OUR SCHOOL, OUR TOWN “Petru Poni” Technological High

School is located in the city

of Onești, a small town in the eastern part of Romania, in Bacau County, at approximately 50 km from the county’s residence, Bacau, and 270 km from the capital Bucharest. The locality was documentary attested as a village on December 14, 1458 .By its neighbourhood with Borzesti, it’s related to the greatest king of Moldavia (north eastern part of Romania), Stephen the Great, born in this area. In 1952, it was decided to build a large petrochemical industrial platform and a new related town in the area of Onești village. In 1956 Onesti becomes a town and an important industrial centre of the county. Now, Onesti is located in an economically disadvantaged area, which resulted in the shutting down of the petrochemical industrial platform.

Although it is a small town, here you can find monuments and beautiful places to visit, such as the monument dedicated to Queen Maria (Crown Princess between 1893 and 1940, very popular, both in Romania and abroad), the statue of the national poet Mihai Eminescu, Perchiu Hill Natural Reservation) and a beautiful park. As in Oneşti Nadia Comăneci was born in 1961, and this is where the great gymnast began her sports career, obtaining in 1976, in Montreal, the first grade of 10 in the history of the Olympic Games in gymnastics of Sport Complex, there also is a Monument dedicated to Nadia Comăneci.

“Petru Poni” Technological High School is a secondary school, established in 1956. Students are between 14 and 19 years old and are enrolled in several specializations: Economic, Tourism, Public Alimentation, Mechanical, Electrotechnical, Ecological. There are high school classes, vocational school and evening education. “Petru Poni” Technological High School has a long experience in coordination and management of European projects. It has coordinated projects within Life Long Learning (Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius and Grundtvig partnerships) and Erasmus+ strategic partnerships. Since 2008 the school has been involved in international projects with partners from most European countries in which it has covered issues related to innovating tools for teaching and learning, adolescent behaviour problems and their relationship with parents, health education, parents’ education, IT and E-learning. At national and local level “Petru Poni” Technological High School collaborates with NGOs, associations, foundations, companies with which carries out projects for the education of his students and parents.

TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN FOOD

of different dishes from Romanian cuisine is a diverse blend several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been mainly influenced by a series of European cuisines such as the Austrian cuisine, German cuisine, Greek cuisine, Turkish cuisine or Hungarian cuisine. There are quite a few different types of dishes, which are sometimes included under a generic term; for example, the category ciorbă includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste. These may be meat and vegetable soups, tripe (ciorbă de burtă) and calf foot soups, or fish soups, all of which are soured by lemon juice, vinegar,or borș (traditionally made from bran). Romanian recipes bear the same influences as the rest of Romanian culture. The Turks brought meatballs (perișoare in a meatball soup) and sarmale ( minced meat with rice, wrapped in either pickled cabbage leaves or vine leaves), from the Greeks there is musaca, from the Austrians there is the șnițel, and the list could continue. Some others are original or can be traced to the Romans, as well as other ancient civilizations.

One of the most common meals is the mămăligă, the precursor of polenta, served on its own or as an accompaniment. “ROLLED MEAT” – MICI/MITITEI (mean “Small ones”), is literally a small rolled meat. They are made from a mix of beef, pork and lamb as well as spices that may include garlic, black pepper, thyme, and coriander. Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine, but also beef is consumed and a good lamb or fish dish is never to be refused.

SHORT-TERM EXCHANGE OF GROUPS OF PUPILS IN ROMANIA



In the week of January 10-14, 2022, “Petru Poni” Technological High School hosted a short term exchange of pupils within the “Erasmus TV International” project. Along with the students and teachers of the school 29 students and teachers from Spain, Poland, Portugal and Turkey participated. The students and teachers from the Italian school participated in the activities online because, due to the Covid pandemic, they were unable to travel to Romania. The agenda of the meeting included workshops for identifying eating habits in the partner countries, making posters with the theme "Erasmus Menu", sports activities in the Salina Mine in Târgu Ocna, documentary activities at Bran Castle, making a short film "Following Dracula’s Steps ”. The first day started with a welcome from the school management. A few games of breaking the ice, selfknowledge and interpersonal knowledge followed. The main purpose of the games was to create an atmosphere of relaxation, to facilitate interpersonal knowledge, interaction and closeness between students.



