Sunday 11 June 2017

Our trip to China by Adrien Coste and Anna Caradec Besga

The departure from Massillon and the arrival in China:

On Sunday 9th April, at 5 am, we took the bus at Massillon in order to go to the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. We arrived at 10:30, and we took the plane at 1:30 pm. It was an 11-hour flight and the jet-lag was of 6 hours. So we arrived in Xi’an on Monday at 5:30 pm and we waited 5 hours to finally take another plane to go to Beijing. We finally arrived at the Hotel of Beijing University in the afternoon and we used the rest of the afternoon to relax or to trade Euros against Yuans, the Chinese currency.

In the plane

In the hotel in Beijing

Tuesday 11th April, first day in China:

We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and we took the bus so as to go to the Great Wall of China. The Wall measures 8800 km but we only walked up a little part of it. After this, we went to a restaurant, where all meals were composed of many dishes which were put on a big tray that turns and people helped themselves. In the afternoon, we went to the Olympic Park. We saw the Olympic Stadium called the “Bird’s Nest,” and we saw the Olympic swimming pool called the “Water Cube.” In the evening, we saw an acrobatic show and then we went back to the university hotel.

View from the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China

Wednesday 12th April:

We went to see the Great Theatre of Beijing but we couldn’t go inside because there was a conference. Therefore we went to the Tiananmen Square, the biggest square in the world and we visited the Forbidden City. There were many temples. We also climbed to Jingshan Park. After lunch, we went for a walk in the hutongs which are narrow streets typical of Beijing.

The Great Theatre of Beijing

In the Forbidden City

Thursday 13th April:

In the morning, we went to the Summer Palace, saw the stone boat of the Princess Xie Xie, and visited the park of the Palace. After, we took the boat in order to cross the lake. In the afternoon, we went to the Sky Temple which is the place where the Emperor prays to his Gods. And after this visit, we took a “tuc tuc” to visit the old district of Qianmen. And, for our last dinner in Beijing we ate a Peking duck; it was very good!

The Summer Palace

The Sky Temple

Friday 14th April:

It was time to leave. We went to Beijing airport so as to take the plane for Xi’an at 10:50. Finally we arrived in Xi’an at 1 pm. We ate at the airport. The fifteen students who speak Chinese went to their penpals’ families and the other eighteen students went to the hotel of Xi’an University. Then, for the rest of the day, we relaxed or we traded Euros against Yuans again. The evening we went outside of the neighbourhood to visit the narrow authentic streets, where there were food stands, shops, and empty lanes.

View from the plane

In the narrow streets

Saturday 15th April:

In the morning we went to a park near the business district. We took a ride on the pedal boats, then visited the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, where there were a lot of temples, buddhas and monks. After lunch we went to the Museum, which was about the story of China and also very interesting but everything was written in English so we didn’t understand everything.

The lake

The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

Sunday 16th April:

We went to see the Wild Goose Pagoda but the small one. We wrote on a paper some wishes and hung them up on a tree for good luck. Next to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, there was the Stele Forest, which was really impressive because the steles were gigantic and massive. A man was renovating some of the steles. There are more than 3,000 steles in this forest. In the afternoon we cycled on tandems along a wall. After this excursion, we saw a Chinese show, with actors, musicians, singers, and dancers. We went once more to visit the streets at night.

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda

A Stele

In the Stele Forest

Monday 17th April:

In the morning we were welcomed by the big high school where the pupils learning the language were studying Chinese. We went to the playground where the headmaster of the high school and all the students were gathered. The teachers of Massillon gave a speech, and we exchanged gifts between the two schools. After having eaten a feast of different raviolis at midday, we went to the Muslim neighbourhood, where there was a souk and a lot of food. Everything was so cheap and we could negotiate very easily.

In the High School

In the Mosque

In the Muslim neighbourhood

Tuesday 18th April:

This day we went to another town, far away Xi’An. The teachers brought us there to see the differences between the big cities and the small villages. They let us walk in the streets, on our own. This allowed us to discover how people live without the big shops and the urbanization. We ate the typical food from this small town. In the afternoon, we went to a museum that was about the Textile Factory of Xi’An. And for dinner, we ate in a restaurant which was 35m above the ground, so we could see the people and cars below.

In a small street of the village

A temple in the village

Wednesday 19th April:

After having gone to a shop where we could make our own miniature terracotta soldier, we went to see the real Terracotta Army: soldiers, their horses and armours made of mud. Then we returned to our hotel. It was our last day visiting Xi’An.

Lanterns under trees

The Terracotta Army

Thursday 20th April:

We left the hotel at 7pm and caught our flight at 1am. The view from the plane was gorgeous. The flight lasted 11 hours. We arrived in Paris, then took the coach to Massillon. We felt really sad having to leave China; when we got home, we realized how lucky we were to have been able to visit this wonderful country.

