German Student blog Djakovo mobility (28 February – 5 March 2016)
Sunday, 28 Februrary: The journey to Croatia (Alina Redlich)
At 7 o´clock in the morning we were in Cologne – Bonn at the Airport.
Soon we met our teachers Mrs Wilk and Dr von Antropoff and of course the classmates who went with us.
Together we checked in and were 35 minutes later at the gate for the Germanwings flight.
At 8:56 a.m. we finally were allowed to get on the airplane which departed at 9:15 a.m.
There were some turbulences because of the cold air during the flight.
When we arrived in Zagreb at about 12 pm,
the shuttle bus brought us ten minutes later to the main building and we changed our money to “Kuna„ the Croatian money.
Another bus brought us to the bus station in the city.
We waited there from 12 a.m. to 1:30 p.m for the bus to Djakovo.
We arrived at the hotel Laguna at 4:50 p.m. after we were received by our hosts and took a short walk from the bus stop in Djakovo to the hotel, which was close to the city.
In the hotel we had time to cover our sheets and especially to walk around.
Later at 7 p.m. we all had dinner. Soup, Wiener Schnitzel and crêpes, filled with chocolate sauce was on the menu. At this time we didn't know yet that we would have the same soup twice daily.
All groups were there except the students from France and Spain.
We all got to our rooms after dinner.
Later the French students finally arrived and a French girl was roommate with me and my friend because we had a room with three beds.
We all slept in peace after this long day and we were happy to have arrived safely.
Monday, 29 February (Melina Manzke)
After we had eaten breakfast at the Hotel Laguna and got ready for the day, we were greeted by Croatian students,
the accompanying teachers and the principal at 8:30. Then we made our way to the town hall, where we were greeted by the mayor.
He then told us a few things about Djakovo and gave all of us a present: a cap with the logo of the city, which was of course put on immediately.
Then we visited a cathedral from the 19th century. It was commissioned by the German-born Bishop Strossmeyer, whose memory is present in Djakovo more often.
We had a guided tour there and we were told a lot about the Church's history of Djakovo. Afterwards we went to the Archbishop’s palace,
which lies next to the cathedral. There we were welcomed by the Archbishop who told us more about the church and general history of Djakovo.
Not far from the seat of the Archbishop was the theological university of Djakovo. There we were welcomed by a lady who gave us a brief lecture on the university
and the library. Afterwards other buildings by bishop Strossmeyer were briefly visited. On the way back to the hotel we also went to a small museum,
which houses an exhibition about the life of Strossmeyer, Christian images, a model of the previously visited cathedral and much more.
Afterwards we had lunch at the hotel and there was a one-hour break before we visited a monastery. Once there, a nun told us about the history of the monastery.
Before we divided up into two groups to visit the buildings the Croats had a little surprise for us. A boy our age stood on top of the organ floor and sang the anthem of Dakovo,
with a voice that no one would have expected. The two divided groups then successively visited a small museum about the history of the monastery and a Montessori kindergarten.
1. Montessori principle:
- children and elderly people are in the same building and play or sing together
- they grow vegetables in the garden and cook their own food
- both age groups can learn from each other
2. Monastery:
- the nuns previously made everything by hand (sewing, spinning, ...)
- nuns were formerly employed as teachers
- each nun had only one box of belongings
After the tour, the entire group was together again and we went to school. There each group of countries presented their prepared presentations
about a successful company. Our group presented the company Tobit. It can be said that our presentation was one of the best!
Subsequently, the Croatian students presented the companies we were going to visit, so that we could get an impression of it beforehand.
We said goodbye and went back for dinner in the hotel. The rest of the evening we had some free time.
Tuesday, 1 March (Henning Teigelkötter)
The day began with a normal breakfast. The Romanian and Bulgarian students surprised us with a traditional present in the bus on the occasion of the first of March, which is supposed to be a sign of luck and the beginning of spring. At 8:45 we visited the first local, successful business: Crnov commerce. They are selling building supplies and bathroom furnishing. Their unique marketing is shown in their own, easily noticeable logo, which is printed on all their trucks. In their presentation we were told how they have success in today’s market and what they are asking from their employees.
