2010-10-28

I've been back from Berlin for a few days now & getting used to not having all the Australians here & also to going to every class. I'm having a great time here though.
When i came back home from Berlin, my town & surround had snow. This was very exciting as we don't get snow in our town in Australia.
On Tuesday, my family & i rugged up & headed up the moutain to the snow, here we spent a lot of time having fun throwing around snow & sliding dow the hill. I had a great time & now can't wait for it to snow some more.
I think that Berlin was really fun, we did & saw so many things, like the Brandenburg gate, the Berlin wall, we went to Potzdamerplatz, to the memorial for the Jewish people, we expirenced the story of Berlin & much more. Over the few days we had there, we saw so many things, that were all so great. The accomodation was really good as well. i think that we were all quite surprised when we managed to find an Australian resturant that proved to have very good food & very aussie music too.
I would just like to take this oppourtunity to say thank youto Mr Kusch, Michelle & Mr Pryor for taking us around & for putting up with all our shopping. My time in Berlin was truly great.










2010-10-19

Last Weekend with my Family.

On Saturday, my host parents had a Hochzeit (wedding) to attend. So Angelina and I went to Rosenheim for a hot drink and some lunch, it was so cold that when we left the shop we were in we had to find another to go in and wait until our bus came.

On Sunday, it was a special Bavarian Day, I'm not exactly sure what it's called, but we went to a Restaurant and had Duck and Blaukraut and Knöde.l When it came out I was wondering if I'd like the blaukraut because it looked odd, but much to my suprise it didnt taste too bad. After that we went into a little room and there we were told about the world clock. It was a really beautiful clock and amzing to see how it worked. Then we went to my host mum's sister's house for some cake, it was so tasty. I was sad because I knew that would be the last time I get to see her, well for now unless I come back which I'm hoping to.

But overall my time here was so amazing and I have formed a great friendship with Angelina and her family, and I know im definitely going to miss them, as I'm sure every other Aussie could second that. I think we all need to thank Mr & Mrs Kusch for everything, not only whilst we have been here but all the work they did behind the scenes, we all really appreciate it. Also to Herr Lehrer and Frau Kreplin for all their organising.

This for me has been a great experience, I will miss it so much although I can't wait to go and see Berlin. Ive heard its great too.

Holly Pronk
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Am Sonntag war ein ganz besonderer Tag für mich, denn es war mein letztes Wochenende mit Holly. Also fuhren wir nach Baierbach zum "Gockerlwirt" und aßen Ente mit Blaukraut und Knödel. Es war einfach schön. Danach fuhren wir zu meiner Tante aßen Kuchen und hatten eine schöne Zeit.
Ich bin sehr traurig dass Holly und die anderen Aussies schon übermorgen gehen müssen, denn ich fand wir waren/sind eine nette Gruppe und haben Freundschaften geschlossen.
Ich bin sicher, dass wir Deutschen am Donnerstag sehr traurig am Bahnhof abschied nehmen werden. Aber ich hoffe dass wir uns alle wiedersehen.

Angelina Schmidt

Last week in Bad Aibling

Well, this is my last scheduled post for our time here in Germany. I know that i speak (or write) on behalf of the rest of the exchange group when i say that we have had an absolutely terrific time here with our hostfamilies and we are all looking forward to our trip to Berlin. We will all miss life here (those of us who are leaving) and its seems like our time has gone much too fast.

We were absolutely spoilt last night to a cultural evening hosted by our exchange partners and their families. Not to mention the Kiefersfelden Shooting club, who kindly allowed us to use their, uh, clubrooms i guess you call them as well as their shooting range afterwards. Oh, we also presented our Impressions projects to everyone there.

But, alas, we were outshon by a local Bavarian dance group. I think they were a youth dance group too. Anyway, the show they put on was fantastic and enjoyed by all, including the Bavarian parents themselves, dressed in their traditional Dirndl and Lederhosen (I don't know if they have plurals).

For the rest of the week here (all 2 days of it) we will: be presenting our projects again to the Yr 8's, who are the next group eligible to come to Australia on exchange, packing our bags for our trip to Berlin and finally, on Thursday morning we leave our hostfamilies for the last time to catch our train to Munich, then on to Berlin.

I for one, have had the time of my life here, and am expecting Berlin to be just as great.

Signing off,

Max Carter

2010-10-17

Letztes gemeinsames Wochenende mit Kayla

Gestern fuhren wir gegen 12:30 Uhr mit Steffi nach Kufstein, wo wir die Burg besichtigten und im Shoppingcenter zum Einkaufen gingen. Um 12:30 Uhr ging es los. Wir fuhren mit dem Auto nach Kufstein, wo wir die "Festung Kufstein" besichtigten. In der Burg selber gab es verschiedene Museen, zum Beispiel das Heimatmuseum und das Staatsgefängnis. Im Heimatmuseum sahen wir einen Höhlenbär, eine Höhlenbärin und ein kleines Höhlenjunges und im Staatsgefängnis konnten wir einen Eindruck darüber gewinnen, wie die Gefangen dort untergebracht waren und welche Strafen sie damals schon hatten. Ich fand es nicht so toll, da es teilweise sehr brutal war. Auf der Burg selber hatten wir einen schönen Ausblick auf die Berge, den Banhof mit der Altstadt und den Inn. Im Innenhof machten wir eine Brotzeit, bevor es weiter zum Einkaufszentrum ging. Dort hatten wir ca. 2 Stunden Zeit. Anschließend brachten wir Steffi zum Bahnhof und fuhren nach Hause.
Am Sonntag um 13:00 Uhr kamen Steffi und und ihre Mutter Karin zum Racletteessen zu uns. Anschließend brachte uns Kayla australische Kartenspiele bei, wie zum Beispiel "Fish" und "Snap". "Fish" kann man vergleichen mit "Quartett" und "Snap" mit "Halli Galli". Der Spaßfaktor war sehr hoch. Um 4:30 Uhr traten Steffi und Karin den Heimweg an und wir spielten mit Kayla "Die Siedler von Catan". Das Wochenende war sehr schön und ich finde es schade, dass sie am Donnerstag die Reise nach Berlin antreten wird.

