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NEW - Gallery of Exchange Visits: 2- 19 JULY 2005
Report
on the visit to L’Isle sur la Sorgue by Penicuik Teenagers –
4-12 July 2006 This
is the third time that Penicuik teenagers have spent a week in our
twin town during the summer. This year there were other nationalities involved –
Italians, Czechs as well as the French and Scots.
It became an international youth encounter with participants
preparing activities for local primary children as well as for each
other. The
Participants:-
Kasey
McGinlay (S6); Nicola Urquhart (S6); Emma Hamilton (S5); Lucy
Simpson (S5); Suzanne McDonald (S4); Greg Borthwick (S4); Jan Felix
(S4); Ian Rae (S4) The
Group Leaders:- Lisbeth
Imrie; Simon Imrie Tuesday
4 July Departed
from Beeslack by bus for Edinburgh Airport, where we learned that
due to the foggy weather our flight to Amsterdam was delayed.
Despite being told on the plan that we would be able to make
our connection to Marseilles and probably breaking the ‘3 minute
mile’, we were advised at the check-in desk that the flight was
closed – they had not expected us to arrive so quickly and had
already booked the group onto the next flight 5˝ hours later.
One unexpected bonus that the airline had upgraded the group
to Business Class. We
eventually arrived in L’Isle sur la Sorgue at 11.00 pm and got
settled into the Lycee. The
Italian and Czech teenagers were also staying in the Lycee Wednesday
5 July After
breakfast, the group participated in various activities to get to
know each other. These
were well organised and encouraged the groups to get to know one
another, by splitting the teenagers into mixed groups.
Perhaps since there were fewer boys than girls, the boys
gelled very quickly as a group. There were the 3 Scots; 2 Czechs and 1 Italian together with
2 of the French boys. After
this, they went into the town to familiarise themselves with
L’Isle. Lunch
was provided every week day in the Mourna Restaurant (LA restaurant) The
afternoon was spent at the swimming pool – unfortunately none of
the males went for a swim, due to the rule that swimming shorts were
not permitted and they refused to wear trunks.
Nevertheless since the weather was wonderful, they were
content just to laze around. That evening after a meal at the Lycee, the big screen was
set up for France’s world Cup game.
Naturally, there was great jubilation when France won.
There were firework displays in the town and horns hooted
well into the night. Thursday
6 July After
breakfast, we made our way to L’ecole Rene Char, where the morning
activities were held. Each morning, a nationality was responsible
for organising activities and a traditional breakfast for the
primary school age children and also the other teenagers.
The first morning was the turn of the French – one very
popular activity was everyone was the lavender weaving. After
lunch we went canoeing on the Sorgue.
This activity was enjoyed by all and since the weather was so
hot, it didn’t matter that we all got very wet.
On returning to the Lycee, each group set up a display about
their town/country. After
diner, each group shared their information about the culture and
country. Friday
7 July It
the turn of the Penicuik teenagers to organise the morning.
After a breakfast which included porridge tasting etc, they
organised games and activities such as designing tartan and various
other craft activities they taught everyone the Gay Gordons and the
Dashing White Sargeant. After
lunch, the groups took part in activity which involved depicting how
each group saw themselves and then how they saw the other
nationalities. It was
really interesting to see how stereotyping was very evident. After this, they were split into groups of 4 and the
afternoon activity was explained to them.
Each group was given the task of finding out various
information/collecting leaflets and posters about Avignon and its
festival. On the
Saturday, each group would be given the task of deigning a collage
which gave information about Avignon and the Festival.
They also had to devise a sketch to publicise the Avignon
Festival. We
travelled to Avignon by train and on arrival the groups were given 1˝
hours to collect their information, after which there was free time
for further exploring and diner.
We met together at 9.30 pm and made our way as a group to the
Market. After time
exploring the market, including most of the group going on the
Ferris wheel, we returned to L’Isle by coach laden with leaflets
and posters. Saturday
8 July It
was the turn of the Italians to organise the morning and we all
learned lots of Italian games. After lunch at the Lycee, the groups set out to their set
tasks. The leaders also
took part and designed their own collage and publicity advert. The groups put a lot of effort into this activity and the
results were outstanding. Good
team work was much in evidence. Then
we left by car for a visit to Fontaine de Vacluse, where we ate a
picnic by the side of the river.
