Sunday April 17th 2016

On this day all the teams travelled from their countries to Lithuania. Upon arrival to Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, we were welcomed by the Lithuanian students and their families. As it had been pre-scheduled on the agenda of our program, during the meeting, all the students from the visiting teams were hosted by Lithuanian families while the teachers stayed at a hotel.

Monday, 18 April 2016

Teachers and students from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Croatia all met at the Vilnius Zverynas Gymnasium. Our Lithuanian peers had prepared a reception ceremony which was greeted by the principal of the school Daiva Ziuriene. The school choir entertained us singing Lithuanian songs while they were dressed in traditional costumes. Afterwards, Lithuanian students presented each one of the participating countries in terms of geographical situation, population, history, culture and tourist attractions by associating them to their own country seeking for similarities or differences.

After that, the students were divided into groups of different colours according to the colour of the apples printed on their name labels. Each group was given instructions to mime an apple-related story. The other groups had to guess the stories which were about Newton's apple, Heris's apple and the Apple's apple. This was meant to be an ice-breaking activity which was followed by detailed presentations by German, Italian and Croatian students. They mainly focused on the marketing policy and the role of good packaging for successful market purposes. The Greek students presented "good" and "bad" forms of packaging for biscuits and marmalade. The purpose of this activity was for the students to discover which citeria packaging would meet if products were to serve certain purposes such as healthy eating or environment protection. Later, at 12.30 we had lunch at the school canteen where we tasted Lithuanian dishes especially prepared for us. At 15.00 all the students entering the programme joined the city tour of Vilnius. The starting-point was the Cathedral, a Vilnius landmark, from which the students had the opportunity to enjoy their walk along the paved narrow streets of the city centre.

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

At 09:00 we met at the Gymnasium Assembly Hall. We were presented with the criteria that product labels had to meet such as the brand, the components, the expiry date, the colour, the logo etc. Then, the students divided in groups performed workshops in which they created labels for their home products made of apples. Each national team made a label for its product and after the process was completed, each group presented its product and a label attached to it.

After lunch-break at the school canteen, teachers and students were seperated into two groups. The first group visited a branch of Nielsen, an international company in the city centre. They do research on consumers' attitudes in more than 100 countries in order to provide an overall evaluation of international trends as far as marketing of products is concerned. The Nielsen people attempt to correlate consumers with the ways they can be addressed taking their needs into consideration. The company adopts an interactive approach towards consumers so as to better promote a product. At the company's premises the students took part in a workshop which helped them to familiarise themselves with the idea of 'marketing'. Mrs Giedre, who was head of the marketing department of the company, explained the role of 'marketing' in getting the message over to the right people and thus influencing their preferences with a view to optimizing the sales of a product. The students realised that the constituent parts of marketing were approach, coordination and response. They even realised that selling purposes for any product can be achieved by advertising since it targets consumers' buying interest and perception.

Finally, Mrs Giedre revealed that what makes advertising successful is the catalytic effect it can have on a target group. A commercial should be neither too long nor too short. It can consist of a plot lasting from 20 seconds to some minutes. Mrs Giedre's presentation was very informative and gave students the opportunity to prepare their own commercials for the following Friday.

The second group visited the Grand Dukes' Palace in a renovated museum. A guide had been employed to give us a presentation in English. The history of the country and its kings was unfolded before us in 2 hours.

We also climbed to the highest floor of the building after ascending a flight of stairs, where we were offered paper crowns to place on top of our heads and feel the glory of great queens. From there we enjoyed the breathtaking view of the city and took numerous pictures. In the afternoon, the teachers were given a tour of Vilnius visiting the sights of the Russian Church, the Church of the Three Martyrs and the Municipality Square. At each spot there were Lithuanian students waiting for us to give us a short lecture on the history of the monument. Unfortunately, the heavy rainfall did not allow us to get on with exploring the city any further.

Wednesday, 20 April 2016

At 07:00 early in the morning we met at the Gymnasium. We boarded on a bus and headed to the southern part of the country which borders Belarus. We had our first stop at a Mound from which we admired the green landscape and the junction of two long rivers. The next stop was at Crutas Park. It was a huge park which included lakes, rivers, a zoo, bridges and a great number of statues which dated back to the era of Lithuanian Occupation by the ex Soviet Union. We moved on to Druskininkai, a town which was famous for its spa waters, its beautiful houses, the luxurious hotels and the numerous parks. Our next destination before we returned to Vilnius was the traditional village Zervynos, around which we took a really long stroll to realise how life was in the countryside.

Thursday, 21 April 2016

At 08:30 we all met at the Gymnasium. We travelled north by bus. After an hour we arrived at Azuoreriu orchard where apple trees were planted in straight rows. There we were showed around a factory of picking, sorting out and packaging apples. We also tasted apple juice which they produced. After lunch, we continued our journey to Anyksciai. There was a vast area in the woods where people could enjoy riding, cycling, camping, canoeing and various other sports. We had a treetop walking experience and reached a tower made of steel and wood. When we climbed to the top, the magnificent view was really awsome. After we took a few long breaths inhaling as much oxygen as possible, we continued our trip to Kalita hill, where many of us were brave enough to take a ride on the Alpine coasters. Later, back in Vilnius, the teachers enjoyed their meal at a traditional restaurant, where they were informed about how Lithuanian beer is traditionally made.

Friday, 22 April 2016

At 09:30 we met at the Municipality Hall at Europe Square. We were welcomed by the Head of the Department of Education who informed us about the school population and the educational system. She also encouraged students to share a few things about their countries. Back at the Gymnasium we had lunch and then students presented their commercials for their products made of apples. Their inspiring ideas resulted in four superb videos which can be seen at:

 

 

"Love apple muffins just like you love each other" was voted as the best video which can only be compared to a professional one. Then, teachers and students filled out a programme assessment form. The programme closed with a show perfomed by the students. Certificates of attendance were handed out to the participants and the next meeting was appointed to be held in Poland, in October 2016.

 

Saturday, 23 April 2016

On this day all the teams travelled back to their countries. The meeting held in Vilnius gave us the opportunity to collaborate on the issues addressed by the agenda of our Erasmus+ programme and to spend a great time together.