In the last days of our exchange, Iza and I wrote down some questions and passed them on to some of the teachers and students we spent most of our time with abroad. We were interested in their opinion about the exchange and about us, Slovenians who were abroad. Of course, we asked them if they knew anything about Slovenia, education, culture.
We sent the questionnaire to 4 teachers and 3 students and received replies from 2 students and 2 teachers. We hope that we are still getting a reply from someone, but it is the Finns and I understand if they do not reply and express their opinion.
To quickly summarise the answers;
Some were shorter, some more extensive, but all of them summarised and presented an almost unanimous opinion and knowledge of the topic:
All respondents believe that the exchange has positive benefits for everyone involved, as we are all practicing and improving our English skills. The Finnish teachers particularly pointed out that it is very welcome to host such talkative and social students, as this helps to socialize the Finnish Silent Students. They only know the school system from our descriptions, but they think we don’t have enough practical training. The theory is important, but without enough practice, we cannot get enough training to be competitive in the labor market straight after school. They were quite positively surprised about our knowledge of logistics, as they thought that with less practice we would not be as skilled in logistics as they were. They also praised our diligence and eagerness to work and learn new things and procedures.
When I draw the line, I can say that I am very satisfied with the exchange. It’s unthinkable to go to an unknown country for a month from a very familiar and routine Slovenia, but I kind of like it because I’m an action person. The only thing that bothers me a bit is their slow and phlegmatic life because they are in no hurry and when they have nothing to do they just go home, which is almost unthinkable here.
If I had the choice to go abroad again, I would be more than happy to do it, as I now have an even greater desire to travel and make friends around the world, even if it is slow and difficult in some cultures.