Through the suggested activities, students memorized the names of their classmates in a fun way, discovered information about themselves and others, such as their preferences (colour, season, means of transportation, food, drink, kind of music, and favourite movie), becoming better aware of the similarities between them, the things they have in common, but also information about their families, their passions. Then, the students from each country involved in the project presented, in turn, their own schools. In the second part of the day, students and teachers visited the city of Onesti and relaxed in the city park.

On the second day of the meeting, the students made a documentary visit to Bran Castle or, as they know it, the castle of Count Dracula. Bran Castle is one of the most popular castles in Romania, visited by both Romanian and foreign tourists. Commonly known outside Transylvania as Dracula's Castle, it is often referred to as the home of the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. There is no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad Țepeș (Vlad the Impaler), voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. The castle is now a museum dedicated to displaying art and furniture collected by Romanian Queen Marie. The legend of Dracula makes Bran Castle one of the most sought after tourist attractions in Romania.

The main objective of the trip was to gather as much information as possible about Count Dracula and Prince Vlad Țepeș, later used in the making of the film "Following Dracula’s Steps", in which the actors are students from the participating countries. Although the students were extremely interested in the legend of Vlad the Impaler and the mythical side of the fortress, the history of Bran Castle fascinated them as well.

The third day was dedicated to sports activities, which took place in the Salt Mine Tg. Ocna. The “Salina” salt mine is 240 meters (787 feet) deep. The main function of the mine is to extract, prepare, and market salt, but it is also a hot spot for tourists. The new and modern treatment area, located on Level IX of the “Salina” salt mine, offers tourists the opportunity to relax, do sports activities and fine treatments for various respiratory ailments such as asthma or bronchitis. In addition to all of this the mine also offers a wonderful location to purify the soul in the Saint Varvara Orthodox Church. In the salt mine, the students played volleyball, basketball, table tennis and competed in karting races. The number of steps was recorded on the smartwatch or on the phone applications and so the students were able to compare the number of calories consumed by each of them.



After the sports activities, the day dedicated to nutrition followed. Thus, in the first part, the students from the participating schools presented eating habits for each meal of the day, but also what they usually eat between meals or when participating in various events, holiday meals or street food.In the next stage, the students were divided into groups, the group consisting of at least one student from each participating country. Working in groups consisted of discovering similarities and differences between the culinary habits presented, the conclusions being set out in a poster "Erasmus Menu" which they presented at the end.In the last part, also in groups, the students played Bingo Food, an interactive way of getting studentsthinking about different healthy foodsthat are essential to their diets. The aim of this game was for students to find out if the foods that make up their daily menus provide the body with the daily energy needs and howto combine them for a healthy diet.

Filming for "Following Dracula's Steps" put the students to the test, but in the end we managed to film the scenes and make the film that was posted on the project's YouTube channel https://youtu.be / 3blfvc8-YLg)

On the last day, the students received certificates of participation and became acquainted with traditional dances from the partner schools. The last activity was a body percussion created by a teacher from Spain based on the song Mi Religión by singer Nil Moliner. The students and teachers who participated in the Erasmus meeting participated in this activity. Itwas a different and fun proposal to put an end to a different, intense and productiveweek

TESTIMONIALS Romania: All the Romanian team (students and teachers)were very happy to host the meeting in Romania and to meet our partners. In the Covid pandemic time it wasn’t easy to organize the meeting but we managed to carry out our activities according to the meeting agenda, without encountering any problem. The students were delighted to discover the secrets of Bran Castle, to carry out sports activities and to work in teams to make the Erasmus Menu poster. Given the appreciation of the project partners, the short term exchange of the group of pupils in Romania achieved all their objectives and the participating students were very excited that they were finally able to meet and work together. Carmen Epure, teacher, Romania My experience in the “Erasmus TV International” meeting in Romania was great. I met lovely people from other countries that I have made friends with. I also learned more about their countries and their cultures, and I understood that we are not that different after all. The meeting's activities were awesome; it helped us know each other better. My personal favourite one was making a poster named "Erasmus Menu". I can’t wait to have this kind of experience again. I hope the future brings us together again to make other great memories. Matei Zară,student, Romania

