Recycling and Reusing – Erasmus project

This was my first Erasmus so it was a new experience for me. I have learnt a lot about the Italian lifestyle, and it was interesting to see how others think of the world. For me it was a little bit stressful to look after someone and take responsibility of her, but luckily, she was really kind and it wasn’t a problem to host her at all. In the second day we did a program named” Treasure Hunting” which is an activity where we went to places around Budapest, like donation shops and package free shops. In another day we had a workshop at Medence group where we made bags out of molino material. It was also fun to see the Italians experience snowing for the first time.

Radó-Kovács Flóra

This was my first hosting Erasmus, so I was a bit nervous at first. The Italians’ flight was delayed, so they arrived late, and we started with a welcome dinner featuring Hungarian cuisine. During the day, we had engaging workshops, such as designing a logo and learning about Palermo’s sustainability situation. A highlight was making bags from recycled molino materials at ‘Medence Csoport.’
In the evenings, we explored Budapest’s famous Christmas markets, where the Italians tried traditional Hungarian foods. We also went to play pool and had dinner together in various restaurants.

We also went ice skating; it was a lot of fun, especially because it snowed on that day. For many Italians, it was their first experience with snow. Exploring Budapest’s Parliament added a cultural touch to our journey.
On Saturday, we cooked together and had a final farewell dinner at school.

Initially, language posed a challenge, but as days passed, the Italians improved their English and opened up their personalities. In the end, we all became great friends, and I can’t wait to travel to Palermo!

Erasmus not only exposed us to diverse cultures but also showcased the universal language of friendship.

Pohly Bora

First of all, before I begin on the actual Erasmus project, I want to say that I was very worried at first because I applied to this project with 3 of my friends but none of them got accepted besides me. I wanted to make that clear because that changed my whole experience by a lot.

Now for the actual project I really enjoyed it and that’s for many reasons. Firstly, I think the community was great and both the Hungarians and the Italians got along very well with the other group and within themselves too. Secondly, I think the teachers planned the whole week very well and everything happened when it needed too. Also, while it’s true that maybe there were very few workshops or programs that we had that connected to the theme of the week being “recycle and reuse” I think I can speak for the whole group it was better this way and we enjoyed everything much more.

The only negative parts that I can really think of are maybe the time limits we had and the bit introverted approach we sensed from a few Italians. By time limit I mean that we only had 1 week total and the Italians wanted to see and experience everything but that’s only natural but still we always arrived late home and didn’t really have time to rest. By the approach of the Italians, I meant that they came to our country without knowing basically anything apart from a few and when we asked about everything the answer was the same: “I don’t know, whatever you want to do”. And now you’re there with a foreigner that can’t really speak English and your already out of ideas but have to make a program from thin air in about 30 seconds, and this happened constantly.

This is just the briefest explanation of my experiences without too much detail but if I want to sum up the week, I would say that I really enjoyed it apart from a few ups and downs. I really hope that I will have the same experience next year in Palermo.

-Also, I hope everyone will stay the same way they were because I really liked everyone.

Krasnyánszki Gergő

This Erasmus week was a really good experience to meet new people and try myself in a new situation. We had a lot of free time and some workshops during the week. In workshops we planned a logo for this Erasmus program, and we talked about a quiz which we also filled out. With the teachers we went to the Parlament which was beautiful and big, I found it very impulsive. We went ice skating when it was snowing so it was amazing. I think some of the Italians have never seen that much snow like that day, so it was a perfect event. We had some other programs like making reusing bags or playing treasure hunt, but we had a lot of free time when everyone wanted to go together with the group, so it was a little bit hard to find a place for that many people. But in the end, we always figured out something. We went with them to a gaming room to try billiards and bowling, they said it was good and I really enjoyed it too. We went to Christmas markets a lot and some souvenir shops too because of the Christmas vibe and because they wanted to buy some gifts for their families. The weather wasn’t the best because we were always freezing, and we had rainy days. In the evenings after the programs, we sat down somewhere to talk, and the Italians teach us some Italian word. I didn’t have a lot of time with my pair just in two of us, but I think it wasn’t a problem because she wanted to be with the others as I am too. So, it was a tiring week, but it was so much fun, and I am so excited about when we will go to Palermo next year.

