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Words of Farewell - Auf Wiedersehen
Udo's Bye-Bye Speech in The Bay

As the coordinator of this Comenius project I feel that the time has come to say a few words of Farewell.

As you might know my school and Sara's school took part in a former Comenius project. And when it was finished Sara talked me into doing an evaluation:

What went well? Even Better If ...

And then we decided to start out again, give Comenius a second chance and try hard to do even better.
And that is why we have recruited you, team Denmark from Helsingoer, team France from Bourges and Team Murcia from Spain.
And - come what may - we also decided to start our new project in Augsburg and round it up here in Cornwall.

So how come that our new project happened to be Opening Doors to Lifelong Learning?

Well, as you might know or not know about 70 percent of all the things our pupils consider important they do not learn in school.
When I read about this I was more than motivated to set up this Comenius project about Opening Doors and Learning Outside the classroom.
I tried to stick to this philosophy. Remember: when you came to Augsburg we spent exactly 2 hours and 16 minutes in my school. All the rest took place outside school and I am convinced that is why you remember Augsburg so well.

Well, in a Situation like this when I am struggling for the suitable words I fortunately can trust to be inspired by those things I have learnt outside school, i. e. by the lyrics and songs that I have grown up with and that have been the soundtrack of my younger years.

So let us do some time traveling on Comenius Road ...

AUGSBURG revisited

"It started out with butterflies in a velvet afternoon" Sixto Rodriguez → It Started Out So Nice

Well, actually it was not a vevlet afternoon. It was a wonderful winter night and - you might remember - we were partying in my apartment near the hotel where you were staying.

Helle and Jenny behaved a little bit like the wicked women that we saw the other day ...

But instead of being turned into stones for their misbehaviour, which would have served them well, they managed to recruit new members to our party. They shared drinks with us and they even got away with a mobile phone. But thanks to Sara and Sam they did not get so far and as far as I know Sam still is the proud owner of their mobile phone!

Ever since then I have been sure that this Comenius project is going to be a series of win-win situations.

Next stop MURCIA

"Down to the River, down to the River we ride" - Remember Bruce Springsteen?

- Remember when we were paddling down the River Seguro, we had a phantastic picnic and a great Fiesta on the river banks and in these precious moments of paddling and picnic delights each of us felt richer than any banker and luckier than the president of the Bayern Munich football club.

Next stop France, BOURGES

"We have dined like Kings we have been offered Wings" → Bob Dylan, Is Your Love In Vain

- We all remember the countless bottles of Loire wine we shared. Opening Bottles to Life Long Learning seemed to be the motto of these days. Nothing seemed impossible. The sky was the limit.

Next stop Denmark - HELSINGOER

"To be or not to be, this is the question" - to be honest, my Hamlet lessons - I only taught this play once - had been quite a desaster as I normally was teaching Macbeth? But - believe it or not - after visiting Denmark I have come quite a bit closer to give the answer of this delicate question

Final stop PENZANCE, Cornwall

After all these experiences and the ups and downs of our cultural clashes we have come to the end of the Comenous Road.

So what is left to say?

Above all my thanks go to Sara and Jenny who have set new standards of what school principals' visions and commitment should be like.

We all know from experiences how much stress it has been to make this week a week to remember - a series of unforgettable experiences for teachers and pupils likewise.

So here is a little anti stress present for Sara and Jenny, some sweet souvenirs and some very last Bob Dylan lyrics to round it up

"We'll meet another day, another time" → Bob Dylan, Farewell

And where is this going to be?

Well, it is basically northeast -

and to be a bit more specific

"I'll let you be in be in my dreams, if we can be in yours" → Bob Dylan, Talking World War III Blues

Thank you, much and very!

Udo Legner, Coordinator of the Comenius Project Opening Doors to Lifelong Learning