-German life-

I have done lots of things since my last entry, firstly the end of the holidays were very good, as well as the start of school. On the first day back i participated in one of Magdalena's sport lessons, this was very different to ours in Australia but still very good. The rest of the school week went very fast & was soon over.
On the weekend, i caught up with my previous exchange partner from 2009; Sandra Warmedinger. i met her parents & her grandparents too. I had a great day catching up with her & remembering some of the good & funny times we had while she stayed with me. It was a little sad to be saying bye again for the 2nd time, but this time didn't seem a bad as the first, i guess because it seemed like i knew i would be able to see her again. I think that is a good things about this program, it gives people the incentive & motivation to get out & see the world & experience lots of different things & cultures.

On Sunday my family & i took a drive to Konigssee, this is a very large lake, that gets to over 200 metres deep. The water is very clean (drinking quality) & of course the views there are very beautiful as well. We walked around before getting on a boat that would take us to another area of the lake. The only people who live there were the fisherman & his family & the family that owns the resturant on the island, it's very nice & we took a little walk around. Then we had a drink at the resturant, before heading back to the main area of the lake, by the time we got there, it was getting pretty dark & cold, so we soon headed home.



Back at school again & it's very nice. the classes are interesting &it's nice to see how they learn things in Germany compared to how we do at our school. Today we were able to listen the English radio station that is at the school, the music was pretty cool & there were even some, interviews featuring some Australians including Myself. it was very weird to hear myself talking on a speaker. I think that they will be playing another episode next week too. so that should be interesting. I don't have any school tomorrow & my family are planning on baking Christmas Cookies, this should be very fun.

Gosh, the time is flying by so fast, already it's been a few weeks since the other Australians left, it doesn't feel like that long but our time here is starting coming closer to the end of our trip. Hopefully the next few weeks slow down for me so they don't speed by so fast, i doubt it though.

Until next time.



Eleisha

Hobedere,
It's been 15 days since we left the other exchange students at the Munich airport, but it feels like almost a week. We spent our last few days as a whole group in the capital and very historic city of Berlin.
After parting with our host families at the Rosenheim train station, (for most students it was the last time) we travelled to Munich to catch our connecting train to Berlin. It was a 7 hour trip, but it definitely didn't feel that long. I think most of the time was spent sleeping, listening to music or just general chatting.
When we arrived, we caught another train and then a bus to the accomodation we would be staying in for the next few days. I think most were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We had dinner at the restaurant we would be having dinner at every night, the 'Cayenne'. We even made some new friends here as well.
The next day, we headed down the Ku'damm, having a look as we went, and ended up out the front of the 'Story of Berlin' museum. We had a bit of a quick look around and then chose pairs and were each given a questionnaire. Nath Gasperoni and I teamed up and we were the last ones out by a while. But it turned out to be worth it, as we won the prize for the most correct. We also visited a nuclear bomb shelter, built under a car park. It was built in preparation for a possible nuclear attack on Berlin during the Cold War. Even though it was very eerie, I quite enjoyed being down there, as I felt I was actually inside the history. Compared to most of the others' comments, I don't think I would mind having to live down there.
The next day we visited another museum, this time on Berlin's 'Museum Island'. This museum was called the 'Pergammon Museum' and contained many, many artefacts and recreations from classical history. This was very interesting for me, as I am interested archaeology and these types of things. Again, I was among the last out of the museum. After a burger at an Aussie restaurant nearby, we had some free time. After another good meal at our restaurant, we headed straight off to the Reichstag (Bundestag). There was quite a line out the front, so we had to wait for a while. Once we were in, we had to pass through a security check and then made our way up the 'bee hive' with a great view of the city at night.
The next day, our last day in Berlin, we travelled back to the Reichstag, where Frau Kusch informed us a bit about the building itself. We also visited the Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish Memorial, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and a few other sites during the day. That night we all had to pack and get ready for our departure the next day.
Since leaving the others at the airport in Munich, we had one week of full schooling. This past week has been holidays for the students, and we've been up to quite a bit. Some things I've been up to during my free time has been a trip to the beautiful Austrian city, Salzburg, watching some movie, playing a bit of football and just generally hanging out with Adrian and his friends. I am very glad that I get on well with them all.

In thanking people, to Herr and Frau Kusch, I've experienced first hand how stressful and exhausting organising everything can be, but you always seem to do a good job and we are all very grateful for the work you put in. Thanks also to Herr Lehrer, Frau Kreplin, Frau Marx, Mr. Pryor and of course especially all the host families who've made the trip so succesful.

Bis naechstes mal,
Joshua J. E. Kusch

Holiday Fun

My week of holidays have been so far very good, i have done a lot of interesting things.

On the weekend i went with my family to the Scholss Hellbrunn. We started off having a quick tour at the water games, which turned out to be quite fun & refreshing for me. It was very interesting to see that all the water works & little figurines are all powered by the water, no electricity was used.

Then we took a look around in the Shloss, it was very beautiful & historical as well. When we had finished that audio tor, we had a nice relaxing lunch in the park. The weather was so great & the park was full of families. After a bit of relaxing & playing at the park, we had to move on to the next thing, which was Salzburg. Here we walked through the wonderful city & soon got to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was a steep walk up but we all managed to do it quickly, even though i wanted to stop to take photos very often (and have a short break). When we got up the top & into the walls we walked around a little bit & then headed to a audio tour of the fortress. There was so much history involved with the caslte, the construction alone was dedicated to one room & that took a fair bit of time.

But it was very interesting & i managed to pick up on a few people speaking English during it. Even though the fortress was very interesting & nice too, i would have to say that they highlight out of the tour was the chance to stand on the top of it & enjoy the astonishing views of Salzburg & surrounds.

