After a long but smooth trip to Neubeckum, the Year 9 and 10 students were excited and just a little nervous to meet their exchange partners and their families and to go to the local school.
The students were warmly welcomed by their host families, and joined three Year 10 classes at the Albertus Magnus Gymnasium in Beckum.
On Monday after school, the whole group met up at a waterski park for some afternoon action in the sun - it was almost 30 degrees! It was challenging and a lot of fun and the students improved little by little each time they tried. Some of our students managed to stand and ride the water skis for as much as two rounds, but it was clear that in this discipline, our German hosts had the advantage on us.
beckum
Now that things are back to normal after the pandemic, we could bring back our exchange program with our partner school in Germany which takes place every two years.
This year, some of our Year 9 and 10 students travelled to Germany where they will join the Albert-Magnus-Gymnasium in Beckum for two weeks and do some travelling. The students can already look forward to the return visit from their new friends when they will come to Sydney and join us at GISS in 2024.
There was even a story about the exchange in the local paper!
On Sunday, we said “bis Mittwoch” to our host families and took the train to Berlin. After getting the tickets for the public transport, we went to The memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe where we visited to the underground information centre before our guide met us at the memorial. Some of the impressions that the students had after walking around the big concrete blocks were “ominous”, “feeling trapped”, “lonely”, “stuck”, “claustrophobic”, “uninviting” and “feeling small”. After this confronting and thought-provoking start in the capital, we went for dinner before checking in to our hotel.
On Monday, we had our alternative Berlin day which began with a walking tour around the city with focus on the street art, graffiti, and subcultures of the metropole. In Rosenthalerstraβe Hinterhof, some of the students even contributed to the street art! After some Berliner Döner for lunch, we went to the Computerspielmuseum in which after the guided tour, both students and teachers enjoyed playing older and newer computer and arcade games. We concluded the hot day at the old airport field Tempelhof, where we had a dinner picknick a did some people watching while enjoying the slowly setting sun.
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berlin
We started off the day at the Mauermuseum where we learnt about some escapes from East to West Berlin during the time of the wall. The walk along the East Side Gallery then gave us a clearer idea about what the wall looked like.
After our scrumptious lunch at Markthalle IX, we headed to the Reichstag building where we had a guided tour that showed us both where the government meets and other areas of the building. On our way back to the accomodation, we made a quick stop at the Haribo shop for some Süßigkeiten.
After a hot, interesting time in the capital, we now look forward to seeing our host families in Beckum again!
last day in berlin
On Thursday after school we went to the beautiful university city Münster. Mr Siebels took us on a short walking tour, passing the Aasee, the Münster Castle, the cathedral, as well as the historic town hall of Münster where the Peace of Westphalia treaty was signed 375 years ago.
On Friday evening we met at the school for a farewell BBQ with all families.
On Sunday, we arrived in a beautifully sunny Munich where we watched the surfers at the Eisbachwelle before heading out for some traditional Bavarian dinner.
from Münster to münchen
salzburg
Our last days took us to Salzburg where we enjoyed the beautiful city, saw the house in which Mozart was born and had a Wiener Schnitzel for lunch.
On Tuesday we took a guided tour to the fairytale castle of Ludwig II: Castel Neu Schwanstein with its beautiful views and imaginative rooms. Back in Munich we had dinner at the iconic Viktualienmarkt.
Wednesday was the last day of exploring and we went to the alps and travelled up to Hochfelln mountain (over 1600 meters) by cable cart. On the mountain we enjoyed the majestic views and fantastic weather which has accompanied us all through the trip. In the evening we were lucky to catch some live “Blaskapelle” music while having our last traditional dinner.
Some students are staying in Europe to catch up with friends and family over the holidays, and the rest of us are excited tell our families and friends in Sydney all about our travels.
