German Exchange
by Mr Nathaniel Smith, Exchange Program Coordinator
Box Hill High School
Hallo aus Lippstadt!
An update from the German exchange as they enter their final week living with host families and preparing for Berlin! Follow their adventure at bhhsabroad!
By Sophie C:
Tuesday: After a very, long, enjoyable, eventful day in Düsseldorf on the Monday, we had a day at school to reset and spend time with our host families. Some of us had been treated with trips around Lippstadt and beyond, baking Christmas biscuits and some of us even saw snow!
Wednesday: Wednesday brought a lot of fun and deliciousness for us as we did the first hour at school with Mr Smith and Ms Bruns then we headed off to a very exciting activity. We all took the bus after a fair wait with the unreliable transport to Lippstadt. Where we all shopped around and grabbed some lunch and tried to find a warm place to sit for two hours. After we gathered around and found out the boys got questioned by the police for their presence outside the Rolex store, we were able to brush that off and catch a bus to our next destination.
We reached our stop and had a short walk to Peter’s chocolate factory! We were all in awe of its similarity to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Unfortunately our tour did not have as many surprises as Wonka gave, however we did learn a lot and ate a lot while completing activities and finding out where the real magic happens. Although having the tour in German, we were able to catch on to common words such as ‘Schokolade’ and ‘Schokie’ which unsurprisingly popped up a lot!
After our tour, we treated ourselves with chocolate from the shop and headed back to Lippstadt to go back to school and enjoy the rest of the afternoon with our families. Herr Smith and Frau Bruns would like to add that they are happy that the tour was not like Wonka's, as they'd quite like to return to Australia with all of the students in their care.
Thursday and Friday: For the rest of the week we continued going to school and were able to understand our way around and somewhat learn a bit more in class grasping onto new words and concepts every day. We then enjoyed different activities after school, such as sightseeing, sports and meeting up with grandparents for lunch. On Friday, many went to watch soccer whilst others went to ice hockey, which was enjoyable to enjoy the intense crowds and talented sports. We are all feeling very spoiled by our host families!
Saturday and Sunday:
Overall, we enjoyed our weekend travelling to new cities and even new countries, whilst spending even more time with family and friends!
By Vivaan B:
On Saturday I went to Köln with Liam which was quite the experience! After a long 2 hour drive where my knees were feeling as if they were jelly. After getting up and cracking all my bones we went to the Kölner Dom view which is a tower where we got to see Köln in all its glory. We also saw 3 nuclear plants which was a bit of a shock. There are only three active plants in Germany now, but still seeing them was a bit of a shock considering we don't have them in Australia. After that we headed to the Padlock Bridge where we saw thousands of padlocks from lovers!
