Le mercredi 3 février, les élèves de 1re SA sont allés rendre visite aux élèves du voilier-école "Alva" de l'école Marina Läroverket à Stockholm.
Après une visite complète du bateau, les élèves ont échangé autour d'un thé et d'un gâteau suédois, avant de marcher jusqu'au LFA pour une nouvelle visite, puis d'un bon repas, cette fois Marocain. C'est la troisième année que cet échange qui se révèle à chaque fois fructueux en contact noué et en progrès dans la langue anglaise.The Meeting
By El Yazid Malek and Leila Dikker
Thanks to our English teacher for the amazing experience we had last week. On Wednesday the 3rd of February 2016, our class went to meet some Swedish students. At the beginning, we were afraid to not be able to engage in a discussion with them because of our English level. We also thought that borders would appear because of our different education and cultures. But all went well, we spoke with them for more than five hours, it was awesome.
Firstly, they invited us to their yacht called « Alva ». So, we made groups of four, two of us and two Swedish students and then we got acquainted. They showed us their rooms where 4 students sleep, the place where they study maths, marine biology and sailing. We met their maths teacher and the crew. They were on Alva for a whole mouth, so they had some responsibilities like cleaning the boat, making the meals and guarding the boat at night. For our arrival, they prepared breakfast. They were very welcoming and friendly with us.
Then, we had a long discussion about our countries, our lives and cultures. This exchange showed us that we weren’t so different from each other. Indeed, here in Morocco in every store and some houses, we find the portrait of the king, and they have the same habit. Next to their rooms, they showed us the portrait of their King and Queen, they told us that it was a tradition.
After, we left the yacht with them to our school. On the road, we met other students and talked to them about their projects for the future; it was surprising to know that most of them are going to have a gap year the next year, to discover the world, or to study marine biology or take environmental classes to make the world better.
We had a great walk. It was an opportunity to visit Agadir. We started the walk from the boat in the Marina. We were more than 50 people, a massive group composed of Swedish and Moroccan students. We were all having fun; some of us were singing while others were listening to music. We introduced each place of Agadir that we saw along the way to the Swedish students. Tilde asked us about the Muslim traditions. I tried to explain her everything. We visited a tourist’s souk called “Tafoukt Souk” where handmade products were sold. We saw jellabas, babouch and tajines. The other students took some pictures of the traditional articles.
We continued the walk until we arrived next to the King’s palace. We had a discussion with the Swedish students making a comparison between the Moroccan monarchy and the Swedish monarchy.
We kept talking about this subject until we arrived at the school. At that moment we got back in groups of four to show the school to our guests. We started from the primary school and the kindergarten, then we went to the high school.
Our guests loved our school; we showed them the laboratories and the library. They found them to be really modern.
Finally, we had a Moroccan lunch with meat tajines and a Moroccan salad. It was a discovery for the foreign students. They adored the lunch. It was another opportunity to compare the Moroccan gastronomy to Swedish gastronomy. At the end we all drank a cup of Moroccan tea and we ate some Moroccan cakes. We took some pictures and we also exchanged our information and addresses. The Swedish students went back to their boat and the experience finished.
The Swedish in Morocco
By Boutaina Bounou
I have met many foreigners in Morocco but the Swedish are really special. I was a little bit afraid that day, I thought we would not get along or even have nothing to say but I was wrong, we were talking for hours. I was with Hamza Bensouda and the Swedish people, Klara and Jakob, who are extraordinary people.
We were given an appointment at 8:30 next to ZARA. After the call we headed to the famous Swedish boat called Alva. At first, I was worried but after I saw them waving and smiling at us, I felt happy and I really liked them before I even talked to them.
Finally, they were there next to us. First, Jakob spoke and introduced Klara and himself, then I introduced Hamza and myself. It was our first time to meet people from Sweden. After the short introduction, Jakob and Klara invited us to have a look at their beautiful boat. There was a small and lovely kitchen, a cozy living room, and an amazing cabin with many complicated machines in it. Jakob started to explain the role of each machine in the cabin and he described each space in the boat. He even showed us their fridge and where they put all the sweet stuff like chocolate. We had a wonderful time.
After visiting their boat, they invited me and my friend Hamza to have breakfast on the boat. It was really special because of the nice weather and the amazing view. For breakfast, we had a chocolate cake with some cream on top and drank a cup of Swedish tea that Klara recommended us to drink. To be honest, Moroccan tea is tastier that the Swedish one, but I liked the cake, it was delicious. While we were having breakfast, I ceased the opportunity to get to know them and their culture, so I asked them. The thing that was strange to me is that they don’t have time after school to practice their hobbies; they said music is the only hobby that they practice to feel better. Their favourite music is rock and rap and acoustics sessions too. This latter is one of our favourite types of music too. Finally, we asked them to try to summarize the Swedish culture in a couple of words and they said: “complicated”, “adapted”.
After that we joined other students and went to our final destination which was our school. Of course we took the chance to take some pictures with our new friends.
Finally, we arrived to the school. They told us that their school looks smaller compared to our school. Klara told us that they have a floating house because she lives next to a lake. After that we ate lunch and that was special because Oscar, Jacob and Klara’s friend, were always wearing big clothes and smiling a lot. We called Erik Mr Bean, ( a friend of Jacob and Klara) , because he was making us laugh. He is a natural comedian. After they tasted the Moroccan food, they really liked it and started to ask us about how we made it and the ingredients. We also taught them how to eat tagine because all of them didn’t know how. Hamza and I decided to see them at night to give them some gifts and to say goodbye. At 6:00 pm, we went to the Marina and called Jacob and Klara, we were so happy to see them again. Then we gave them some gifts like specific Moroccan shoes called “Babouche” for Jacob and his friends and for Klara, we gave her a nail polish and earrings. I left Hamza with them and went home.
