The Nottingham Exchange Diary 2007

Return Visit Diary July 2007
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 and 8 | Day 9 |

Monday, July 2nd

This is the first entry of the Nottingham High School German exchange 2007 trip. Here we go ... Monday 12,30 hours : Rendez-vous in the yard. It has already started to rain. It didn't stop raining until Sunday. It then started raining on Monday again. The journey in the minibus was not so long, but the driver didn't seem to find the way into the airport coach car park. Once we were in we had a very long wait in check in, because there was only one man per desk and flight and it did do much to the speed of checking that the conveyor belt broke down several times. There was also a big queue for security, and once we were through we had to run to the terminal train and then to the plane because we were already late. After that, the pilot missed our flight time and we had a 40 minute wait. The flight itself was fine, a little bit of turbulence towards the end, but mostly really rather pleasant. We collected our bags and met our partners. Everybody was very excited and very tired. We all went home to our new houses, looking forward to a trip out to Herrsching in the morning. George Watkinson 10H Alex Fordcox 10L

Day 2 - Tuesday, July 3rd

On the second day we went to play minigolf via a boat across the Ammersee lake, this is situated in the five lake country. The boat trip was a very memorable aspect of this day as it was very relaxing to slowly cross the lake with the birds following the boats tracks. The boat was very big and it was good, very good. I laughed, he laughed, we all laughed, everyone was happy. There were a few different activities or things to do on this boat, you could sit down and admire the view, or buy things from the shop inside. The things you could buy included; drinks and food. The boat took approximately forty minutes to cross the lake. Eventually we arrived at the other side. There we first had to wait for the owner to clean the holes. Finally we got in. We were in groups of four. The groups included Rohan, Rob, Bjorn and Florian. Also another group included Arun, George W, Andre and Chris. The minigolf was extremely fun and we all had a good time. At the end prizes were supposed to be given to the winning team which included Arun and his team but the team of Jethro, Isaac, Teresa and little Leo won because they were the most honest only because they came last. They won an ice cream each because of it. We then had time to buy ourselves our own ice cream. Then the rain started pouring down and we had to rush onto the boat. We then travelled back to the other side of the lake and went our separate ways and back to our partners´ house. (anonymous)

Tuesday, July 3rd

We were supposed to go on a sight seeing tour of Munich with Herr Schubert but the rain prevented us from doing it. We went to the Deustches Museum which shows exhibits of the industrial and scientific advancements that Germany has undertaken in the past 1000 years. As you stroll through, you pass eras of amazing inventions. Personally I thought that the planes and nautical exhibitions were the best closely followed by the traction engines. Many people enjoyed the water exhibitions as it was a chance to mess around and soak each other!!!
George Carlin and Patrick Bamford

Day 3 - Wednesday, July 4th

On Wednesday afternoon the English and German exchange students visited the Allianz arena, which is now the new home of football to Bayern Munich and the other Munich team which is named 1860 Munich. It has taken over from the Olympic stadium which was original their football stadium ... this is now used for concerts swimming and every social event that could possibly be held there. The Allianz arena is the only three tiered stadium in the whole of Germany. The have many conference rooms and have four changing rooms for the teams, although if F.C. Bayern are not at home then no one will use their changing rooms no matter what the circumstances. In the stadium itself where the crowd watches the game it seats 73 000 people. There are seats which are a lot of money and there are seats which are not a lot of money, however the cheapest seat is still around 25 euros. All seats in the stadium no matter what the price still give a splendid view which is an experience in itself even if there are no teams playing. The roof of the stadium can adjust the light passing through to suit the press and occasion as there are sheets of canvas all over the roof acting as curtains which can be drawn shut and opened whenever needed. My opinion of this is very high and the memory of this stadium will stay with me forever, es war klasse!

