Pobierz plik - Grundtvig

Katharine (55) wrote: At the age of fifty, you tend
to travel extensively, yet a trip to the neighbouring
Poland, part of the European Union, still means
much more to me. I grew up next to a tightly controlled
border between East and West Berlin. It
used to be a natural thing for me to see the world
divided into zones; you can move about some
of them while other are forbidden territory. The
fall of the Berlin Wall so effectively dividing the
two worlds seemed impossible to me, I did not
believe this could ever happen. When it did happen,
unexpectedly, one needed more stimuli to
make a decision to meet our Eastern neighbours.
Fear of the unknown and the necessity to tackle
our national sense of guilt prevailed. One can expect
that contacts with Polish women as part of
EWCOL project allowed to ease the fear as one
year later Katharine e-mailed one of us to inform
that she was visiting a health farm in Kołobrzeg, a
beautiful Polish seaside resort.
Participation in the project offered us a great
opportunity to develop owing to various types of
activities, including psychology, painting and linguistic
workshops. We found out about the benefits
of the sauna, herbal spices and honey. We
learnt relaxation techniques and Jewish dances.
We prepared a theatrical performance and exercised
our vocal chords, reciting, shouting and
finally singing “Ode to Joy”. We swam in Lake
Bicānu, practised yoga and done other exercises.
We did Nordic walking in the spring woods surrounding
Zielona Góra and – without the poles
– walked the surrounds of Göttingen boasting
autumn colours. We also appreciated sight-seeing
walks. Riga has a special place in our hearts with
its splendid Art Nouveau architecture; Berlin’s museums
were equally endearing.
During the last meeting in Karpacz in the
Karkonosze Mountains we exchanged the news
since the former meeting. Our colleagues shared
with us their experiences, things of importance to
them, somewhat defining them but also changing,
fashioning and enriching. Partly, this is what
this project is all about: learning about new opportunities
referring to a friend’s experience encourages
them to take action which would otherwise
be regarded too audacious by the senior students.
Weronika Lazdane from Preili had not been experienced
in mountain trekking and embarked on
the trail with apprehension only to remark joyously
later on how well she did and that she would
remember her visit to Karkonosze forever.
The first meeting (project ’Aesthetic and Artistic Activity for the Silver
Age’) – outdoor painting in Chynów near Zielona Góra - Kazimierz
Dziadosz captured painting
97