Berlin

Servus!
Last week was Berlin and it was amazing. Every step I took I was intrigued by the landmarks and sites and culture in general.
Day 1: We had a six hour train ride to Berlin on the ICE 'fast train'.  At times we were travelling at the speed of 200km/h. We arrived at the main train station, der Hauptbahnhof and it was massive. There were different levels and escalators with people rushing everywhere and massive signs. Wow! We then got taken to the hotel by a guy with a "Bright P-12 College" sign. Once we arrived, we went to our rooms and prepared for dinner. The walk to the restaurant was interesting.  Dinner was scrumptious! For entree, we had tomato soup. Main was smoked pork ribs and dessert was vanilla ice-cream. After dinner we caught the bus to the Reichstag (Parliament house). Once we arrived they had pretty heavy security, which is a good thing. We had to show our passports and have our bags scanned.  The building was massive and the architecture was again, flawless! We got taken up in a big elevator to the top of the building where we had an amazing view of the city at night! The Berlin light show was on too so it was even more beautiful!

We also got a little ear piece that told us information about the surrounding buildings. It was really interesting. After a while we decided to head off back to the hotel and go to bed.

Day 2: Berlin is alive on Monday. We were in the heart of the city and made our way to Checkpoint Charlie. This was a major border crossing between East and West Berlin, back when there was the wall dividing the city. There were a couple of scammers around but most of us avoided them ;)

The Checkpoint Charlie museum was a big building on a big wide street.

Once we got inside I was super keen to read all about the past, about life in divided Berlin, about escape attempts... there was a lot of reading. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to reading all of it but I got a pretty firm grasp of what had happened.
We then started to make our way to the Brandenburg gate. We took public transport to get there e.g. trains (underground!) Shoutout to Matilda Manning for her map reading skills and getting us to the right places.
There were so many people at the Brandenburg gate. The Gate was tall and has a statue on top. (As you can see in the picture:)

Afterwards we walked back to the Reichstag to look at it at daytime.

We made our way to the Jewish memorial. The memorial was grey blocks or "Art". I thought it was really interesting seeing this form of art. The memorial took up a whole block and was like a maze. I thought that the grey blocks symbolized gravestones of the ones lost during the holocaust. Of course, there were many more people murdered than there were blocks, but it was a real place of reflection.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Potsdamer Platz and the "Mall of Berlin". When we walked in we got a bit of a surprise...

There was a red carpet and posters of "Inferno" everywhere (This film has Tom Hanks in it). We started to work out that Tom Hanks was going to be there in 3 hours. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to stay but how cool would that be?

Dinner that night was delicious. Entree was soup again (but still good), Main was chicken schnitzel and dessert was jam in a jar. It was a bit too sweet for my liking though.


Day 3: So much fun! We started off with an all you can eat buffet provided by the hotel but the day got even better. We went ICE SKATING! I love ice skating and I was super keen to go.

Thanks for reading.
Tessa Williams

Berlin

We spent 3 full days in Berlin.

We went to an Ice skating rink which was really exciting and fun. 

Also on that same day we went to a Jewish memorial museum about life for Jewish people during WW2.  There were some really sad and gruesome stories about how Jewish people were treated during the Holcaust, how they were gassed and/or shot and buried in mass graves; head to toe and a child would be placed in the gaps and then covered in earth. 

We also went to the Cathedral, called the Dom. It was a beautiful building. You cloud climb up and look outside at some of Berlin it was a really nice view of the city and inside there were some nice statues, paintings and models of the building, which they used to help build the real thing. We had a great time in Berlin and I hope to come back some time.

Nathaniel West

Zilletal stausee

The feeling of pure WOW was what I got the chance to experience on Saturday when I went to see a glacier in Austria.

Doreen, her family and I drove three hours in the morning after having a typical German breakfast with lots of breads and meats. We drove to the Zilleltal Staundamm which is a huge glacier in the Austrian alps on the border of Austria and Italy. We woke up early in the morning to spend the whole day there since it was a long trip.

While driving up through the valley to get there I just stared in amazement out of the window. It was a wonderful experience seeing the towering walls of steep rock, the spacious green grass, the assortment of pine trees and the snow up all of the mountains around us then. Then instead of taking the time to drive around all the mountains like we do in Australia, we just drove straight through them in a rock tunnel.

Eventually we arrived and got out of the car.  The first thing that struck me was how blue and clean the water looked, it was mesmerising.  The water was in a huge lake surrounded by mountains in a small valley with a huge dam wall blocking the water off from tumbling into the valley below. On the dam wall someone had built a rock climbing wall onto it. So as we walked along it you could see people scaling the dam wall.

I found out that just at the lake itself we were already 1800m above sea level and the mountains around us were 2500m - 3500m high, that is roughly 1500m taller than the tallest mountain in Australia!

We walked out along the dam wall until we could go no further and then we started the walk around the lake. It took about __ hours to get there and back. When we finished the walk around the lake we went into a Hütte (a small house/cafe on a mountain) and had lunch. I got a mezzo mix (German drink that is a mix of cola and Fanta) and Wurst (sausage.)