The tablet of the plane

The view from the plane in the morning

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Our Citizen’s Debate

Camille, Coline, Lyvan, Priscille

On May 9th took place our Citizen’s Debate at the IADT. It was organized by Massillon and there were delegations from lycées in Cusset and Courpière.

We went there as budding journalists to gather the opinions of the pupils regarding our new Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Sitting around a table, we put questions to the participants, aged 16 to 22. Here is a summary of their views:
  • The merger of the two regions has not yet had an obvious impact on everyday life.
  • Young people's opinions are not sufficiently taken into account.
  • The right to vote at 16 would probably not stimulate young people's interest in politics much (young people still lack maturity), but a 'Youth Council' in each municipality would be a good way to learn to become a more engaged citizen.
  • For lack of information, young people don’t know the name of an elected official from their Department or the Region (apart from Mr. Wauquiez!)
  • In some families, politics is a taboo subject.
  • In Civics classes, there should be more discussion around politics and citizen’s engagement.

The morning lecture given by Professor Rieutort of the IADT on the challenges facing the new Region was very useful, giving us plenty of facts on regions throughout Europe. In the early afternoon, there was a round table discussion with Mr. BRENAS, Regional Councilor, Mr BARNIER, Member of the Comity of the Regions of the EU, Mr LALOY, Mayor of Cusset, Mr DEVES, Professor of Public Law, and Mr GACHON, Director of the local satirical magazine La Galipote. This useful exchange, punctuated by questions from the high school pupils, dealt with the consequences of the fusion of the regions for Auvergne, as well as the role that young people can play in the new Region.

Throughout the day, participants were able to visit association stands: "OZons" (organization of an exchange with Australia), the Young Europeans, LieU'topie, Massillon UNESCO Club (quiz on the Region), etc. A political cartoon workshop run by M. DHUMES, cartoonist for La Galipote, revealed the talents and humor of the budding cartoonists who took part.

To end the day (which was broadcast live on Web TV), there was a very lively debate between the high school pupils on the question: "AURA, a Region with a bright future?"

This modest experience as press journalists will have taught us how to properly formulate our questions. It comes after our adventure creating a short programme for Radio Campus. The funniest moment of the day was when we were interviewed by a journalist from France Bleu Pays d'Auvergne; she was a real professional!

Interviewing some of the VIPs!

Camille LUSTIERE, Priscille BERTHAUD, Coline BERGE & Lyvan POTELLERET

Monday 29 June 2015

Wednesday 13th May 2015. One of our Europe Day activities: Express EUself!

Not too stressed...

First round preparation...


Benoit, Camille & Juliette

Louis, Brooke & Lisa

Edouard, Paul & Joachim

Jean-Baptiste, Thibaud & Antoine
playing it by the rules...


Happy...

Helping the 'Secondes' team
prepare for the final round!

Heated discussion!

Camille & Benoit

Claire, Edouard & Paul

Celia, Blandine & Aurélie:
the brilliant runners-up!

Louis

Louis, again

Lisa

Lisa, Brooke & Louis:
the winning team!

Gabriele making up his mind...

The splendid judges:
Gabriele & Julien!

What is Express EUself?

It's a fun public speaking competition on European Union issues. It's an activity best done outdoors in front of a standing crowd. The crowd is encouraged to heckle and cheer in the spirit of Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park!

Teams of three speakers compete in three rounds. There can be as many teams as you like.

First round: the teams are given a topic by the judges. The teams have just 20 minutes to prepare their speeches (they are allowed all the help they can get: dictionary, cellphone, friends, teachers, parents, supercomputer, list of quotes and facts & figures given by the judges, etc.!). Then, each team, one after another, gets to address the crowd. Each person in a team gets to speak just 60 seconds (no more!) on the topic, standing on a soapbox or a bench.

The second round follows the same formula as the first round. Four teams compete against each other (though it can be more).

In the final round, there are (usually) only two teams competing against each other.

There are at least two judges (the jury is sovereign but can of course be influenced by the clap-o-meter!).

The winning team gets a big prize!

The 2015 topics for Express EUself! were:
  • ROUND 1: Teachers, who needs them?!
  • ROUND 2: Immigrants, who needs them?!
  • ROUND 3: Politicians, who needs them?!

The winning teams convinced the crowd and judges that we do need teachers, we do need immigrants, but we do not really need politicians!

The organizers/judges this year were: Gabriele B. & Julien H. A HUGE thank you to them!

HUGE thank you too to the APEL parents' association for their support (Mme Carnesecchi in particular for the great photos above!).

Friday 15 May 2015

Jean-Baptiste Massillon oratory prize 2015

The Jury


Baptiste in full flight!


Camille (very stressed candidate)

Edouard, member of the organizing team and Camille

The Jury deliberating


Julien, President of the Jury, about to announce the winners...


3rd prize to Gabriele

2nd prize to Alyette and 1st prize to Leïla

The candidates, the organizing team and the Jury