Comenius-Meeting in Izmit / Turkey, February 2008

The responsible teachers of the EYES-Comenius-Project met in Izmit, Turkey from 11th to 15th of February 2008. Hosting school was the Gazi High School with Headmaster Zeki Kalac and English teacher Cigdem Pala. The city of Izmit is about 100 kilometers from Istanbul.

The main topic of the meeting was the preparation and coordination of the Göttingen „Theater-Festival“ at the Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium and the „Junge Theater Göttingen“ from May 14th to 19th. Top priority had the discussion about rehearsals, the staging of the play at the “Junge Theater” and the OHG, the stage setting and the accomodation of the participating students in host families. Long work meetings helped to solve all questions and also gave an outlook to the second project year, especially the fall meeting in Imatra, Finland.

The meetings were embedded in the hospitation of school lessons, a welcoming ceremony and talks about the development of classroom teaching methods. Another important appointment was the visit with the mayor of Kocaeli Big-City-Region, that included a longer discussion about the importance of education and the Turkish-European realationships. The complete five days were covered by local media (press and TV).

A trip to Istanbul including visits to the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Yerebatan Basilica Cistern, Sultan Ahmed Mosque and many other cultural assets from Byzantinium age allowed an insight into the rich cultural past of Turkey.

The opportunity to spend the nights in a Turkish „Teachers House“ (a hotel especially for teachers) as well as the visit to the private home of the headmaster of Gazi High School, Mr. Zeki Kalac enabled the visiting guests to gain new and interesting experiences of Turkish culture and way of life which is also a goal of the EYES-Project and the EU-Programme for lifelong learning.

These impressions were deepened by the reception of Istanbul and the Kocaeli district as booming and thriving economic centers with an upstarting and continously growing population.

The intense work in Izmit created a good and solid foundation for the upcoming theater festival in Göttingen in May 2008.

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