Apeevim special Irish dinner

Dear Charlie,
Here are a few photos of the dinner organised by the Apeevim VIP dinner to thank our Babeldoor  VIP sponsors. The students invited their families as well.
On the menu:  home-made leeks & potato soup, fish & chips, apple crumble and soda bread and wheaten bread. And of course, some tea.

 

I believe the evening was quite a success.
The meal was simple but tasty.
Our students played their part well and the guests enjoyed themselves.

We also had a surprise treat, Quentin played the  Irish Low Whistle.  Many thanks to him.

Wish you could have been with us, maybe next time....

Best,

Mrs. C.

RIP

Dear Charlie

Sad news but great books!
Just in case, the OIB students feel like reading another book.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/arts/maya-angelou-lyrical-witness-of-the-jim-crow-south-dies-at-86.html?emc=edit_na_20140528&nlid=69421750&_r=0

Best,
Mrs. C

My Belfast Trip

Hello everyone. I had to chance to go to Nothern Ireland with my other classmates. It was a wonderful trip. When we landed I was very nervous about the family, but they were really nice and welcoming, I feel lucky I stayed with them. On Sunday, I went to the Titanic museum. It was really interesting, they showed us how the boat was built with great details and lots of very interesting stuff. 


We did lots of visits such as Stormont and Tayto's factory, but my favourite visit was the Aquaruim. We saw lots of fishes with weird faces which was funny (but they were still good looking). We also saw seals. I just fell in love, they were beautiful, stunning, cute... everything ! I ended buying a pen and a seal plush.

                                                                                     

We had the chance, with the other french pupils at Strangford, to see each other everyday during the trip, which made the trip awesome, we could never be bored !

 


If I could change anything, I would be closer to my penpal. We were both shy and not used to have people of our age around. But I enjoyed her ( and her parents') company. I feel really lucky about this trip, we all had very various experences, but mine is my favourite !

My trip to Belfast

 Holà Charlie !

You probably already know that this April my class and I have spent a very nice week in Belfast, that is why I said "Hello" in Spanish. 
So today I'm telling you about my trip in this non-Spanish city that is Belfast.
We took the plane to go there, but as I like to say, a little bit of plane is fun, but too much plane is a nightmare.

The whole week I was stuck with my very very amazingly incredibly nice
friend Agathe (you can see her on the second pic right there <--, behind Paul, on this very impressive massive rock. I like this pic, my friends look like dominating the world, but that is another story) so, Agathe and I had a veeery sweet family, we really want to thank them for this fantastic week. We ate delicious meals, slept very well and visited cool places.

Like the market where we shopped and tasted and saw appetizing Irish food.
There were things like these beautiful cakes, too beautiful to be eaten in fact, so I just took a picture.

We visited the mall, and saw all these amazing clothes we can't buy in France.
But we got cheered up by the breath taking view on the roof of the mall. Don't trust the pic, I swear it was very very very sunny, the clouds you can see here are just an illusion.


Now, it is the time to talk about this impressive massive rock that I mentioned a bit earlier. It is the Giant's Causeway, and I won't write a book about this place, I'll just say that oh wow what oh wow, it is incredible how the nature can be so good-looking ! I let you appreciate the landscape.

And finally, I finish this article with something that will dazzle you. 
My class had the incredible chance to meet very important people from Ireland's//UK's government, like the Mayor of Belfast, and some ministers, and we had the chance to debate about Belfast's politic situation with a specialist and Irish teenagers.
Oh, and I walked the dog in this very nice place.





Justine xx

Trip to Northern Ireland

Dear Charlie

As you know, the 2nd 11 had the chance to go to Belfast, where we could see Northern Ireland, which is a really beautiful country, as the following pictures can show.

 First, this is the Belfast City Hall, where some of the students met the Lord Mayor of Belfast. I wasn't able to go there, but the building is still a marvel of architecture.




Thanks to the Belfast City council for the picture

 Here is a photo of a phone box in the middle of the countryside. The picture shows the nice Irish Weather we had all week, and the beautiful countryside.

 The sea in Belfast doesn't look at all like the sea in Marseille. There are no waves, it is very calm, but most of all, it is COLD !

 This building is Stormont, which is the Northern Irish Parliament. We walked the mile from the park's entrance to the building, and we could visit inside, including an enormous free meal.

This picture was taken inside the Titanic Museum. The museum was a very interesting part of the trip, and I had the occasion to learn mush about the infamous ship who departed from the city of Belfast.

Belfast

So… Our trip to Belfast. I do not know where to start.

It was wonderful. We had the chance, with Justine, to be put in an amazing family. People were so nice to us, and we had a lot in common. During one week, we lived in Belfast suburbs, with a dog called Bailey, Val and her daughter. We had long discussions, they are very clever. And we have read, talked and played Mario Kart a lot with Justine, which was fun. We have also walked the dog many times, in Belfast’s landscapes; it was so peaceful and beautiful that it might be one of my best memories abroad.

Our class was divided in two groups; we were in Hazelwood with Mr Lévêque, the others with Mrs Choffrut in Stangford. We have met politicians, locals, and we went to the Giant’s Causeway. 

Giant’s Causeway is a stunning place, very particular, original, the view gave me thrills. I might seem a bit asocial but that is what I like the most about trip; places, the fact that you discover an unknown world a bit 

more every step.

We also went to the City Hall. It is a very pretty and old building. We have met there the Lord Mayor and had tea with him; Paul have split his tea on the carpet and my bag, I thought we were going to die but apparently we didn't because no one noticed (I hope you haven’t given the blog’s link to the Mayor eheh). 

Then we went to the Parliament (Stormont), where we have met important and very interesting people. We had a kind of big argument with my friends after the meeting because talking about politic always puts me in an awful mood.  

Hazelwood gave us a lesson about economy, so we had class in a North Irish College. It wasn't the first time I met students abroad, but they were particularly fun. They were shy, but nice to us. The school offered us a dinner in Belfast center, the food was delicious.

By the way, Belfast has a very strong personality. This city is history, and it is very beautiful; there is this contrast between modernity and past, all those buildings and paintings on it. I liked it.

And finally, we went to Tayto’s factory, which was seriously a great idea. At first, we thought it was a prison because they asked us to put off all our accessories, but then we saw all those potatoes and got it. We have seen how crisps are made, but even better: We could eat them.

So, yes, we had a great time there. It was a very interesting trip, and I will definitely remember it.

Belfast is great.

End of the trip: time to go home

Dear Charlie,

After a wonderful time in Belfast, it was time to go home. Here are our final photos:

  And to fnish, a few words of thanks for our donators who helped us come and have this great experience



I hope you enjoyed disovering our adventures.

Best,
Mrs. C

Visit of a potato crisp factory

Dear Charlie,

When you think of Ireland, you think of potatoes

We now know all the secrets to crisp making. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdyDlMqcRUs.

The experience was quite someting!

Many ups: lots of interesting facts and an opportunity to meet Mr. Pat Tayto,  taste all sorts of crisps and bring huge bags home.

 A few downs: the outfit we had to wear for sanitary measures which I promised the students  not to show photos of; Let's say that the sanitary is not very fashionable...

Besides,  I didn't know what an overwhelming and quite unpleasant smell raw potatoes can have, did you?

Best, 

Aquarium visit

Dear Charlie,
We went to an aquarium and seal shelter.
It was quite fun to learn about the wildlife in  Stangford Lough and even get to touch some species!