and their students

Gül is so excited. She woke up early in the morning and started to get ready for the next adventure .

She is interested in different cultures and today some students will come to their school . They have been preparing their Erasmus project for 4 months and she remembered how the story with the Erasmus project began.

She was one of the five students to take a trip to Greece to represent her school in a project. She still remembers her warm and inviting hosts, Maria very well.

Gül and her friends spent their classes engaging in interactive learning activities with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of Greek culture, history and language.

They expand their knowledge and consciousness of intercultural values.

" Wow" she said. Altogether it was really a good journey . We learned and experienced lots of things and now Let the new journey begins....

She called their teacher  Gül and her friends to her and said,"I have good news for you ." The chidren  looked at each other with joy and asked excitedly  what happened. Their  teacher said that their friend Maria and her team from Greece will come to Turkey next week and they will host them. 

        This was a great opptunity  to introduce our culture.

They had to show  team everything from the traditions and customs of Turkish culture, from the

    The children returned home with excitement. They started making plans to cook our best meals for them and show them our most attractive museums.

Days later the awaited moment came. According to the news they recieved, they would be at the borders of Türkiye within 2 hours. Gül and her friends had made a lot of preparations for their guests. 

After a while, Maria and her team arrived. Gül and her friends were very happy and excited. 

After a while , Gül and her friends started to introduce our culture. They introduced our culture very well. Guests are very appreciated about the preparation. They talked a lot. 

While talking about our culture, suddenly dancers came.  They performed our traditional dances. And our cultural dishes are served. 

After a great day the sun has set. It was time to drink Turkish tea and Turkish coffee. Our guests enjoyed the drinks and they asked for the receipe. 

Following the tea and coffee break, they played Turkish folk music and everybody danced. They found it interesting and loved it so much. After that they danced in Greek style. Gül and her group showed them our traditional games. 

Then Maria remembered a greek tradition about weddings. It is the custom of laying the bed, known as “krevati”, which usually takes place on the Thursday before the wedding. The event is held at the couple’s future home, where friends and family of the bride, especially the ladies, gather to make the bed of the soon-to-be-married couple. They lay only white bedsheets and throw money onto them for good luck and prosperity. 

It was exactly the money the groom gave to her that reminded Maria of the ritual of "Krevati" she had attended when she was at her grandma 's village one summer.

She wanted so much to talk to her new friends about the cherished custom of her country but she had to wait after the wedding ceremony.  Gül got so excited that she wanted to learn more about greek weddings! She  couldn't wait! Then Georgia, Maria's friend, talked about the bride's preparation for the wedding ceremony. The bride’s friends help her get dressed, and her maid of honor, or “koumbara”, stays by her side throughout the ceremony. A fun tradition involves writing the names of all the bride’s unmarried friends on the bottom of her wedding shoes. If the names wear off until the end of the day, it’s believed those friends will soon marry.

Then Maria laughed and said,' Yes, but the highlight of the wedding is 'The Dance of Isaiah' or wedding dance. It's the moment when the guests throw handfuls of rice to the bride and groom while the priest  leads the couple in a circular movement three times.' 

 Gül said that it must be very funny and she asked, 'Is it a kind of symbol? Georgia answered that this 'dance' symbolises the spiritual joy and the eternity of the couple's bond and the guests share the joy of the newly-weds.

Georgia added, 'At the end of the ceremony the guests are given  "bonbonnieres". 

These are small bags made of fine netting or satin tied with ribbons with "koufeta" in them. "Koufeta" are white sugar-coated almonds and their egg shape is a symbol of fertility for the young couple'.

Then Gül said, ' I'm so so happy to have shared with you so many memories and experiences. How beautiful it is to meet people from other countries and learn about their culture. Let alone, when these countries like ours have so much in common!' Maria added  that it is also so amazing  that both Turkish and Greek people are so hospitable and open-hearted! Then the girls hugged wishing that this friendship last forever!