ALMOST OVER

I have one more day here in Porto. Can’t believe how fast this week has gone by. All the other international guests left yesterday. I’m the only one left, so I got a good chance to visit the school yesterday morning and attend a few classes. Headmaster Horácio gave me another tour of the school he is very proud of. Now I got a good idea of all the subjects they specialize in. And I was impressed about all the facilities the school owns.

They have their own printing company. Obviously all the art students can take excellent advantage of that. They offered me a very nice etch (gravura) which I will frame and hang in the classroom back home. It’s a numbered limited edition, so very special.
Every year the school presents a printed work of art as a gift for colleague institutions and companies.

In the animation class they were working on making a set of 10 drawings showing a character jumping off a diving board. Then the images were transferred to the computer via camera and combined in an animation software programme, in order to get an idea of what the final result would be. Then afterwards the images in between would have to be finished.

In Graphic Design the students were working on Adobe Photoshop, combining various images provided by the teacher. Some planes had to be inserted in an image of Gondolas in Venice.

I was the rest of the afternoon off, so spent some time cruising through Old Porto, enjoying the many narrow streets, and the beautiful facades of the old houses, many of which are richly decorated with very pretty ceramic tiles. This apparently used to be a tradition in the city. Horacio tells me that the tiles are there because Porto is very humid as a protection for the walls. I took quite a few shots of different tiles and will add a special post about those here later. Walked along the Douro river and on one of the terraces I enjoyed a nice glass of Sandeman Porto. I remember my mom used to love Sandeman Jerez (sherry) when I was a young kid. Maybe I should bring her a bottle of Sandeman…

I crossed the bridge – designed by Gustav Eiffel – to Gaia and visited some of the Porto houses/cellars there (Kupke, Calem, Sandeman). I couldn’t resist trying their Portos either. Had a variety of Ruby and Tawny. No white for me thanks!
Back in Porto I took the Funicular up. You might know Porto is very hilly. It reminds me of Paris where we usually take a trip on the Funiculaire also when we’re in Montmartre and don’t feel like climbing the steep “butte”.

Another quick stop at the school, where I saw students in a drama class prepare for the Winter Festival. I also copied some Mozambique music onto my laptop from Celia. Very danceable music and also good stuff to listen to and fall asleep to in bed late in the evening (and so I did last night).

Didn’t get to do much shopping these days, so last night was a good opportunity. I took a local bus to Gaia and went to the Arrábida Shopping Mall, an American style mall so you bet I liked that one! And the best news…. Shops were open till midnight!!! Can you believe it?

I surely took my time to go through most of the shops. Didn’t really buy much (yes,… I was strong!), but had a good time. Back in Porto the place seemed dead. Not much of nightlife in the city unfortunately.

Enjoy,

HK

LEONARDO DA VINCI

The exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci models we visited was cool! Pretty incredible how far ahead he was in his time. A large number of designs was produced in wooden models, some of which we could actually operate.
The ' No photo' sign at the beginning of the exhibition didn't borther me (as it never does...)
Parachutes, hand flippers, an automatic bass drum, bridges,.. it was all there.

On Wednesday morning we could sleep in a little bit. Which was a good idea, for we didn't go to bed all that early the other night.
We were picked up by Francisco (head of education programs) and we all met at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Unfortunately it was an aweful day with a lot of rain.
The museum featued an exhibition of Robert Rauschenberg, entitled Travelling 1970-1976. Most of the works included cardboard boxes.
The gardens of the museums premises were impressive. French design. Another building on the museum grounds was an Art Deco design house, beautifully situated in an area where the colours of autumn created an almost painting-like atmosphere.

We were all treated to a lunch-concert at the Casa Da Musica, a modern concert hall by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. The ensembles that performed were from the Academie Musicale de Paris and the local Porto Musical Academy. Time to doze off... even though the kids (in their early twenties) performed very well.

The afternoon was spent in town. We did a little shopping in the Rua St. Catharina. The rain spoilt the fun though.

In the evening we were all welcomed in the cellar canteen of the Porto ESAP University building for a farewell dinner with all the guests, since our Italian and FInnish friends were to leave Thursday morning. This turned out to be a late dinner (10PM) because the headmaster Horacio had invited the Finnish colleagues to come to the football match Portugal-Finland, and they only returned shortly before ten o'clock. We all watched the game on the big screen TV, enjoying apetizers and some excellent Tinto wine.

Lots of conversations during dinner of course. Gifts were exchanged at the end of the dinner. We all received some Porto goodies, including a very nice porto glass designed by a famous local architect.

I raised the glass and toasted to Portugal, to the project and to a great stay and warm welcome by our hosts.

Party-time afterwards in a local social club! Only got to bed at 4 AM I think... Oh well,...