Franziska Lohse

A relaxing last weekend with my host family

While I've been in Germany so many people have told me how close we are to other countries, so when my host dad asked me what I wanted to do on the weekend, I asked if we could go for a trip to Austria. So at about 12:30pm on Saturday we left to go to Austria, to a town called Kufstein about a 30 minute drive.

When we arrived we went to a castle named Kufstein Fortress, situated on a small mountain next to the Inn river. We couldn't actually go into the castle except for a cafe that had been built inside and the jail cells which were conected to the castle, but it was really pretty from the outside and had a great view over the town.After visiting the castle we went into town and did some shopping and got an ice cream even though the weather was freezing.

On the way home I fell asleep in the car and thought i better try and have a bit of an early night but after watching a movie, I didn't end up going to bed untill after 12am. Then on sunday morning I ended up sleeping in untill about 11am. We were having visitors for lunch so I went and got ready and when I came back to the dinning table it was covered with food and a Racledte in the middle of the table. A racledte has one big pan on top and then smaller pans underneath and you get a small pan and put as the food you want on it and cook it. It's hard to explain but it was a really different way of cooking your food to what I have tried before. Then for the rest of the afternoon we played cards and game boards because it was raining outside but it was a really nice and relaxing weekend.

Kayla Harris

2010-10-13

Vorletztes Wochenende

Am Samstag trafen wir uns mit ein paar Freunden von mir in Nicklheim. Wir verbrachten dort unseren Nachmittag, hörten Musik und ich wir probierten australische Süßigkeit 'TimTams'. Manche von ihnen kannten sie schon, da ich auch welche aus Australien mitgebracht hatte. :)
Am Abend sind wir dann zum Weinfest gegangen. Es war sehr kalt, aber wir hatten sehr viel Spaß.
Zur späteren Stunde sind wir dann mit meiner Freundin zu ihr nach Hause gegangen und warteten dort, bis uns unsere Eltern abholten.

Am Sonntag fuhren wir erneut nach Nicklheim, da wir dort bei einem Fußballspiel zuschauten.
Die Nicklheimer gewannen 5:0 gegen Frasdorf, was uns sehr freute. :)
Am Abend versuchten wir meiner Austauschpartnerin das berühmte bayerische Kartenspiel "9erln" zu erklären. Sie lernte es wirklich schnell und dies ist meist unsere Beschäftigung, wenn wir nicht wissen, was wir machen sollen.

Es war ein sehr schönes und entspanntes Wochenende.

2010-10-12

Impressions Underway

Last week we made a start on our very important Impressions projects, which we will present to our host parents and also to some of the students (mainly Yr 8's and our hostbrothers/sisters) in two separate presentations next week. The projects are the one major piece of work that must be completed when undertaking the exchange. It is to show what we have learnt and noticed whilst here in Germany and also for us to show our German language skills.

Nathan and I are one group, Josh and Ryan another, Holly, Eleisha and Elisha are a group and i believe that Sam, Abbey Roisin and Kayla are in one group together. Our first presentation is on Monday, which seems all too soon for us.

As Nathan posted previously, we went to King Ludwig II's Schloss Neuschwanstein last Saturday. We were both amazed by the historical castle and sheer size of it. Our tour guide tried to convince us that the king was buying less expensive options for his castle, so he could save his quickly disappearing pennies. I don't know how he didn't realise that he would run out of money; he was building three castles for himself at once!

On the Sunday Peter, my hostmum and i accompanied some of my hostmum's friends for a day trip into Austria.(it isn't that far from me, probably a 3 min drive across the river.) We first went to a town called Kitsbühel where we caught a cablecar up the mountain to Streif, a winter skiing destination. There we had a great view almost 300 degrees around. The lunch we had was at a cafe with the best view i have seen in a long time. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Streif is a very large area, with no clearly defined centre, apart from the town below. My host family told me that the Winter Olympics are going to be held there in 2018, but a few words may have been lost in translation. So, it is quite possibly that I am completely wrong.

After that we drove to Krimml Waterfalls, which were tucked away in this quite large and cold pocket in an even bigger valley. I was there from around 2 until 3:30 and not once was the sun visible, as the surrounding mountains blocked it out. The waterfall was broken into four main steps, but we only looked from the bottom. The 12km walk to the top didn't tickle our fancy at the time. Even from below, it was teriffic to see.

It was a great day and I really enjoyed the places I went and the people I was with.

Max Carter

Halfway

This weekend I went to visit Neuschwanstein which is King Ludwig the II´s second castle. It was a massive place but it still wasn't finished being built. The section that was finished was amazing there was so much gilded gold. The castle was about a two hour drive from my house and then about a half an hour walk up a hill. On Sunday I went to a big lake call Schliersee. It wasn't as big Chimsee but it was a very nice place although it was cold. The lake was in the mountins and that was probably why the wind was so cold. It took us a long time to get down becouse of road works on the road but we got down eventually. When we got back we to the Maxelreiner brewery for dinner. I had schnitzel and chips and it was a very good meal. Afterwards we had a look at the castle where the ownerof the brewery lives and it was huge. Then we went home.
Another terrific Sunday in Bayern.

My weekend

On Saturday I went over to Sarah's friend's house. He had so many things in his room like a TV, laptop, stereo etc. I thought he was very rich but we then went to another friend's house and her room had also many things like this. I think this is normal in Germany, which is lucky for them. That night I went with her group of friends to a Weinfest in a local town, Nickelheim. This was fun but it was so cold to walk home outside and I had about 4 layers on. And it's not even winter yet.

The next day we went to watch a local soccer match in Nickelheim. I think they won 5-0, which is apparently very suprising for them. That night the family taught me a Bavarian card game, which was a bit like Uno. On their cards though they didn't have spades, clubs or diamonds. Instead they had Eichel (acorn), Gras (leaf) and Schain (shell). Overall it was a pretty good weekend.

We havn't had any excursions so far this week, just Impressions Projects and normal school but I did have an incident where I couldn't find out how to get into the house for about 20 minutes. The door didn't have a door handle so I was very confused. Just another difference here from back home.

