'We are going to Sweden !', our teachers said and told us a few words why, where and when they had planned a trip. So we learned that there were a few places worth seeing in Sweden and we would co-operate with the schools in the future in order to get to know each other and what seemed to be the most important to practice our English. Some of us were not exactly sure what to expect. Some couldn't speak English well enough to communicate, some were afraid because of meeting new people and staying at someone's house. We knew that Sweden was a country in the north. We knew it was cold and snowy. The history said about the Vikings, The Polish - Swedish wars and a joint Vasa dynasty. The girls knew about handsome, tall, fair-haired Swedish boys and the boys knew there was a Polish hockey player, Mariusz Czerkawsky once playing for Sweden but now for NHL League in Canada. And we knew about the Nobel Prize... When the day came we packed our luggage and set of in a small bus, just for 16 students and two teachers. We visited three main places, but also Stockholm and Göteborg. We came to Sweden via a ferry from Gdansk to Nynesham and left from Malmö to Swinoujscie. We made 3520 kilometres - counting also the journey in Poland as we live in the south, in Cracow.


PEOPLE

Everywhere we meet different people. Most of them were very friendly and polite but we also met a few students who treated us not well. Of course, students are students, as our teachers say, so we understand that there are always exceptions who are worse than the others. We think that our manners and customs are more traditional. We are used to shaking hands between boys and kissing checks between girls when we meet every morning. There is also nothing unusual and even we would consider it impolite not to let a girl through the door before a boy which seemed to be a shock for the Swedish. We, the boys, are also used to kissing a hand of any woman we greet, especially older, at the age of our mothers or so. We think it is not a bad habit to show a kind of respect to them.


SCHOOLS / EDUCATION

Swedish schools are bigger, better equipped and better organised than the Polish ones. In every school we could see that everywhere there was enough room for everybody. That kind of school helps the learners to find a comfortable place to learn, revise and do some things on their own. We know that your education system is different. You have to work harder preparing your own ideas, projects, etc. We are educated in a more academic way. We study from books and then the teachers ask us questions to see if we understood and learned, sometimes by heard, everything. We don't have a lot of choice. Once we had chosen the school - we have to follow the syllabus and all the subjects are taught as the most important ones. That's way we felt that our level of education or knowledge is higher e.g. on maths or chemistry you, being at the same age, learn things we had done two or three years before ! But do we actually need so complicated formulae ? And will we really remember them in our future life ? These are the questions. As far as our teachers say it is going to change in the future. The Polish system of education is being under reconstruction now, which we call a reform. So maybe in a few years .........

TECHNOLOGY

We loved Swedish well - equipped and computerised schools and homes. There was no problem with the access to Internet and sending massages. The idea of communicating through computer is brilliant and we hope that in the future it will be more common in our country too. Some of us have already e-mail installed but it is not as often used as in Sweden. We simply cannot afford it yet. And there is still lack of English .........


ENGLISH - our opinions

1. What we remember from Uppsala was that when we arrived our hosts took us to the biggest shop centre and asked what we usually eat in Poland. We were too shy to say anything in English so we said "Pizza" - the only word we could think of. So we had a pizza that night !


2. When I was going to Sweden I thought I knew English. I thought it was not so difficult and there would be no problems. But I soon realised that I still didn't know a lot of words and I have to learn and learn !


3. I believed in myself !

4. I liked the way the Swedish speak English. It is so good and the most important thing is that not only students and young people know it, but also adults, every teacher, everyone in the street. It was great !


ARCHITECTURE / COUNTYSIDE

Your country looks like a fairy-tale picture. Small wooden houses with white curtains and tiny lamps, romantic views, mountainous landscapes and clean air and waters. In the north there was a lot of snow which was the whitest we had ever seen. We didn't like the idea of combining the modern shop centres or offices in the middle of an old town. But we have more and more of this crazy thoughtlessness in Poland too. FOOD


When we tried to compare Polish - Swedish eating habits we saw that you eat less. We eat too much. You eat better - your diet is healthier. On your tables there are more vegetables and fruit. Heaven for vegetarians. And less fattening food. And you don't eat soups !


HOSPITALITY

We felt at every house like at home. Most of the hosts spent with us all their free time. Of course there were things organised by all the teachers involved. We had some lessons at all three schools we visited, but most of the time we were together with our hosts. The best time we had in Örnsköldsvik because we came there for the weekend and left early in the morning on Tuesday. When we were coming the weather was OK. but at night the snow fell and in the morning we awake in a fairy-tale land - waiting only for Santa Clause and his reindeers. The hosts took us sightseeing the town and then we went to a hockey mach to support MODO team. It was great, and they won ! Then we went to bowling. On Sunday some of us wanted to go to the church as we are used to attending a Sunday Mass. So we did. And even the priest knowing he had visitors spoke a few minutes in English - especially for us. Later we went to the swimming pool called the Paradise Baths and in the evening we went to a pub. Our teachers went to PARKSKOLAN that day, although in was a Sunday, and worked there on planning the co-operation. In the evening they went to a concert hall to listen to a famous Swedish pianist, Bengt Hallberg and the city orchestra playing Ira and George Gershwins' music, On Monday we went to school - and we saw a huge, well organised and excellent equipped building with lots of friendly smiling people. We were greeted by a welcoming note on every TV screen all around the school. In the afternoon we went to a factory producing paper - Domsjö and one of our teachers, Mrs Jagna Romanska was interviewed by a local newspaper reporter, Malin Byström. We had a few photographs taken by Markus Sandin and the next day there was an article in the local newspaper about our visit. The original title was "Skolutbyte som skapar gemenskap", whatever it meant. We felt truly like VIP's. It was great ! When we were leaving early in the morning we cried with real sadness - we didn't want to leave that warm, though so snowy city and its inhabitants.


But we had to travel further. And then we came back to Kraków. We will never forget all the good things that happened to us, as there were mostly such things, hence that trip will always be in our hearts. Now we exchange e-mail letters, we write postcards and plan our own visits. We also had already had one group from Uppsala in March. And this school year, in October we had three groups - one from Uppsala, one from Nossebro and one from Lingham - which came nearly simultaneously. So we are open and welcome all the visitors but we would also like to travel and work on our English at home.


Written by sixteen students and a little advice from the teachers who were with us, Ms Jagna Romanska and Ms Agnieszka Kania. XXVIII secondary school, Cracow, Poland.