Enjoy,

HK

MORE MEETINGS & ARCHEOLOGY

We took a 60 kilometer trip to the north to visit two Portuguese schools that will also join the project. The first meeting was held in the morning at an Archeological school the very unique little town of Tongobriga, where remains from a Roman village dating from the 1st to the 4th century were found in 1980. Ever since they have been excavating the place continuously. Incredibly interesting! We got a tour from one of the archeologists and the headmaster.
The site is huge. We saw the forum and the ancient bath houses (Thermes). The explanation was superb!

The meeting about the project was held in a modern building on the premises, where the central heating didn't work. Everyone was wearing their coats and jackets. My feet were freezing! Unfortunately the meeting was very slow. It seemed as if we never got to a final decision on the project's schedule. Eventually we decided there will be 4 meetings in the upcoming two schoolyears. The Comenius-project has a duration of two years.

The first meeting - after we have all sent in the applications to our national agents - will be in November 2008. The request is the meeting is to be held in Dordrecht. I will have to forward that idea to our headmaster and school management. It will be a meeting of teachers only.

Then the next mid-project meeting is to be held in April 2009 (which will include a small student delegation). This will most likely be in Finland. I suggested the third meeting to be a parrallel meeting in different countries, together with a number of students. So for instance three schools meeting in Italy, and three other schools meeting in Spain. With today's technique we could easily have a video conference.

The final presentation will then conclude the project in April/May 2010 here in Porto at the coordinating school.

Obviously I will have to check everything with my colleague Jurrie and the school's management, before we can actually give a green light. Personally I think this could be a very interesting project to work on!

The premises of the agricultural school reached as far as the eye could see

We visited anothother school as well this morning: The Escola Professional Agricola do Marco de Canavesesm,... An agricultural school - pretty much like ours - but with an unbelievably big area around the school that is school property. They have their own vinyards, greenhouses, stables, orchards (apples, plums, hazelnuts...), milkcows...
Very impressive! The school only counts about 90 students. A school of this size would have long been shut down in the Netherlands.
The school cafetaria served an excellent lunch. The dessert sits in my stomach like a piece of rock.

The meetings that we had today took a little while and were quite chaotic, but fortunately we decided quite a bit.

In the late afternoon we went back to Porto and were treated on a visit to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition in the Palcacio de Cristal. A unique exhibition of models made after Da Vinci's drawings/designs.

After a short stop for some Porto at the Solar do Vinho do Porto we went across the river to Gaia for a light dinner at a huge shopping mall. Shops here are open till 11PM !!!!
I'm quite sure I will be back here later this week...

The hotel bar was closed so Juha (the Finnish headmaster) and I went to a bar down the street. ONE euro for a beer.... that was good news!

Enjoy,

HK

PORTO

Porto cellar of FERREIRA

Had my first day in Porto today. In fact I arrived last night, but didn't get to do or see all that much last night.

We were invited for dinner by the school's headmaster Horácio. And you can't miss it here in Portugal... obviously he took us to a FISH restaurant. Well,... as you might know I am allergic to fish and seafood, but that didn't bother me. I had a nice Colsteletas de Llomo. A good piece of meat.


But,.. when the dish of octopus was brought out, they talked me into trying a piece. I should say I only took a small piece, but didn't even think it was all that bad. More like a piece of chicken with a funny taste.


This morning we walked to the school and met up with all the other guests.


Beside the host school (Árvore) from Porto and us (Sarnico - Italy, Nokia - Finland and my school Wellantcollege) there were three other schools from Portugal represented, and one from Mozambique. Spain had also shown interest but haven't shown up yet.

After some coffee and cake we did an intruction, and every school representative introduced him or herself and the school they represent. I had brought the power point presentation I had made earlier this year for our visit to Italy.

Meeting with the other schools' representatives present

Fashion Design presentation

One of the Portuguese schools is also an agricultural institute. We will all visit their school tomorrow for the second meeting. So that will be nice to see. Funny thing was that the school’s headmaster was pretty sure we had met before. Apparently the Dutch look alike.

The host school presented the project they suggested: “Man and tree, reaching a balance”. And all of us talked about the ideas we had on input from our different schools and students.

A wonderful late lunch was offered by the school’s cafeteria.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good today. The first rain since THREE months !

The second half of the afternoon we did some sightseeing and visited an art gallery which used to be part of the school, a beautiful and interestingly decorated church, the Palacio de Bolca and concluded our tourism part with a visit to and tasting session at the Ferreira Porto Cellars. Really interesting. I’m not much of a Porto drinker, but I really enjoyed it.

Ferreira Port cellar (tasted some Ferreira Ruby Porto)

Again tonight all the teachers and heads present were invited for dinner at a nice restaurant. Pepper steak for me this time!