Another Great Weekend

On the weekend, my host family took me to Kletterwald near the Chiemsee, this was really fun. At first I was scared of the big heights, but it soon went away because i was more focused on hurrying up & getting to the ground. We spent three hours there, with non-stop work, going from platform to platform & course to course. Afterwards, my hands were pretty sore from all the pulling on ropes & using them to balance. I would have to say that the day was very challenging mentally & physically, but it was well worth it. I managed to escape with minimal injuries & a smile on my face.

On Sunday we went to another moutain, very close to Flintsbach, which my family ski on often during the winter. It was a great day again & there were many people up on the mountain as well. The roads travelling up to the top were very narrow, but motorbikes & the occasional car still continued to speed up. Only yesterday there was an accident where, someone's car went over the side.

The views like always were spectacular & I could see the fog resting in the lower towns & villages from above. We ventured to the highest point of the mountain, then sat & had light lunch. Whilst we were eating, we saw Mrs Kreplin & had a small chat, before she had to leave.

On the way back down we stopped to watch some paragliders preparing to take off. We waited to watch some of them, which was quite interesting.

2010-10-11

On Saturday, my host Parents and brother took me to Salzburg. We walked up a busy street with many shops they were filled with souvenirs, and all sorts of things.

As we were walking past a bag shop my host mum pointed out a bag to me that was worth 1798€, it wasn't leather or anything special, it shocked me a bit. Once we reached the end of the street we went to a real Austrian Cafe, there we all had coffee and some traditional Austrian cake, it was good, but very different to what I was used to.

We then went to a Dome and inside were paintings and it was all very beautiful, we lit a candle inside the Dome and then we left. We then went to a castle, we were going to take the train up the hill but we thought that if we walked we could see all the beautiful views. Once we got to the top we walked to the edge and looked over, it was the most amazing view I had ever experie nced. This day for me was an absolute highlight. I will always remember this day.

3. Wochenende






Am Freitag ging es direkt nach der Schule in Richtung Therme in Bad Aibling. Fast alle Deutschen waren dort mit ihren Austauschpartnern und entspannten sich ungefähr drei Stunden dort. Danach gingen Ryan und ich noch zu Josh und Adrian nach Hause.






Am Samstag war es an der Zeit früh aufzustehen, denn wir fuhren um 7 Uhr nach Österreich Richtung Kufstein und wanderten auf die Ritzaualm, um dort zu frühstücken. Der 2 Stunden dauernde Fußmarsch hat sich durch den herrlichen Ausblick bezahlt gemacht. Wir saßen bei 1116 Höhenmetern draußen im Biergarten und für Ryan war es unglaublich auf dieser Höhe eine Restaurant vorzufinden.






Der Sonntag war sehr entspannend und begann erst am Mittag. Am Abend ging es in das beste bayerische Wirtshaus zum Essen.
Laura Daxenbichler






3rd weekend

Friday after school the Aussies and hosts walked down to the Therme in Bad Abiling. The Therme is a sort of relaxation swimming place with a number of different pools. We spent about 3 hours in the Therme. thereafter Laura and I went to Adrians and Joshua's house for another few hours.


On Saturday my host family went to the "Ritzaualm" in Kufstein in Austria. It was about a two hour walk up to the restaurant where we had a very nice breakfast/lunch.To go right to the top of the mountain is a two day walk so we thought we would just do the short walk.
The views that we were rewarded with at the top were spectacular. Once we returned from the walk we all had a short sleep because we were all exhausted. That night I went to Joshua's house for the night which was fun.

On Sunday we had a quiet afternoon at home then my host family treated me to a very nice German meal at a restaurant in our town called the 'Wirt Von Dred'.

Can't believe that its our third weekend already time really is flying.


Ryan Kupferle

2010-10-09

Amerang, Chiemsee, Hinterglasmalerei, Stadtrallye, Heimatmuseum, Grillnachmittag bei Herr Rutz, Bad Feilnbach Apfelmarkt


On Wednesday October 6 the German and Aussie Exchange group were accompanied by Herr Gerd Kramer and Frau Sabine Stuerzelmeyer to the Amerang Bauernhaus Museum. The museum complex housed a number of houses that date back to the 17th Century.

What was particularly noteworthy was that the doorways to the houses were extremely low indicating that the people of this era were very short. They lived to about 40 years of age and this was due to extremely difficult living conditions with severe winters keeping them housebound. Open fires in the house would be flueless and hence parts of the house, including the kitchen would be filled with smoke and this would adversely affect health. The beds were all very small and were totally enclosed (box beds). Our students were bemused by the fact that chickens were kept in the kitchen to encourage them to lay in the winter as outside was far too cold.

After the very informative tour of Amerang, we reboarded the coach and travelled to the Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bayern. The fog by this time cleared just as we entered Prien. We went by boat to the Castle Herrenchiemsee which was the residence of King Ludwig II, the infamous Ludwig who also built two more castles, the world famous Neuschwanstein (which formed the basis of Disneyland's castle) and Lindenhof, the smallest and arguably the best of the three.



King Ludwig was a big devotee of the French Kings, especially King Louis XIV and XV. The Herrenchiemsee was meant to be an exact replica of the Palace of Versailles. In fact it was that, but he only completed a third of the structure, hence the wings of the Palace of Versailles were missing. Nevertheless, we did a tour of the castle and our students were blown away by the ostentatiousness of the appointments within the castle. This was one self indulgent King.

Sadly we weren't permitted to take photos as the flashes would have compromised the paintings and would have detracted from the experience of other visitors with flashes going off all over the place. Another reason no doubt would have been so that they could make some money out of the production of souvenirs etc.

The weather was absolutely delightful as we made our way out of the Palace and back down towards the ferry where we passed the Benedictene Monastry which at one time housed monks and which lateer served as the residence of King Ludwig as he oversaw the construction of his monument to the French Sun Kings.