Kovalik Panna

This journey was awesome! Me and my guest became friends and we had lots of fun together. The programs in Budapest were fun and creative. We learned new things and methods about our main topic. We visited the most beautiful buildings in Budapest.

The Buda Castle was amazing. We also went to the Hungarian Parliament. As I saw our guests the Italians liked it really much!

We even had a treasure hunt activity which was extremely exciting in my opinion. After all these programs we did something together in the city with the others. After all this Erasmus program was very fun for me and I learned many new things as well. It helped me in my English speaking skills a lot. Now I look forward to go to Sicily, Palermo.

Kovács Bálint

In late November I had the amazing opportunity to take part in an Erasmus project. The Erasmus’s theme was sustainability and to learn and teach more about our environment. We had workshops on these topics, we went around the city looking for charity shops and went to Medence Lab. Medence Lab is a place where they took reusing to another level. From plastic you can make different types of bags, pencil cases, wallets, and a whole other stuff too.

Despite the freezing cold the Italian students wanted to discover all of Budapest, and we were happy to show them. I think one of their favourite moments was when we went ice skating and it started snowing, it rarely or more likely never snows in Palermo so it must have been magical for them. They also tried lots of Hungarian food and I think they liked lángos the best, but I didn’t hear any complaints about the chimney cakes either. We had a lot of fun even when we had language barriers, somehow at the end of the week we could understand each other with very little usage of words. I hope all of the Italian team had fun and liked Budapest as much as we like it. 
My favourite moment was when we went to a Christmas market and walked around the beautiful little houses. I learned a lot from this project, and I can’t wait till we go to Palermo and discover the secrets of the city.

Dringó Eszter

It was a fantastic 8 days with the Italians. We had exciting workshops, for example: design our logo, treasure hunt, or Medence group where we made recycled bags. I liked that besides the workshops we had enough free time, when we could hang out together. We did a sightseeing tour of Budapest and visited the most famous places. Since it’s almost Christmas we saw the Christmas markets and tried traditional chimney cake at Deák Square. The weather wasn’t so friendly that week, it was very cold, it rained a lot, but it also snowed once. It snowed on Thursday when we went ice skating, and one of my most memorable memories was how excited the Italians were about the snow. I enjoyed hosting a student who is not from my country. It was a little challenging to host an Italian because he was much slower than me so we had to hurry everywhere, but actually after all it was fun. I think the group was amazing, everyone was kind and I felt like everyone had a good time. I made really good friend both Hungarians and Italians, and I also „found” my younger brother. The only sad time was when we had to say goodbye at the airport, but I’m looking forward to seeing each other again in October. During this week I met a lot of new people, participated in exciting programs and had a fantastic time.

Thanks to Ágota, Kamilla and all the Hungarian and Italian students.

Ceglédi Fanni

I have participated in an Erasmus project related to environmental studies. We had workshops connected to this theme, the point of the Erasmus was to educate us about awareness and recycling. I think it was a very valuable experience, we visited shops like ,,Pancs” which is a packaging free market and went to a workshop where we made bags out of reusable materials. We looked at surveys which showed us how people in Budapest and Palermo act when it comes to recycling.

We had to host an Italian student during the project which was challenging for me. We had to make compromises but it taught me a lot about Italian culture and about communicating effectively. We usually worked and exchanged ideas in groups which I really enjoyed. The group buildings and the free time activities were super fun, I could connect to a lot of people, which made this project very enjoyable. We went sightseeing too and showed our city to the Italians. We also gave them a tour in our school and talked about the opportunities Poli gave us like the student enterprise. On Friday we had some sport activities at the Tornahazy party and we reviewed the project on the last day.

Baraczka Teréz

It was a very important week for me, I have new friendships, new experiences and my language got better. It was my first Erasmus project.

At the first day, Monday, when the Italian students arrived, we played some icebreaking games, and then the headteacher (Zsolt) gave us a speech, a very long speech. After that we ate a dinner together. The dinner was cooked by me and Rob (an English teacher), it wasn’t bad, but it could be better.

Tuesday, Rézi and Gergő, gave us a short presentation about Poli and Budapest. After some Italian student gave us a presentation about their school, and then we had a workshop. After we went to treasure hunt in small groups, it was a bit boring, until we went to the Christmas market instead of the treasure hunt.

