Comenius Conference 2014 Conference Guide
Introduction Dear students from Nacka, Sønderborg, Kiel, and Flensburg, dear colleagues and dear friends of our project, Welcome to Trier and welcome to the Comenius conference Borders: Bridges and Barriers, Burden or Benefit? Identities in Europe as Based on Lifestyles, Stereotypes and Structures! This little book was made to inform you about a couple of things that might be useful to you during your stay in Trier. We recommend you always have this conference book with you at all times. However, if you are looking for important information that you cannot find, please do not hesitate to ask the members of our team! We wish you a pleasant stay and a lot of fun in Trier! Your Comenius conference team 1
About Trier Trier is a city of 100,000 inhabitants, if you count in all the university students living here. It is located on the banks of the river Mosel on the western edge of Germany, the border of Luxembourg is less than 15 km away and the border of France is also close by. The city was founded by the Romans in 17 BC and was at that time named Augusta Treverorum. This makes Trier Germany s oldest town and the Roman heritage is still visible today in many places. Today a good part of Trier s old town and its ancient buildings are a part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage. Trier has a temperate climate with snow and rain in winter (the January average temperature is +1 C), summers tend to be warm but not too hot (July +18 C) and sufficient precipitation can be expected all year round. Due to its climate, Trier has been a wine region for more than 1500 years and since it is located at nearly 50 N, it used to be one of the northernmost wine regions in the world - this is now changing due to the ongoing global warming. However, Trier is part of the well-known wine-growing region, the Mosel (formerly known as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ) which is famous for its great Riesling and other white wines. 2
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About Humboldt-Gymnasium Trier Our Comenius Conference 2014 takes place at Humboldt-Gymnasium Trier (here in Trier we always say HGT ). HGT is a typical German secondary school ( Gymnasium ) with about 175 years of history. German students usually enter a Gymnasium at the age of 10, after having already attended four years at a primary school. Usually, they will spend nine years at HGT, leaving the Gymnasium with qualifications, we call them Abitur, for acceptance into a university. Since HGT has a special focus on French, it is also possible to obtain the French baccalauréat at the end of ones school career. Our school address is: Humboldt-Gymnasium Trier Augustinerstraße 1 D-54290 Trier Tel. + 49 651 97950 http://www.hgt-trier.de 5
Information and Help Conference Office The conference office should always be your primary contact for any kind of information and support. Here you will always find the latest information on the timetable and on all conference events. At HGT, the conference office is in room 14, on the main floor (there will be signs to guide you to the room). The conference office phone number (available 24 hours): Tel. +49 15115730549 In urgent cases call Karin Lenerz (conference chair): Tel. +49 17206453548 Telephone charges Since Germany is most probably not your home country, using your mobile phone is not as cheap as it would be normally you might even have to pay for incoming calls. However, the costs for calls from mobile phones in foreign countries are restricted Europe-wide to 49 cents per minute plus sales tax. An incoming call may be charged at a maximum price of 15 cents per minute and an outgoing text message up to 11 cents. Incoming text messages are always free. Further information is available at http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/tariffs/index_en.htm 6
Information and Help Point of Contact If you have a problem or a question, no matter if you are a student or a teacher, then feel free to talk to our contact people. You can recognise them by their orange badges and most probably you ll find at least one of them in the conference office in room 14 at HGT. In case the conference office is closed, ring us on the 24 hour contact number as stated on the left side. Max Mustermann Musterschule Musterstadt Group WS A WS B Trier, 12 th -15 th November 2014 Comenius Conference 2014 Orange badge of contact people 7
Information and Help Emergency In case of emergency call 110 for police or 112 for ambulance and fire brigades. Please make sure to also inform a contact person, so that they can give you helpful advice and support. Language Most Germans can speak English to some extent, especially younger people. At touristic places you will find information in multiple languages, and one of them is always English. Youth hostel (German: Jugendherberge) During the conference in Trier, you will stay at Trier s youth hostel. The youth hostel is located near the river Mosel and has the highest quality standard available in Germany (IV+). All the rooms are equipped with a bathroom and shower. Address: Jugendherberge Trier An der Jugendherberge 4 D-54292 Trier Tel. +49 651 146620 http://www.diejugendherbergen.de/ 8
Information and Help The closest bus stop is within 5 minutes walking distance. If you don t want to walk to HGT (25 30 min. approx.) or back, you can take a public,bus. However, it is not necessarily any faster than walking because there is no direct line from youth hostel to HGT and back. Contact the conference office for details. Transport Public transport is not really cheap in Trier. A single ticket for a bus trip within the centre of Trier is a minimum 2,00 Euros. A four trip ticket is available and costs 6,00 Euros. For detailed information on timetables, tickets and bus lines please contact the conference office. Money, banks and credit cards You can withdraw money at cashpoints and it is always possible to pay large sums in cash. In many cases - but not always - you may use credit cards (Mastercard and VISA are normally accepted). 9
Information and Help Identity card When going out, it is strongly advised that you always carry some form of ID with you, not only to prove your age. Alcohol Please follow your school rules. Beer and wine may be consumed at the age of 16 in Germany. For all other alcoholic beverages you must be 18 or older. Smoking Please follow your school rules. Smoking is not allowed for people under the age of 18. In restaurants or public buildings, including HGT, smoking is usually prohibited. Don t ever smoke inside our school or in the schoolyard. Party If you are under 16 years old, you may only enter clubs, bars etc. in a parent or teacher s company or with your parents written permission. If you are older than 16 but under 18, you may only stay in clubs, bars etc. until midnight. However, there are many other exceptions. 10