Beautiful & Interesting Germany

I had my second day of school today, i really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to see the differences between the two schools.
I went for a bike ride with Magdalena, the scenery was really beautiful. I was very suprised when we stopped in a field where there are many flowers growing, there was a sign there & Maggy explained that you can pick the flowers but you must pay for them in the tin. I looked around & asked who checks to see if you pay the right amount, or if you pay at all. She explained that it had a system of trust. So we collected some flowers, paid & hopped on our bikes, heading for home.
I'm noticing many differences between Germany & Australia & many different customs too. Last night i went for a walk with Magdalena & my host mother, I saw two big pictures of Storks I asked what they were & it was explained that; when someone has a baby, these are put out the front of their house & people can come & put some baby things either in them or on them.
It's great to hear lots of interesting facts about the people, places & things in Germany. It hasn't even been a week & i'm having so much fun. I can't wait for the rest to come.

Sunday Brunch

On our first Sunday in Germany all of the exchange partners and their host famlies went to the school in Bad Aibling for a Sunday Morning Brunch.
At 10 o'clock we all met our friends and their families at the Bad Aibling school. Frau Kreplin and Herr Lehrer updated us on what was happening and gave their famlies an up to date plan for the children.
We then sat down for something to eat and talked with our friends. It was a good way to meet all of the host famlies and have a chat.

After the brunch we all went our own ways, still feeling a little bit tired. Some of us went for a hike in the mountains or shopping in the towns or some of us just had a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was a wonderful first Sunday for the Australian kids!!

First Weekend

We arrived at the school at about 7 30 and went and met up with Herr Lehrer and Frau Kreplin in the school. We left our bags in a room and then went and had some breakfast and saw our host patners for the first time since they left Albury station a long time ago and it was nice to see them all again.

We were then taken by Herr Lehrer on a tour of the school we will be attending for the next three and a half weeks and it is a very nice, newly renovated school and it looked really good. We then made our way down to the local church and introduced ourselves twice to the students and staff.

After we met our host families and went to what will be our homes for the next three and a half weeks before going to Berlin, we spent the rest of the day getting to know them and our surroundings.

The next day I went to meet my host mother's parents and had something to eat with them which was nice. My host family then took me to an old car museum and that was really good to see all the German cars.

This morning we met up with all the families at the school for brunch and it was nice to see some Aussies again. I then went with my host family to Munich to do a tour of the Allianz Arena, home ground of FC Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich. The stadium was amazing. It is very new and looks nothing like any other in the world. That will definitely be one of the highlights of my trip.

What a great start to the trip,
Nathan Gasperoni

First days in Germany

We arrived at Melbourne Airport at 11:30 on Thursday morning, early for our scheduled 12:00 meeting as a group. “I wonder if my bag is over the weight limit” Ryan says to me. “Well, mine weighed 15 kg at home so I’ll be fine” I said to him. We were both over. My bag was 22 kg. I blame it on mum´s incorrect scales.

At 2:00 we met up as a group the second time, after checking in our baggage and began the process of boarding our flight. Our plane left at 3:45 and we were all excited to finally be on our way to Germany. The meals weren´t the best but you can´t expect plane food to be great.

After 8 hours on the plane we arrived in Singapore. It was only a 100 meter walk to the next boarding area from our plane, and luckily we only had a 1 hour stop-over period. We were all showing signs of fatigue, as it was the middle of the night in Australia, but we were determined to get our body clock into German time.

The 12 hour flight to Munich was a long one. After watching one in flight movie I tried to sleep, but was unsuccessful. The passenger next to me had a great 10 hour sleep, compared to the 3 hours I would have had. We were all awake well before we landed in Munich, at 5:00 local time. After our 1 hour bus trip we arrived in what many of us now call home, Bad Aibling.

The school treated us to a tour of their new facilities, which were great I might add, and we also bought some breakfast from the school canteen. After our tour we walked a short distance to a local church where we introduced ourselves to the school.

At 11:00 our host families picked us up from school and we made our way home. I spent most of the afternoon unpacking and also had a quick nap because I was to go on a tour that night.

After a short drive and walk my host family and I arrived at the light show walk, which was marked by the oldest water wheel in Germany. Although it was a long night of walking, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

After an 11 hour sleep from midnight German time to 11 am I had a meal ( I guess it was breakfast) and then at 1:30 Peter (my host brother) and I went to the train station and caught the train to Rosenheim. Rosenheim is a much bigger city than Bad Aibling, and is famous for its great shopping. We met up with some of the other exchange students and spent the afternoon walking the beautiful streets of Rosenheim.

Looking forward to the rest of the trip,

Max Carter

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Am Freitag war es soweit, die Austauschschüler sind gekommen!

Als wir zuhause ankamen packte Max, mein Gastbruder, seine Sachen aus und am Abend machten wir uns auf zum „Felsenzauber“. Hierbei wurde in Kiefersfelden die „Gießenbachklamm“ mit den Verschiedensten Lichtfarben und Effekten beleuchtet.

Am nächsten Tag ging es um 13:30 Uhr auf den Weg mit dem Zug nach Rosenheim, wo wir uns mit ein paar andern Schülern des Austausches trafen. Wir zeigten ihnen die Stadt, gingen Shoppen und aßen eine typisch bayerische „Bratwurst“.

Am Abend besuchten Max und ich noch eine Geburtstagsfeier.

Peter Haidacher

Wir sind hier !!

The kids at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne

Finally we have arrived in Bad Aibling. After a 21 hour flight which thankfully was uneventful, we arrived in Munich at 5am. We were transferred to Bad Aibling by bus and shortly before arriving we were welcomed with a brilliant sunrise that illuminated the Alps.


Once at school we were welcomed by Frau Kreplin and Herr Lehrer. Some decided to have a little to eat for breakfast but most of us were still trying to digest the countless, regular feedings on the Singapore Airlines flight.


We were treated to a walk around the school and especially the new addition to the school. We were most impressed at how open it was and how much light it let in. A terrific feature was the acoustic pine/beech wall linings that adorned all the new classrooms, not only do they look tasteful but keep the noise both in and out. Interestingly, the wall panelling is actually a product for their school enterprise where students run a business with an international market.

The Aula (Assembly Hall) in the new part of the School

Our exchange crew walked the short distance to the local Catholic Church where we took part in two services to welcome students into the new year. We introduced ourselves to the student assemblies and then returned to the school where the families picked up our tired kids.

The weather was sensational yesterday, beautiful sunshine, warm and the Germans somewhat affectionately call it an "Altweibersommer", leave you to check it out on Babelfish. This morning we awoke to a fair bit of overnight rain and the prognosis is not too flash but I went for a walk in the afternoon through my favourite forest path and it was fine and the sun is shining brilliantly through the window as I type.

A church in a nearby village

Tomorrow we have a family get together at the school and Monday will be a normal school day so that our students can experience how classes operate.