Students' exchange, Merit

Hello, it's me.
On 10 - 15 February we had students' exchange with  Werther Evangelisches Gymnasium. We were hosted in very kind and funny families. I lived in Borgholzhausen and I was hosted by little, sweet family. Mother, father and 14 years old daughter Johanna.

The trip started on Wednesday, at 8.30 AM. We went to Riga by bus and then we had good flight to Bremen. To families we arrived at 7 PM. I met with family and then I went to sleep, because the travelling was tiring.

On the second day we had lessions at local school - Biology, Chemistry, PE. It was very interesting to see a bit different studing method.

PE

After some lessions we visited Peter August Böckstiegel museum.

 Peter August Böckstiegel museum

After museum we went to May's place (her student was Merike). We watched pictures, played UNO and made cake. It was dilicious.

On the third day we went to Bielefeld with Estonians and one German teacher. In Bielefeld was little tour in town and then we had time for shoping.

Bielefeld

When we arrived to Werther Johanna, my host, came and then we went home, had some dinner. Johanna's father Thomas led us to Nane's and we had little girlsnight. We laughed a lot, took pictures, made some wraps, watched pictures, sang etc...

And now is time for weekend, :)
On Saturday some students visited sport centre and played football and badminton. After we visited Bielefield again. In the evening I went to Jaan's host where were some students with their hosts too. There we played games, talk each other and watched fireworks. 

Saturday - last day with family... In the morning we had a walk near our home. Johanna showed me church and talked to me about her neighbours. In the afternoon we went ice skating, it was my first time, but I loved it. We also had dinner, where were almost all students.

Me and Johanna

At home I had to pack my things and my hosting family gave me a present to thank me.

On Monday I had to say goodbye to my family and friends I got from Germany. It was hard... My exchange mother Doris and father Thomas wrote me a letter in ESTONIAN - it was so lovey and it made me cry more...

In my opinion it was the best trip I have had and I miss every person from Germany. 

Written by Laura

In the morning of the 10th February 2 teachers and 20 students including me started a journey to Werther in Germany. Werther is a quite small town in Germany and there is also the school that my school does the students exchange with. We had to go to Riga’s airport by bus and from there go by plane to Bremen. After that we drove 2 more hours by bus and then we saw our new families. My family was so nice and helpful at everything. I shared a room with the older sister Mira who is only one year older than me.

On Thursday our hosts took us to their school so we could see how many differences we can find between our and their school. First of all they have longer lessons than us, so many more students and more lunch options. After schoolday we visited an expressionist painter Peter August Böckstiegel museum where we also got to draw by ourselves.

The following days were full on activities. I went shopping in Bielefeld where I got in trouble because my card didn’t work properly and I paid basically double but everything turned out well. On Saturday we went to play football and badminton. The most exciting day for me was Sunday because then I met Mira’s best friend’s exchange student from England. It was so unusual and amazing to hear the real British accent. By the way they really can’t live without tea!

On Monday we travelled back home but it didn’t go very well for me. I got sick in Germany and now I have been sick for almost a week. The trip was still fun and I regret nothing.

My amazing family :)

Student's exchange in Germany by Kadri Kalve

Some time has past from my return to Estonia from Germany but the warm feeling of  that trip is still in me. It was an unforgettable adventure and certainly a really fun memory to remember.

The whole trip started with a long drive to Riga. Driving with bus doesn't sound that exciting but with right people everything's fun. After the long ride came the thing that had scared me the most in the whole trip - airport. Soon it turned out that it's not that scary at all and the flight went very well.

I had a change to take a picture from the plane window while flying.

  
And then finally I was in Germany. I had never been so far away from home. Actually it wasn't that different from Estonia in the beginning but when we got closer to Werther everything got a lot more interesting.

First of all the sight was so beautiful, you could see the mountains covered with woods in the distance and it was really beautiful. Roads were quite narrow and everything was a bit old-fashioned but I absolutely loved that. All the houses looked really lovely and reminded me a bit of old fairy tales. After two hours ride we arrived at Werther. It's a gorgeous little town. Well maybe it wasn't that tiny but it just felt very compact with it's narrow streets and closely standing houses.

A picture of Werther.

In the evening I met my host family. I was hosted by Emilys family, or as she preferred it Emmi. Already on our firts chat we found out that we have very much in common- love for the same movies,  drawing passion, similar clothing style and so on and on.

