Interview of the student representative of our school B. Kontogiannopoulos on his participation in the program Euroscola of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
February 25, 2013
-Did you have difficulty preparing for the essay you had to write? What do you think of the topic?
-The truth is that I hadn’t prepared, I just looked a little at the topic, for 10 minutes, and I was inspired the moment I was writing. I kept writing without realizing at the beginning what I was going to write, but it came out good in the end. To topic was not particularly difficult. If one sat and thought about it, eventually it was quite simple, solutions and causes. Indeed, initially I didn’t want to write, but Mrs.Petropoulou told me to write, to try and I thought I have nothing to lose.
-Did you expect to be chosen?
No, I did not expect it at first, because my report was quite shorter than others from what I learned, but also because, well, it was unpredictable, no one could know.
-How was going on a trip with kids you did not know?
-This was perhaps the best part of the trip, that I didn’t know the rest of the team, because we made new friends and it was a very nice experience.
-Have you kept in touch with the others?
Yes, we are discussing a reunion next week, all together, and we talk on facebook, mobile, email.
-What did you do in Strasbourg?
- We arrived Thursday afternoon and in the evening we ate in an expensive restaurant (the food was good, but too much chicken). On Friday we spent the whole day at the European Parliament. We originally gathered in the main conference room, where the MEPs gather, we listened to a speech, we voted and then we were allowed to ask some questions to a Polish MEP. After we separated into groups, according to the theme that we had already picked and prepared from Greece and we went to some smaller halls, where each committee meets separately. There we discussed and prepared a speech, which we presented in the plenary session. It was something like a bill and then all students voted on whether this bill will pass or not.
-Which theme had you chosen?
-My theme was agricultural policy, that is the policy that should be followed by the farmer to the consumer concerning the products, so as to ensure food security and survival of the rural sector.
Did you meet students from other countries?
Yeah, a few, half of them were inhibited, far-right and such, but some were nice guys, such as the Cypriots.
-Did you encounter any difficulty with the language?
-Not really, I can say that the Greeks knew better English than many other countries.
-How did you see the children of other countries in relation to the Greeks?
-Look, we either have a different DNA, or the others do not read! The Greeks had done a very good preparation. When we sat down to discuss (in committees), I said (in English) «Kids, I have prepared some things”. I took out four sheets of paper that I had written and a Lithuanian girl looks at me with bulging eyes!
- Were there any comments from the other guys on the crisis in Greece?
No,
EUROSCOLA 2013
Interview of the student representative of our school B. Kontogiannopoulos on his participation in the program Euroscola of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
February 25, 2013
-Did you have difficulty preparing for the essay you had to write? What do you think of the topic?
-The truth is that I hadn’t prepared, I just looked a little at the topic, for 10 minutes, and I was inspired the moment I was writing. I kept writing without realizing at the beginning what I was going to write, but it came out good in the end. To topic was not particularly difficult. If one sat and thought about it, eventually it was quite simple, solutions and causes. Indeed, initially I didn’t want to write, but Mrs.Petropoulou told me to write, to try and I thought I have nothing to lose.
-Did you expect to be chosen?
No, I did not expect it at first, because my report was quite shorter than others from what I learned, but also because, well, it was unpredictable, no one could know.
-How was going on a trip with kids you did not know?
-This was perhaps the best part of the trip, that I didn’t know the rest of the team, because we made new friends and it was a very nice experience.
-Have you kept in touch with the others?
Yes, we are discussing a reunion next week, all together, and we talk on facebook, mobile, email.
-What did you do in Strasbourg?
- We arrived Thursday afternoon and in the evening we ate in an expensive restaurant (the food was good, but too much chicken). On Friday we spent the whole day at the European Parliament. We originally gathered in the main conference room, where the MEPs gather, we listened to a speech, we voted and then we were allowed to ask some questions to a Polish MEP. After we separated into groups, according to the theme that we had already picked and prepared from Greece and we went to some smaller halls, where each committee meets separately. There we discussed and prepared a speech, which we presented in the plenary session. It was something like a bill and then all students voted on whether this bill will pass or not.
-Which theme had you chosen?
-My theme was agricultural policy, that is the policy that should be followed by the farmer to the consumer concerning the products, so as to ensure food security and survival of the rural sector.
Did you meet students from other countries?
Yeah, a few, half of them were inhibited, far-right and such, but some were nice guys, such as the Cypriots.
-Did you encounter any difficulty with the language?
-Not really, I can say that the Greeks knew better English than many other countries.
-How did you see the children of other countries in relation to the Greeks?
-Look, we either have a different DNA, or the others do not read! The Greeks had done a very good preparation. When we sat down to discuss (in committees), I said (in English) «Kids, I have prepared some things”. I took out four sheets of paper that I had written and a Lithuanian girl looks at me with bulging eyes!
- Were there any comments from the other guys on the crisis in Greece?
No, it didn’t even come up. Only a boy from Rio asked the MEP a relevant question.
-How was the city of Strasbourg?
Excellent-I mean, a lot of walking, many walkways, medieval buildings. There was a nice cathedral, very large and tall, 100 feet high, and we climbed up. It was an awesome view. It was very nice town.
-Any shopping done?
-Rhetorical question!
-And finally, would you recommend to others to dare to write the report?
-Of course, of course, this goes without saying, of course! I would go back!
Alexia Gotsi student of B1, Olga Kourkouli student of B2
it didn’t even come up. Only a boy from Rio asked the MEP a relevant question.
-How was the city of Strasbourg?
Excellent-I mean, a lot of walking, many walkways, medieval buildings. There was a nice cathedral, very large and tall, 100 feet high, and we climbed up. It was an awesome view. It was very nice town.
-Any shopping done?
-Rhetorical question!
-And finally, would you recommend to others to dare to write the report?
-Of course, of course, this goes without saying, of course! I would go back!
Alexia Gotsi student of B1, Olga Kourkouli student of B2
