The Press - Die Presse

“Immer bestens informiert”, in English, “always up to date” is the slogan of “Die Presse”, an Austrian quality newspaper, which we visited with our school on Friday. First we were given the basic information about the history and the newspaper as such. At the beginning 500-600 people were employed by the newspaper and more than 50.000 copies were sold annual. In 1938 a supporter of the nationalists denigrate the newspaper, because of the Jewish employees. In 1953 the new owner of “Die Presse” was Fritz Molden, because his father Ernst Molden died. In September 1996 “ Die Presse.com” was established. Every newspaper has its special subjects with “Die Presse” it´s politics, economy, culture and comments.

by Andrea & Alexandra

Class on Sigmund Freud

Class on Sigmund Freud

The teacher came to the class and introduced herself. Then she gave us material with information about Sigmund Freud. We read his biography and his theories. Freud was a Jewish-Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychiatry. He was one of the most important thinkers and he elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system. After reading the biography we read the dream symbolism and how Freud interprets dreams. Then we played a game that was like a puzzle with a number behind each jigsaw piece. The aim was to interpret dreams in groups at the end.

After that class we went to the “Sigmund Freud Museum”. A guide told us everything about his house, his life, his furniture. It was impressive!


by Bea




The Danube Wetlands

On the bank of the Danube there was a large wooden boat, called Tschaike. We got on the boat and rowed. There were about twelve oars altogether. It was very difficult to row at the same pace, we counted one, two, three and started. Finally the owner of the boat, who had actually built it himself, switched on the engine. This type of boat was originally brought in by the Turkish 500 years ago. They also used the river to take soldiers from one side to the other and when a bridge collapsed or when there was no bridge they put a number of these boats side by side so that people could cross the river.
At this time of the year the water line of the Danube is one meter lower than usual because it is still very cold and the snow in the mountains has not melted yet.
In the Danube wetlands there are lots of beavers. In the past they were a rare species, but now there are many more.

Nerea

Visit to the Spanish Embassy

INTERVIEW

Before the meeting Carlos and Marta prepared some questions for the culture councillor, and one of them was:

-Which activities are carried out to make people get to know Spain?

-The culture’s function is much more than this, I mean, it has a lot of repercussion in the GDP or PIB (Gross domestic product- Producto interior bruto). Functions that enter in direct contact with the members related to the culture. They establish a relation; singers facilitate the access to artists, painters, musicians... There are lots of cultural events, like theatre plays.

So they are a way of communication, they work like a “bridge” or like a “connection” between two sides (two countries in this case). Here an example:
At the end of June ends Spain's leadership of the UE. Important people are invited and there will be a special celebration with a Spanish Mezzo Soprano. In fact it is one of the best in the world. He is going to receive 20.000 Euros for one evening.

-Do you know which is the most famous destination in Austria?

I am sure it is Sissi’s Palace.

- Is it necessary that the staff at the embassy is Spanish?
That depends on the department; The diplomats must be of Spanish nationality, the civil servants too, but other employees can be Spanish, Austrian or of a third nationality.

-Which languages are indispensable for a diplomat?

English, Spanish and French are obligatory, but you can also be a diplomat with more languages of course; Russian, Arabic, Italian…

After this meeting we had the opportunity of getting to know the Spanish Embassy building from inside. The culture counselor showed us around the main rooms, where they usually invite people.

Everything looked very elegant and the staff was very professional. We saw different rooms. The last room was the most important: There was a very big table and the decoration was amazing. Actually they tried to copy the former style of the building, because it all had burnt down in the war.

At the end of the excursion Carlos de Álvaro and Marta Hernández thanked Jose Luis for receiving us and for his time.

My personal opinion is, that it was the best excursion we have had, because the topic is intriguing! In other words, I think it was a great idea to have a meeting with someone who works at the Embassy, because he can transmit a lot of personal and noteworthy information. In addition I liked that it was in Spanish. I felt "at home" and could relate to the culture counselor easily. But the main reason is, that I am thinking about going that way as well, one day maybe forming part of a embassy.

I am really interested in the issue, because I love languages and travelling, meeting new people, new places… So, this excursion was very positive for me and for the rest of my school mates as well. We enjoyed it a lot.

To sum up I have to say that Jose Luis was very nice with all of us and he knew exactly how to make us feel comfortable.


by Marta

Hi from Austria

we are really happy to be here and we really had a very warm welcome. We are living wonderful experiencies and children seem to be very happy here. We want to thank everybody: teachers, families for the great effort they are doing to make this exchange possible.
Felicity ( Bilingual Programme Coordinator)

Personal Opinions

It's the first time in my life that I've felt really excited because of going to school! We've gone to an excursion through Wagram, a town from Austria where the Austrian's school is. We've seen the church, lots of beautiful houses, a monument about the first and the second World War... and we've had to climb a tower about three hundred steps! But, I can swear, that it seemed like taking three thousand! When we finished the visit, we came back to the school and we had normal classes.
In the afternoon we went to the "Prater", which is a very famous fun fair, but it seemed an amusement park! It was huge!
We did all the fairground rides we saw and we had a lot of fun there.
We spent all the afternoon at the "Prater", so we finished exhausted...
What a day in Austria! A day to be repeated!

(Anni)

The first day in Austria!!!

¡POR FIN!” After a lot of time waiting for this moment… we are in Austria. We have already arrived and everything seems completely perfect. I feel like being in a fairytale when I’m walking through Austrian streets. The houses are so beautiful, with many little details. We have had an absolutely great welcome from the Austrians. When we arrived, they were waiting for us with balloons and a poster.This afternoon we’ve had a good time in the school party. A lot of people were ther, even some that we haven't meet before! There was a banquet with lots of types of food, and everything was delicious. Now, I’m laying at my new bed, and actually: I’m very tired… but happy when I think about the reason: it has been an EXPLOSIVE DAY
(Anita)