Scotland 25.11.-1.12.2018

Erasmus+ meeting in Scotland 25.11.-1.12.2018

On Sunday morning we started our journey from Vammala at 8 am. We took the train to

Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The national railway company, VR, was doing some construction on the tracks,

so we had to modify our tickets beforehand and book a coach on our way back to Vammala. Anyway,

everything should have been okay and we didn’t have any problems with the first train. We had to

change trains in Tampere and there we found out that VR had cancelled all our tickets to both

directions. Luckily we got everything sorted out and we arrived early at the check-in. After the check-in,

it was lunch time. Our departure was from terminal T2 and I remembered  a good restaurant there.

The Nordic Kitchen offered us tasty reindeer pizzas, pastas and salads. From Helsinki we flew to

London and ate again. I can just say that I had booked good tickets, a lot of time to eat, my favourite

thing! Because we were in Heathrow we had to try out Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. The food was

good, but not as good I had hoped. After dinner we flew from London to Edinburgh where a minibus

was waiting for us. Finally we arrived at Peebles High School at 9pm, and the host families were there

to meet and greet our students and Gerry was waiting for us. Me and Minna stayed in a rented

apartment on High Street in the center of Peebles. The train episode wasn’t the only hassle we had

that day. When we arrived at the apartment, we were freezing on the inside. In Finland we warm our

houses all day and night because the weather outside is minus degrees so it would be super cold

inside the houses too. We found out that the heating was timed and it wasn’t on during the night.

Nevertheless we made it through the first night alive.

On Monday morning we met the German teachers and walked together to school admiring the scenery.

The head teacher of Peebles High School welcomed us warmly. After a small break, the students

started to work in groups while us, the teachers, were actively supervising and helping. After hard work

we got see the Scottish style canteen lunch. Our students were surprised that the whole school had

lunch at the same time: there were long queues and a lot of noise and what a huge pile of rubbish. I

agree with my students that there are some things that they could improve, for example, give up

disposable kitchenware. In the evening the students spent time with their host families and the

teachers had dinner together. It was lovely to see familiar people and meet new teachers from different

nationalities. We exchanged our point of views on international education and our school systems.

About the dinner, we ate at the Crown and the haggis there was super good. It was nice to go to bed

in a warm apartment since we had found out how the heater would stay on during night time. A good

night’s sleep without freezing, the best feeling!

On Tuesday morning we had a nice breakfast with Minna at our apartment and then we headed to

school. The students started to work in groups on the topic: panel discussion about the young people’s

unemployment. During the day we got to see an Enterprise Fair where students were selling their

self-made products or services. Most of the day our students worked at school. In the afternoon we

had a tour at school and the students got to attend afternoon classes. After school me and Minna

walked through Peebles and popped in the church at the end of High Street. Then we did some

shopping, I bought some Christmas delicacies to bring home. In the evening we had a lovely dinner

once again with the group of international teachers.

On the foggy Wednesday morning we had one of the final products of the visit. The panel discussion

had representatives from different local companies and the students got their points of view and a lot

of good tips concerning recruitment process. I really liked the fact that the employers highlighted the

importance positive attitude and abilities. After the panel discussion we, I mean the teachers, went to

see Melrose Abbey and had nice stroll around Melrose - what a lovely nice little town. I could have

spent more time there. Well. maybe someday I will. Then we headed to Abbotsford Palace which was

sir Walter Scott's house. First things first, so obviously we had to have lunch before going into the

house. We had a guided tour around the house and the huge and beautiful garden: we could have

admired the details longer than we had time. I always want to see new places and new things, and I

have to admit that Abbotsford was totally worth the visit. In the evening we had - once again - a lovely

dinner with the group of teachers.

We spent the whole Thursday in Edinburgh. First we headed to the Castle. The weather wasn’t as

good as we had hoped: it was raining quite heavily and it was foggy. So we enjoyed the foggy views

from the Castle over the city. I had seen the Castle twice before and Minna five or six times earlier, so

we decided to enjoy the views inside the coffee shop and warm ourselves with a cup of coffee and a

scone. After the castle the students had free time to explore the city and we decided to take it easy

with Minna. I showed Minna the tombstone of Thomas Riddle in the local graveyard: it was one of the

inspirations for J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter books. I know these things as a Harry Potter fan.

Then we strolled around, and we found a shop called Galaxy not so far faraway. There was a lot of

Star Wars and Harry Potter stuff to buy, which was precisely what I did. I bought, for example, an ugly

Harry Potter themed Christmas sweater. It was a heaven for me even though I’m not a huge shopper.

In the evening we had a really good dinner in a fancy restaurant in Edinburgh. Good food makes a

good day even a little bit better.

On Friday morning the students did a lot of work to complete the tasks of our project meeting at school.

They made the brochures and did the evaluation part. While we had our coordinators’ meeting, the

students had time to practise different traditional Scottish dances. The coordinators’ meeting is always

important: we planned the visit to Italy and and discussed the application for a new project. It is

necessary to change information and thoughts with our group of international teachers. Me and Minna

had lunch in town and accidently ended up in the same restaurant with our Finnish students. We saw

that our students had a really good time and they were enjoying the company of others. In the evening

we had the traditional Ceilidh. I enjoy dancing in good company, and this time wasn’t an exception.

Then we had to say goodbyes to half of the Erasmus group.

We had quite an early wake up call on Saturday (6 am) for the and minibus ride to the airport. Some

of us did some shopping, and then we had to quickly grab some food to eat on the plane before we

had to run to the plane. Yes, we literally had to run but we made it. It was really nice that we had a

direct flight. It saved time and more important it was more friendly to our environment. The flight was

good and felt short. When we landed we had to take care of the most important thing: we grabbed

some food to go and ate on the minibus. Our journey from Peebles to Vammala was mostly smooth.

We all had a really good time so thank you team Scotland for all your hospitality.

Saara Haapalainen