Emmi had a very lovely family. Her mother was named Natascha and she was probably one of the kindest person I have ever met. Her dads name was Christian, he had a great sence of humour and could tell lots of interesting stories. Then there was Emmi's brother Oliver whose englsih was surprisingly good for kid who was under ten years old. 

Their home was located in Spenge which in Germany is considered as a village, but in Estonia we would probably call it a borough. Nevertheless it was a nice village. The house I stayed at was nice and felt cozy. I felt comfortable like I was at my own home.

On the next day we visited the Werther Evangelisches Gymnasium. It was really interesting to see the school because it was all quite different from my school. First of all there were so many students I can't even remeber how many but all the parallels of Emmi's class had more students than our whole school. In the afternoon we went to the Böckstiegel museum. The museum was about Peter August Böckstiegel who was a local artist who mainly focused on impressionism. I actually kind of liked that museum because some of the art was quite beautiful. The funnest part was when we were allowed to draw one picture of the artist by ourself. 
In the evening me and Emmi started watching movies, it was really fun. We also talked a lot about all kind of things.

Bielefeld's old town.

On the third day we went to Bielefeld which is the closest big city to Werther. We had a tour in the old city where I saw many very beautiful buildings. I liked the way Bielefeld's old town looked it was really picturesque. After the tour in old town we went to a local history museum. We had a really great guide. He talked about many interesting things and made joke after joke. We could even see some old linen making machinery work wich was very impressive. At end of the tour I was even a little sad because there were so many other interesting things in the museum I wish would have had time to get to know to and what our guide could have talked about. After that we had some time for shopping and walking around the city. There weren't any big shopping malls so it was quite hard to find cool shops.
Then came the weekend which we were supposed to spend with our host families. Me and Emmis decided to go to Wether again so she could show me some things that I hadn't seen yet. First palce where we went was a really astonishing shop called The Underground Factory. I absolutly loved that place. It was a unique shop and there is nothing like it in Estonia. After that we did some more shopping and then went to visit the Sparrenburg Castle. It was a huge fortress with a hihg tower and big walls. The castle has a system of underground passages but they could only be explored from April to October. We went home for the lunch time but after that we dicided to go to some near 

This is the cool shop called The Underground Factory that Emmi showed me.

Me and Emmi at the top of Sparrenburg's castle.

located shopping mall. At the end of the day we were quite tired.
On Sunday I slept til it was twele o'clock. After a wholesome breakfast we decided to visit some art museums. First one was art museum called Marta. There was a exhibition called "Beautiful and Brutal" it sounded really cool but actually it was just some bit confusing modern art. Second art museum that  we visited was located in Bielefeld. There was exhibition consisting of many different works from many different German female artists. I absolutly loved that exhibition. In the evening we had a dinner in a restaurant to crown the great time I had in Germany. And then on Monday started the long way back to home. 

This is the art museum called Marta with the exhibition called "Beautiful and Brutal".

It certainly was a great trip and I am still so thankful for it. I'll have good memories to remember for the rest of my life. I can't wait to see Emmi again and welcome her to Estonia so I could make her stay as memorable as mine.

Trip to Germany written by Tauno

On 10-15 Frebuary we had a student exchange programme to Germany, Werther. From Kanepi we went to Riga International airport and from there to the city Bremen. The flight was quite interesting to me because it was my first time to fly a plane. We arrived to Werther quite late and the families were already waiting. The first night was a lot of fun they questioned me a lot so there was much to discuss about.

My family was typical German family they lived in a big house had a big back yard. My hosts name was Georg and he had 4 sisters and 1 brother and they all had children except the youngest one. They putted me to a top floor of their house and the whole floor was to myself. I had my own kitchen, bathroom and a lot of room. The family was very kind always telling me if I want something just ask.  

                                                                         My room

                                                        My hosts house in German

First night was the most strange because new surrounding and new people but it was quite usual we had a lovely dinner and then they asked me a lot of questions and that was it. The next day started very early like 6.30 in the morning we went to school by bus and we had 5 lessons and a museum visit. The school was quite interesting because the students showed a lot initiative in the lessons and for that they get grades. We also had a PE lesson what different from our lessons. We played every game differently. Later on after the lunch we went to a museum called Böckstiegel. 

