In den folgenden Aufätzen schildern einige der britischen und deutschen Teilnehmer ihre Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse in Deutschland beziehungsweise England.

Erlebnisaufsätze zum Fleet-Austausch 2006

Lara Eiligmann:

Wer wollte nicht schon einmal nach England bzw. London? Ich auf jeden Fall und mit diesem Austausch ist für mich ein Traum in Erfüllung gegangen.

Im Nachhinein war die Woche in England schön, aber erst einmal fing alles ziemlich blöd an… Nämlich mit der Hinfahrt: Im Bus war es viel zu warm und schwül und so kamen wir sehr erschöpft in England an, wo wir von unseren Austauschpartnern und ihren jeweiligen Familien abgeholt wurden – meine Gastfamilie ging auch netterweise direkt mit mir mein Essen für die Ausflüge einkaufen.

Am nächsten Tag besichtigten wir Deutschen das Schloss Windsor und am Abend trafen meine Austauschpartnerin Katie und ich uns mit anderen Leuten, die am Austausch teilnahmen.

Mittwochs gingen wir dann in die Court Moor School. Obwohl ich dort nett behandelt wurde, empfand ich wie die meisten „Einharder“ die Schule als sehr anders…

Am nächsten Tag besuchten wir dann endlich London, ein Teil Englands, der mich wirklich sehr beeindruckt hat – alles dort ist so groß und viele Plätze sind sehr schön. Leider mussten wir aber viel laufen: von Houses of Parliament zu Covent Garden bis zur Tower Bridge… Am Ende des Tages taten allen die Füße weh.

Freitags fand dann die Exkursion nach Oxford statt, an der auch die englischen Schüler teilnahmen. Obwohl die Uni dort sehr alt ist, gibt es relativ coole Geschäfte und das Museum, in das wir gingen, war auch sehr modern. An diesem Abend war auch Pizza Night bei einer der Engländerinnen – aber nur für Mädchen!

Der beste Tag war meiner Meinung nach aber doch der Samstag, weil meine Gastfamilie mit mir zu Mme Tussaud’s nach London fuhr, wir in London noch einkauften und am Abend die Austauschabschlussparty war. Sonntag besuchten wir schließlich noch Stonehenge und ich packte meine Sachen.

Insgesamt war der Austausch sehr schön, ich habe viele Sachen erlebt, denke jetzt schon häufig auf Englisch und tolles Wetter hatten wir auch. Allen anderen möchte ich jetzt zum Abschluss einen Rat geben: Macht den Englandaustausch mit. Sonst verpasst Ihr was!

Malte Pieper:

We started our journey on an uncomfortable coach at 6 am and planned to be in Fleet at 3 pm, but that didn’t happen. In Belgium some police men controlled us and the motorway was jammed. So we missed the ferry and took the next one – an hour later – and so we got to the school at 4 pm.

I stayed with a very friendly family named Greenwood. That first evening we went to a pool by car and I noticed how much I am used to German traffic. But although they are driving on the “wrong“ side of the street it was really fun.

On Tuesday we went to Windsor and visited the castle which is really great. After we finished answering the questionnaire we saw the changing of the guards.

The next day we went to Court Moor School where every classroom is created for its subject. I wondered why they didn’t close the door of the room… After Religious Education and French we had Art which was a little bit boring. During the breaks many pupils wanted to “talk“ to us exotic Germans. But they only said silly things and swearwords because these were the only ones they knew in German. After Geology and Food Technology I enjoyed bowling and watching football on TV.

On Thursday we went sightseeing in London which was really impressive. We visitied Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and some other famous sights. After shopping at Picadilly Circus we went to Trafalger Square and had some leisure time at Covent Garden – in the evening we came back late and I was very tired!

After visiting London we went to another famous city on Friday – Oxford – with our English exchange partners. We visited the History Museum and had a look at some of the 39 colleges. I took a lot of photos and we had a guided tour around two colleges. The students in Oxford are not allowed to have cars so the city centre was full of bikes.

On Saturday we went to Stonhenge which was very impressive. “All legends and secrets about Stonhenge are wrong“, Mr Greenwood, my exchange partner’s father said and revealed the secret: “Stonehenge really was a place to deal drugs, to drink beer and to smoke cigarettes!“ After this was made clear we went to the cathedral of Salisbury. This church looks really nice and about an hour later we were at home again and went to a party right away – all pupils who took part in the exchange visit were there.

On our last day in England I could sleep longer than usual which was really necessary. Then we cycled along a canal to a picnic place and had lunch there. Afterwards we visited a festival of my exchange partner’s Rugby Club.

I really enjoyed the week and I want to visit Egland again!

