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 Mari-Liis

The bus station in Werther

It was my second time to take part of the student exchange in Werther, but it is always good to go back.

On Wednesday we started our trip from Kanepi at 8.30.  We drove by bus to Riga international airport. Then we had some time to go to the shops and after that we had to go on the plane. The flight went really good. When we arrived to Werther, some Germans were already waiting us.

 I met my exchange student Franzi and her mother. After we arrived home, Franzi showed me my room and their house. In the evening we talked much and we had a lot of fun.

On Thursday we went to school by car and I had 5 lessons (German, Art and Biochemistry). Then we had lunch. We visited one museum and in the evening we went riding with Franzi.

On Friday we went to Bielefeld by bus. We had a tour with a guide in the old town. I had been there once but it was still great to see all these old buildings.  After the tour, we went to “Historical Museum Bielefeld”. There were a lot of different machines and I think it was quite boring for girls.

Also, we had some free time and me and my friends went to a Turkish restaurant. There was very good service and food was also delicious. The menu was only in german and it was difficult to understand what something means but one waiter helped us and everybody got what they wanted.

Our delicious food 

In the evening me, Merit, Laura, Franzi, Johanna and Mira went to a dance lesson. And after that I went to a party at Julian’s house with Franzi.

On Saturday we didn´t have to wake up too early. We went to Bielefeld to play football with the others. After this activity we were very hungry, so we went to some restaurant. We went to shopping because we wanted to buy some candies and sweets to our family and friends in Estonia.

In the evening we went at Darja’s place. We made pasta and after that played Wii. We sang and danced. We had a lot of fun.

Just Dance

On Sunday we had a lot of time in the morning. We talked, took some pictures and played the piano with Franzi. In the afternoon we went ice skating with the others. There were so many people and the time we spent there was awesome. We went to eat pizza. There was almost everybody who took part of the exchange. The evening was great.

Me and my host family

On Monday it was sad to go back to Estonia but it was nice to sleep on my lovely large comfortable bed again.  

I liked that in Werther and near it there were so many little hills in the background and it was very beautiful.

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”.