Once back on the ferry we were then conveyed to my favourite, the Fraueninsel (the Women's Island). This small island is a delight because of a number of factors, it is home to 300 residents, many of whom are artists, fishermen and nuns who still occupy the convent which was built in 791. The nuns also run a "Kloesterladen", a shop that sells various religious artefacts, books, locally made produce and art from the island in addition to their honey liquor and marzipans. One can walk around the island in about 15 minutes but it is a terrific journey that fills all the senses as one smells the smoked fish, sees the yachts and small fishing boats and then wanders the tremendous well kept cemetery. The entrance step to the church is almost entirely worn down due to the feet of parishioners passing over it over 900 years.

A very busy day but a great experience for all, many thanks to Sabine and Gerd for being with us that day. Not doubt it wasn't overly stressful for them, however, we appreciated their good humour and company.

On Thursday October 7 the Aussie exchange students were involvedin an Art workshop conducted by Frau Peklo, the Wirtschaftschule Art teacher. The students were involved in Hinterglasmalerei, a traditional form of painting where the artist paints behind glass to produce their pieces. Historically the motifs were religious and honoured the Saints such as St.Florian the patron saint who protected houses from fire and St.Antonius the patron saint for returning lost items. Methinks he was smiling on Max and Elisha at various points.

The students produced their masterpieces through the morning and will be taking them back to Australia to families. I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Frau Peklo's time, support and encouragement through the workshop.

















In the afternoon, directly after school the entire exchange group caught the train to Westerham to visit Herr Rutz who back in Bright in March had invited the entire group to a Grill (BBQ) at his place. Once we arrived at his house we conveyed all drinks, food, seats etc down along the river to a small clearing right on the river. Anjan, Herr Rutz's son had set up the BBQ and greeted us in both English and German. Again, the students were also warmly received by both Herr Rutz and his wife. We ate Semmeln (breadrolls) with scrumptious pork sausage and a very tasty salad. The Mangfall river flowing right past us was a lovely backdrop.






Thanks to the Rutz family for providing a tremendous Barbie and great company as well. It really was good for the German students to be reacquainted with their previous Direktor (Principal) and for the Aussies to make their connection with Herr Rutz again after the Passau trip.









On Friday October 8, Herr Kramer und Herr Gehart organised a Stadtrallye (town orientation) for the Aussie exchange kids. After negotiating various questions and areas through the town the group ended up in the beautiful Bad Aibling Kurpark, voted as one of the top 5 parks in Germany. We went into the Heimatmuseum. A very enthusiastic guide took us through the museum and showed us many relics. Of particular note was some of the artefacts that were found in Bad Aibling including several swords dating back to the Roman times and a mammoth tusk that was found in the Moors. The town of Bad Aibling dates back to the 8th Century and it was difficult for our Aussie students to conceptualise this as we can't imagine any civilisation as such being so old. Some of our students are sure to revisit the museum as they were entranced by the information.

Later on in the afternoon we went to the Therme Bad Aibling which is a swimming pool complex that also houses various spas, saunas, and unique bathing areas. We thank the Mayor of Bad Aibling Herr Schwaller for sponsoring the Therme experience. Students were allowed the whole afternoon in the complex gratis thanks to the Bad Aibling Shire.

Friday night many of us watched Deutschland play Turkey in a European Cup qualifier. This match was played in Berlin and was particularly interesting because Berlin is the largest Turkish populated city outside Turkey. Germany won 3-0 and with about 20 minutes to go, half the crowd left the stadium.

Today, again we were greeted with fog and it fell like very light drizzle. By 2.30pm it started to clear up and we drove to Bad Feilnbach, a small village in the vicinity for their very famous Apfelmarkt. Bad Feilnbach is the Wandi of the area and the Apfelmarkt allows local producers of apples to showcase their wares. It was my first visit and both Michelle and I were really impressed with the market. They were selling and demonstrating just about everything including cars, solar panels, bathroom finishes and delectable local produce and foods such as Steckelfisch (fish on a stick), humongous trout slow cooked over hot coals.














In the tents, traditional Bayerische Gerichte was consumed with Bavarian bands playing traditional tunes. I must say this was probably the best market I have been to, the atmosphere was great, the crowds manageable in relation to numbers, I never felt overwhelmed by hordes of people and there was plenty of space to sit down and eat and drink in relative quiet despite the music playing in the background. Leaving the market we glanced across to the right and saw the last rays of the sun shining resplendently on the Wendelstein, the iconic mountain in this area. What a tremendous way to finish off what was a great day.

Kletterwald in Prien

Heute waren wir im Kletterwald in Prien. Das war echt schön. Zuerst hat man eine Sicherheitseinführung bekommen, wie man den Gurt richtig anlegt und die Karabiner einhängt. Danach durften wir selbst losklettern. Es gibt unterschiedliche Höhen: 2 - 14 Meter. Zwei Pfade in 12 und 14 Meter Höhe darf man erst ab 12 bzw. 14 Jahren betreten. An einer Station kannst du z. B. in einem Auto durch die Luft fahren. Es gibt viele verschiedene Variationen zu bewältigen, wie z. B. ein senkrecht hängendes Netz, einzeln hängende Platten oder Baumstämme, Netzröhren und weitere wacklige Angelegenheiten. Am Ende eines Parcours konnte man mit einer Art Seilbahn nach unten fahren. Am schwierigsten fand ich, die Seilschlaufen, die lose in der Luft gebaumelt sind, zu durchqueren. Ein frei stehender 8 Meter hoher Baumstamm wurde aufgestellt. Dort kann man hochklettern und im freien Fall nach unten springen.
Wir hatten sehr viel Spaß - Eleisha hat ihre Höhenangst gut überwunden...

Magdalena Huber


Kristallwelten in Wattens




Last Sunday, my host family took me to Austria, to the Swarovski Crystal museum.

During the drive I observed the beautiful scenery, the mountains were so majestic and huge, I was just amazed.

We stopped just before we got to Austria, and my host mother bought a sticker so we could go into Austria. Chrissi then asked me; "Do you need to buy one of these when you drive your car to another country in Australia?"

I thought it was funny as we can´t actually drive our car to another country where we come from, unless you put it on a boat or something.

Once we were at Swarovski, we went for a small walk in the gardens, which were beautiful and filled with lovely sculptures.

We got inside the museum and we were astonished by amazing crystal sculptures and artwork.

