The day we set off - Wednesday 24th November
An early start greeted us on the day we set off. With a quick dash around checking I hadn't forgotten anything, we set off for the train station. We weren't as on time as we would've liked, but I got there before the train: everyone else (teachers: Mr Minshull & Mrs Chisholm. Friends: Anna & Shannon) were already waiting for me... Standing on the chilly platform of Swinton train station, we said our goodbyes to parents and watched out for our ride. We didn't have to wait for long before it was in sight. Here we caught the train and set off to Sheffield. At Sheffield, we caught another train which would take us to Manchester airport where we would be flying from.
We arrived at Manchester after what seemed like quite a short time due to all the excitement. We hauled our suitcases around until we got to the check in desk, where we eventually parted with our luggage and set off to the shops in the airport. While waiting for our plane, we separated from the teachers and got some things to eat. Boots Meal deals are normally great, but it being in an airport? Expensive. I settled on eating my packed lunch made with love from Mum.
We had a look in the expensive shops; of which, there weren't many. In the biggest shop we were surrounded with perfumes, designer bags and sparkly jewellery. And what did I decide to buy? A small toy giraffe... because I felt sorry for it. Its huge purple eyes were so persuasive I couldn't resist! Soon after, we met up with Mr Minshull and Mrs Chisholm again. Our plane was announced so we headed off towards it and waited in the departure lounge. It was a short wait again until we showed our passports and boarded the plane. The company we travelled with was Flybe and the plane was quite small.
As we all sat in our assigned seats, we noticed how empty the plane was. There must have been only a dozen other people? They said after take-off we could move somewhere else, but we had the keep the plane balanced. It was a really quiet plane journey and, for someone who hates flying, quite fun too. I sat next to my best friend, Anna and we read magazines to pass the time. After just over an hour, we were told we were preparing for landing at Düsseldorf. At this point my ears started to kill. I had been wearing my 'ear planes' ear plugs all the time we had been flying, but somehow, they didn't seem to work and as the plane landed, my ears were in agony. Great. (After a couple of days, it passed but the constant popping sound in my ears wasn't fun.)
Now, we were in Dusseldorf airport and needed to catch a type of transportation I'd never experienced. This was the 'Sky Train'. It was so fun to board the train which was being held on a beam high in the air and stand as it twisted and turned along to the train station. Anna and Shannon took pictures of the Sky Trains coming to the platform we waited on.
It was quite a fun sight to see these vehicles coming towards us while up very high in the air. Eventually, we set off for the train to Bochum. Now I started to have a mix of nervous excitement: We were in Germany and going to meet our host families!
The arrival
As we arrived in Bochum train station, we were told to look out for Mirko (the head of Comenius in Bochum). It didn't take long to find him and just as we were about to go down the steps to meet the people we would be staying with, Mrs Chisholm was stopped by a stranger asking why we, from England, would want to come to Bochum. It was quite funny to watch. We then dragged our suitcases down the steps and looked out for everyone. As we turned a corner, there were our 3 families for the week.
I instantly recognised Eliza, who was my host and she was stood with her parents. Here we went over to introduce ourselves to the families. I met Eliza's parents Judith and Maurizio and Eliza's friend, Sophie. We then went to the car and they took me home (dropping Sophie off on the way). I was quite nervous at first but I felt happy that I had eventually arrived and I was with my new family. They gave me the option of what I wanted to eat for tea and we all agreed to go out once we had dropped off my things. When we got to the building, I was shown through some doors and downstairs one floor to where they lived. It was a really lovely flat with 2 floors and a spiral staircase between. I had a mini tour around the house and was shown my own room and bathroom. These were on the lower floor with Eliza's room. The view from my window was gorgeous. A lovely green forest was the view and it surrounded all the buildings.
The first evening
Not long after arrival, we headed into Bochum for a meal. We opted to go for an Italian Pizza place. I ordered a Pizza Caprese (Pizza with mozzarella, tomato and basil) which was absolutely gorgeous! At the restaurant, I got to know the De Matteis family over dinner and found out Maurizio was half Italian. After the meal, we walked back to the car and as we drove home, they showed me some of the main points of interest around Bochum.