On Friday we went to Bielefeld for a city tour. We saw a lot of old houses and a real old church. After the sights we went out eating in a Turkish restaurant where the waiter was very friendly he helped us to pick the food and made a table for us. and when the food was brought to our table the kind waiter made a selfi with us and the whole time in the restoraunt was a lot of fun. After the lunch we had a little time left to shop and then we went back to werther and from there back to the families. Later on there was a plan to go bowling with Paul Levin Lennart and Mairo but our german friends forgot to reservate the track for us so that plan was busted. Then we had an idea to go back to Georg's place and play some board games and so we did. Later on when everybody left we had dinner and again playd some games with Georg. 

                                                               Church in Bielefeld

On saturday we had to go to paly some ball games with the germans and it was a lot of fun we played football Estonia vs Germany and sadly the Germans lost that. Then we played badminton it was not that interesting but also interesting to play. After the sport event we went back to our families. At night we went out to eat in Bielefeld and it was my whole night.
Sunday what was the last day in Germany and to me maybe the most interesting day. in the morning we went to a car museum with Lennart, Mairo, Levin and Paul what was very interesting to see a lot of old cars collected into one building.

A car from the Museum

After that there was a birthday one of the grandchildren and everybody gadered at the house and had a little party for them. I was so amazed when all the broders, sisters and the grandchildren walked in there were like 25 people gadered to celeprate the nine-year-old boy's birthday. There may have had a lot of people but 3 out of them could speak English everybody else sopke only German. The whole birthday event was very intersting they asked from  me a lot of guestions and I can practise my English again. Later on we went to race karts and it was thrilling to compete with my friends. I finished at 6th place and the fastest was Mairo and then came the others. Then came the last dinner with my host family they  gave me some German gifts and it was nice. We stayed up quite late I talked with the partents. If I forgot to mention the parents only spoke Russian so again new experience to practise my russian language. At 5,30 in the morning was this adventure ower everybody were sad because they had to leav but it was such a good time in Germany. 
I cant wait when they come here next year so we can again see eachother.I think it was very interesting adventure to Germany and thank you Gemany and Peace out!!!  

Kristen-Kalev Lina

10-15 February we had an exchange student program with Werther’s school in Germany. Group of 20 people from our school went there and each of us stayed in different family for that time.

I spent my week with a great family, they were all very friendly and always in good mood. They had a big house with many rooms and I even had the opportunity to have my private room for my time in Germany.

When we arrived to Werther, it was quite late, not sure about the time, but it was dark outside already.  We had a chance to stay with our exchange-families and introduce each other. I had an opportunity to go to the concert in Werther’s school, my exchange student Daniel and his brother Jacob were performing there also. It was a lovely evening, I enjoyed the concert and not to mention, both of them are very good instrument players.

The first days of our exchange we usually were with our group and did different things, in Thursday we were in lessons. To compare with our lessons in Estonia, they have more verbal learning in their school than we do and also they have to do their homework about 10 minutes when we have to do it about 3 hours.

At the end of this day we visited the local museum of Peter August Böckstiegel, this museum house was his home where he lived in the back of the days. I had a joy of recognition when I saw Böckstiegel’s painting that is also in our Art of History book.

On Friday we visited Bielefeld, a town with great history. We saw many old architecture and learned a little about this town. What I remember the most is the sentence “Bielefeld does not exist”.

Student's exchange by Tarmo

On 10-15th February there was a student’s exchange programme with Werther Evangelisches Gymnasium. We started our trip on Wednesday at 8.30 in our schoolyard. We travelled to Riga, because there was an airport. It was my first time flying a plane and it was very cool. Some people had problems with hearing after the landing but soon they recovered. We landed in Bremen and there was a guy and a bus waiting for us. When we arrived in Werther almost everybody was there waiting for us. I stepped out the bus and looked for my host(I had not seen him before). Then Karl-Rico’s host Klaus came to me and said that my host is late. Then we waited for him. About 15 minutes later my host Lukas arrived with his mother and everybody went home.

A view from the plane.

