My impressions from the trip to Harrogate, UK April 2012

I never, ever, expected that I could have such a good time! I was very excited since December 2011 when our teachers announced to us that we were selected for the trip to Harrogate in April 2012. I was very enthusiastic when our practices began and as the date of the trip was approaching I felt that I could not wait any longer… I wanted to see the friends I made on previous meetings with whom I was communicating on Facebook and knew that they felt the same.

Sunday,22 April 2012 Our flight was late in the evening. I had to wait for the whole day to pass so that I could go to the airport. At 6:15 pm I was there. One by one everybody else arrived and we checked in. The dream had begun… We arrived at the Manchester airport late at night and went straight to our hotel looking forward to the next day.

Monday, 23 April 2012 Shopping and shopping and shopping. I don’t know how many shopping bags we carried back to the hotel! What I know is that we all did shopping which we had to carry back to the hotel under a heavy rain. But we didn’t care. The time for our departure for Harrogate had come. The mini- bus was there waiting for us and after around 2 hours and 15 minutes we were in Harrogate!!!Yes!!!!! We had a lovely dinner at a teacher’s house and enjoyed the songs we sang after that.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 24, 25 &26 April 2012 The activities of the programme began. After our arrival to school it was as if we were living in a dream. A warm welcome from everybody; the Head teacher, the teachers, the students. Also from the Mayor ! We found our old friends and made new ones! We did everything!!! We practiced our plays, learnt songs, did treasure hunt, visited York and Leeds, we were shown a British tradition at school and so many other things.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 24, 25 &26 April 2012 We had a party at a student’s house and we were shown (by her dad) how to make pizzas! We had another party the following day! And we had two performances; one on Wednesday and one on Thursday which we enjoyed so much. We felt so important and valuable on stage!!! But the best was the farewell dinner and dance at school on Thursday night. The food was excellent and the way the dance was organised was outstanding!!! We all participated –we had no other choice-and when I’m thinking about it now, I wonder where we found so much energy to dance non stop for so many hours.

Thursday, 26 April 2012 And as we were dancing and enjoying ourselves, one by one people started to leave. We had to leave too; the mini-bus was waiting for us. We HAD to leave. We HAD to separate from our friends… We HAD to say goodbye. I was crying and I think everyone else was. I still feel tears in my eyes when I think of that moment and also the possibility that I may not have the chance to see my friends ever again. But who knows? We are very young. We will keep in touch and one day, I thin k we will meet again.

Friday, 27 April 2012 Some of our friends and Miss Brooks were at the hotel to say goodbye to us. I felt as bad as I was feeling the previous night. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there with my friends. I had such a good time! I have so many memories!

THANK YOU! Thank you Miss Brooks and St John Fisher Catholic High School for your warm hospitality and excellent programme. Thank you to our teachers for giving us the opportunity to participate in this programme. Thank you my friends for making my life richer. Thank you Comenius programme..