Back at the flat, I unpacked some of my things and decided what to wear the day after. Basically I settled in. I soon got ready for bed because by this time it was getting rather late. I talked to Eliza a little about school and what goes on where she lives. It is very different from Wath! After a while of chatting, I went to bed and set my alarm for my first day of school in the morning...
My first full day in Germany — Thursday the 25th November
Good Mornin’
I'm never a morning person anyway and we were on the understanding that it would be a quiet breakfast until we all came round. Maurizio had left for work early so it was us three girls in the house. We had Frosties for breakfast with ‘Ja!' milk and some mineral water.
I was already dressed by this point and just had to straighten my hair before leaving for the school bus. After getting ready, Eliza called me saying it was time to go. We walked to the end of the street and waited at the bus stop for Eliza's friend, Leonie. The bus came and I was feeling like it was my first day of school all over again. I was actually kind of worried about the bus because everybody had a `Schoko card' ('chocolate card'). Eliza explained to the bus driver I was English and didn't own one. He was very nice and let me ride free on the way to school! I found it quite funny how the bus driver had to ask the kids for directions to school — this is because the route had been changed recently.
School Time
As we approached the school, I was shocked at how big it was. Wath Comprehensive isn't exactly a small school, but it looked dwarfed at the side of the 'Bochum Gymnasium'! Eliza explained that 2 schools had been merged into one while their school was being renovated. First lesson was Spanish and we headed there straight away. We stood outside the classroom while Eliza introduced me to her friends until the teacher came.
When their teacher arrived, everybody stood behind their chairs waiting to be seated. Eliza explained we had to leave lesson early to go to Comenius. To say it was a Spanish lesson, I did not understand everything. The way they learn it is different to the way we have. Also, all the explanation was in German: that'll be why I didn't get it! I learnt German for two years but remembering it is hard.
Soon, we had to leave lesson and go to a meeting place where all the other Comenius students were. We were going on a trip that morning so everyone was stood in coats and scarves waiting for the coach (and teachers!) to arrive. When the coach arrived, we all piled out onto the coach. We got the back 2 rows of the coach while everyone else sat at the front. There was a lot of giggling from our end of the coach...
The Power Plant
We pulled up outside the huge power plant in no time. Again, everyone piled out and the coach pulled away to park up. We all headed towards a quite modern building where we were greeted by a tour guide who presented the whole power station to us with a slide show and then took us to see it for real. We went into this long room with a huge oval table surrounded by chairs.
The presentation was very interesting but very complicated too. He presented everything in English when there were only 5 of us who actually were from England. I admired everyone else for listening to it because I know I would have really struggled listening to about an hour long presentation in a different language. After we were told how the power plant worked, we went out of the conference room and went to get a hard hat and a luminous jacket each. It was a funny sight to see us all dressed like this and we looked like complete idiots but it was all for safety (and humour).
We were taken around the power plant and the first bit is where all the local rubbish is put and will be reduced and certain parts reused as energy. The first part of the tour, we actually saw the rubbish being emptied into the power plant. It smelt really bad, but somehow was kind of interesting how it can all help fuel the power plant. We toured all around the power plant learning how the different parts and generators made the whole thing work. It was amazing to hear how this one station can power the surrounding area.
After trading in our funny outfits, we got our belongings back from the cloakroom we headed back to the conference room and said thank you very much to our tour guide: he was so informative. To round off our trip, we had a group photo of everyone in Comenius saying silly words. Then it was time to head back to the coach.
We were told on the bus that lunch would be ready for us when we got back to school. Being in Comenius, we got our meals free. We had a salad on the side with a meal I had never tried before. It had carrots and potatoes and various vegetables. Eliza's friends all came to sit with us when their lunchtime started (we had arrived back early). When we'd finished eating, Eliza asked if I wanted a tour of the school. It is so easy to get lost there with loads of stairs, corridors, doors etc. — like a huge labyrinth!