The next day was in school for everybody. I was tired and we almost missed the bus. Lukas and I spent almost the whole time with Karl-Rico and Klaus. The lessons were very funny. Lukas and Klaus were making fun of everybody, including teachers. It was funny to see their English teacher get mad at them. I was actually sad to leave the lessons because they were so much fun. After the lessons we went to Böckstiegel museum and learned some knowledge. After that Klaus and Lukas picked Rico and me and we went to our homes. Later at Lukas' house, we all played a match in a game of FIFA. Rico was the best and Klaus was very very bad at penalties.
Rico ruining my landscape pic.

In Friday every Estonian arrived at the cafeteria of the school. Then we jumped on a bus and travelled to Bielefeld. We arrived at Jahnplatz and made a bunch on selfies. Then the guide came and everyone was supposed to be quiet. The tour was long and and after that we had free time in Jahnplatz. We formed a group of 10 people and went to a restaurant called "Piro". The service in that restaurant was the best and the food was delicious. Tauno ordered meals to us all. After everybody was full of food the waiter did a selfie with us and we were happy. Then we went shopping and went to Werther by bus. In Werther Rico and I waited for our host for a long time. We were very mad but then we went to go-karts and we weren't mad anymore. It was my first time go-karting and it was very fun. After go-karting we all went home and everybody was tired.

    

Some church, food from restaurant "Piro", go-kart racing.

The next day was Saturday and we went to play football and badminton with Lukas. On the way to the sport centre we picked up Rico and Klaus. When we arrived at the destination a lot of Estonians were there with their hosts. We first played football and Estonia won. Then we played badminton and everybody had great time. The four of us went to Lukas' place to chill a bit. Then we drove to Bielefeld and visited some shops. We went to McDonald's because Lukas and Klaus were starving. The place was full of people and we went outside to eat. Then we went home again for some time. Then we drove near Bielefeld because there was an adventure park and we wanted to play some laser tag. We played for two rounds and I was last one in both of them. It was so frustrating because some teammates also shot me instead of opponents and the laser gun was with terrible aim. I yelled at a lot of people that time and was very angry. After laser tag everybody went home.

Laser tag crew and half a bottle of delicious Fritz-Kola.

Sunday was a day of chill and sleeping. I ate breakfast with the whole family and had great time. In about 3 o'clock Lukas and I met up with Klaus and Rico and drove to Werther to eat some pizza. A lot of Estonians with their hosts also came and it was very cool. When we were full of food we decided to go go-karting again. This time the track was empty and the four of us raced like mad people. Rico and I flipped Klaus's kart many times and he was sad. In the end Estonia won with Rico in first and I was in second place. I was sooo close to beating Rico and I got mad again. After the race Lukas' father picked us up and we all went home.

Monday was the last day. Everybody woke up early to send their guests to the bus. I woke early and ate breakfast. Then we drove to Werther to jump on a bus. Sadness was in the air because everybody was sad to leave Werther. The bus then started and everybody waved. The trip from Werther to Bremen was short for me because I was watching movies. We waited some time in the airport for our plane and then the flight started. This time two old ladies were in the way of the window and I was mad. When the plane arrived in Riga I felt that I was close to home. The bus stopped near a big supermarket. I was hungry and went with Rico to eat at McDonald's. Then my tummy was full and we went to see some shops. After shopping our trip to home continued. When we arrived at Estonian border we stopped at a gas station and everybody had internet in their cellphones again. When the toilet break was over, we continued our trip to home. My home was about 9 kilometres before Kanepi so I jumped off the bus and drove home. I was finally at home.

Mariscalle in Germany 2016

Amazing journey to Germany

I try to be original and I don't write about how our trip begins and how was our flight went and so on. I think all blog posts start with this text, so when you want to read about that you have to just look what the other Estonians write. :)

So, maybe I started to introduce a little bit of my host family. I was hosted by Upmeier zu Belzen's family. I have never seen so long family name, but I really like this and for me it is very interesting. Well, I am so lucky girl because my family was friendly and very kind. We are so similars, they listen same music like me and they make a lot of jokes. We have many inside jokes, that made me laugh when I think about it. In this family there are 6 persons. Father Stefan, mother Annette and 3 childrens two boys Julius and Laurenz and one girl, who is my host. I already know Laurenz because he was in student exchange two years ago too, so it is very great to see him again. My host was Matilda, she is like my younger sister now, I love her so much and ofcourse I miss her so badly. We were matched very well and we spend a good time together. And I miss all the family too and I can't wait to see them again. Maybe already this summer when everything went good! :)

My lovely German family

The place where I live was quite huge.There are so many rooms and even Stefan office was there. This house was very high-tech. Ofcourse I have my own room to, which is nice place to take a nap after a tiring day.

