Activity 3 my cultural turkish heritage

LTT meeting Erasmus+
“Different but together” 2019-1-RO01-KA229-063163

SULEYMAN DEMIREL ANADOLU LISESI, Turkey

My Cultural Turkish Heritage March 28 – April 1, 2022

Czech participation

Czech Republic was represented by a delegation of 2 teachers and 5 students.

Monday

In the morning of the first day, we were greeted by the headmaster of the Turkish school. The official welcome began with a presentation of the delegations.

After the introductions, student videos and presentations were shown on the topic of spring and the customs of the countries. Afterwards, we toured the school and were invited to peek into the lessons. Later, a marbling workshop and a brief history of this art form were also provided.

For lunch, the Turkish school has prepared traditional dishes. We then moved to the school hall where after watching presentations of traditional music from each of the countries, we enjoyed a concert by the school choir and dancing demonstrations of Turkish folk music.

Our final activity was a walk around Lake Göksu, where students in mixed groups created landart using natural materials. We finished the day with dinner at a traditional Turkish restaurant.

Tuesday

On the second day, two experienced guides accompanied us on the tour of the capital. We travelled by a rented bus between the various sights. First, we visited Haci Bayram Veli Mosque, which is a mosque in Old Ankara built during the Ottoman Empire and situated on Hacı Bayram Veli Street. The mosque is surrounded by parks and tombs.

A short distance away from the mosque is the Augustus Temple. After visiting the mosque where the drawing workshop took place, we toured the old town and went to the museum (Anatolian Civilization museum).  The next stop was Ankara Castle. After visiting the castle, we went by bus to a small park in the city, where we could see swans (Swan Park).

Wednesday On the third morning, we went on a two-day sightseeing trip to central Turkey, Cappadocia. We stopped at a Salt Lake named Tuz Gölü, whose area is about 15 km². The average depth of the lake is about 2 meters. It is one of the largest salt lakes in the world.

Later, we stopped for lunch in Ihlara Valley, where we visited the first rock church on our route and learned a lot about the history of Christianity in Turkey.

The next stop was at the volcanic lake Nar.

Then we continued to the hotel, from where we went to a nearby restaurant, where we could admire Turkish music and dances during the Turkish night.

Thursday The fourth day began with a tour of the underground city (Kaymakli), there are more cities like this one in Cappadocia and they used to serve as a safe hiding place for the local population. The most interesting part of our tour was Göreme. We visited the "Göreme Open Air Museum", consisting of a number of shrines of former Christian churches and monasteries.

Other places of interest were Uc Hisar Castle, Pigeon Valley and a walk in Love Valley. After lunch in Avanos, we visited the local pottery, enjoyed a lecture with a workshop and an exhibition of local pottery. Then we took the bus to Ankara.

Friday Friday was a goodbye day. The final evaluation and presentation of certificates was supplemented by words of praise and thanks. Then we could see an exhibition of our works from the workshops. This was followed by the teacher evaluation meeting and lunch at school. The last monument we visited was Anitkabir, the mausoleum of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Student´s experience:

JAN:  I enjoyed having a good time with people from other countries. I made a lot of new friends and met new people. The only thing that I didn´t like was that there were too many things to do in one week.

MARTIN: My opinion on staying in Ankara: I liked the Erasmus project because of meeting new people from other countries. It was my first experience to contact someone in English for a long time and to find out how I am doing with my performance in English. I liked the full program and trips, so I rate my stay in Turkey very well.

FILIP: I enjoyed the project so much. We had a lot of fun. There were the best people, and everyone was so kind and helpful. I loved everything and I have no clue what the worst thing was because everything is beautiful in Turkey. I learned some new Turkish words and I met new friends, ate interesting food. I would recommend Erasmus to everyone. This project gives a lot of knowledge and experience. I hope I will be able to travel somewhere else in the future.

DENIS: Erasmus was for me big experience. I practiced here my English, learned a lot about Turkey and made a lot of new friends.