Comenius
A Comenius meeting was held after lunch. Here we were all split up into groups of mixed nationalities. (There were 4 of us in my group; 1 English, 1 Spanish and 2 German.) We made new friends and we discussed our different projects what we were working on in our countries and how we planned to help the environment. In our groups, everyone wanted to make a film about the Comenius project. We plan to send ideas to each other hopefully to progress with the movie.
There were no more lessons after Comenius, so we headed out of school and went to catch the 'underground'. No buses were available at the time so we caught this tram. I bought a ticket from the machine and it cost 1, 30€. I bought one of these every time we went by this transportation, but I never needed it. However, it was all part of the experience!
The Bochum Weinachtsmarkt
This was the first genuine German Christmas market I went to. I've been to one in Leeds annually but never to one in Germany. I was very excited and didn't let the freezing cold weather get to me. The atmosphere was very jolly and made me feel Christmassy for the first time this year. The stalls were all brightly lit and sweet aromas from various foods wafted around the market. There were so many different foods to try and make – my favourite/most memorable was the Flamkuchen. It is like a really thin oval shaped pizza topped with cheese, tomato with bacon and onions. It had amazing flavour and was really warming in the bitter cold air.
Just before 7pm, a countdown started. At 7pm every night of the market, Santa Claus flies across the market in his sleigh and waves at all the people. There is a voice over that we couldn't understand, but Anna's host Laura and her friend Feli translated it. It was a very cheery time of night. To top it all off, a really light dusting of snow fell that quickly melted.
Afterwards, we bought some chocolate covered fruit, which I've tried before and I'm rather fond of. I bought the strawberry one in dark chocolate but there is a huge range of different ones. When we’d finished eating, it was time to go back. When I went to bed, I was able to set my alarm later than any normal morning. School this Friday was starting at 10.00 and finishing just after 12.00. We had no lessons, just Comenius presentations which I was nervous for the night before.
Presentation day — Friday 26th November
Late starting school
I didn't have to get up early but as soon as I did, I got ready for the presentation ahead. We met Leonie and caught the 'underground' again. It was a very icy morning and made the pavements really slippy.
We didn't have a long day but in Comenius, we got back into our groups and carried on working. Mr Minshull called us over to prepare the slide shows to present to all the other students and teachers. We had brought over our recycled clothes that we'd made into various objects (Cushions, toys, waistcoat etc...) As we presented, these items were passed around for everyone to see our 'quality' products.
It was actually more fun presenting what we had done than we had expected. We got a few laughs about the toys we had made and hopefully the other Comenius students enjoyed the slideshows and didn't find it boring.
We had four different presentations to show. One had a summary, one of our creations and two others full of information. I think they went down okay with everyone and it was actually quite fun to do! After ours, the Spanish put us to shame with the toys they had made. It was a good presentation and they had really good ideas to help the environment.
Free Time
We didn't have any more lessons so we went back home and chilled for a bit while watching IV. Eliza and I put on St. Trinnian's before we got ready to go out in the evening. I was really shocked to find out that singer, Paloma Faith, starred in St. Trinnian's! For dinner, we ate Maurizio's famous Italian pasta sauce. It was delicious and so authentic.
In the evening we planned on seeing the new Harry Potter. Me, Eliza, Anna, Laura and Feli sat on the back row of the cinema in these really big comfy leather chairs. Because the film was the original (English) it cost more (over 9 euros!) but it was worth it.
Christmas Market Day! — Saturday 27th November
Münsster
On the train there, we were scattered up and down the train. We kind of panicked as we saw the ticket lady coming towards us as we were on our own and we weren't in possession of our tickets. We hastily went to stand with our teachers who said we needed to be on a shared family ticket. I didn't have anyone to share with when an 18 year old offered for me to share with him. He was called Leo and had visited London before and thought it was really cool we were visiting Germany on this trip. He didn't know about Comenius but thought it was a really interesting idea.
