German Exchange Trip
Fifteen students from the German classes of years 10 and 11 gathered at the Sydney Airport International Departures Terminal with the accompaniment of Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Morrison, and Mr. De Jong. It was the last day of Term 3, a time when both teachers and students were celebrating the end of the term and heading into the school holidays to catch up on lost sleep and to be reminded of the joys of not having to do homework, but not for them. They were ready, but simultaneously not so prepared, for the treacherous twenty-three-hour flight to Berlin.
Prior to this, we spent months corresponding with our German exchange students from our sister school—Georg-Büchner Gymnasium in Berlin— via email and social media platforms, discussing the differences of Australia to Berlin as well as some commonalities and shared interests we had. As we arrived in Berlin Südkreuz, they and their families were just as eager to meet us as we were to meet them and after a brief introduction, we headed home for the day. After the tiresome journey and our excitement mellowing to reveal the sluggish jetlag that was about to strike, I’m sure I can speak on behalf of all the students when I say we were very grateful for the much-needed sleep that night.
As the jetlag (thankfully) began to wear off, we spent our first week in Berlin visiting the school and attending some of the lessons while attempting to utilise the German vocabulary we had prepared in class, even though we had all realised by then that the German we had learned in class was nothing compared to the German we were encountering. In the first week, our schedule was jam-packed with tours of attractions like the Brandenburg Gate, Bundestag Parliament, TV Tower, Berlin Wall Memorial and so many museums. A particular thank you to Mr De Jong, who fueled our energy with kilograms of Haribo gummy bears and other candies.
As the first week drew to a close, we enjoyed the German Unity day long weekend with our host families, who spoiled us with trips to Potsdam, the Baltic Sea and events such as European Handball games, flea markets and especially with a broad range of German cuisine (I can’t even begin to count how many different kinds of cheeses and Wurst I sampled during the long weekend).
The next week was spent visiting Potsdam and the stunning Sans Souci Palace, although the trip was not without its mishaps: during our visit, the fire alarm went off prompting an evacuation and leaving 15 very confused Australian kids standing outside the palace not knowing what to do. We travelled to more museums, visiting the Pergamon Museum and its renowned Ishtar Gate, the East Side Gallery and its famous graffiti-style artworks, and the KaDeWe Department store and its opulent stores.
Before we knew it, we were saying our heartfelt farewells and tearful Auf Wiedersehens to our host families while boarding the train to our next destination—Garmisch Partenkirchen. The town itself was picturesque and looked as if it had been torn out of a postcard and pasted right in front of us, with mountains guarding the town and rocky streams flowing from the peak. We unpacked in our hostel and prepared for our next perilous (and extremely cold) journey up the Zugspitze. In the morning, we put on our layers and backpacks, ready to climb the Zugspitze. We took the cogwheel train and gondola to the Zugspitzplatt and arrived soon after at the Zugspitze, where the cold wind attacked us with all its might. About half of us (including Mr Morrison and Mr De Jong) were brave enough to climb to the peak itself, scaling the structurally questionable ladder and following the rope to the peak.
The soccer enthusiasts in our group were extremely happy when we embarked on a guided tour of the FC Bayern Museum and Allianz Arena in München during our final leg of the trip, which also included a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle. In order to round off the trip, we took part in an engaging and educational tour of the Deutsches Museum, where we were astounded by the historical and cutting-edge innovations in the fields of science, aviation, technology, and mathematics.
On the flight back to Sydney, there was a mix of emotions ranging from joyful to woeful, but I think we were all unified by our exhaustion and exhilaration to return to Sydney to our friends and family and our increased appreciation and understanding of the German language, culture and people.
To end off, we would like to recognise and show appreciation to the teachers that accompanied us during the trip—Ms Reynolds, Mr Morrison and Mr De Jong, the trip would be impossible without your expertise on German public transport and organisational skills. A special thank you to Ms Reynolds who was instrumental to organising the trip and making sure we were making the most of our time in Germany while also being safe (thus bungee jumping and breakdancing were sadly prohibited). Furthermore, we are forever thankful to our German Exchange students and their families for tolerating our not-so-fluent German and being such great hosts to all of us and we look forward to being able to repay the hospitality of our host siblings when they visit us for their exchange trip at the end of February 2024.
Gina Hong, Year 10
