Today we visited King Zvonomir High School situated on the island of Krk. When we arrived, we were greeted by 5 students our age and the Headteacher Gordija along with the teachers Elena and Jelena. We first joined an English lesson where we debated the controversial issue whether it was sometimes necessary to beat your children; it was very interesting to hear different perspectives from the students on the matter and to debate and discuss with the students in English. We also discussed the different ethics of it and definitions of “beat” and “children”. The students then gave us a presentation about their island, and we did the same. After that they gave us a tour around their city of Krk; it was nice to be shown around by locals as no amount of research can replace the experience of visiting somewhere with people who have lived there their whole lives. They took us to their favourite kebab shop and then to another cafe that they often go to. We all had a drink and got to know each other a bit more which was very nice. We all expected this to be one of the highlights of this trip as we got to know more about the culture and school system of a foreign country. Meeting a few of the students and becoming friends with them was a nice new experience for us. I believe this encompasses the IB spirit of international mindedness as up until now we hadn’t met any locals our age. We quickly made friends and this gave us a true insight into Croatian life. Their level of English was truly impressive as they were all near fluent. They told us that, much like the finance industry in Jersey, the industry here is dominated by tourism and most of their parents work in tourism. This explains their impressive level of English. Hopefully, we can have future exchanges with these kind students and teachers.
Lia and Ania
