, a short play and an incredible presentation of Slovakia.
First of all, the Slovak students told us about the history and geography of their country. It was created in 1993, after the dissolution of its federation with the Czech Republic. Slovakia adopted the euro currency on January 1st 2009 as the 16th member of the Euro zone. The capital city of Slovakia is Bratislava, there are 5,463,046 inhabitants. It is located near Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria...

The flag of Slovakia

Then two students came and danced a wonderful "folk-dance".
After that, we had a presentation of Poprad which is a city of 55 000 inhabitants situated in the north of Slovakia, close to the Tatras mountains.
Afterwards, they presented their secondary school : Poprad Gymnázium.

The Folk Dance


Two students performed a scenic contemporary ballet, before they finally gave a short lecture on the "caves" and "castles" of Slovakia.

 

The scenic contemporary ballet


Eventually, they performed a parody of the LEGEND OF LADY BATHORY


According to the legend one of the Bathory's maids was brushing the hair of her lady in the castle of Čachtice. As the maid accidently pulled her hair Lady Bathory hit her so hard that the maid started bleeding. A few drops of blood fell on the ladie's face. She wiped the blood away and had the impression that her skin looked much more beautiful where the blood had lain. A terrible idea crossed her mind. She decided she would bathe in the blood of young girls to preserve her famous beauty.

It is said that Lady Bathory was led by the passion of sadism. Among her victims were usually young virgins and women. She would torture them with candles alight, hot iron, needles and she would throw ice cold water on them. She used to punish every little fault of her maids and stare at them for hours while they were suffering.

She didn't kill them every time. Some witnesses said they had seen bodies so burnt that they couldn't move. Lady Bathory buried her victims at different places. The inhabitants of the villages were afraid of walking at night because they heard strange voices and saw dead bodies walking.

One young man whose girlfriend was missing, investigated on his lover's disappearance and managed to find out that Lady Bathory had killed all the missing girls. She was sentenced to spend the rest of her life locked at the Čachtice castle. It is said that she killed 650 people all together.


Mrs Lerey interviewed by the Slovak Television

Then we had a break, with tea, coffee and Turkish delights the Turkish had brought for the occasion.
The local TV had been invited and interviewed some students and teachers.

Click here to view our visit live on Slovak TV news

THE TURKISH PRESENTATION



To begin with, they introduced their country: located between Asia and Europe, surrounded by Greece, Bulgaria, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan. The capital of Turkey is Ankara but the biggest city is Istanbul. There are 71,517,100 inhabitants. The president is Abdullah Gül and they want to join the Euro zone.

The flag of Turkey


Two Turkish students presenting Diyarbakιr
When they introduced their school (Nafiye Ömer Şevki Cizrelioğlu secondary school), we learnt that, like in England, they wear a uniform. Also that in each class there are often over 50 students.
They invented mathematics (Arabic numbers)... and the Kebab which is now world-famous!

Eventually the Turkish adult team gave a speech and offered their colleagues (who were delighted!) typical items from their homeland.


THE FRENCH PRESENTATION

First, the French Students began with a terrific choreography on the Black eyes peas' song entitled "The E.N.D"... They were dressed with a scarf round their necks, and navy blue tee-shirts. And each of them was holding a poster with the letters :
F.R.A.N.C.E!!!

Mrs Lerey presenting the French students

The Choreography of the French students


After the choreography, they introduced their region (Provence) by showing a map of Europe, they zoomed on the different countries: Slovakia, Turkey and France. Then, they zoomed closer to the region PACA, and then to show the city La Seyne Sur Mer, where their school "Lycée Paul Langevin" is. It was astonishing !

They had also shot a video of their school to show how the French students spend a day in a French high school. They showed the self-service canteen , the cafeteria, the library, and the interviews they had made of students about their high school. It was very funny!
Then, they showed some castles of the VAR, legends from these castles, the most beautiful cities of their region as: Hyères, Saint-Tropez, Porquerolles Islands, Toulon, Sanary and Bandol. And they explained that the naval base in Toulon is the main naval base of France and even Europe...

The presentation of France


The Presentation of France

After this presentation, they dealt with the most common stereotypes about the French, such as :
"the women are the most beautiful ones in the world ", " They are always fashionable and well-dressed " while " the men stink " (but it's not true) !!!
"They eat frogs, snails and baguettes."
" They drink Champagne and red wine ."

Finally, they thanked the assembly very much for their attention. Their teachers gave presents to Mrs Andrea Kozubíková and the headmaster, Mr Ján VERNÝ just before the end of the conference.


Mrs Kozubíková (Slovak teacher) and Mr Verný (headmaster)

A few gifts for the teachers

AFTER THE PRESENTATION

The French students

The French Team