Germany meeting
After waiting quite a long time and being very excited for it to arrive at the beginning of October the meet up in Germany finally arrived. Form the first until the 7th of October we had the honor to be hosting students from Cyprus, Lithuania, Spain and Finland arriving on Sunday at different times. The students from Lithuania and Cyprus were the first in the morning to reach their destination (our school), followed by the Spanish students in the afternoon and our guest from Finland in the evening, we didn´t plan any program for Sunday, so our guests would have enough time to settle in after their long journeys. My Spanish guest student arrived at 4 pm and after meeting for the first time we went straight back home. I introduced Laura to my family and helped her settle in, in the new environment. Afterwards we talked until dinner was ready to get to know each other better. Because Laura was tired of the journey and I had classes the next day we went to bed early.
The next day we walked to school together and met up with the other participants so we could split the group as we were attending lessons together and each of us took some exchange partners along. As the end of their first school lesson in Germany was reached we prepared an official greeting and opening of the meeting in the assembly hall, with some music and welcome speeches. Afterwards each country presented the activities their schools had already done for the project. Further the students continued to join us in our lessons up to the end of school. We didn´t have any official program so we went home and just hang out for a bit. In the evening Laura and I met some of the other host and their guest to have a kind of “welcome party”, where we had a lot of fun by getting to know everyone.
Tuesday was a national holiday, in Germany we usually spent those with our families, so my mom, Laura and I took the train to Munich, since we wanted to show Laura the October fest, seeing it´s really famous and an important part of Bavarian culture (we even call it the 5th season of the year). The first destination we had in Munich was the Marienplatz, to show her the new town hall along with the popular church “Frauenkirche” and the viktualien market even though it was closed, so Laura could get some impressions of the city centre. Following that we again took the train but then to the `Theresienwiese`, where the Octoberfest is located. Arriving there we took a lap around the festival, explaining some of the history and traditions. We had lunch in one of the tents, took a Ferris wheel ride and met some other students from our exchange. Though that it was getting more and more crowded towards the evening we decided to leave and take the next train home. We were very exhausted from all the walking we had done so we had an early night.
At the fourth day in the morning we headed to school, but this time the hosts were the only ones having to go to class while their exchange partners had a guided tour through the town until noon. After lunch we did some sports together, meaning we played the most popular sport of Wasserburg, basketball. We were parted into groups with students from at least 3 different countries. Each team had to play against another to figure out the best team. It was an exhausting and fun day especially because we got to know each other even better. Afterwards everybody headed home so we were well rested for our long day ahead.
On Thursday morning we got onto the bus at 8 am and drove to the Chiemsee, from there we went by boat over the lake to the island “Herrenchiemsee”, where the castle with the same name is located. A tour guide showed us around the castle and informed us how it was built and by whom, as well as some stories about the king. After the tour we still had some time left before the boat would take us back to the bus, so we took a walk trough the beautiful landscape. Arriving back at the bus we drove for about two hours further to the
mountains. As soon as we reached our destination everybody put on their hiking shoes and backpacks and we started to go up the mountain. Shortly after starting the hike we parted into two groups, one taking the easier trail for beginners and the other group the more difficult way for advanced hikers. It took us a bit more than three hours to reach our stay for the night the “Rotwandhaus”, but with the breathtaking view of the Bavarian alps it was definitely worth it. Everyone was assigned to group room and we settled in and rested until dinner was ready. We all ate dinner and later in the evening sung songs and played games together, which made it a wonderful evening. To keep the peace at night we went to bed at about 10pm.
The next morning we had a beautiful surprise, as there was sunshine the day before we found it quite exiting to wake up to white mountains as there was snow everywhere. We had breakfast and cleaned our rooms early, so we could head down the mountain again as soon as possible. Because of the snow we all went together the easier way, so no one would get hurt. Back down the mountain we felt like ice cubes, due to the could weather. That´s the reason why we all had some hot chocolate in a café while waiting for the bus. When the bus took us back to Wasserburg most of us were so worn out, they fell asleep during the ride home. We reached Wasserburg at about 3pm and went home, because we had no more program left for the week. Back home we both rested after the trip so we wouldn´t be tired in the evening. All participating students met at school together with the parents in the evening. All families brought food and we had dinner together. There were also some thanks from hosting teachers and guests. After that the same group as on Monday evening met up to spent the last evening together. We again had the best time, even though the goodbyes were harder than thought.
On our last day together Laura and I had breakfast, then she had to pack her suitcase and we left my home to bring her to the bus that would take her to the airport. It was sad to see all of them leave, but all in all we had a great time together, even when it was too short. I hope to see everyone soon again.
Laura Voggenauer