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.

Anette

On 10-15 February we had a exchange trip to Werther, Germany.
We started our Trip from Kanepi at 8.30 am and we had to drive by bus to Riga. From Riga international airport we had to flew to Bremen. I have flown before, but i was very nervous. When we landed we had to ride by bus to Werther. It was two and a half hour trip. In Werther most of Germans were allready waiting us.
After I met my exchange student we went to her rehearsal of the musical. When we arrived to her home she show me the room. Me and the German shared the room. We had breakfast and dinner with her family every day together. It was unaccustomed for me.
 On Thursday we went to school by car. We had 5 lessons: Biology, Chemistry and Informatics. In their school are pair lessons. Then we had lunch and we went to Böckstiegel house on foot. When we get back to our homes, my German went on a music lesson, but i was too tired to go with her so i had a rest. In the evening we talked a lot. It was great fun, because we both are very sarcastic.

On Friday we went to Bielefeld. We visited a historical museum to see Bielefeld previously. Before leaving the city we had some free time for shopping and then we turned back to our families. On Saturday we played football and badminton with other Germans and Estonians. After that we went again to Bielefeld for shopping. In the evening we wnt also to Kolja's place where were others too not all,but most of them. On Sunday we had a easy day. We got to sleep as long as we want. For the Lunch Demi and Josefine came to visit me and Nane. Nane's mother made wafers. It was so tasty. In the evening me and the family talked and it was allready time for packing. On Moday we left Germany.
I think it was great time, but too short to get to know better the culture and the difference between two different countries. I loved the trip, I enjoyed it and I liked my family very, very much. I miss them allready.

Demi

Here are some extracts from my diary while I was an exchange student in Werther between 10th and 15th February. The student exchange was organized by our school's English teacher and science teacher.
"God sooo cool, so ineffable feeling inside me, the plane starts to gather strength! We are going faster and faster, it isn't the same like by car or by bike it's more awesome!!! :D :3......Ohh God we are finally in the air! Here we come Germany <3 *In the Clouds*.... "
"All is white, the plane inclined... It's extremely bright because of the Sun. Soo comfortable! My ears are not clicking almost at all... It's 2.08PM and we are still flying I am seating middle, next to me are seating two women....one is writing on her russian book something and the other one who is sitting next to the window is watching out...but meanwhile she looks from her eyecorner what I am writing! Hmm I think she is sneaking after me right now, I hope she doesn't speak estonian :D but I think she even doesn't understand my handwriting :D *muahahahaaa* "
"Now it's 2.36PM I am listening music and eating my "Halls" candies what I bought from Riga's airport. For now I think we are at an altitude of 10 kilometers. It's so delightful up here!! :3 Even the Highest clouds are lower than us and the sky is all over blue! :)"
"Hahaa from the start, when we were still in Riga and just got my seat, one stewadess came in with one scarf and started asking whose scarf is this or something like that....first I didn't notice him and that it is my scarf but then Anette called my name and said: "Demi, this is your scarf!" I was like what the hell!? When did my scarf disappeared!?! :D And ofcourse I said it's mine and they gave it back to me."
Sometimes I was just watching oustside, there is much more text than I wrote here, in my diary while flying!
When we were finally in Bremen we continued our trip by bus...
"First evening at my "new home" was wonderful! :D In my family there are five children. My exchange student Josefine is the middle child, she has two older sisters and two younger sisters who are twins. Their house is soo big they have three floors. Room I got is on the second floor with my own bathroom."
On the second day we went to school for five lessons, first two lessons were Biology, next two were Chemistry and the fifth was Biochemistry. After that we went to the museum what was about three kilometers from Werther's school. Later when we arrived back from museum we went to May's place she was host of Merike. We baked there a muffin like pound cake. Later Merit with her host joined and we played UNO cards and ate that muffin.
On the third day all of Estonian students with teachers went to Bielefeld. We had a tour of the town and after that we got time for shopping. I couldn't buy anything because there was so few time!

When we arrived home Josefine showed me one church two kilometers away from her home we went there on foot. There was soo beautyful nature there was like a spring weather!!

 












In the evening me and my host went to Nane's place(Nane was host of Anette) and later Merit and Johanna joined. We had like girlsnight but anyway we had soooo much FUN!!! We talked eachother, we ate wraps, danced and took some pictures.

On the Saturday in the morning I felt so sick that I even couldn't get out of my bed.
"It's 6.24AM and I just came from bathroom I am feeling so sick and tired but I can't sleep at all! :/"  
I thought that it is because of that food we ate last night but was worse I had received a stomach virus.
"Now it's 7.55AM and again I just came from bathroom, still feeling so sick I thought I'm going to vomit! When I told to Josefine that I am feeling very sick she brought to me some tea. :) " 
When the others were at the sport centre I was at home in the bed trying to sleep. I maddly wanted to go to shopping in Bielefeld so one of the sisters picked me up from home and the others from sport centre and then we drove to Bielefeld.
After we got home me and Josefine watched a movie. Later I felt much better so we went to Kolja's place(he was Jaan's host).
On Sunday morning me and Josefine baked pancakes and then we had a breakfast. In the afternoon we went to Nane's place again. I tried real balerinas and we ate there waffles with cherries and ice cream...It was so so so divine but my stomach got sooo full after eating one waffle!!!

 

 Later we went to a pizza restaurant. More than half of Estonian students came there too. In the evening my exchange student gave me a gift and teached me some German sentences and then unfortunately I had to pack my things because next day we were leaving.
Last day morning we had quick breakfast and then we went to Werther's bus station. At least I was very sad that we had to leave so early. Everyone said the last words to their exchange students and their families, hugged and went to the bus. Then firstly again we travelled by bus then by plane and again by bus. And in the end we got home.

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.