Wednesday, we went to the Medencecsoport workshop, in the workshop we made backpacks or mini pockets. In the afternoon we went to the castle, where we saw some beautiful places.

Thursday, we went to the Városligeti Műlyégpálya, where we ice skated, but an Italian student broke his arm and he had to go to a hospital with Ágota, but he has known the „wonderful” Hungarian healthcare. In this day snow fell, the Italians never saw snow before, they were so excited and they liked it so much. After that we had a big free time.

Friday, we went to the Hungarian Parlament, it was very beautiful. After we went to school and did some workshops.

Saturday, we go to a museum (I don’t know why), it was boring, after that we ate Lángos and I drank Puncs. Ágota called it sightseeing.

Sunday, we took them to Cyberjump, we like it so much, after that we went to the Starbucks.

Monday, we took them to the airport, we hugged each other we cried a bit and we said „bye-bye, I’ll see you in October”

Tóth-Pászka Bonca

Our partner school was a Sicilian sport school. My partner hasn’t been abroad before, like many of the Italian students. The theme of this Erasmus was recycling and upcycling. 

The Sicilians arrived on Monday, three hours late, but that was because their flight was delayed. Every time I told my guest he should be ready with changing his clothes at eight, he only started to change his clothes at eight. According to the other Hungarian members, the other Italians were just the same. To arrive anywhere on time with my guest was the hardest thing in the Erasmus.

During the workshops we mostly compared our researches about what our cities are doing in this upcycling, recycling topic. We also went to the Medence Lab and done upcycling by ourselves.

We did a lot of sightseeing in the official program and our free time as well. Tuesday during the Treasure Hunt program we explored the city near the Metro 3 line. On Wednesday we shortly visited Buda Castle before going to the Medence Lab. Thursday we went to ice skating, which was the first time for nearly all the guests. We did a short trip in the Parliament, with audio guide, which told us everything worth to know about the building.

Most of our free time we stayed together for the wish of the Sicilians and mostly went to the fashion street. Our little tourists especially loved the souvenir shop, where they found a wild variety of cheap and useful items, highly related to Budapest.

On our family day, I took my guest to the Budapest Zoo, because I’m a volunteer there. He really enjoyed the sight and the big variety of the species who live there. After the zoo we went to the Westend mall because he wanted to buy something for his father and he also met up with his latest guest from another Erasmus.

In summary it was a great Erasmus, not just because we learned much more about our very topic, but we did learn many of each other’s culture.

Miko Barnabás

The Hungarian part of the Erasmus project was amazing. We had a really busy week, but it was very good. We did the work on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, so we had time to go sightseeing. We visited many places, such as Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion, etc. We had a treasure hunt, which was really enjoyable. We also went ice skating, but there were some problems because my guest fell while skating. He cracked his wrist bone, but fortunately, it did not affect the rest of the program, which is good. On Friday, we went to the Parliament, and it was impressive. On Saturday, we were in Óbuda. We ate lángos and chimney cake and visited the Óbuda Museum. In the afternoon, we cooked and went to Poli for the farewell party. It was really nice; we played a lot and ate the food that we cooked. So, this week was really enjoyable.

GB Marci

That was my first time to participating in an Erasmus project, and it was awesome. Sustainability was our topic. I really liked the programms, my favourite was when we went to the Medence design group. There was a lot of molino and we could choose anything and we made it. I made a backpack. It was just so much fun.

I also liked the treasure hunt, especially because I had a wonderful group. We were the slowest, but we really enjoyed it 🙂 We went to all the shops and we took photos, especially selfies everywhere. It was also really fun, when we went to the ice rink, because a lot of the Italian students weren’t the best at ice skating and we could teach them a bit.

I think I’m really lucky, because my guest was a really friendly and attentive person. He helped everywhere where he could and he talked a lot about his life and his culture. He was really interested in the public transport, because he always wanted to know where we were. One of his favourite games was to try to pronounce the names of the stations on the metro. He also learnt a few words in Hungarian for example szia, sziasztok srácok, köszi, jól…

It was really hard for me to be patient when I knew that we are going to be late, and unfortunately, we were late almost every day, because the culture of the Italians is very different from ours and they are never in a hurry, having time is a basic principle for them and that’s why they do everything more slowly than we do. I also didn’t like that we had to do something on every night and we got home very late on every day. It was very tiring. But overall, I really liked the whole project, because the Italian students and teachers were really nice and sweet. I’m really going to miss them and I’m really looking forward to the next meeting in Palermo.

