It's been a week since we came home from Europe. All in all it was an amazing trip. The main objective was met. What was the main objective you might ask? To bring the kids back safely, of course. Yes, even with such a complex trip where one could name many objectives that would sound more fancy, the truth is that bringing children back safely was the undisputed number one.
That said, there were so many things we learned during this trip. So many things we saw and experienced that it is hard to even think of where to begin. Where should i start then? At the beginning i guess.
It all started when nine brave parents decided to trust us and send their children to Europe for 2 weeks. The children aged from 8 to 12! I must say, kudos to all nine parents! I am sure it wasn't easy. I also would like to add that in my personal opinion being able to send your child at this age abroad just shows a courageous parenting style that i absolutely admire.
So nine children and two teachers, Mr. Sai and I, took off on June 2nd towards the great adventure of discovering new countries, new things and new experiences away from parents. We were amazed with the the numerous natural beauties of Slovenia, the enchanting water ways of Venice (Italy), the youthful, crazy amusement park in Gardaland (Italy) and the interesting Minimundus in Austria. Our itinerary was packed with activities and sight seeing. Day in and day out. Towards the end of the trip the itinerary was getting more and more tiring and we crossed out few things we originally planned to see. But that was the only sensible thing to do since the children were clearly showing the signs of saturation and tiredness. I guess the art is to just keep your eyes and heart open and constantly observe how they respond and act. It is not like with the adults that could just push them self just to get that value for money out of a foreign trip - you need to stop and think many times when dealing with children. And we did.
We appeared in Slovene media - two major family magazines and we filmed for a children TV show on TV Slovenia 1 program that will air in October. The children were always making us proud with their behavior, curiosity, openness and friendliness. People were stopping me on the streets inquiring where we are from, who we are. People were thoroughly impressed with our Sanctamarians and bottom line, so was I. I was very proud of our kids!
If there would be one learning that i would point out it would definitely be this: I observed our children are not exposed to different terrains - i have a funny analogy on that one - in a way our kids are like race horses - very good when the racetrack is covered with the familiar sand, but send them out in the wild, they are inexperienced and sometimes plain clumsy. I noticed it on our treks. That is why i couldn't support our school tie up with Youreka stronger (and any other tie ups we might have with companies providing nature camps)! They need to have that experience. I feel very strongly about it.
And on a lighter note - next time we go, we need to pack a jar of home made pickle and red chili powder :) Children missed food more then parents and anything else!
To conclude, we made tons of memories that might last a life time. We gained valuable experience in the area of organizing safe trips for our children. We tied up with few schools to eventually start an exchange program that will benefit us all and last but not least, we had so much fun! :)
Thanking all parents for their trust and our amazing management for making it all happen!
That said, there were so many things we learned during this trip. So many things we saw and experienced that it is hard to even think of where to begin. Where should i start then? At the beginning i guess.
It all started when nine brave parents decided to trust us and send their children to Europe for 2 weeks. The children aged from 8 to 12! I must say, kudos to all nine parents! I am sure it wasn't easy. I also would like to add that in my personal opinion being able to send your child at this age abroad just shows a courageous parenting style that i absolutely admire.
So nine children and two teachers, Mr. Sai and I, took off on June 2nd towards the great adventure of discovering new countries, new things and new experiences away from parents. We were amazed with the the numerous natural beauties of Slovenia, the enchanting water ways of Venice (Italy), the youthful, crazy amusement park in Gardaland (Italy) and the interesting Minimundus in Austria. Our itinerary was packed with activities and sight seeing. Day in and day out. Towards the end of the trip the itinerary was getting more and more tiring and we crossed out few things we originally planned to see. But that was the only sensible thing to do since the children were clearly showing the signs of saturation and tiredness. I guess the art is to just keep your eyes and heart open and constantly observe how they respond and act. It is not like with the adults that could just push them self just to get that value for money out of a foreign trip - you need to stop and think many times when dealing with children. And we did.
We appeared in Slovene media - two major family magazines and we filmed for a children TV show on TV Slovenia 1 program that will air in October. The children were always making us proud with their behavior, curiosity, openness and friendliness. People were stopping me on the streets inquiring where we are from, who we are. People were thoroughly impressed with our Sanctamarians and bottom line, so was I. I was very proud of our kids!
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| Jana, a family magazine - once i get the hard copy i will translate it to English and display it in school. |
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| Beautiful article in Ona magazine - again, waiting for hard copy, then translation follows :) |
If there would be one learning that i would point out it would definitely be this: I observed our children are not exposed to different terrains - i have a funny analogy on that one - in a way our kids are like race horses - very good when the racetrack is covered with the familiar sand, but send them out in the wild, they are inexperienced and sometimes plain clumsy. I noticed it on our treks. That is why i couldn't support our school tie up with Youreka stronger (and any other tie ups we might have with companies providing nature camps)! They need to have that experience. I feel very strongly about it.
And on a lighter note - next time we go, we need to pack a jar of home made pickle and red chili powder :) Children missed food more then parents and anything else!
To conclude, we made tons of memories that might last a life time. We gained valuable experience in the area of organizing safe trips for our children. We tied up with few schools to eventually start an exchange program that will benefit us all and last but not least, we had so much fun! :)
Thanking all parents for their trust and our amazing management for making it all happen!