It was kind of strange, because everything was kind of wierd, I couldn´t really understand who could come up with such strange things. But obviously someone did.






After we had been through the whole museum we went into the shop and browsed all of the jewellery. It was all very expensive but really nice.










So in conclusion, I had a fantastic day and I can´t wait for the other adventures my host family will take me on.

Samantha Young
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Am Sonntag, den 03. Oktober sind Sam, meine Familie und ich nach Wattens zu den Swarovski-Kristallwelten gefahren.

Es war ein sehr schöner Tag. Seit langem hat mal wieder die Sonne gescheint und wir konnten wunderbar die Berge in Österreich sehen. Außerdem war es, denke ich, auch für Sam ein schönes Erlebnis, die vielen schönen Glassteinskulpturen und andere Swarovskiklunker zu sehen :)

MfG
Chrissi Santl

2010-10-06

Quiet Weekend in Germany

Am letzten Samstag war mein Austauschpartner Nathan Gasperoni mit Adrian, Joschua und Max in der Erdinger Therme. Dort hatte er eine Menge Spaß mit den anderen und eine große Auswahl an Rutschen. Als er am Abend zurückkam war er erstmal etwas müde. Nachdem meine Eltern bei Verwanten waren, machten wir uns ein paar Pizzen.

Am Sonntag dann sind wir früh aufgestanden, damit wir früh Richtung München fahren könnten. Mit dem Auto fuhren wir ungefähr um 9:00 nach Aying und von dort aus mit dem Zug nach München zum Oktoberfest. Dort war es dann sehr voll und wir haben in mehrere Bierzelte geschaut um einen Sitzplatz zu finden um etwas zu trinken. Etwas später waren Nathan und ich beim schießen und für das erste mal war echt sehr gut. Danch probierte er noch ein halbes Hendel und eine bayrische Breze. Nachdem wir gegessen hatten besichteten wir noch die Bavariastatue und die St. Peters Kirche. Bei der zurückfahrt traffen wir noch meine Schwester die übers Wochenende weggefahren war. Als wir zu Hause ankammen machte meine Mutter für uns alle einen Schweinsbraten, der Nathan denke ich geschmeckt hatte. Nachdem wir gegessen hatten sind wir alle langsam ins Bett gegangen und haben uns auf Montag vorbereitet.

Wolfgang Radke

Our Chiemsee Experience

Today we have just got home from our day trip to Chiemsee, a large lake about an hour by bus from Bad Aibling. After arriving at school at normal time, approx. 8 a.m. we boarded our coach to Chiemsee.

After what was a very short trip in comparison to others i've done whilst in Germany we arrived to a sunny and reasonably warm day in Chiemsee. The lake itself has a surface area of around 80² km. The lake has three islands: Herreninsel (gentleman's island) which is the largest and houses a monastery and Castle Herrenchiemsee, Fraueninsel (lady' island) which is much smaller, but is populated by a small village and a nunnery and the last is Krautinsel (herb island), which is uninhabited.

We went by ferry to Herreninsel first, where we walked from the dock near the monastery to the Schloss Herrenchiemsee. Why King Ludwig II wanted a third castle for himself on an island in a lake beats me. But they did say he was mad...... Anyway, we first caught sight of the castle from a side entrance. It is a beautiful castle, but not as i expected it. It is not your typical castle with parapets and towers, but rather a grand building which makes you stop and look. King Ludwig II wanted the castle to replicate Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles. As we found out on our tour, Ludwig was quite a fan of the French King.

We embarked on our separate journeys through the castle in our language groups, which we were very lucky to have because I can imagine that having the tour in another langauge wouldn't help improve the experience. Unfortunately photography isn't allowed inside the castle, so sorry to all parents. But that didn't stop one sly figure in our group taking the old sneaky pic while the tour hostess wasn't around. Oh, how we dislike him........
The tour was amazing though, the castle really is something to behold, even if it is unfinished. The construction of the castle was halted mid-process because of the King's financial woes, so only the central third of the complex was complete. It was planned to have two wings either side of the central part, but even that is still being finished and refurbished.

We all made sure we had some good photos from outside the spectacular castle before we left to board our next boat to Fraueninsel. 10 minutes by boat and we were arriving at one of the numerous docks on the small island. Fraueninsel is an inhabited island, with many, if not all, landowners having their own private jetty and sea vessels. It is only a short walk around the island, but there is plenty to marvel at. The houses themselves aren't anything special, but the views of the lake and the surrounding flora are simply astounding.
We spent an hour or so on Fraueninsel before we disembarked back to the mainland at around 4 p.m. Although some aspects of the trip weren't great eg. (walking everywhere, the sneaky photographer) the positives heavily outweigh the negatives.

So, after a great day blessed with beautiful weather, this is Max Carter, signing off.


(Sorry for the sideways images everyone)


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Heute stand der CHIEMSEE auf dem Programm.
Wir fuhren heute um 8.00 Uhr mit Frau Stürzelmayer und Herrn Kramer mit dem Bus zuerst ins Bauernhofmuseum im Amerang und danach ging es weiter nach Prien am Chiemsee, wo wir mit dem Schiff zuerst auf Herrenchiemsee übersetzten.
Dort hatten wir eine Führung im Schloss Herrenchiemsee und wanderten durch den Park zurück zur Anlegestelle.
Von dort aus ging es weiter zur Fraueninsel, wo wir eine Stunde Zeit hatten uns auf der Insel umzusehen.
Müde und voll von neuen Eindrücken fuhren wir zurück nach Bad Aibling.
Es war ein schöner Tag.