Spain: My first Erasmus experience as a high school teacher began on January 10th. Other times I had traveled to foreign countries to take training courses in my specialty or simply for pleasure, but this experience was completely new to me. I started the trip with nerves but at the same time eager to learn, see different techniques, meet a new country, new culture, meet new people... It was fantastic. My experience was very positive since I met a lot of good professionals from different countries, students with a lot of ability and a lot of level, and I also met a country where I had never been to and a very different culture to mine, with typical food, drinks, weather, customs, etc... In my opinion, everybody should have an Erasmus experience in their lives, because we learn a lot, students work differently and learn a lot of English, which is one of the main goals of this experience. Jorge Tarín, teacher, Spain Poland: For me, the meeting was simply great in every aspect. First of all, it gave a great opportunity to all the participants to explore the cultural variety between all six countries participating in the project. Also, it allowed the participants to experience something completely new, discover their strenght and weeknesses. Finally, it let the young people broaden their horizons, which is an important aspect of self development and personal growth. Małgorzata Głuszyk, teacher, Poland

Portugal: I bring back good memories of this mobility, of this ERASMUS TV INTERNATIONAL meeting held in Romania, by our partner Liceul Tehnologic "Petru Poni". But if I had to choose one of all, it would certainly be the moment when I looked at my students and saw the smile, the satisfaction and the happiness stamped on their faces, for living this mobility, this moment. It was important for the continuation of the project, reviving the spirit of collaboration and participation of the students, something that the pandemic limited us, but that we overcame, with all the safety rules and returning well and with desire and expectation of continuity. The reception by the coordinating elements of "ERASMUS TV INTERNATIONAL" Romania, Liceul Tehnologic "Petru Poni", and in the coordination of Carmen Epure was very good, in fact, the whole team was fantastic. Understanding the culture and getting to know the Romanian gastronomy was interesting, as well as getting to know the historicalcity of Brasov and Dracula Castle, visiting and doing sports activities in the Salt Mine of Tg. Ocna, as well as getting to know its history and the importance it has for the population.The joint activities allowed participants of different nationalities to bond with each other, working as a team, sharing experiences and improving their communication skills. Of course, I will also remember other things, such as the cold days... and how cold they were. But of course, it is an ongoing project, here we are again, working and socializing with the partners and preparing the next moment, always thinking of the best activities and experiences we can give to our students. João Barroso, teacher, Portugal

At first I always thought that the trip wasn't going to happen because of the pandemic, but it happened, and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Being able to see our colleagues and socialize with them in person, since we had only seen each other through a screen, it was very good. Visiting the cities and their sights. Getting to know other cultures, customs, and cuisine, and the opportunity to improve my English.All of this made this trip incredible and I would definitely repeat every second of it. Rita Ribeiro,student, Portugal Italy: As a freshly employed teacher at Mazzini school (Livorno, Italy), it was my first experience in a school exchange programme. As a former Erasmus University Exchange student, I was very excited to be part of Erasmus TV International as a teacher. Sadly, both teachers and pupils had to accept that we were not going to join the rest of the groups from all around Europe due to covid-related restrictions. But then, we started looking forward to participating in the activities and were pretty curious to find out how to organize a short-term exchange programme without actually leaving the country. Our students were interested in the activities. They worked together on presentations and contributions and were proud - even if slightly shy - to share Italian traditions with other students. The computer mediated exchange became a chance for students to put themselves to the test, and for us teachers to appreciate their ICT competences in real time. Our students found the event about eating habits very interesting

They were surprised by the differencesin terms of ingredients, recipes and, most of all, time of meals. It was a good chance for them to explore a reality different from their own and to picture the life of a student of their age living in another country. But it also gave way to a conversation among them that made them realize how varied our culture can be, even in the same country. Moreover, they found unexpected similarities with farthest countries and even ideas to put into practice in their eating habits.We can’t wait to welcome you all to Livorno and hope to meet you. In the flesh, this time. Emilia Russo, teacher, Italy Turkey: Hi, My name is Ebru, from Turkey. I am a teacher at Aziz Sancar Anatolian High School. In January 2022, We took part in “Erasmus TV International” project meeting in Romania. It was great to take part in this meeting and share the fantastic atmosphere with the other teams. We had chance to know about Romanian culture and see some beautiful places in Romania. The Bran Castle in Romania was a very impressive and amazing place. We all enjoyed spending time there. All students were enthusiastic about taking part in sports activities in Salt Mine. They also learnt a lot about eating habits in partner countries while preparing the Erasmus Menu with the students from partner countries. Finally, I would like to thank to the hosting team, everythingwas very well organised and flawless.