Gödöllő,
10. Sept. 2010
Re: INVITATION to Hungary
to: Barbara Gauze-Gwozdz, Poland
Antonio Jesus Espinosa, Spain
Türkan Öztürk, Turkey
Kameliya Hristova, Bulgaria
Vicky Amartolou, Greece
Dear Friends,
hereby we kindly invite you to join us and our school from the 29th of November through the 3rd of December 2010. As you all know, the Comenius program's first destination is Gödöllő, Hungary. We are already deeply involved in the preparations to ensure that you will have a pleasant and memorable stay with us.
For your information, below is a brief outline of the program we are planning for you:
Sunday, the 28th of November | Arrivals |
Monday, the 29th of November | Get to know us and our school (morning), Visit to the Royal Palace of Gödöllő (afternoon) |
Tuesday, the 30th of November | Discover our town (morning), Games and quizzes (afternoon) |
Wednesday, the 1st of December | The hidden treasure of Northern Hungary: Eger (full day excursion by bus) |
Thursday, the 2nd of December | Visit to the university (morning), Visit to the Lazar Horse Farm (afternoon) Film club (evening) |
Friday, the 3rd of December | The pearl of the Danube: Budapest (half day excursion by bus), Good bye party (evening) |
Saturday, the 4th of December | Departures |
As you can see, we will have a lot of outdoor activities. Please be prepared for cold, rain or even snow! We look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to answer any quesions you might have in your mind. Just drop us a line!
Once again, we are all looking forward to meeting you in Hungary and hope to have a great time together!
With best regards,
Tamás Kocsi
Director
Tünde Bajczi
Comenius Programme
Project Manager
GREECE
We are the Greek delegation of students from Greece Hellas. Hellas is the modern name of Greece and modern Greeks are called Hellenes both used also in ancient times.
Greece with a population of about 10, 6 million, geographically belongs to Europe since it forms the most southern extremity of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by the Ionian, Mediterranean and Aegean seas and by Albania, FYROM, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Our country encompasses many island groups including the Ionian Islands in the west and the Aegean islands as well as Crete, Rhodes etc. The sea is the most consistent influence on the physical environment of Greece. The second major physical feature is mountains.
North central Greece is all mountains with the main range of the Pindus Mountains extending from northwest Greece to the south.
The highest point in our country is Mount Olympus where ancient Greeks believed was home of the 12 Gods.
Beginning in ancient times the sea endowed Greece with a seafaring tradition; the best known work of classical Greek Literature, Homer’s Odyssey describes a long and dangerous voyage assumingly made across the eastern Mediterranean from Asia Minor. Sea travel has promoted contact among populations in Greece and with other peoples but its exposed peninsula has also made Greece vulnerable to attack from the sea like when the Persians attacked.
At other times the Greeks benefited greatly from it, like when they came in contact with the Phoenicians who introduced them to the alphabets which the Greeks adapted for their own use.
Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe of freedom, art and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world. Athens took its name from Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.
In Athens memory never fades. Wherever you stand or turn the city’s long and rich history is alive in front of you.
This is where the Parthenon, the marvel of architecture, was created and art became inseparable of life. Athens is known all over the world as the cradle of a great civilization and for the Acropolis. It is the place where the political system of Democracy, sciences and philosophy were born. Today it is the commercial, cultural, financial political and industrial centre of Greece.
GREEK HISTORY AND ITS IMPACT ON EUROPE
It is globally known that Greece has got a unique and magnificent history. The Greeks’ achievements in philosophy, rhetoric techniques, democracy, science and especially rationality have put a huge influence on western culture.
Most western philosophical traditions began in Ancient Greece in the 6th century BC. The first philosophers are called "Presocratics" which designates that they came before Socrates. The Presocratics were from the western or the eastern colonies of Greece and only fragments of the original writings of the presocratics survive, in some cases only a single sentence.
A new period of philosophy started with Socrates who made the thoughts and opinions of people his starting-point. Aspects of Socrates were first united from Plato, who also combined with them many of the principles established by earlier philosophers, and developed the whole of this material into the unity of a comprehensive system.
Aristotle of Stagira, the most important disciple of Plato, shared with his teacher the title of the greatest philosopher of antiquity but while Plato had sought to elucidate and explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given us by experience.
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 508 BC. Athens was one of the first known democracies. It remains a unique and intriguing experiment in direct democracy where the people vote on their behalf but vote on legislation and executive bills in their own right. Participation was by no means open, but the in-group of participants was constituted with no reference to economic class and they participated on a scale that was truly phenomenal. The public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theatres.
As regards to the term "rationality", was ever first used in the ancient Greek ideology. The founder of rationality is Parmenides, who believed the only criterion of truth was logic. The rationality accepts logical thinking as the only source of knowledge. The reasoning comes from the power of the mind's ability to receive sense stimuli from the environment, which is to understand through the proper word.
