Introduction

This blogspot has been devised to present international cooperation at the Upper Secondary School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Ljubljana, Slovenia, particularly LAGOS project. Here are published the most interesting impressions of students, who have visited our partner schools in Italy, Finland, Poland and Estonia. The emphasis is on the dwelling comparison.

Poland

My host's living hood is very peaceful and quite, surrounded by a forest and lots of grassy areas. There are no hills to block the sunlight from morning till late afternoon, making the house more thermo-efficient. The house itself has 4 floors with wooden interior and a gently sloping roof. On the outside, you can see two balconies, each in different floor, a big backyard and a garage in the back. The cars they are driving are maybe not as modern as ours, but meet the requirements. The grass and the trees are trimmed regularly, so the surrounding looks really tidy. The umbrella outside throws a large shade on the table and the chairs underneath, making it a comfortable place to lounge, or to have a warm Sunday meal in the open air. The space in the house is well occupied and the furniture well arranged to face the sun.
The bathroom perhaps shouldn’t be next to the kitchen as in most of the houses, but at least it uses the same pipe-line as the kitchen does, which is easier to build.

Łukas’s grandmother and grandfather live under the same roof. They have their own floor (bottom floor), whereas Łukas, his sister, mother and father live in the floor above.

Łukas and his sister have to walk o the nearest bus station, which is approximately 20 minutes away, where the bus takes them to school and back.

Their mother works in shifts, so her schedule is prone to change. The kids need to adjust and be dynamic, as with the car, which Łukas often borrows from her, when she is not home and has to bring it back when she comes.

Their lifestyle is more easygoing as ours and the atmosphere is less tense. They do not argue as much and are overall very nice people, hospitable and friendly.

By Uroš Križman

Finland

When I first saw the capital city of Finland I was very surprised. It was quiet, clean and minimum traffic. There were only buses and tram driving around. The centre has some very
famous buildings which are all renovated and in very good condition. People there were really friendly too (senior couple offered help as soon they saw we were lost). First day we slept in the hostel near the centre of the city and it was very tidy and comfortable, even the breakfast was good. But for the week we went in a village named Nummi Pusula, 60 kilometers out of the capital. All the houses were wooden (tradition in Finland, I haven’t seen non wooden house in the whole week) and quite big, combined in a small settlements surrounded by nature. Most of the one-family houses have sauna in the basement and living space in the first floor. For Finns that is one of the main aims in life. All of them also have a car and mostly a family pet too. Some also have summer cottage by the lake nearby also with sauna. This is also a tradition in Finland and the place where the whole family hang out together (they even have special days for going in sauna).

By Teja Gortnar

Impressions of Estonia

When we came in to Talinn, I was suprised upon bad shape of streets and upon numbers of cheap socialist blocks in the suburban. We slept in suburb hostel one night and I must say I didn˙t sleep a lot because of stains on a bad and uncomfortableness. In the next morning we came to our designated village Abja-Paluoja. There are much more disent streets but hauses was almost falling apart. Their traditional hauses are wooden one and a wood is hard to maintain, speciali with their income. When we came in to our hosthouse we saw some open walls and ufinished walls. Nevertheless it was disent house and our room was quite nice. Our host family wasn˙t reach but they had enough money to buy everithing we wanted to eat. And one think I found it interesting the traffic wasn˙t dense at all. Esatonians don˙t have a lot of cars but if they have one it is very god one like marcedes or BMW. They give more on cars than on hauses. Estonians are still influenced by russia that is showed in soil and forsaken envoirment. The most beautiful part of Estonia was old center of Talinn. It was made in time of hansa and it is interesting for sightseeing. Center is as expensive as Ljubljana or even more. And one interesting thing estonia˙s highest point is 300 metars.

By Luka Hudobivnik

Estonia

Upon arriving to Tallinn, which is Estonia's capital city, we were taken to a motel by a private taxi driver. The Motel was apparently run by Russians and was quite unpleasant to stay in. After arriving to Abja-Pauloja next day, we settled in with our host family. Their house was quite average sized, but everything inside hadn't yet been renovated, since they moved in not long ago. Other houses in the vicinity were similar to this one and mostly wooden. The host family was hospitable and provided us with everything that we needed. But a thing that struck me by surprise was when I opened the water valve in the school and muddy water poured out of the pipe. Other students were apparently not concerned by that. The school was not very spacious and had few occasional cracks in the walls, but unlike our school, it had its own mess hall. Buildings in the center of Tallinn were nicely renovated, but same cannot be said for structures on the edge of Tallinn. The Human Development Index places Estonia on the 40^th place and that is right about where I would place it, if I would be the judge.

By Matej Lenarcic

Enchanting Dwelling-places in Cava de’ Tirreni, Italy

In October, 2005 I spent one week in Cava de’ Tirreni as an exchange student in the LAGOS project. At forty kilometres to the south of Naples and at 10 kilometres to the north of Salerno lies Cava de’ Tirreni, enriched by the multifarious woods and surrounded by pleasant hills that separate Cava from Ravello and Amalfi. Cava boasts quite ancient origin. The traditional image of old Italian towns situated around piazzas adorned with fountains remains valid in a country where ruins from Classical antiquity may stand alongside modern construction.

I was surprised and fascinated by the interior design of the dwelling where I stayed. One of the aims of the project was also to learn about foreign cultures and lifestyles, therefore students were accommodated with their Italian coevals. I will never forget how charming the house where I spent one week was; everywhere pictures with depicted landscape and luxurious frames, sumptuous furniture etc. Nevertheless I would not say that the interior was gaudy, the furniture was namely carefully chosen and despite richness in colours the colours were not glaring.

The next thing I noticed was the importance of particular equipment, for instance the large oval table in the living room. I suppose that table was the most significant piece of furniture in the house, it was used for eating, social gathering, discussions about important issues, such as finances or politics etc. And each family member had a distinguished chair, always used by him or her.

As my host family was very large and extended I seized an opportunity to observe the attitude between the family members, especially towards aged. I was astonished, my hostess’ grandparents were not a drag on other family members, instead they were recognized as the most wise and prudent in decision making. I mentioned the latter because I found it very relevant in explaining spatial repartition of their dwelling. The most glamorous and spacious rooms were dedicated to the elders.

Italy was home to many well-known and influential European cultures, it is also highly-developed country with prodigious values therefore their dwellings are reflection of glorious past and present.

By Marinka Zitnik