Institut Jaume Callís - Erasmus+ 2015-17

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A CRITICAL INCIDENT  My own experience in in the Erasmus+ Project last Year Last year I was in Bulgaria for a week, doing a student exchange with a school from Stara Zagora. My partner, Darina, was a really nice and open-minded girl with who I got on really well with. We still keep contact and we chat sometimes. I had an amazing time there but, as they are from a different culture, we had a few misunderstandings. One of them is that when I first had dinner with them, at Darina’s grandmother’s home, Darina did not talk much during the meal so I asked her a few questions to try to start a conversation. The result was not was I was expecting: she answered the questions but did not keep talking. The room was silent again. Although the food was tasty, I was not really hungry but I ate everything because I did not want to be impolite. Darina’s grandmother, who was watching us and smiling to me whenever our eyes met, immediately took my plate and asked me if I wanted more. I ...

What books do we read? Which ones did we enjoy most?

Some impressions about the first year of the project

CRITICAL INCIDENT Shall I lean on to kiss or shake hands? When we were introducing ourselves, on Monday, I came across this little incident. I met a Bulgarian girl to whom just offered me her hand to shake, it was completely fine. Then I greeted an Italian girl. I offered her my hand (as I was taught), I didn’t see her leaning towards me. Even though, I’ve lived in Catalonia for 10 years, I still can’t get used to kissing people on the cheeks when you meet them. Naturally, it was a surprise for me. The Swedish ones were actually another story. One of my friends was talking to a Swedish guy and I was just awkwardly standing next to her, waiting for her to introduce me, or for him to say anything regarding my presence. However, it didn’t happen. In the end, I just said hello to him and shook hands. Learning point, Italians do indeed lean in for kisses on the cheeks, while Bulgarians and Swedish just prefer to shake hands and have personal space, best if you are the one int...