In 2022, the days of January 10-14th were special at Rygiškiu Jono Gymnasium - for the first time in the history of the gymnasium, so many guests from Europe arrived here: 24 students and 12 teachers from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary and Turkey. The Erasmus+ project Basic Sciences All Over Life (KA229-DB234158) invited everyone to Lithuania. The theme of this mobility aims to experience how the subjects taught at school are later met in real life and how this determines the choice of a profession.

On the first day of the project, the opening ceremony of the project week took place, the guests were greeted by the high school choir, director Vilhelmas Petkevičius and project coordinator Dovilė Rudienė. The guests got acquainted with the history of the gymnasium in the gymnasium museum and delved into the question of the thematic activity of the project "Can we choose a career while playing?". Each team has shown an activity that leads to the choice of a profession. Later, all participants were invited to get to know the city of Marijampolė by playing the riddle-remembering and orientation game "Check Point". The mixed teams later returned to the gymnasium and gave presentations of their photos in various locations around the city. The team that most quickly found all the famous places of Marijampolė and took a photo against their background won.

On the second day of the mobility week, participants from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Lithuania explored the harmony between school subjects and their chosen profession, analyzed their hobbies and career opportunities, and presented the most popular and disappearing professions in their country. They also watched a video of former students, in which they talk about their experiences at Rygiškii Jonos Gymnasium, their chosen field of study and their current career. After watching 8 videos, the project participants learned about the professions of doctors, chemists, managers, representatives of the entertainment business and other professions who successfully work professionally and academically. After that, they presented their insights in posters created during group work. After visiting the Museum of Anatomy at Kaunas LSMU, project participants got a better understanding of what doctors study and why biology lessons are needed at school. In the evening, a party was held in the gymnasium, where representatives of each country showed their program, danced national dances, and sang.

We would like to thank former high school students Algirdas Balčiūnas and UAB Balčiūnas Clinic, Mantas Daugėla, Kamile Klemanskyte, Agne Vaivadaitei-Kalinauskiene, Dovydus Zenkevičius, Ieva Jarmalavičiūtė, Jonas Stadulis and Elvis Goerkis for the created videos and sincere help in creating content for the second day lectures of the BSAOL project.

We also thank the children's and youth ensemble "Žolynukai" and their managers D. Venckienei and R. Brusokienei for the presentation of Lithuanian national dances on the evening of the second day.

The third day continued the participants' immersion in learning various subjects at school, and this time it is a special day. First of all, all the participants visited Marijampolė municipality, the delegations were received by the deputy mayor of Marijampolė municipality, Paulius Marozas and l.e.p. Nerijus Mašalaitis, head of the department of education, culture and sports. According to Mr. Maroz, Erasmus+ projects provide various opportunities: to gain new knowledge, experience, and to get to know the culture of the country, to make connections with new people or just to have an interesting and fun time. The guests were shown a representative film of the municipality of Marijampole, after which the guests could ask their questions. After this warm reception, everyone met at the historic Marijampolė train station and went to Kazlų Rūda to participate in experiential education activities: a health-promoting cognitive walk in the fresh forest air. Project participants got to know Lithuanian forests and colder weather conditions. At the beginning, all the participants did some exercise, and when they were properly warmed up, they went down the forest path. Later, they tried meditation, tried to understand their senses in nature, some participants saw snow for the first time and heated marshmallows on the fire for the first time. Everyone was warmed up by a delicious vegetarian stew and cocoa, and dancing and games allowed everyone to bond even more. Later, a simulated partisan bunker was visited, and high school student Titas Mockevičius and the tour leader told the project participants about the Lithuanian partisans' resistance struggles, the life of the forest brothers in the bunkers and the difficult part of their relatives. The hikers returned home tired, relaxed and happy. Later, they participated in a picnic and fun physical activities. The food of the participants was taken care of by former high school student ZEN chef Dovydas Zenkevičius. At the end of the day, all participants returned relaxed, tired, but happy.

The fourth day led everyone to Druskininkai, where we visited the homestead of one of the best sculptors in Dzūkija - unique wood carvings created by the author over almost 40 years. Here, on an area of ​​two hectares, is only part of the author's work. The folk artist's sculptures, roof pillars, and chapel pillars are standing in various places in Lithuania, having traveled abroad. In the park on the bank of the Ratnyčėlė stream, one could feel the greatness of nature and human work. During the excursion, the exhibition of carvings was visited in the windmill, which the owner built with his own hands; visited the stone wall of the Caregivers - the only exhibit of the park is still being created by artists from all over Lithuania; the composition "Life of a Man and a Tree", created from a 300-year-old pine tree; got acquainted with well-known characters from the literary works of Lithuanian writers: "Marti" by Žemaitė, "Žaldokynė" by B. Dauguvietis, "Twilight" by A. Vienuolis. After that, the visited city of Druskininkai also impressed the project participants.

The fifth day brought the end of the project week, and all participants received certificates during the closing ceremony. We devoted the last day to the history of Lithuania - the Trakai Castle Museum visited in Trakai told about the old history of Lithuania, and the historical experience was extended in the cathedral dungeons visited in the capital Vilnius. The end of the day was special, because the project participants visited the Museum of the Lithuanian Occupation and Freedom Struggle. Today's attractions were not chosen by chance on January 13. project participants celebrated Freedom Defenders Day together, so everyone had a great opportunity to get to know the history of Lithuania better and understand the meaning of this day for the people of Lithuania.

Having experienced adventures and accumulated impressions, project participants from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary and Turkey rushed to their home countries, where they share their experiences from Lithuania. The next mobility will take place in Hungary in March.