Michael Stevens - GERMAN EXCHANGE 2006

One of the first things we did in Germany was to go our exchange partner's school and spend the day having German lessons.  I had the delight of following Class 8a around for the day (which explains why they didn't learn anything!)  I would like to say, however, that they were really cool and a big "thank you" to Alexander Zurhelle and everyone else, because they put up with me and they also got completely "owned" by this year 10 at Dodgeball!  Anyway, the first lesson was sport, in which I had a lot of fun, doing things that we don't do in P.E. back home.  In music we watched "The Phantom of the Opera" in German - that was weird!  English was just plain scary; they were doing year 10 English coursework and we had to give definitions of English words.

            After school we went on a tour of Aachen.  The tour wasn't as long as the one last year, but I did learn some new and interesting things, like the story of the Klenkes

            On Tuesday we went to Cologne.  We visited the cathedral and learnt the story of the Magi (Three Kings).  I climbed the tower and managed to get to the top, despite my Schwindel and was rewarded with a fantastic view.  Frau Ragusi was kind enough to pay for us to go into the Chocolate Museum and I bought some coffee-flavoured chocolate - aber das war nicht sehr lecker!

            On Friday we went to Trier and saw the Porta Nigra (Black Gate).  All the English pupils had drunk too much during the journey and needed the toilet, because the one on the bus was locked!  We saw many churches in Trier and I learned a lot.  I saw Karl Marx's house and all in all I had a good time.

            Later that evening there was a party.  Most of the Germans wanted to dance, whilst the English wanted to have a snowball fight.  There was some "gay kissing" (Ollie and Patrick), a proposal of marriage (me), hundreds of snowballs thrown and a lot of fun had by all.

            On Saturday we played Kegeln in a pub and had a lot of fun despite the rain and being shrouded in smoke by the people next door!  On Sunday I went toboganning and got drenched with snow.

            In short, the German exchange is a lot of fun and I strongly urge anyone who bothers to read this to go on it; and if they can't? Well, too bad!

Katie Coleman - MY VISIT TO GERMANY

On the first day we travelled to Germany by train; it was a really long trip.  When we got to Aachen, my partner Rebecca saw me first, so that was good.  Her father took my bag and we went to her car.  When we arrived at her house it didn't look all that big, but then we went inside - it was huge and there were four floors!  I had my own room and a computer!

         On Wednesday we had to get up at 6:00 to go to my penfriend's school, but I got up ten minutes early so that I would be ready in time to leave with her friends.  The school was very "yellow" - that was the first thing I noticed.  I didn't understand anything!  I also had my first French lesson!  That day was fun.

         On Thursday we went to Köln.  The cathedral there was amazing!  I bought some chocolate from the chocolate factory - yum! I hated my allergy at that point and I was also missing my family.  The food so far is so nice - much better than my mum's cooking, even! 

         On Friday we went to Trier.  The tour was good, but a bit boring at some stages!  It was an amazing city, but it was so expensive; I got lost, too - it was very funny!

         Saturday and Sunday were good.  I rode Rebecca's horse, Largos, I went ice-skating, I went to a restaurant and Katy T. went there too!

         On Monday we went wall-climbing.  I wasn't very good and I hate heights, but I had a go!  I am looking forward to seeing my family again tomorrow, but the trip was really good in the end.

The exchange has been great!  I learned a lot from Sara and my German has got better!  We started the week in school; everyone was very friendly.  We went to Köln and Trier and had a tour around both.  After that we went shopping and in Köln we climbed up the cathedral tower, which had a great view from the top.  We also worked out how to buy things in German.  At the weekend we went shopping for presents for our families and went to our partners' houses and learned some German card games.  We had a lot of fun and got to know our partners better.  On Sunday we went to Sealife, so we learned some fishes' names!  Today we have been on a walk around Aachen and this afternoon we are going climbing.  Overall, the exchange was a lot of fun and very good for my German.  I would recommend it to anyone; you get to know your partner really well and see what the families eat and do.  It was loads of fun! 

Patrick Couldwell - AACHEN EXCHANGE

In this week I have learnt more than ever before, staying with a family of a different culture, with different customs and traditions, and seeing how different cultures have different views and beliefs about different things.  The news, T.V., music - all are looked upon differently.  I have also learnt how European countries are inflicted with American and English culture; music is in English and most movies are translated from English.

         However, I have done so much more than that;  I have conquered my fears by climbing the Köln cathedral; I have also played new sports like skittles and Schlitten.  Some people thought that this week was all about learning German, which although we have learnt a lot, this trip is not purely about this.  I have developed more independence by relying on buses and not spending all of our time accompanied by teachers or parents.  I have learnt a lot this past week and overall I've had fun.