Day 4: Thursday, July 5th

On Thursday, we made the journey to Neuschwanstein, that fairytale castle piercing the clouds. As I dismounted the coach, I felt the cool Alpine air caress my skin like a spirit. Then we began the long walk up to the castle. As we climbed up the steep rocky path, I felt the strains of songs from The Sound of Music coursing through my veins, this, added to the fresh, crisp climate, made me turn into Maria. Never had the song "Climb Every Mountain, Ford Every Stream" appeared more relevant, as I struggled for breath, heaving myself up the hill. When we got to the apex of the mountain we traversed the high bridge that straddled a high gorge carved into the landscape. I didn't feel too safe as the bridge seemed rather rickety (its floor was constructed of creaky wooden planks, saturated after a week of constant downpour). Despite this, we were shuttled across the structure several times, those of us with delicate dispositions were suffering from extreme vertigo. Nevertheless, we found ourselves able to take some spectacular photos of the view and the majestic castle rising, like a phoenix, from a rocky outcrop. We then walked for another five minutes, whence we reached the entrance. After a moment of stunned silence as we caught a glimpse of this magnificent construction, endeavour of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, we made our way into the courtyard. I have to say, I was rather disappointed - I had assumed this building was centuries old, however, it is no more than 120 years old, and is really no more than a mad man's dream. Despite this, it is a truly imperious structure. Having waited a considerable time, we crossed the threshold into the castle, where we were greeted by our tour-guide. He was a rather excitable young gentleman who clearly enjoys his job a great deal. He was keen to preserve the castle and so treated each piece of furniture with the utmost care. We saw breathtaking frescoes, delicate ornaments and awe-inspiring vistas from the windows. However given the size of the castle I was a bit miffed that only five or six rooms were open when I expected about 20 or 30.
When the tour had finished we left the castle and we began the descent into the valley from which we had originally come. Then we continued into a rustic restaurant where we partook in a traditional German repast, "Wienerschnitzel mit Pommes und Salat". After this we revelled in the opportunity to experience some free ice cream kindly provided by Jethro's exchange partner Therese.
Reluctantly, we were dragged away from our tables and whisked off to a swimming pool, where most people enjoyed a thrilling hour's activity in the water. There were two slides including one with rings which I particularly enjoyed. We spent a lot of time on the slides and also in the whirlpool positioned in the centre of the main pool. We even dared to go outside to the other swimming pool, despite the rain. This was the end of our day, a particularly exhilarating and fascinating experience.
Jethro Waldron and William Clark


Day 5: Friday, July 6th

On Friday we had a full day of German school with our exchange partners. The German teachers are much more lenient than our own teachers, however, I have been told they are ruthless in their examination markings. When we arrived in school, we went straight to Period 1 which begins at 8 o'clock, which we think is too early to start school, because back in England we start lessons over an hour later. The lessons last 45 minutes, so boredom amongst the German pupils is common and extra curricular activities take place during the lessons behind the teachers back. The Germans finish school at 1 o'clock and so have the whole afternoon to do as they like, which we English think is a much better than our 4 o'clock ending time. In the afternoon we had to split from our English friends and go with our partners. Rob played tennis with his partner, Björn and I stayed at Leo's listening to music. At 7 o'clock we travelled to Sommerfest that took place at Christoph Probst Gymnasium. The Sommerfest takes place every year, and it is renowned for being one of the most boring events of the year. However this year it was far from boring, and everyone had a great time buying shandy from the bar, and shouting inappropriate German words at the singers. The disco livened up after half-past nine and most students only arrived home at least half-past eleven.
Matt Brown and Robert Sowter

Day 6 and 7 - July 7th and 8th,Weekend

Over the weekend I went with Leo and his brother to a wake-boarding centre, on the Northeastern side of Munich. I found it difficult to start even though I have snowboarded for a number of years (which I thought would help). The water was much colder than I had expected and I was shivering by the end of the day. We took the train back to Seefeld-Hechendorf, and once we were home, I watched a movie whilst eating six, hot, homemade, crepes. On Sunday we met up with Conal, Felix, and Grant, and we went swimming at Ammersee. We all jumped from the Autobahn bridge into the river, which was great fun. After, we cycled over three large hills to Leo Pfluger´s house, and went swimming in his huge pond. Conal and I watched American Pie whilst Leo and some of his friends went to see Shrek 3.
Matt Brown