In the morning it had been cloudy over the tops of the mountains but after lunch the clouds had cleared and it was blue skies and sun shine for the rest of the day. Because of this I could now clearly see the peaks of the mountains and how much snow there was. It looked like there was about 2m-3m of snow and winter hasn't even started yet! This is double what we get at peak season!

At the end of the day I was so exhausted but loved every minute of it, can't wait to see more.

Nicola Smith

The First Week - delayed post

Hello all.

The first week of the exchange has come to an end (I had technnical difficulties trying to post this, so now, actually the third week has come to an end). 

During this amazing week as a group we have done many exciting things such as the welcome brunch, bowling in a very nice looking German style building and we met up with the Buergermeister  (mayor of Bad Aibling), Felix Schwaller who told us a little about the area. 

On Donnerstag (Thursday) we went to Salzburg in Austria, just for a day trip.  We went down into a 500 year old salt mine and learnt about the salt mining industry. Salzburg got its name from the salt mining. Later that day we went into Salzburg itself, walked around, went into a magnificent church and had a look around.  It was so brilliantly designed and painted with the organs, the carvings and statues. We saw the smallest house in Europe which was only 1.82 metres wide! And we saw the house in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and grew up. 

It has really been a fun week here in Germany. I can’t wait to see more of Germany and Europe.

Nathaniel West. 

We also slid down a wooden slide into the depths of the mine.

We all had to wear these groovy overalls into the salt mine!

Group shot with the Austrian Alps in the background.

Berlin Excursion

Servus!

We have spent the last four days in Germany's capital, Berlin. It was a very busy couple of days with so many things to see and do.

Monday was our first day of adventure in the historic city. Our first stop was at Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The checkpoint is still in its original form and lies in the once American Sector of Berlin. It was a big history lesson for me, which I am always very keen to learn about. It's one thing to hear about the history of World War Two and the Cold War but to actually stand in the place the event occurred is completely different. It's absolutely mind blowing for me!
We also looked at the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was an information overload! So many stories and facts.

Unfortunately, some of us were gullible enough to fall for a scam that was taking part at the popular tourist destination. I know it may seem like a strange thing to report in a blog, but it highlights the differences between our life in Bright and the life in big cities like Berlin. I ended up losing 10 Euros to some people that pretended to be deaf, others lost 15 to 20 Euros!
I've never experienced tricks such as these in Bright or cities like Melbourne. But apparently, they're very common here. But I can say I have learnt from my mistake! We ran into more scammers during our time in Berlin and I didn't give them more than a sideways glance.

We also visited the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor in German) It was built in the 18th Century and suffered damage during WW2, but has been restored.

A short walk from the Brandenburger Tor is the Holocaust Memorial. 2,711 concrete blocks lay over the sight, in memory of the millions of murdered Jews of the Holocaust during World War Two. It is a very simple yet effective idea. Personally, it made me really stop and think. Think about the horror of war, the discrimination suffered by the Jews, and how such a tragic and awful thing could ever occur.

Overall it was a great and fascinating day. I learnt so much and yet still curious to find out more. Thanks for reading!

By Elly Jenkins.

Amerang Farm museum and Chiemsee

Hi everyone, 

well what an exiting week it has been. Today we visited a farm museum, called Amerang, that had one farm house that was 400 years old!  There were also other farm buildings and houses that weren't quite as old, only 200-300 years old..!  It was amazing, even though the weather wasn't that great we still had a great time. The houses that were built back then were crafted and built so well.  They took such pride in what they were building as they wanted their houses to last.  They built the houses so that they could be warm in winter and not hot in summer. But the surprising thing is that for a long time they didn’t have the invention of a chimney, so that the smoke could leave the house after the wife has cooked.  Instead all the smoke from the fire would go into the upstairs part of the house. They did have a high risk of starting a fire inside. We also saw how rope was made back then and learnt also why bees were so important; bees were a great way to make a good income because it was the only sweetener available, but you had to be very careful. 

Later that day we went Lake Chiemsee and we took a boat to the Herreninsel to visit King Ludwig’s Castle Herrenchiemsee.  The castle was spectacular although it was never finished because the King ran out of money and later that year he passed away in mysterious circumstances. 

Later we went on the boat again and went to the Fraureninsel where we walked around the island and explored the island.  We visited the church which was very beautiful. 

It was such a lovely day and I wish we could go back.  

Danke, Matilda Manning

Big Day!

Big day!  Today by train we visited the very old and iconic city of München. Although the weather was not the best, we still had loads of fun.

 
München is the most amazing city I have ever been to. It is so old but yet so new. The city is split up in to almost circular parts. The centre is the older part of the city, 'Altstadt'. It has the most amazing architecture and buildings I have ever seen. The buildings must have taken years to finish fully. 