Somogyi Jana

This Erasmus project week was very good! My guest and I became close friends immediately, and we are still close to each other since this project (we keep in touch on WhatsApp and look forward to the next meeting). The programs that our teachers prepared were fun and creative. Personally, I enjoyed the most when we made bags from old “building mesh”.
The theme of the week was recycling and reusing and we dealt with this a lot individually and in teams. They (out teachers) also organized a lot of programs for us, for example, we walked around the illuminated streets of Budapest, visited the Buda Castle, went ice skating and even visited the parliament, which we could see from the inside accompanied by a tour guide. We also enjoyed the afternoons, as we found program ideas for our guests. We organized these for ourselves and walked the streets of Budapest in small groups every afternoon (me, my guest and some of his friends went to a board game coffee bar, and we played boardgames).
This week went very well for me, I learned a lot of new things about recycling, reusing and my English also improved a lot.
Right now, I am looking forward to the second half of the program when we visit Palermo! Thank you!☺️

Szigeti Manka

The aim of the Erasmus meeting was to learn about the possibilities of recycling, reusing. We will learn about the places in Budapest where you can find recycling-based businesses and community opportunities.

We got to know the school and urban environment of the students in Palermo, and how people in Sicily think about recycling.

During the workshops we processed our experiences, created a logo and got to know the twinspace interface. The urban treasure-hunt was also based on recycling, reusing, upcycling.

During the leisure activities, we visited the Parliament and the City League ice rink together.

During the welcome party we not only spent time getting to know each other, but also had dinner together. For the farewell party, the students prepared a meal together and together we assessed the reception programme.

I hope that not only the Italian students, but also the Hungarian students had a useful and enjoyable week.

Somogyi Ágota

From November 27 to December 4, 2023, a group of 13 students and 2 accompanying teachers from Palermo participated in the Erasmus program in Budapest. The main focus of the program was sustainability, recycling, and repurposing.

Monday: The week kicked off with a final meeting before the arrival of the Italian students. Despite a two-hour delay in their flight, the team managed to adapt the schedule. The evening featured a warm welcome with a Hungarian dish prepared by Rob and homemade cookies by the students. Pintér Zsolt addressed the importance of the Erasmus program in English. The day concluded with ice-breaking games.

Tuesday: The day began with sunny ice-breaking activities, followed by the first workshop on creating a sustainability logo for the eTwinning platform. After lunch, the collaborative work continued until the early afternoon. Students were then sent on a scavenger hunt across Budapest, visiting various locations focused on sustainability. Students could visit some second-hand store, the Munch, Cseriti and some package free groceries. The day concluded with a inquiry at Vigadó Square, where experiences were shared, and upcoming activities were discussed.

Wednesday: The group split into two. One part, led by the author, explored the city using eco-friendly public transportation, discussing Budapest’s eco-friendly projects and visiting the Medencecsoport. This company makes bags and pen-boxes from huge and being thrown away promotional poster. The evening was spent at Vakvarjú restaurant with Ágota and the two Italian teachers.

Thursday: Despite snowfall, the group treated Italian students to off-program activities, including a visit to the Városligeti Ice Rink. A minor incident required Ágota’s assistance, but it didn’t dampen the spirits, and the day concluded with everyone in high spirits.

Friday: The Italian team’s request led to a visit to the Parliament, where the Hungarian students received free admission. The day concluded with a third workshop to finalize the eTwinning project’s experience reports. The evening was spent discussing the week’s conclusions and planning for future travels.

Saturday: Weather changes altered plans, redirecting the group to Óbuda, exploring its history exhibition and game exhibition where we could see the development of technology in our country. The day ended with a visit to the Klauzál tér Green market. Children could explore how we can live without disposable package. A Farewell party, featuring a potluck dinner and emotional games, closed our last common day.

Sunday: Students and their families had the option of a free program. Surprisingly, many chose joint programming, showcasing the strong bonds formed during the week. Finally, on following Monday, the Hungarian team accompanied the Italian group to the airport, bidding tearful goodbyes and reflecting on the value of the shared experience.

This Erasmus week in Budapest was a unique blend of cultural exchange, sustainability exploration, and the forging of lasting friendships.

Madár Kamilla