At half past 9 we went to Meteor, the next company. We were shown the business, where we saw the assembly and filling line. Additionally they presented their products and their in 1957 founded company. They produce chemical products like soap, cleaning supplies, but they also produced 11 million candles last year. The continuous development of products is a key point of their business. They make goals and work hard to achieve them. That is how they achieved that they supply all the capital cities around and also international companies like Lidl.
After a small break we visited the next business: Ancona. They produce furniture for hotels, offices, students and for the care of people in need, of which 70% are exported to Western Europe. The latest technology and machines and visitation of fairs in Cologne, Milan, Hamburg, Stockholm are used to attract new customers. 30% of the employees are female, they ask for foreign language skills and they really focus on quality. That is the reason why many big hotel chains are their partners.
Hemco, another successful company, was visited at half past 11am. We explored the showroom with their products. They produce many different work clothes, for example for the police, the army or big companies. Their factory is divided in the production with sewing and cutting fabric and the warehouse. The business has 400 employees in Croatia, but many are subcontractors. Around 600,000 uniforms for working are produced annually.
Shortly after 12 o’clock we went to Mlaco. This company produces, sells and deals with building supplies with their 35-40 employees, especially plastic window frames. After the financial crisis they could recover with a new concept and new buildings. They used the advantage of small businesses of flexibility to survive on the new market. Innovation and thinking about the future is really important to them. A restaurant belonging to the company was first used as a cafeteria for lunch of their employees, but is now its own sustainable business.
We ate lunch at 1pm and afterwards we had a small break. At 3pm we dealt with the visited companies in international groups in the school. Later that afternoon two young entrepreneurs held an interactive presentation. We received information about starting in entrepreneurship, problem solving strategies and investments with their slogan “never give up on your goals“ and “if you fail you’ll learn something, but don’t give up, keep going“. On the way to the hotel we discovered a traditional church with beautiful paintings that date from the times in which it was a Mosque.
We also found that the description on every product in the drugstore “dm“ is in German. After we visited some other stores, we ate pizza for dinner at the hotel at 7pm. In the company of the other students we enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Wednesday, 2nd March 2016 (Lea Stampfer)
Today was a very exciting but also exhausting day.
First we woke up at 6:30am. After we got dressed, we had breakfast together with the Romanian students. At 7:30am we met up with all students and teachers in front of the Hotel Laguna.
From there we drove almost one hour to Kapaci Rit. Kapaci Rit is a very big and beautiful nature park. Many rare animals live here. First we were split in two groups. We watched a movie about the nature park and the animals which live there. Later we were able to see and explore the modern and interesting museum of the nature park.
With the whole group again we went to the „Kapaci Rit Train“. This train drove us almost one hour through a part of the huge nature reserve. We had the possibility to see the park and the swamp. We learned a lot about the animals who live there. The tour last until 10:15am.
My highlight of this day were the „Brigdes of Kapaci“. These were uncountable wooden bridges which span all over the park and along the swamp. On the bridges we were able to enjoy the sun and collect many unforgettable memories. That we were allowed to explore the nature park on our own was a very nice experience.
At 11:15am we drove half an hour to Osijek. After a short break at McDonalds, where we were able to eat our taken lunch packets, we arrived in Osijek at 12:15pm.
There we walked with all students and teachers to the centre of the city. Osijek is a big city in Croatia. Also it is very clean and has a lot of nature like parks. On the way to the centre we were able to follow and witness the Croatian city life. But we also walked along a big boulevard with beautiful houses. The shocking thing was that some had the marks of shootings from the Balkan war in the 90s
At the centre of the city we were allowed to explore the city on our own. Almost two hours we had time to go shopping, sightseeing and to enjoy our time in Croatia. We spent our time with going into different stores.
At 3:20pm, we all met again in the centre of the city. From there we walked again to the bus. At 3:45pm the bus left Osijek. Our next travel destination was Nacise.
We arrived there at 16:30pm. In Nacise we visited the beautiful castle of the family Pejacevic. It was built in 19th century and included a ceramic exhibition from a Croatian atrist. Additionally they told us a lot about the family and how they lived. Absolutely impressive was the lighting and the very nicely arranged entrance area.
At 6:15pm we were back at the hotel Laguna. After we ate all together at 7:00pm we went to our room and had a lot of fun with some other students.
It was a very nice day with a lot of sunshine, fun and many new experiences.