Peter Haidacher

Besuch des Bauernhausmuseums Amerang und Fahrt zum Chiemsee

Am 6. Oktober besichtigten wir das Bauernhausmuseum in Amerang und fuhren zum Chiemsee.
Um 8 Uhr fuhren wir von der Schule los. Zuerst besichtigten wir das Bauernhausmuseum in Amerang, wo wir Führungen in Deutsch (für die Deutschen) und in Englisch (für die Australier) hatten. Es war ganz interessant.
Eineinhalb Stunden später fuhren wir zum Chiemsee. Mit dem Boot ging es dann zur Herreninsel, wo uns das Schloss durch Führungen gezeigt wurde. Wir wurden genauso aufgeteilt wie im Bauernhaus Museum. Anschließend verweilten wir noch eine ganze Zeitlang auf der Insel, bevor es mit dem Boot weiter zur Fraueninsel ging. Dort konnte jeder auf eigene Faust die Insel erkunden. Dazu hatten wir eine Stunde Zeit. Das war sehr schön, da es sonnig und warm war. Nun war es auch schon wieder an der Zeit, die Rückreise anzutreten.
Um ca. 18 Uhr kamen wir an der Schule an. Es war ein sehr schöner und erlebnisreicher Tag.

Franziska Lohse

Ein ganz normaler Tag

Gestern war ein weniger aufregender Tag. Wir deutschen hatten ganz normalen Unterricht während unsere Gastgeschwister an ihren Projekten arbeiteten.
Kurz vor der Pause, gab es noch einen unerwarteten Feueralarm.
Nach der Schule, fuhr ich mit Elisha und Christina mit dem Zug nach Rosenheim zum shoppen. Am späten Nachmittag fuhren wir dann wieder nach Hause, da wir alle total müde waren.
Sarah Reiser

2010-10-05

Just a normal day

Today was not a very exciting day. We went to school as usual but we did start our Impressions Projects, which is good. I only had one normal school class because of it, which was even better. We also had a practice fire drill, which was a lot quicker and more organised then ours back in Bright.

After school I went with Sarah and Christina on the train to Rosenheim to go shopping. I was shocked at how cheap some of the prices were. We went to an ice-creamery and got an ice-cream for only one euro compared to our 4 dollar ones back home.

We went to many stores and by the end of it I was very tired. I think that might have something to do with the fact that there was nearly a flight of stairs in every store, which I was not used to. Hopefully we can all get a good nights rest and have a great day tomorrow in Chiemsee.

A weekend in München

On Saturday the 2nd, Franziska and I set off on our way to München for the weekend. We went by train which was mostly full of people who were on their way to the Oktober Fest.Our first stop was to visit the Glockenspiel which was really nice. There were so many people who came to see it.

Then we jumped on another train and went out to Olympic Park where we went to the BMW museum. We spent a while there not realising how big it actually was and how much there was to see. I do admit though I wouldn't want to go there with any car lovers though because they could spend ages there reading about the history of the cars and motorbikes and how far they've come.

After our trip at the BMW museum we went back into the city and grabbed something to eat and drink and then it was time to do some shopping. My plan was to buy some presents for my family but that didn't quite work out that way, instead we just went shopping for clothes for ourselves. Once we started to get tired we went by train to Franziska's Aunty and Uncle's house where we stayed the night.

Sunday the 3rd, Franziska, her uncle, her cousin and I were off to the Oktober Fest. We met up with Peter and Max who joined us for the day. When we arrived I couldn't believe how many rides and rollercoasters there were. By about 1pm we could hardly move from one place to another. There were so many people there, it was crazy. Once we were all tired of not being able to move we found our way out and went to the train station which took us about 45 minutes back into Rosenheim.

Then once we arrived home my host parents took Franziska and I to the closing of the Rosenheim Garden Festival. They had a live band there and at the end there was a bunch of fireworks which looked really cool and topped of a good weekend.

By Kayla Harris

JUST A CASUAL DAY

Yesterday the 4th of October, we just had a normal school day, but Sam Y, Abbey L and I were running late to class because we were having a little bit of trouble finding the room. Once we finally got there the teacher opened the door and as Abbey went to walk in, tripped over and the whole class was in hysterics, it was the funniest thing.

After school Angelina, Sam and I caught the bus to Rosenheim to go shopping. At about 3.00pm we met up with Abbey, Selina and her boyfriend Phillip, we went and had a coffee, then Angelina and I went home with her Aunty.

Today the 5th of October was a just a normal school day again, we got to school and had our home group. Then we all started on our Impressions projects, I think everyone's is coming along nicely.

After school we caught the bus home and had some lunch, then we walked up to the Post Office.

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Heute war ein ganz normal Schultag, wir hatten Unterricht und die Australier hatten zuerst Homegroup und dann arbeiteten sie an ihrem Projekt.
Als wir Schule aus hatten, nahmen wir den Bus nach Hause und aßen zu Mittag.
Anschließend musste ich lernen und wir gingen zusammen zur Post und zum Schokoladen.

Angelina Schmidt

2010-10-04

A Great Day On The Moutain

Yesterday, I went with my family to Austria. We went there to hike up a moutain called Spitzstein. It was a bit of hard work, but the rewards were great. It was a lovely day, very sunny and warm and so many people had the same idea as us. On the way up, we saw many ponies, that just like the cows the farmers had taken up to the moutains to graze. They were all very friendly and we had great fun patting them. Once we had gotten to the top, we had some lunch, as always it was very yummy. Then we spent a couple of hours up there enjoying the breath-taking views & great weather.
Whilst we were up there we had a couple of rounds of 'snap' and 'go-fish'. Although, my family are new to both games, they have caught on very quickly. To my dismay, I often found myself falling behind.
After a long time sitting down and relaxing, we decided that it was time we headed back down. Although it was a shame to be leaving such beautiful views behind, I managed to take a lot of photos, so it wasn't as bad. When we had finally completed our descent, we were all pretty worn out. So we headed off home. The afternoon was then pretty easy, we didn't do too much after that big trip.
It was a great day, I had a really good time and I would gladly do it every weekend. My stay in Germany seems to get better every day. With so many things to see and do I don't miss home at all.

Tag der Deutsche Einheit

Amidst all the celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the Oktoberfest, it is easy to have overlooked another significant event, the 20th Anniversary of the Reunification of Germany. Normally it is a national holiday but this year it fell on the Sunday and consequently may have been more subdued. Nevertheless, it is a momentous occasion and a cause for reflection. Twenty years ago the two German independent states finally reunified after a terrible period of separation.


Our students prior to their departure for Germany watched documentary footage of the many escape attempts and deprivations of liberties of those who lived in the former ironically named German Democratic Republic.