Enjoy,

HK

PORTO

Had my first day in Porto today. In fact I arrived last night, but didn't get to do or see all that much last night.
We were invited for dinner by the school's headmaster Horácio. And you can't miss it here in Portugal... obviously he took us to a FISH restaurant. Well,... as you might know I am allergic to fish and seafood, but that didn't bother me. I had a nice Colsteletas de Llomo. A good piece of meat.
But,.. when the dish of octopus was brought out, they talked me into trying a piece. I should say I only took a small piece, but didn't even think it was all that bad. More like a piece of chicken with a funny taste.
This morning we walked to the school and met up with all the other guests.
Beside the host school (Árvore) from Porto and us (Sarnico - Italy, Nokia - Finland and my school Wellantcollege) there were three other schools from Portugal represented, and one from Mozambique. Spain had also shown interest but haven't shown up yet.
After some coffee and cake we did an intruction, and every school representative introduced him or herself and the school they represent. I had brought the power point presentation I had made earlier this year for our visit to Italy.
One of the Portuguese schools is also an agricultural institute. We will all visit their school tomorrow for the second meeting. So that will be nice to see. Funny thing was that the school’s headmaster was pretty sure we had met before. Apparently the Dutch look alike.
The host school presented the project they suggested: “Man and tree, reaching a balance”. And all of us talked about the ideas we had on input from our different schools and students.
A wonderful late lunch was offered by the school’s cafeteria.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good today. The first rain since THREE months !
The second half of the afternoon we did some sightseeing and visited an art gallery which used to be part of the school, a beautiful and interestingly decorated church, the Palacio de Bolca and concluded our tourism part with a visit to and tasting session at the Ferreira Porto Cellars. Really interesting. I’m not much of a Porto drinker, but I really enjoyed it.
Again tonight all the teachers and heads present were invited for dinner at a nice restaurant. Pepper steak for me this time!

Enjoy,

HK

BACK IN BUSINESS

I didn’t realize it was back early September that I last posted here. Ooops !
No excuses though, apart from being busy with all sorts of stuff.
It’s been some hectic months.

Work started first week of September again. Same job, same school, same routine. Got nine different groups this year. Most of them 3rd and 4th year’s students. In general it seems the kids this year are a bit more eager to learn, but test results are far from sufficient. Oh well,… We’ll just keep trying to challenge them and hope for the best.

With the corps we topped the National Championships (see below), and placed third at the Drum Corps Europe Championships held in Rotterdam last weekend of September. A record of eight countries were represented on the competition field. What a great event! After a short break we have now started working on the ballad for the new 2008 repertoire. In the meantime we kept rehearsing the 2007 production for we had a very interesting invitation for mid-December: Malaysia !!!

The committee organizing the international championship to be held in Kuala Lumpur invited Jubal when their representative saw us in Italy last July. We were to keep the invitation secret until we got a green light. Unfortunately it was never realized. The local committee (which was to pay all the expenses) could not give us the guarantee we needed. It was tough to find enough seats on planes to fly to Malaysia. Too bad. That would have been a spectacular trip!

Oh well,.. I have done quite a bit of travelling so far this year. And it’s not over yet!







Right now I am on my way to Portugal preparing for an international exchange project for our school. I have never been to Portugal before. Did go to Spain quite a bit, so I expect it to be pretty similar. It’s sort of the same type of trip I took to Sarnico (Italy) earlier this year. Unfortunately my good friend and colleague Jurrie who was to join me again on this adventure had to cancel his trip at the very last moment. That’s too bad for he was looking very much forward to this trip as well! Jur,… Best Wishes and a speedy recovery for your wife !!



Mid October I went to Paris (Yes,… AGAIN!) with my good friend Lisa from Delaware (USA). It has been exactly 20 years since I lived with her in the States for three months when I marched the same corps she did. I knew she loves Paris too, and since she had to be back in Edinburgh for work and I had a week off from school (fall vacation) it was a great opportunity to spend some time in Paris together. What a great week we had! I got to see quite a few things and places I had never visited before on all those previous trips.

Other things on my agenda of the last few months?
Well,… the mardi gras band picked up the training schedule, and we’ve had a few performances too. The best fun so far was at the Oktoberfest of colleague band Bar Gebeure. Their theme of the festival was “Oriental Party”. We brought in our own mobile wok-kitchen and not only created a great atmosphere, but also some good food. The garlic really did its job alright. The organizers complained the room still smelled of garlic a week later.
Last week was the annual inauguration of the new Prince of Carnaval in town. One of the board members was unexpectedly announced Prince. We played at that party too.

Yesterday Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands. Our band plays at a lot of parties different companies organize for the children of their employees. Hard to explain the Sinterklaas phenomenon to people abroad. Here is a good explanation. Our band is dressed as the good old man’s black helpers, so we wear black make-up on our faces. One of the best periods of the year. Unbelievable how much little children enjoy this. For us it’s a good period too, for we make a few bucks to cover the expenses we have during the Carnaval weekend.

A very sad period on the other hand too these last months. I had four funerals! Some of them friends I knew through the music scene and my aunt passed away totally unexpectedly last month. Enough funerals for the rest of the year I hope.

Christmas is approaching rapidly. Looking forward to that! Haven’t made any plans yet. Neither for New Year’s Eve. You might remember that Wild West Party I threw at my place. Might do a different theme this year. A Tropical Beach Party sounds nice. I am not sure if I would dump sand on the floor in my living-room though.

Enjoy,

HK