On Saturday, I went with the Wille family in the car for a guided tour around Munich which his dad guided. We went around Munich looking at sights like the Bavarian Government areas and Olympia park and other areas around Munich. We then got out the car and walked for about 20 minutes to get to the English Garden. Once we arrived at the English Garden we walked towards the Chinese Tower where we ate at the Chinese Tower Beer Garden, the biggest and most famous beer garden in all of Munich.
Robert Sowter

On the weekend the highlight by far was the "Kaltenburg" Medieval Festival. The festival only happens only once a year and different Medieval ethnic groups from all over Germany and the world come to perform. The whole event was huge with different bars, restaurants, workshops and plays happening all around the forest of which the festival was situated. However the main event happened in the huge arena on the far side of the forest. The stadium held around 2000 people and the atmosphere was immense the theme of the event was that the 8 knights were all fighting for the role of King of Bavaria. However one of the knights was not a rightful heir to the throne and he is named the black knight. There is fierce competition for the role of King and the tricks that the Knights which happened to be French performed were incredible. In the end the final battle commenced with every pair of eyes fixed on the two knights. The battle raged for what seemed like ten or maybe fifteen minutes, with every blow the crowd seemed to cry out for each knight to take the upper hand. The festival continued late into the evening eventually finishing about midnight. The event was a once in a life time experience which was absolutely sensational and hope to find myself here sometime soon in the future.
By Grant McCarthy

Day 8 - Monday July 9th

On Monday was the day of the trip to the Bavaria film studios. Firstly we left the school at about 8.20. We travelled via the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn and the trip took us around one hour. We were told by our guide, Yves, that the Bavaria film studios are one of the oldest, biggest and most successful film production company in the world and have held host to many famous films such as Das Boot and Traumship Surprise. While we were walking through the various sets of the Traumship Surprise film the opportunity arose to make our own edition of the film with specially selected actors which were Isaac Murdy, Charles Lea and George Watkinson. We then carried on our tour through the sets of the various famous films that the studios had produced and we were also shown some of the special effects that the producers had up their sleeves. Some of the films sets that we saw are quite famous. For example Asterix and Obelix created by Germany, Italy and France and The Never Ending Story. In one of the studios we saw the dragon called Fuchur and there we saw the effects that were used to make it look like it was flying. Overall the trip was a great success and very interesting.
By Grant McCarthy and Isaac Murdy

Day 9: Tuesday, July 10th

In the morning we remained with our exchange partners for their lessons - these were Art, German, French and Religion. Religion was very different to the lessons in our school, as it centres around the beliefs of the students, because they are nearly all Catholic or Protestant. The lesson was based upon Scientology, which is illegal in Germany as they believe it is a cult, as opposed to a sector of Christianity. In Art (Kunst) they are currently working on small mannequins they have made from newspaper and which they are now painting.
At 12 o' clock we all left and took the S-Bahn into Munich, and from there we took the U-Bahn to the Olympia-Park, which hosted the Munich Olympics in 1972. The importance of such public amenities is great when a city applies to host the Olympics, as it is necessary for it to be able transport and house many thousands of athletes and visitors. Moreover, the city must prove it can use these facilities afterwards, which Munich does mainly through housing students.
In Olympia Park we were guided around the Olympic village and the sporting facilities by Herr Schubert, the organiser of the exchange on the German side. From outside the Olympic arena we could hear Genesis rehearsing for a concert there that evening - and although this meant we could not enter, the members of staff were highly excited. Olympia Park, although old, still appears modern because of its large and impressive glass structures, which is a conjoining theme in the architecture of the central sports facilities.
Continuing on from the stadium we made the short stroll by the Olympic lake towards the Socca Five building also with the glass roof canopy. We hired two of the many pitches and picked four teams each with seven players, two of which would be used as substitutes. It was a most enjoyable and a rather belligerent set of matches. The winners were provided with a free ice cream from the rather steeply priced shop. After that we had to endure the long train journey back to Herrsching. This was a fantastic day that I am sure everyone enjoyed, even the ones on the receiving end of some slightly rough tackles.
Charles Lea and David Jones