Germany Exchange 2007

The Blog is a fascinating document, especially for those of us on the other side of the world! It is informative and yet intriguing in what gets left out, and we look forward to hearing the full story when you return!
I will upload some photos of the German sister-school and the region as well as Berlin. These are photos that I took when I was there in June and they may help family and friends reading your diary to better visualise the region and the some of the sights.
I trust the presentation evening went as well as it sounds - it is alweays a memorable event for all concerned and the parents are astonished that the Australian can say anything at all in German let along complete sentences. They have a saying: "Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache" (German language, difficult language).
Dresden and Berlin would have been highlights especially for those interested in social and political history. Always a shame more time cannot be spent in each place...
Of course, for the students this is probably not going to be the only time they will visit Germany, especially now they have a second family. There are lots of ex-students who have participated in the exchanges of the last 11 years who have returned again (and again) in order to continue their exploration of this fascinating country.
Viel Spaß noch!

Yesterday (Friday) selected students made a presentation of their home schools. Anna, Mark and Sarah L were told in Australia that they had to give a powerpoint presentation on CTHS. Maddy and I on the other hand were told on Thursday (the day before) that we had to give a small speech about schools. I thought "No big deal." But then... "Oh, and the speech must be done in German".

Having no other time that day, Maddy and I spent our free time in Magdeburg in the McDonalds, writing our speechs in English, and then starting to translate them with the help of our German buddies Henning, Toni, Norman and Michelle. From there we had to "laufen" (run) to the meeting point, but not before stopping at a chemist to try on perfumes and aftershaves. I was sprayed with a David Becham fragrance, although it smelt like David Becham after soccer.

First thing at school the next morning, the note pads and pens were out again, and Mark, Anna and Sarah L were off in their little room with computer troubles. We were all so tired from the concert the night before so my work was overall not that good, and it seemed like everything I translated was wrong. Never the less, we all got our work done and the tension mounted as the time got closer and closer.

We took our places in the hall and an introduction was given to Mrs Takahashi to speak. She gave a brief overview of our schools and the handed the mike over to Sarah to get thing rolling for the young Australians (excludong Mr Pierce). Anna, Sarah L and Mark spoke brilliantly and there was only one major problem in their presentation... Anna having to put the microphone down after Mark spoke.

Next came me, so I got up from my seat and made my way to the mike. I got to the lecturn, put my papers down and put the mcirophone up, but not without the noise of the stand adjusting going down the microphone and out the speakers. I was off to a great start. I started speaking and I thought I was doing well, until all the Germans laughed for no apparant reason. I asked "Was?" (What?) to the crown and only succeded in getting another laugh. After the laugher died down I continued. I got to the part of my speech about the year 9 and 10 elective subjects. I was basically reading aloud at that point so I mispronnounced the German word for Cooking, so what I said was "In years 9 and 10 you can learn CAKE". My speech ended and I got a bigger than I deserved round of applause.

Maddy then got up and spoke her almost fluent German, out shining me as usual. The presentation ended with the German principal presenting us with Certificates, Karina's last name once again spelt wrong.

One piece of free advice I will give to anyone thinking of travelling to Germany; Do not under any circumstances pay with a €50 note or you will incur the dreaded stare of death from any shopkeeper.

Scottie

OK because i dont have time to email everyone seperately, im writing a huge blog...

on monday we went to the Brocken which is a big mountain, except it was foggy up the top...it was still fun though. That was a long day though because the moutain and stuff was a long drive from wanzleben..the town near the mountain was obsessed with witches and things so we had a big walk around the town and things...did some shopping

Tuesday was dresden, except we didnt have very long there and i think we needed at least a couple of days. Theres lots of history and things there and our short stay didnt do the town justice.

Wednesday was our first shortish day. We went to the primary school and ate potatoes and srah broke a small childs kite...then a salt factory...*w00t*. we got free salt...that was pretty cool. No no, it was nice dont worry hahaha

Thursday was magdeburg which is really pretty...sarah bought lots of tea hahaha and in the eveing we had a mini concert thingy at this old building that was bombed during ww2. wegot home really late but it was a really good night out

and now its friday....and i have to get off the computer...

we#re having lots and lots of fun so dont worry!

cya..!! anna

Hi everybody!
I just thought I'd add an exchange organiser / teacher / group mother's point of view! As I'm sure you have read we are participating in an extremely full and hectic program! There appears to be little time for chilling out or even sleeping! So there is a lot of sleeping happening on buses, trains and in cars etc. As you have no doubt heard, we have visited Berlin, Dresden and today Magdeburg as well as many places in the vicinity of the school. Many castles, churches and other historic sites. The host families are all delightful and cannot do too much for our students. Redmond has ridden in a Panzer and spent a day in an army barracks. Sarah L has been to a beautiful concert in which her host younger sister sang; they have been to soccer matches and much more. The weather has treated us well and we are enjoying beautiful sunny days (after the fog lifts) and very crisp nights.
I'm afraid our time with available computers is brief but I will try to get some photos uploaded in the next 24 hours.
Hope you are all also enjoying your holidays
Regards Trish

I am finally figuring out how this blog works! Yay!
I put a comment like this somewhere else but cant find it, so I'll try again:
Can you tell us a bit about the villages where you are staying? What they look like and how big they are etc. How do they compare to Cherrybrook? Also, what are the young people like there, eg at school etc.
Thanks!