Thursday, 3rd March (Sarah Redlich)
The day of the students and teachers started with the breakfast at 8 am. At half past 8 the bus was ready for the drive to the Farm Grube Ltd. After half an hour the bus arrived at the little family farm which owns 300 cows. These cows produce 8.000 litres per year and get fed by the 300 hectares of straw. The farm has been existing for 11 years, led by the husband. The couple that speaks German too, has got two sons, who study agriculture. The woman explained that the milk does not get sold very well because the quality milk is more expensive than the cheap milk sold in most supermarkets. Due to this struggle the price for the milk is too low to invest in bigger projects like milkrobots or biogas plants. The government doesn´t support the regional farms, so the profit is small. After the short tour we went into the hunter’s room to taste delicious homemade Croatian specialities for example filled bread or cream cheese.
At 11:30 we arrived at the vineyards Dakovacka vina d.d. The manager told us that the company owns 13 of 15 kilometres of the vineyards in the area. Dakovacka vina d.d owns also 300 hectares of partner vineyards outside of Dakovo. Since 1963 The business three to four million litres of Chardonnay and Croatian wine, depending on the weather conditions. In the older part of the company building the grapes get pressed and fermented in the cellar or concrete casks. In the storage building the wine gets cooled and later filled by assembly line workers into the boxes for the mass commerce. After we got to know the company, we went into a big room to make a vine tasting with 3 different wines. The first two white wines were ice wine and gewuerztraminer, last red wine was a Cabernet Sauvignon.
With good vibes we leave the company building to drive to the reservoir Borovik. We had 20 minutes free time to make pictures and discover the lake.
After lunch round about 1pm at the hotel, we went all together to the school to deal with topics like good and bad sides of Croatian companies or success secrets. After the presentations of our posters, we had free time to buy souvenirs or discover the city.
Near 8pm after dinner, we played cards with the students of the other countries until we go into the bed looking forward to next great day.
Friday, 4th March 2016 (Klaus Taubert)
We got up at 8am and had breakfast. After that we went to the State Stud Farm Djakovo. There we arrived aboud 10:05 . Here, Lippizane horses are raised and shows with “dancing horses” are presented. This farm has been in Djakovo for about 100 years. There we got a short briefing about what to expect and the show was explained a bit. The show began at 10:45 and was about 35 minutes long. Individual riders, quartets and also coaches participated in the show. After that we were told about the history of the farm and could also look at and even touch some horses in their stables. Then we went to a small gift shop where there were some prizes and pictures of the farm in an adjacent room.
After that we walked back to the hotel. There we had lunch and some free time. At 14:50 we walked to the School’s Open Day. There we had a small tournament of sports such as volleyball, football and basketball. This ended at 16:30. After that we looked at the school and the things that were exhibited there. There was also a room for German! At 17:00 a lecture was held on the Erasmus + project and after that we walked back to the hotel again. Then we had some free time and at 19:35 we met outside the hotel to go to the final party. When we were there we ate a very good dinner and then danced together to the typical music of several countries. We also received some gifts. At about 23:00 pm we were back at the hotel and got ready for the departure quite early the next morning.
Saturday, 5 March (Alina Redlich)
On Saturday morning at 3:30 a.m. a few students had come down to say goodbye and the students from Spain were crying.
After we were done with all the hugs we met in the Lobby downstairs with our teachers at 3:45 a.m.
We were up all night and were very tired but as the bus arrived at 4 a.m. and there was no room in the back, we had to lay the suitcases all over our legs and feet, it was very uncomfortable and so we couldn't sleep anymore. A few of us couldn't even feel their feet.
But luckily the journey just took 2 hours and we were punctually at the airport.
We checked in for our flight and were on the airplane at 8 a.m. which started 30 minutes after.
An hour and fifteen minutes later we arrived at the airport in Berlin.
At 10 a.m. we got through all safety controls and made a round to the same airplane again to fly to Cologne – Bonn.
An hour later we arrived and got our suitcases. on arriving, my classmate’s mother was waiting to pick us up.
Finally, at 3 p.m. we arrived at home and first I showered and slept because of our long trip.
At the Erasmus project I´ve learned a lot about the culture of others and met new people.
I could improve my English skills and my classmates and me were happy because everyone told us that we had a good presentation and the best English pronunciation.
It was also a new experience to work in groups with other students from other countries in English.
Everyone was very friendly and open to new people and it was fun talking to them.
German Student blog Djakovo mobility (28 February – 5 March 2016)