Celebrations in the form of concerts and street parties were held throughout the country. Tributes poured in from Obama and other dingitaries. Ex Russian President Gorbachev who in essence was one of the architects of freedom and reunification also congratulated the Germans. Gorbachev was in Frankfurt on Saturday and announced that Germany was the shining light of countries who wanted to proceed towards democracy.


The German President Christian Wulff used the occasion to call for more unity and indicated that Muslims were also Germans in an effort to head off debate about differences.

An interesting atmospheric phenomenon allowed Bavarians to enjoy their magnificent natural surroundings in all its splendour yesterday. A "foehn" wind drives warm air downwards from the Alps and creates quite pleasant temperatures.

We ventured to the Tegernsee, a magnificent lake that takes your breath away and walked around part of it. It was magnificent and a real crowd puller. There were many family groups and the environs also offer respite to people convalescing from various physical injuries. I couldn't think of a more serene place to recover, it must do wonders for the mind as well as provide ample opportunities to go for gentle walks.



Today, our students started preparing for their Impressions Project "Eindruecke". They are to present these to both parents and students in the near future. At our homegroups we have been
discussing noteworthy differences between our two lands and cultures, interesting events etc. Our group have delivered some quite intriguing observations which will hopefully be conveyed into their projects.


This week, the partner Powerpoint presentations will be delivered to classes. Wednesday will be a highlight with the trip to Amerang to see the 400 year old farm and then the boat trip to the two islands on the Chiemsee, the largest lake in the area.

2010-10-03

A taste of what's going on..

It's finally my turn to write a post so I think it's best to do it right away.

We've all been here for around 10 days now and I'm pretty sure everyone is enjoying themselves a lot and having been doing quite a bit.

We all had our first week of school last week. It was a new experience for us all, even myself who has experienced it before. A large section of the school has been relatively recently renovated and a very big amount has been added on since I was last here. The way classes operate has also changed slightly. Last time, it was the teachers who would move between different classrooms where the students waited for the next class, but the school has since adopted a system in which each teacher has their own classroom and the students have to move around. More like ours at home.



I've been up to a few things whilst I've been here. One day, I drove with my family to a town not too far away, and we stopped at the bottom of a mountain track. We met up with a few other families there, including Ryan's and Eleisha Young's. We then proceded to make our way up the mountain. It was a beautiful walk but extremely tiring. Once we reached the top, I was surprised to find a very, very nice restaurant at the top. What was even more surprising was that it was almost full. It was a surprise because the only way up the mountain was the very tiring walking track. I don't think I know many people in Australia that, of a weekend, would simply hike up a mountain for the sake of it. But here it's quite common.

That's only one example of the many, many things I and the others have been up to during our stay so far. And there's still heaps more planned, (and not planned).

Homesickness hasn't really been a problem for me, probably because it's not my first time away from home for so long, and also probably because most of my home is here with me.. but nonetheless, not everyone is here and it can be a little sad at times. Especially when you can't talk to people regularly because of time differences. But hopefully with a bit more time, it won't be as bad.

This is just a small insight into the activities and feelings I'm sure most of us have been doing or having.

I look forward to writing my next post.

Signing off,

Joshua J. E. Kusch

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Nun ist es soweit, die Australier sind schon seit 1 Woche und 4 Tagen hier. Ich denke und bin auch der Meinung, dass sie sich alle schon in ihren Familien gut eingelebt haben. In der Schule kommen Sie auch schon gut zurecht und sind mit dem Wandern der Klassen zufrieden. Ich habe mit meinem Austauschpartner Josh Kusch schon viel unternommen. Wir waren auf der Tregler Alm nähe Bad Feilnbach, in Rosenheim mit Laura und Ryan und letzten Samstag waren wir in der Erdinger Therme. Letze Woche war die ganze Austauschgruppe am Donnerstag und Freitag in Passau und konnten sich dort die Stadt anschauen. Am Freitag fuhren wir dann in den Bayrischen Wald und konnten dort Tiere und Bäume anschauen.

Adrian Schubert

2. Wochenende

Am Freitag kamen wir ca. um 18:00 Uhr bei den Gastfamilien an. Da die letzten zwei Tage sehr angstrengend waren, haben wir uns erst mal erholt und relaxed.

Am Samstag besuchten wir das Oktoberfest, für mich war es auch das erste mal und es war eine schöne Erfahrung. Danach machten wir noch einen kleinen Rundgang durch die Innenstadt von München.
Obwohl sich Ryan am Sonntag eine Erkältung eingefangen hatte, genossen wir die 21 Grad im Garten. Am Abend fuhren wir noch in die Landesgartenschau und bewunderten das Feuerwerk.

Laura Daxenbichler



Wendelstein

Today my host family and I went to the Wendelstein. We travelled up the mountain on the train. We first visited the church there and did a bit of looking around. You could see mountains already covered in snow, which we think were in Austria. We then went into the cave, which was very cramped and crowded. Lots of people were in there though to see a statue of Jesus Christ on the cross. After that we walked up to the very top of the mountain which was 1840 metres high. It was very tiring to get up there but the view was beautiful, we could even see the school from where we were. Up there was also a weather station and an observatory. There was also a gate blocking tourists from these places with metal spikes around it. I thought that was a bit extreme.
We came back down and met up with Holly and Angie and had some drinks at the Wendelsteinhaus, as their mum, dad and brother climbed to the top. At 3.25 we came back down and went out for tea, then for ice cream.
Overall it was a pretty good day, which was made even better by the sunny weather.

german weekend






On Friday we arrived back in Bad Aibling at about 6 pm, we then unpacked our stuff from the trip and relaxed after a hard day of the Bavarian National Park. That night Laura and I went to my hostbrother´s friend´s place for a few hours. On Saturday we went to the OKTOBERFEST by train. It was lots of fun and amazing to see so many people in one place, most of which were American, Italian. We than went into Munich to see the city. On Sunday i got sick with a cold so i´ve been sleeping in bed all day. Hopefully will be better as soon as possible.
Ryan Kupferle

Quiet Weekend in Germany


After having a week to settle in it is a lot easier to have fun once you have got used to it. On Saturday Josh, Max, Adrian, his friend and I went to a water fun/relaxing center called Therma Erding. One part of the complex was a big pool and spas, the next was an area to just lie down and rest and the other part was a big dome with lots of waterslides. We spent most of the time on the water slides and there were a lot of them so it was hard to get bored but easy to get a headache because of all the noise in such a small area. But it was still heaps of fun. The complex was about two hours away on the train and bus, but was worth the wait.