My room

In kitchen

Okey I think it's time to write a little bit about what we are doing in Germany. First evening we have a huge dinner because Laurenz turned 18 :) We have a present for him together Mairo. He was very happy for that. My host mother is very good at cooking and she made delicious pasta. This is so good! And pasta is my favourite food. Julius come to home too, because for Laurenz and me. After that we talk a lot together and adult's drink a wine. Yes I am too old I can do that :D

Next day we go to school with Matilda and Laurenz. School day was interesting, everything is so different. Especially sports lesson. This is quite funny. School lunch was very good too! After lunch we went to the Böckstiegel museum with all Estonians students. This museum was very educational

and I like that. After all this my host mother pick me up and we went to see how Matilda ride with a horse. After this me and my host mother went to shopping. My task was to choose a dinner components. It's quite hard because everything is different from Estonian things. But I got to handle it. In the evening we eat a dinner and play boardgame which called “JENGA”.

Böckstiegel museum

In friday we visited Bielefeld with all Estonians. We had a tour in the old city where we saw many beautiful buildings. For me it's a little bit boring, because I already new all about this old city and so on. But I think it's great to heard all this again. And Bielefeld is really beautiful city! After city tour we went to the “Historical Museum Bielefeld”. There was many different old machines. I think this museum is better for boys, but I have great time in this museum too because the guide was very good. After that we had some time for shopping. Me and some Estonians decided to went to eat something. We went in a Turkish restaurant where the waiter was very friendly. He helped and made a table for us. He made a selfie with us too. In evening we went to party to Julian's place. It was really fun and we had a good time together and it was nice to see our Germany friend Julian again. :)

Estonian next top models

Party

Saturday was my best day in Germany. Me, Matilda, Annette and Stefan went to Münster. They wanted to show me where Stefan and Annette meet together and where they studied when they are in university. Julius, Laurenz and Matilda were born in Münster too. I'm honest...this is so beautiful city. I have never been in such a beautiful place. All this buildings, streets, churches just blow my mind. I had the opportunity to visit one of the church which called St Pauls Cathedral. It was so huge like three or four Kanepi church together. And this church is one of the biggest churches in Germany. Ofcourse the church was really beautiful too and I like it very much. In Münster there are more churces to visited, but we thought that we do something else. Münster is very popular university city in Germany. It reminded me a little bit Tartu. There are so many students and so on. Today it is known as the bicycle capital of Germany. Thi is true, because I saw everywhere bicycles. After a walk we decided to visited Picasso's museum. It's interesting museum, but hard to understand because I'm not art person and it is strange for me. After museum we went to the cafe and after that I want to buy something for my family, so we went to the shopping. 

I would definitely recommend everyone to go to Münster it is a good experience. :) In evening we decided to make a pizza with Mairo and Lennart. We all are like masterchefs because this pizza was so delicious :D After that we play “Jenga” again and then we play “Monopoly” too. I'm not good at this game...but at least we had really good time together. :)

St Pauls Cathedral

Münster

It's Jenga time

On Sunday, we finally got to sleep a long time. We woke up at 11 o'clock. Then we had really nice breakfast. After that we decided to went ice-skating. I really enjoyed it. It was two years ago when I went to ice-skating before that. Many Estonians and Germans are there too. After that we went home and ate dinner. Laurenz and mother made lasagne. Only one word...Super! Then we talk a little bit anf then we decided to went Bielefeld to watch night city. We visited Sparrenburg's castle. This view what we saw was indescribable! Stefan made some really good photos too. He really likes photography :) Then we went home and me and Matilda play again “Jenga”. Yes, again...but it's very cool game and I think I'm now good at it. We both are good at it.

Ice-skating

Sparrenburg's castle

And last day...it's very hard...why we had leave so early? 5.30 like really..But I think it wasn't the hardest part...this is so sad that we had to leave. I almost cried. Those five days were too short. We all are sad and hug each other to say goodbye...hard goodbye.  And then we started the long way back to home. 

It was a great trip and I'm so thankful for it. I can't wait to see Matilda and my amazing German family again. Maybe we see soon! :) Love them and miss them already so much!!