We have been told in the past how brilliant the German Christmas Markets were. When we visited the 5 markets in Münster, they weren't exaggerating. The food smelt delicious and the things we tried were so different from the things in our culture. Everything was so genuine and the sights are very memorable.
This is where everybody met up on the Saturday and bought souvenirs to take home. I bought a Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a star that looked like ginger bread. It looked perfect on our tree this year! Also, I decided buying postcards with pictures of the market instead of taking photographs because they really caught the essence (and ended up being clearer than any of the pictures I took).
It was a lovely experience and it even snowed a tiny bit again while we were browsing the stalls. It was buzzing with life at the market which added to the excitement.
After a few hours, it was time for us to catch the train back because it was Shannon's host, Julia's birthday party. The train was full of drunken football fans who sang loudly to a vaguely recognisable tune.
Julia's Birthday
When we got back, we quickly got ready to go to Julia's birthday party. It was her birthday on the day we arrived and Shannon and I had been invited to go to celebrate. The party was held in a little hired out room. It had lights and loud music with snacks all on the tables.
The music was all English: most of it had come out months ago in England but seemed to be very popular at the time in Germany. We found it funny that all of the teens knew the words to the songs but didn't speak a lot of English. It was a typical party but seemed to be divided down the middle. It was Julia's birthday and another girl's (Maria) birthday. Their friends didn't seem to get on so dance offs seemed to be a popular choice!
Absolutely loads of pizzas were ordered for everyone: they were quite big and Shannon and I ate half each from one. This was nearing the end of the night when some of Julia and Eliza's friends came over. They kept asking us to dance so I pulled Shannon up and for the rest of the night we enjoyed ourselves.
Pack UP
When I got back, I thought it was a good idea to pack all my things. I gave presents to my hosts thanking them for their hospitality. I took them something to remember me by: Yorkshire tea! Also, Cadbury's chocolate biscuits went down a treat as our nation's favourite. I took some presents for Eliza too like an English magazine and The Kooks CD, because we had been discussing good music, and a scarf.
Time to go home - Sunday 28th November
Brunch with the family
In the morning, before I had to go, we got up early so I could go and visit Eliza's family for brunch. We packed up my bags to put in the car so we didn't have to go back to the apartment afterwards. Before we left their house, they all wanted photographs with me, saying I had been a lovely exchange student and they would send me any pictures they had taken.
When we got to the family, they were very welcoming. I met Eliza's cousins and we played a card game I had never heard of. It was all luck - therefore, I lost. For the food, there were lots of meats and cheeses with bread available. All of them were lovely. Also, scrambled eggs set me up for my long journey back home!
Eliza's Aunt spoke fluent English and Eliza's grandfather used to be an English teacher also. Eliza's Aunt lived in Doncaster for a few years and worked there when she was younger. She didn't realise I lived so close to Doncaster until we got talking.
Leaving Bochum
We left the family so I could meet up with everyone else at the train station in Bochum. Everyone was there chatting happily about our time in Germany. We all had pictures taken with our hosts in the station before saying thank you and goodbye.
We went up on to the platform with our students and Anna's family came up too. Soon enough, the time came to get on the train. The Spanish students were catching the same one to the airport. When we got onto the double decker train it was packed to capacity. We all looked stupid with our suitcases blocking the staircases but we managed to stay upright the entire journey.
The way back: Home Sweet Home
When we got to the airport, we had pictures taken with the Spanish Comenius students and departed as we had to go to different gates. We browsed round a modern looking airport before boarding another small plane. It was a lot fuller than the last plane ride and my ears killed again. Shortly we were back in England and ringing home in a room that said on a sign 'Don't use mobiles' which of course we didn't see until after we had hung up... But we were now home and just two more trains: one to Meadowhall and one back to snowy Swinton. We couldn't believe the weather when we travelled from Manchester to Swinton. Snow was everywhere and in Germany, there was hardly any! Finally, we were reunited with our families. Our trip to Bochum was amazing and is one I will never forget.
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