» INFO Austausch

England Exchange 2011 (by Sophia Brauner, 9d)

In June a bus full of unknown English boys arrived at our school. But at the end of the wonderful week we had they left as our friends.

And in October the moment had come where we went to London. We all were very excited but also happy to see our friends again.

When we arrived at the school our exchange partners already waited for us. It was so great to see them again! After we put our stuff in a room we went to the cafeteria and of course we got Fish and Chips ! Well, I know that this will never be my favourite food. After eating and talking to the QE boys we visited an English school lesson. Most of us were very tired so we couldn`t really enjoy the lesson.

But then we were picked up by our hostparents. We were very interested in our host family and their different way of life.  After the first night at our exchange partner's house we German guys went to London to make a long sightseeing tour. It started with Buckingham Palace. It`s very big and beautiful. We also saw Downing Street, Big Ben and we crossed the Millennium Bridge. We walked along the London Eye where there were a lot of artists who did funny and interesting things.

Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a fantastic view from the top and you could see nearly all of the big city. In the Whispering Gallery we tried to whisper into the wall and – I don´t know how – but it worked, the person on the other side could understand us! I think the tour through London was very great and everyone enjoyed it! After the tour most of us went bowlin with ntheir exchange partners in the evening. It was really funny to talk to the friends you didn`t see for a few months.

All in all the first day was full of new, interesting and impressive experiences.

The next day, Saturday,  the day was spend in the families. Some people went paintballing, shopping or anything else with they hostfamily.

On Sunday I got a typical English breakfast. Like Fish and Chips it is not my favourite food but it tasted okay. In the afternoon we all went to the theater to see Thriller Live. Not all of the students liked that but the teachers enjoyed it very much. In the evening we went home or to a restaurant or did something else.

On Monday we took part in a typical English school day. That was very interesting. First we had regestration with our exchange partners. Colin, Nicole and I couldn`t really understand the teacher when he accessed the students. We tried to understand the names he called but for us it sounded like someone speaking into a scarf. But we all were looking forward to the things we would do next. And the first was playing Rugby! After we had changed and put our gumshields on a teacher was already waiting for us to explain the important things for playing Rugby. We learned how to pass and how to tackle our adversary. At the end of the lesson we separated boys and girls and had a match. After break we went to an English lesson and we learned something about Shakespeare. It was interesting and we played different scenes of the play “Macbeth”. Later we also got a lot of information about QE and the English school system. In the lunch break we watched the training of the waterpolo team of the school ( QE has its own swimming pool!! ) .

In the last lessons we did a project with the English boys and some French students who were on an exchange at QE, too. We were separated into a few groups and we got an egg which we should write a story about. It was very funny to listen to the different presentations. After this long school day we went home. And I have to say that school in England is very interesting and different from our school. And it`s very funny to be the only girl among hundreds of boys :) .

The next day was our last whole day in London. In the morning we visited a museum. One group went to the British museum and the other group to the Science museum. I was in the British museum. It was very big and beautiful with a big cupola , a cafeteria and a few little shops with souvenirs.

After visiting the museum we could decide between going to Camden Market or shopping in Oxford Street. I went to Camden Market and it was impressive. You can buy creative , cheap and individual things there. You can eat little snacks from every cultures from Asian to Chinese to Indian.

I spent  most of my money on clothes, jewellery and souvenirs at Camden Market.

After a long shopping tour we took the tube to meet our exchange students. At `home` my hostmother cooked my favourite meal: Lasagne.

And the best thing was that she invited Colin, Nicole and their exchange partners so we had a wonderful and funny last evening. When they left (it was almost ten o'clock) I started to pack my luggage. That made me very sad and I was thinking of the farewell tomorrow. It would be very hard to say good bye to our friends. When I was lying in my bed I thought of the nice time we had had and that it had been the right decision to take part in the England exchange.

The next morning it was time to say good bye to every one. To the teachers, the hostfamily and of course to our exchange partners. We took the last pictures and we all promised to meet again. A few hours later, when we  were already sitting on the plane I was still sad and I started to miss the funny jokes of my exchange partner.

At the end I can say to everyone:  Apply for the exchange!! You will have wonderful experiences. You will meet such nice people. And you will have the best time of your lives.

And now last but not least I want to say thanks to our teachers: Mrs Bianchi, Mrs Strauch , Mrs Herold and Mr Ohlemeyer. They planned fantastic events in Germany and in England. It was a perfect organisation. Thank You!

 
[zurück]