During the Enlightenment, the idea of rationality spread across Europe at a rapid pace. People then began to rely more on logic than on perceptions, which had been imposed by the society of the Middle Ages and Church, to explain and interpret various natural, or supernatural, and social phenomena. The rationality appeared particularly in writings of scholars and scientists, thus developed sciences such as medicine, physics, chemistry and biology to a large extent. That is why the institutions, the sciences and their terminal logos have Greek origin. We say φιλοσοφία-philosophy, φυσική-physics, βιολογία-biology and δημοκρατία-democracy. Of course, the philosophy was another field that benefited from rationality and helped to explain many concepts such as truth, justice and righteousness.
Undoubtedly, ancient Greece was the basis for the growth and development of Europe. The concepts supported by the ancient Greeks, particularly democracy and rationality, influenced Europe in a significant degree during the period of Enlightenment. However, the influence does not stop there, even today, as these ideas have been embraced by today's Europeans, and not only.
Furthermore, the Olympic Games, the biggest international event in the world, began in Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. The spirit of the Olympic Games is very similar to how it was those days encouraging peace, friendship and fair play, while the athletes play the main role. This event takes place every four years; the Olympic Flame comes from Olympia, as in ancient times, and still brings people together in friendly competition.
GREECE NOWADAYS
Greece is one of the most beautiful and historic places of interest, not only in Europe but throughout the world. Every year, loads of tourists choose Greece as their holiday destination mainly because of the special Greek customs and traditions as well as its natural beauty and its magnificent islands.
People in Greece are famous for their hospitality and their generosity from ancient times. Hospitality is seen as both a pleasure and a responsibility. Regarding to Greek teenagers, they keep on changing habits and characteristics as affected by the youth of the rest of Europe. They place less emphasis on old customs and traditions but they never forget their true roots, the history and the great achievements our ancestors made.
Athens has become the centre of Greece not only because it is the capital of the country but also because of some other important factors. It gathers economic opportunities, international trade, government functions, and educational and health facilities more than any other big city of Greece.
Greeks do not pay so much attention to economic class so that they become socially recognised. Social status results from a combination of wealth, education, occupation and is referred to as honour or love of honour (philotimo). This concept refers to one's sense of social responsibility, esteem within the community, and attention to proper behaviour and public decorum.
Music and dance are the distinctive characteristics of Greek culture. In spite of the popularity of Western Europe and American music, people have maintained the Greek style of music, dance and instrumentation. Some of the most commonly used instruments are the bouzouki, santouri, lauto (mandolin-type lute), clarinet, violin, guitar, tsambouna (bagpipe), and lyra (a stringed Cretan instrument), many of which function as symbols of national or regional identity. The popular composers Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis have achieved international fame.
Greeks are used to gathering up within a close circle of family and friends or even big companies in order to have fun. They enjoy themselves altogether by eating, drinking, playing games, listening to music and occasionally having debate conversations on several every day issues. Music is one of the major reasons of that mood. Despite the European influence which is put on Greek music, the traditional and particularly ethnic music that comes from the east is the one that makes most Greek people want to dance and get away from reality. Besides, this is one of the mottos the Greeks have. As we say: “live each day as if it is the last one”. Sometimes, little moments of entertainment are, for most of us, more precious than hours of rest!
As for the youngsters in Greece, they seem to be even more enthusiastic about entertainment and having fun than their older ones. They are very keen on enjoying themselves with their friends and that’s why they pay so much attention on how they will spend more time with them. In addition, they start going out late at night from a very early age which is very common nowadays. But teenagers nowadays have less leisure time than they used to have some years ago and that is because education and professional goals are getting more and more demanding. So they have to work and study even harder in order to have sufficient knowledge to achieve their ambitions and finally, succeed. They often press themselves too much so that they do everything within their power. Especially teenagers in their last year of senior high school, usually suffer from pressure, stress, anger and tiredness. Despite that, they keep trying to do their best and “survive” in the strange adults’ world.
Stereotype of a Hungarian
After conducting a research for the Hungarian stereotype in our place in Egaleo, we have found the following:
1. Most Greeks admitted they did not know much about them.
2. Many hardly even knew where Hungary is, but they said that the first thing that came to their mind, was the city of Budapest. They thought of it as a rather romantic destination for trips on vacation and the like.
3. Some others reported that the word “Hungary” reminded them of food and, to be precise, a type of salad and sausages.
4. Finally, fewer said that “Hungary” reminded them of violins, Roma, Puskas -a coach of a Greek football team –who comes from Hungary.
And that’s all. It appears that the majority of the Greeks, or at least those we asked, knew little about Hungary and its people, so stereotypes are pretty much non-existent.
How do you think about bringing our nations together through our schools and get to know more things about each other?
