Yulia Paprots’ka, grade 10a:

Recently, on the 28^th of November we had guests from Stryi in our school. Once they have already come. It was in April 2002. This time they came in autumn.

On that day, it was Friday; we had two common lessons with them, English and Psychology. At the English lesson we were discussing different questions connected with our schools and school life. When our guests told about school subjects they said they had Religion lessons. It was very interesting for me to learn more about it because we didn’t have such lessons in our school. I’d like to say students from Stryi speak English very well. The lesson was very useful for both sides. At the Psychology lesson we determined the type of our temperaments having an interesting test. The guests were active; we both learned more about our characters. After the lessons there was a game, three teams took part in it including our guests. In the evening there was a party. The next day we went around the town, visited L.Ukrainka’s museum and other sights.I was impressed by the fact that Stryi’s students spoke Ukrainian only, it was strange for me because people of my age here don’t do it. My classmates who hosted the guests told later they were very friendly, kind and sociable. I’m very pity I couldn’t host anybody in my place. Hope I’ll be able to do it next time.

Ira Los’, grade 9b:

Students from Stryi Gymnasia came to our Collegium on Friday, November 28 and on the fourth lesson my class-mates had a possibility to see them, to speak, to know something about them and their school but unfortunately I was absent because I took part in the town’s Olympiad. So I’d known some facts about the visit of those pupils only when my friends told me about their thoughts and reflections. I have my own impressions after Stryi’s guests visit. So I’ve realized that their English is perfect and a little better than ours. They also made mistakes like my group-mates do because they were very exited. I know they can be very active and can take part in the conversation showing their highest level of knowledge not only in English. Students from Stryi also are kind and polite, they know how to behave at the lessons in our school, and in general they were sure in their knowledge, almost didn’t worry, although students were in other school, I think it’s very difficult. So I know students from Stryi are really good at English and their teachers can be proud of them. And I want to see them very much to speak, to learn their English, to compare their way of speaking with mine.

Kateryna Medvedeva, grade 9B:

It has become a good tradition to have guests from Stryi Gymnasia in our Collegium. Last year they came in April. We didn’t participate in the project “People to People” because we were in the 7^th grade only. This time we were involved in it and waited for the guests more than others. First we sent them our profiles, they did the same. Thanks that we had a possibility to imagine our future partners who arrived on the 28^th of November.

It was Friday, I woke up at 5.40 am and realized I had to meet the guests from Stryi, a town I had never heard about before. In the school entrance hall I met my class-mates and Collegium students, it was 6.20. When we saw a van in the school yard we started to cry and fussed. I found my partner, it was Rostyk who came with me to my place to have breakfast and relaxed a little bit. We spoke much and it was quite an interesting conversation. At 10 am we came back to school and had a lesson with Stryi’s students. Its subject was to speak about our schools and compare them. Before the lesson we were afraid we knew English worse than the guests but after the lesson we realized it hadn’t been so. After lunch it was the “Chance” game and a party with quizes and dances. In the evening Natalka, Diana, their guests Max and Liuda, also my Rostyk and me went to my place. We had supper and our own disco, chatted much, watched photos till 2 p.m. On Saturday we went down town, visited Lesia Ukrainka’s museum, had lunch at home and arrived to the train station at 5. People cried, kissed each other and said good-bye. These two days passed very quickly but left a lot of good memories. I’m happy I’ve known some new things about life in the Western Ukraine and found new friends in Stryi.