This was the end of a wonderful day and a beneficial experience. I learnt many things about Swedish culture. I think this should be a regular thing in schools because it gives students the opportunity to communicate with foreign people and discover new cultures and exchange ideas and beliefs.
Moroccans and Swedish do it better !!! ;)
By Rim Safy
On the 3rd of February, Mr. and Mrs. Traumat organized an exchange with some Swedish students. At 8:30 am, we all met up at the Marina. Everybody was excited to meet those teenagers who were totally strangers to us. We went to see them on their boat. We were divided in teams of two Moroccan students with two Swedish students. We were a group of 8 that didn't leave eachother, Yasmine Dawiri, Ihssane Amlal, Yasmine Akouri and Rim Safy with Eric , Jenny , Caroline and Sebastien. They were very welcoming and nice with us. They made us visit their boat. We saw the kitchen, the dorms, the place where they eat and study, etc. At the same time, they were explaining to us how they live there for a whole month. They told us that it was hard to be responsible for everything and to live with their classmates. They have to cook, clean up, guard the boat and study. We also talked about their lifestyle, how they live back in Sweden. They all have some free time on the weekend where they hang out with their friends, have a little coffee or go clubbing on Saturday nights. Sebastian told us that he has a little job in a café in Sweden and that he has to pay taxes for that. For Carro and Sebastian the life is very expensive in Sweden. They were very surprised to see how low the prices are here in Morocco. For the education, all the schools in Sweden are free and they are even paid to go to school. Carroline and Sebastian chose to take a gap year after graduation because they wanted to take a job and think a lot more about their future. For Jenny and Eric they told us that in Sweden the government is very strict. We talked about money in Morocco and in Sweden, about the clubs and also about the differences between our school system and their school system, we can speak 4 languages and they can speak just 2. They study marine biology on their boat. Jenny and Eric don't know what they will do in the future . After our little talk we went to the little "salon" where we met up with all the others and we ate some traditional cakes and pastries with coffee. We talked this time about our culture. Then, we got off of the boat and started to walk from the Marina to our school. Although it was very long and very hot , we had speakers with some music so we danced. The Swedish students were very surprised they told us that they could never do that in their country. When we arrived to school we had a visit and presented them our teachers before going to eat a traditional Moroccan lunch. After the lunch the Swedish students gave us gifts, it was so nice . We took their Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat addresses ... We went back that night to see them at the Marina but some of them had class. We think that it was a very good experience, we learned how other people can live and other traditions , it was very interesting and the best of that is that we made new friends from another part of the world. It showed to us how to coexist and to respect the others, this is the lesson of this exchange.The Modern-day Christopher Columbus : Our Meeting with Swedish Students
By Azar and Amine
On Wednesday morning, at 8:30 AM, we met our classmates next to Zara, at the Marina, the place of our appointment with Mr. And Mrs Traumat. After all students were present, we started to walk to the Swedish boat, the Alva. We were very anxious about this meeting, I don't know why maybe it is because we do not have the habit of meeting new people, especially strangers. We arrived next to their boat, we were staring at the people (who would become our new friends) with a big and anxious smile accompanied with giggles. Then we divided into groups and three lovely girls came to us and picked us to go on the Alva.After we introduced ourselves they showed us the life on the boat and how difficult and funny it can be at the same time to live on a boat. They started to show us the kitchen, the bedrooms and all the other parts of the boat. After that, we exchanged about our life in Agadir as well as their life in Sweden around a tasty and delicious Swedish breakfast - some brownies, some pastries and a cup of tea.
I was afraid that I couldn't communicate with them, but once I spoke with them I discovered that I could speak quite well. We started to share our hobbies and what we liked to do, one of the three girls, Denise said that she loved video games so it was cool to talk about a subject that we had in common.
Following this, we started to walk to go to our school, the “final destination”. It was a great walk because we could socialize with the other Swedish students and listen to music, it was funny to see Mr and Mrs Traumat outside of school. We passed by the Tafoukt souk and continued our road to the “Lycee Français d'Agadir”.
Finally, we arrived at our school, we showed them the life in the “Lycee Français d'Agadir”. They were very surprised to know that we eat lunch with our family. They met our Arabic teacher Mr Chkiri and he began to introduce the Moroccan culture and lifestyle.
After that, we ate a typical Moroccan meal, the tajine, we showed them how to eat it, they really loved it. When we finished eating we took a big selfie and the gave us gifts . The saddest part of the day were the goodbyes, it was a very touching moment.
In my opinion, it was a great experience, I gained more confidence, I met amazing people, and I learned many things from them.
Meeting with the Swedish Students
By Camilia and Taha
To begin with, we met Mrs and Mr TRAUMAT at 8 : 00 a.m in the Marina. When everybody was there we went to see the Swedish students on their boat. We made groups of four : two from Agadir and two from Sweden. We visited their sailboat and at 10 : 00 we had some tea and Swedish cakes with them. They told us about their country and we did the same. After that, we walked from the Marina to our high school. On the road we showed them the touristic places likes the « Souk », we put on some music to create a good atmosphere. It was a long walk but we liked it because we were having fun with people from another culture and we spoke English. When we arrived at school, we visited with them the classrooms. Then we shared a Tajine all together, we showed them the famous « Moroccan hospitality ». After the meal we continued to talk about our future ambitions, we learned that some of the Swedish students wanted to be a doctor or a boat captain… At the end of the day, we had spoken English for five hours. It was very interesting for us to meet people from another culture. They gave us some Swedish chocolates as a gift. It was very nice of them. We enjoyed this day. These people were so nice that we didn’t want to leave them.