Since there has been virtually no rain in the area since May,
the source of the Sorgue was extremely low and one had to climb down
quite far to get sight of any water. We had some free time in Fontaine de Vacluse, before
returning to L’Isle. Sunday
9 July This
was a free day for everyone and most took advantage and visited the
market. After
dinner at the Lycee, we all settled down to watch the final of the
World Cup, between France and Italy – as you can imagine, it was a
somewhat tense situation. However,
no matter the outcome, everyone enjoyed the game and there were once
again fireworks in the town, with everyone out and about. Monday
10 July It
was the turn of the Czech teenagers to organise the day.
The representative of the funding organisation visited that
morning and seemed pleased with what they had seen.
The Czech teenagers taught the group and the children
traditional dances and some games.
After lunch we were taken to the Pont du Gard by coach.
We visited the museum and there learned about the Roman
occupation of the area and how the aqueduct was constructed.
After this some of the group climbed up to the top of the
aqueduct, while others went swimming in the river.
Since it was so hot, we did not eat our picnic at the river
side, but returned to the coach park to eat our picnic.
We returned to L’Isle about 10.00 pm. Tuesday
11 July Each
group organised an activity that had worked well during their
special morning. However,
it was very hot and many of the teenagers were quite tired, so it
was difficult to keep the momentum going. After
lunch, the teenagers were divided into groups to complete a quiz
about L’Isle. After
they had completed the questions, they had some free time in
L’Isle. On their
return to the Lycee, all participants were asked to complete an
evaluation of the week. In
the evening there was a party for the teenagers; this was also open
to parents of the French teenagers and children from Rene Char.
We ate the traditional Soupe au Pistou. Wednesday
12 July The
Italian group were the first to leave at 6.00 am.
The French teenagers were going with them for a week’s
holiday. Most of the
other teenagers were up to wish them on their way.
The Czechs caught the train to Avignon at 9.00 am as they
were spending the day in Avignon before catching the bus to Prague.
The Penicuik group left shortly after to travel to
Marseilles. Everything
went according to plan this time even although the Airport Security
insisted that we waited until our plane arrived in Marseilles to
check if the pilot was prepared to allow take the gift of a picture
into the cabin, despite being told at check in that there would be
no problem. Eventually,
I was allowed through when the plane landed.
We arrived back at Beeslack on schedule. Comments
about the
visit 1
The arrangements for the accommodation were fine, with the
boys being on one floor and the girls on another. I was sharing with the Italian leader, while due to our late
arrival Simon was in a room next to the boys.
The Italian bus driver had the room with ensuite facilities
and Simon’s main problem was that the sinks had no plugs
(difficult for shaving) and that the toilets had no seats. 2
All meals were well organised, although the French did find
it difficult to cater for our 2 vegetarians. 3
Money was provided in advance to group leaders to pay for
meals, which were not catered for. 4
The morning activities were not so well organised – there
were only a maximum of 12 children – overwhelmed by the 38
teenagers. The children
who did come were very young – the oldest was about 8 years. Apparently, it was not well publicised since the Committee
did not hear that the Rene Char would be available until 2 weeks
before. 5
We all had different understanding of what would be happening
in the mornings – e.g. I did not know that as well as providing
activities for the children we also had to organise for all the
other teenagers. 6
The leaders met daily to discuss the progress of the exchange 7
The leaders/need to meet well in advance of the project
starting to discuss our expectations, so that we are much better
prepared beforehand. Fashion
and Beauty Evenings M
and Co (formally Mckays) helped the committee organise a fashion
show to display the summer season fashions to a large audience.
The models were committee members, friends, shop assistants
and also grandchildren.
They
all produced a very polished performance showing a variety of
outfits to great effect. There
was also a display of beauty treatments by Loraine, from the Beauty
Room and the evening finished with refreshments and a raffle.
Many local shops had generously donated prizes.
St Mungo’s hall was an excellent venue and was decorated by
floral arrangements by Lindsay.
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