After a 24h train journey, we finally arrived in Brasov. There we received a warm welcome from the locals who showed us the historical city centre , which is filled with churches and monuments. Every day for lunch we were able to enjoy some traditional food before heading back to the program. There was a great balance between the presentation of minorities in Romania and the interactive workshops, such as learning about popular dances and the folk costumes. To understand how the various minorities live there, we visited, for example, a Roma school. Apart from churches and schools, we got to see the infamous Castel Bran, which was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's successful novel "Dracula". To conclude our experience with a scary touch, we went into a haunted house.
It's important to remember that the purpose of this kind of project isn't only to learn and observe, but also to have fun and make connections with students from all over Europe. In the evenings, we had a bit of free time to experience the city with the other pupils through the eyes of the Romanian students. This shows that you can only get the most out of such a project by personally interacting with other students and not from sitting behind a screen.
Time flew by too fast, and unfortunately, we had to head back home sooner than we wanted to.
Johanna, Rebecca, Pia, Lara