This is a group shot at one of the entry gates into the Altstadt

The churches in the area are wonderful. They have ridiculously fine details all over them. The biggest church in the whole of München, which we visited, is called the Frauenkirche. It is gigantic. The Frauenkirche is a very famous church. It is said that the man who built the building knew he would not have enough time to finish the construction in time, so he got some help from the devil, who said he will only help if the man gives the devil his soul. The devil said that 

In the background are the two steeples of the Frauenkirche

the man would have his soul back if the church had no windows. When the devil entered the church, from where he was standing he could see no windows so he stomped his foot on the floor and the man's soul was given back to him. The Devil's footprint still remains in the church. You can see it very clearly. If you want you can put your foot in the place of his and look to see any windows. Although the devil could not see any windows from where he was standing, there are actually windows all over the church. 

There was a downs stairs compartment to the church which had a dark and eerie hallway which was gated off. It was creepy as. 

After we looked through the church we stood outside listening and watching the church bells ring. The sound was awesome. A long time ago there was a big plague in the area which killed a lot of people. The people that survived were very sad. So the barrel makers decided to try and cheer them up by dancing. On the new town hall were figures that were the barrel makers, and at 11:00 and 17:00 they move and dance while the church bell rings. It was an amazing sight. München is wonderful.  
So that's me for this week's blog. Having a great time!

This is the Town Hall with the dancing figurines just visible about halfway up.

We went to BMW World where it is all about touching and trying things out, dreaming big.  I think the smiles say it all!

Interesting architecture that was part of the 1972 Olympic Village

Getting around town using the U-bahn (underground train)

Wow! What a weekend!

It’s that jittery feeling, you know? When you go down a hill in a car or the elevator? You know what it is but can’t find the words to explain? You know it’s about to start. But the excitement just overwhelms you, and it’s impossible to contain it. First the ascending, then head over heels, and finally the drop, followed by your stomach and its insides all jumbled up. I’m suddenly screaming and a huge grin emerges from my mouth. Am I actually enjoying this? Or is the pressure of the air forcing my mouth open? Am I going to fall out of the seat and plummet to the ground? Or wait 28 seconds until it’s all over?

It is very difficult to explain the feeling, but this is what I felt on one of my days over the breathtaking 3 day long weekend.  My family went to the Bayern theme park where we also met up with Matilda M and Tessa W with their exchange partners.  I went on many different rides, the best being the black and green roller coaster. This was my first roller coaster that went in a loop at an extreme speed. 

This experience added to the many others I have had since arriving in Germany, only one week ago.  There have been new sights, with stunning views of the individually shaped hills and mountains, the old buildings, and a whole new and different culture to understand.

And there’s also the language. They all talk so fast it’s almost impossible to understand anything they're saying. For instance, if they say something, it takes me a few seconds to realize what they’ve actually said. Then once I’ve worked that out, they're on a completely different subject! I really need/ want to improve my German skills!

Now Monday!                                                                                                

Monday my family got the opportunity to visit Schloss Neuschwanstein (the Disney Fairytale Castle). We had a tour, and learnt about King Ludwig II, and of course the castle itself. I found this very interesting, and I really wanted to speak with the king himself and ask questions like, 'how long were you planning to live here?' I wish I could show everyone some photos of the inside, but unfortunately you weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the inside of the castle.

If you want more information, then please check out this website http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/

I thank my German family for taking me on these two experiences, and all of the effort they have put in for me. And thank you everyone else for making this German exchange trip happen! Thank you so much.

Dankeschön

Tessa

Mountains on the weekend

Hallo!
This past week of staying in Germany has been a real eye opener for me. I have seen and experienced many things  that I would never have thought of. What I have enjoyed most so far about this trip has been seeing the cultural differences and by far the best experience has been the German mountains.

This weekend Doreen and I hiked up a mountain called Becherspitze. We woke up early at 6:00am and had breakfast. For breakfast there was a wide range of meats (like salami and ham) and breads such as rolls, pretzels and loaves of bread. We left early in the morning at 7:00 to catch a train to the base of the mountain.

I have noticed many things that are different and similar between Germany and Australia but one has got to be the houses. They are very tall usually 2-4 stories high, unlike many houses in Bright that are usually longer and flatter with only 1-2 stories.  Many of the German houses are known as a "typical farmhouse" and these are very long, with lots of wood and space on the ground level for animal stalls or hay storage. I have also noticed a lot of corn being grown in the paddocks everywhere especially while driving or going for a run with Doreen.

The hike took 5 hours overall and was a very steep trudge up the mountain, on parts of the trail we were almost rock climbing up. But in the end it was all worth it, the views were spectacular everything was so green it all looked like something taken out of a fairy tale, there were a lot of tall pine trees, steep rocky cliffs with a very well peaked summit and a lot of very green grass.

Many mountains in Germany have houses  or restaurants usually about halfway up the mountains as well as churches or crucifix at the top of every mountain.

For dinner that night I tried something called Knödel which is like a ball of potato and vegetables mixed together, we also had pork and sauerkraut. I have been trying and seeing many amazing things while being in Germany and have been loving every moment of this exchange trip.  I can't wait to see more of Germany and its culture

Nicola