Also on the weekend & a bit during the week as well, i was able to fly kites with Maggy, Johanna & Marinus. The wind was very good & i found it very fun. Another great expirence for me & a great memory to take home.

Today we went to Kristallwelten, which had lots of attractions featuring lots of precious diamonds. The place was amazing, it had Swarovski diamonds & housed the biggest diamond in the world. There was lots to see as well, we spent a lot of time marvelling over the great works created there.

The Holidays have proved to be very fun & interesting & provided me with some extra family time. I've enjoyed everyday so far & look forward to the rest.

My Time In Germany

On the 24th of September, We left for Germany. After a long tiring flight we arrived in Munich. There was a man there to collect us. He took us to school. We arrived at school, and did what we had to, then it was time to go and meet our host families. Then I'd say most of us had a quiet Saturday. On Sunday we had brunch with everyone and their host families, it was good to catch up with the rest of the Aussies. On Monday was our first full day at school, it was a bit different at first because of the classes and break, on the Wednesday of this week we had "Wandertag" which is a day organised by the class and the teacher, Sam, Abbey and my Class plus another class went bowling, I thought it was a really fun day and it was great to just mingle with some different Germans.
On Thursday we went to Passau and that was a fantastic expirence for me and I thought it was absolutely amazing, and such a beautiful view from just down the hill from where we were staying, the next day we went to a Bavarian National Park.
Then I had a great weekend with my Familie. On Wednesday the 6th of October we went to the Amerung Museum, it was a place with old houses from back in the day and a little more resent one, which was built in 1882. Then we went to the Chiemsee, and got on a boat and went to the Herrenchiemsee, we went to the castle on there and it was so beautiful and amazing, the colours were outstanding.
Then on the Friday we did a orientation of Bad Aibling, and ended that by going threw the Heimat Musuem, and some others went to the Therme for swimming.
On the weekend I went with my Family to Salzburg, it was amazing, I had the best time, We walked up the busiest street and then walked to a dome and looked inside then went on a great, hard walk up to a Castle, although the walk was hard the end result was amazing, the view of Austria was fantastic, it was my favourite weekend in Germany.
Then on Wednesday the 13th Mr Pryor arrived and we travelled to Munich for a day trip, there we walked around the city for a little bit, the went to BMW, that was crazy watching cars been made, its such a odd process, with all the robots, then we had free time and went shopping then we went back to Rosenhiem. The next day we went and met the Deputy Mayor of Bad Aibling, I learnt alot about the town. This weekend was our final weekend with our families, I went into Rosenhiem with Angelina and did some shopping, then we went home and had a quiet night, the next day was a special day in Bavaria, at 12.oo noon we went to a Restraunt and had a Bavaraian Meal, it was different but tasty, then we went to my aunts and had some cake, and said our goodbyes.
On Thursday the 21st we met at the train station and said our goodbyes, there was lots of tears, and we then set off for Berlin, 8 hours later we arrived and caught a train and bus to where we were staying in the Europa Hotel, it was very nice accommodation, The next day we went to "The Story of Berlin" it was very interesting, then we went into a Bunker under a car park, it was a horrible feeling being down there, I really enjoyed that day.
The day after that we went to the Pergamonmuseum, it was amazing inside and very interesting, we went to an Australian restraunt for lunch, after that we went shopping until 5.00pm, later that night we went to the Reichtag, which is the Federal Parliament, the wait was long, and chilly, then when we got inside we got an elevator up to the top and got headsets that told us about the things we could see, then we went back to the hotel.
On our final day in Germany we went into the centre of town and Michelle gave us a tour, first we went back to the Reichtag, and then to the Brandonburg Gate, and then we walked around and then we went to the Jewish Memorial, and walked through that, we then went to the Berlin Wall, Then to Check Point Charlie and had some lunch and a look around, and went home and packed for the next day too leave, we Flew with everyone from Berlin to Munich and there Frank, Michelle, Josh, Ryan and Eleisha got off, and Mr Pryor came home with the rest of us, after a long trip we arrvied in Melbourne, to find our families waiting, with lots of hugs and kisses and tears.
It is good to be home, but Germany will be greatly missed, it was such and amazing experience.
I would like to Thank firstly Mr and Mrs Kusch for everything they did, it would of been a hard job looking after all of us, and secondly I would like to thank my host family I didn't only make a friend but a second family, I will miss them and hope to see them again one day.
Thanks to all the teachers at the school and Herr Lerher and Frau Kreplin

Signing Off..
Holly

wendelstein, allerheiligen and thankyou

It's been a week since we arrived back from Berlin and the other Aussies departed back for Australia but the time is still flying! Coming back from Berlin was especially interesting for me as i now am staying with Seppi and the Lechner family making this a whole new expeience for me.

Yesterday we went to the Wendelstein, a 1838m high mountain about 40km from Bad Aibling, we traveled by gondola to the top which was covered in snow. The weather was good, but maybe a little bit cold, which meant we could see the incredible views at the top and could see all the way to Munich.

Today is Allerheiligen which is a religious day for Germany and Seppi's whole family is here at the moment. As Seppi has four brothers and two sisters plus some of them have their own children im currently finding it a very difficult job to learn everyones names and how they are related to seppi! Almost the whole town where i live, ostermünchen, went to the church today for a ceremony, it was interesting to see so many young people going becuase in Australia a lot of young people aren't religious.

Once again a big thankyou to Herr Kusch, Michelle, Mr Pryor, Herr Lehrer, Frau Kreplin, and of course a huge thankyou to all the host families for making it such a great time here. (especially mine) I know that everybody has had a incredible time which we will never forget! Cheers all!

Ryan Kupferle

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.

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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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

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

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.

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.

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

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