Exciting England and Wonderful Wales:
Student Exchange with Lady-Hawkins-School
After hosting our exchange partners in July, it was finally our turn to travel abroad. On Monday, September 23rd at 8 am, we said good-bye to our parents at Berlin-Brandenburg-Airport and embarked on our journey to the United Kingdom by plane. We flew into Birmingham from where we took a train to Hereford. In the early evening, we could finally say Hello again! to our exchange partners and met their families for the first time. They were very excited and “kidnapped” us from our teachers Mr Pfeiffer and Mrs Bachmann.
Attending School in England
On our first full day in England, we were allowed to attend lessons at Lady-Hawkins-School. The school is quite small compared to the TFG, but it was very interesting to experience German, Science, Mathematics and Arts being taught in English as a mother tongue. In between the lessons, we had a welcome lunch at the cafeteria and did a city ralley in Kington, the town where you can find the school. When school finished at 15:30, we went to spend the rest of the afternoon in our host families, speaking lots of English and finding out about their lifestyle. For the next couple of days, there were lots of excursions scheduled:
A Steam Train Ride and Hike close to Aberystwyth, Wales
On Wednesday, all of us (14 German students, 12 English students and 3 teachers) took a bus to Aberystwyth at 9 am, a trip that took about two hours. Our exchange students showed us around the town and the beautiful harbor with an old castle and a great seafood restaurant. Later, we took the Vale of Rheidol Railway (= a steam train) to Devil’s Bridge. We went on a short hike through the stunning forest along a waterfall. It was very scenic and a wonderful experience. We then took the bus back and spent the evening with our host families.
A Cycling Tour to Mumbles Pier near Swansea, Wales
On Thursday, the 26th of September, we German students and our teachers went to Swansea and Mumbles Pier. We took the bus early in the morning, at 8:00 am, for about 2 hours. When we arrived in Wales, we hired helmets and bikes at a bike rental. After that we started our bike tour and our first stop was at the Swansea Beachfront. Afterwards, we stopped at Mumbles Pier, we cycled along the beautiful coastline. There we took some photos and had some fries and a drink. Finally we went back to the bike rental and took the bus back “home”.
BBC and the Marina in Cardiff, Wales
On the 27th of September, which was a Friday, we and the exchange students from Britain set out to Cardiff, which is the capital of Wales, at 8 a.m. It’s famous for its 2,000-year-old castle, but in addition, it has modern buildings, lovely parks, and a vibrant cultural scene. After getting there, we were divided into two groups. Our group, with Miss Bachmann and Mr Pfeifer, visited the BBC Wales News Centre first. We went around the studios, the newsroom, and some Doctor Who props with Megan, our guide, and were informed on how cameras and voiceovers are used in news and TV shows. We were then free to walk around Cardiff for a while before we ended up at Cardiff Bay, known as the main coal export harbor in the past. But this space has now become a lively waterfront area with stunning views. Furthermore, we also paid a visit to the Wales Millennium Centre, which was the place to be for music, dance, and plays and opened in 2004. We arrived home by 5 pm and told our families about our day out. It was a really great day!
Some Weekends with Host Families in England and Wales
I, a student from 9/2, took part in the student exchange. I spent time with my host family at the weekend. On Saturday we went to a castle in Wales and looked at the history of the castle, then we stayed with my exchange partner’s aunt and grandparents. On Sunday we went to a festival together where there were different things like ‚Biggest pumpkin this year‘ or ‚Longest carrot of the year‘. We then went to a friend’s house and had a barbecue together. (Carlotta) During my weekend on the student exchange in England, we had a really fun time! On Saturday evening, Carlotta and Mariana came over, and then my exchange mum’s sister and her husband started juggling with fire poi and staffs. It looked supercool, and I even tried it myself—it was so much fun! On Sunday, we slept in and had a late breakfast, which was almost lunch. While eating, we watched a movie in English called The Labyrinth. Later in the evening, we made some hummus and just relaxed for the rest of the night. (Mika)
Buzzing Bristol, England
On Monday, September 31st, we went to Bristol and did the Blackbeard to Banksy Guided Tour. Bristol is a city in south west England. It‘s famous for street art like the Banksy grafities. In Bristol you can visit some sights like the Cathedral and the M-Shed-Museum. The city is also famous for the Clifton-Suspension-Bridge and the SS-Great-Britain by the super famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was once voted for second greatest Briton of all times by TIME Magazine. After spending another day with our exchange students at school and bowling in the evening on Tuesday, it was time to say good-bye at the train station in Hereford. Ten days after arrival, we took a train back to Birmingham where we killed some time at SEALIFE before flying back to Berlin. Being able to participate in the student exchange was an experience of a life time which we can highly recommend to anyone.
If you have any questions, please find and talk to us 14 students of 9.2!
Ella, Emilia, Maja, Helene, Carlotta, Ellena, Tim, Armin, Gustav, Wojtek, Ben, Levi Mika and Liam