Today I went to the Oktoberfest with my family and it was amazing. There were people everywhere and it was just unbelievable, there was so much like rollercoasters, little stalls with games, huge beer tents that could fit nearly ten thousand people in them, hundreds of food stalls that sold roast chickens, roast duck, nuts, bretzels and heaps more. There were also museums and historical things that have been around since the start.

More than half the people were dressed up in the traditional clothes and other people decided to wear random things that had nothing to do with it. Inside the beer tents you could hardly hear yourself speak, it was extremey loud and even afterwards when you're utside and two hundred metres away you can still hear the noise coming from inside these tents.

From up on the hill looking down at the Otoberfest it is massive and there are just people everywhere and when you're down there it is almost impossible to walk around it's that full. Tomorrow is the last day of the festival for this year and it would not be fun to have to clean it all up and pack it all away until next year when they have to set it all up again. There are six beer tents I think and the only breweries allowed are ones from Munich.

The people working in the tents have to be strong becouse they carry around up to about nine or ten of the big glasses, Steins, which all have a litre of beer in them and then they have to walk around in between everyone which is a challenge when you're not carrying anything.

The Oktoberfest is in its two hundreth year and it is an awesome experience to go to such a huge event and when I was sitting down eating half a chicken and a bretzel that was even bigger, it was a great feeling knowing what you're a part of and you can tell how special it is to the Germans when you're there because everyone absolutely loves it For something to go for just under three weeks and pulls in millions of visitors as well as Euros, you know it is huge.

Everyday keeps getting better here in Germany and I hope it continues like this.

Nahan Gasperoni

2010-10-02

Passau Trip

On Thursday the 30th of September, everyone came to school as usual, but we met in the Mensa. Then at 8.00am we left for Passau. At about 11.00am we arrived and after a little bit of driving around we found the youth hostel and got our rooms, then we walked down into the town with a tour of Passau given by Herr Rutz.

Once we had reached the town we had a little bit of time to get some lunch and a drink. We then met at a boat "Die Gisela"which we boarded and sailed down the 3 rivers. It was really cool how they were all different colours and then when they joined you could see the line where they met.

After we got off the boat, Herr Rutz took us to some places and spoke about them. After that we had some free time until 7.oopm, I think most of us went shopping. At 7.oopm we met for dinner in a restaurant right next to the Danube River.

After our dinner at about 9.oo ish, we adventured back to the hostel, it was very dark and hard to see the way. On the way, there was a little lookout with a view of Passau. It was beautiful with all the lights. We went to our rooms and settled then slept.. as we were all pretty tired.

Holly Pronk
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Unser Tag in Passau und der anschließende Tag im Bayrischen Wald und in der Glasbläserstadt waren einfach schön. Es war eine schöne Erfahrung und die Gruppe hat sich wie schon in Australien sehr gut verstanden.

Angelina Schmidt

2010-10-01

Passau, Drei Fluesse Stadt







Early Thursday morning our entire exchange group, Frau Kreplin, Herr Lehrer, Michelle and our special guest, Herr Rutz filed on to our coach to Passau. Three hours later, 250km travelled and with numb bums we emerged out of the fog and saw the splendid Donau (Danube) in regal sunshine.

Passau is now a university city of about 50,000 residents and houses about 8,000 students. Its beauty and popularity in part is due to it being the confluence of two mighty rivers, the Donau and the Inn as well as a tributary, the Ilz. What is more spectacular and unique is that the three water courses are distinctly different colours. The Donau is a blue, the Inn which originates from the Swiss Alps is a distinctive green blue due to the lime and the Ilz originates approximately 70km upstream in the Bavarian Forest and is a distinctive black due to filtering through peat. At one point all three rivers converge and it is fascinating to see the colours then blend as the waters then flow down towards the Black Sea.

The Donau originates in the Black Forest in Germany and then flows through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania. River cruises understandably are very popular on the Danube and we took one which was terrific. We were blessed with splendid sunshine which lit up the Altstadt. We felt truly blessed and countless pics were snapped. We perused the brochures for cruises and a variety beckoned .

We stayed at Veste Oberhaus which was a castle fortress built in 1218 and for the most part was where the Bishop was housed. Napoleon at one point occuped it. It is a truly magnificent structure and is now part of the DJH (Deutsche Jugendherberge, part of the youth hostel network throughout Germany). For more information on its fascinating history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veste_Oberhaus




It was a great feeling to be able to open the windows in the hostel and have a magnificent view immediately below us to the Danube and the Altstadt. Amazing stuff.

We went walking around the old city yesterday and had Herr Rutz as our tour guide. He went to school in Passau as a teenager some years ago and he reminisced about the various parts of the city. It is a lovely city with many narrow streets and a mix of old and new. As we were crossing the main bridge into the Altstadt, I noted a couple of Australian voices immediately behind us. Being ever nosy, I ventured the question as to whether they were Aussies and it transpired that I was indeed correct. Not only that but they were the aunt and uncle of one of the Year 8 students at Bright.


Today we went to the Bavarian National Forest right next to the Czech Republic border. It was very picturesque and the Bavarian Government decreed that it would allow the forest to naturally regenerate and not allow any logging. It also endeavoured to preserve the wildlife that was once near extinct. Within very large, and natural, enclosures we could sight lynx, brown bears, wolves and wild boars. Well worth a visit.

We were really lucky with the weather both days, in other parts of Bayern it rained a fair bit, we only had the odd shower and that was tempered as it didn't really penetrate the canopy of firs, spruces and beech.

We arrived back in Bad Aibling just after 6pm and ventured back to our respective abodes much richer for experiencing another fascinating area of Bayern.