St Leonards School - German Exchange

Tuesday 22nd March 2011

So hello liebe Leute..

Well we are all set to go, leave from school tomorrow morning at 5am! YUK! But will be well worth it when we get there!

Will write again once we are in Dresden!

Bis bald

Frau Semper

Sunday 21st March

Hi Everyone

Sorry it has taken me so long to get on the computer but it has been pretty hectic.   Everyone id dong fine and seems to be having fun. We definitely brought the spring weather with us.

Wednesday - we had a safe journey and everything was on time which was good. Didn't realise Mr Kitson doesn't like to fly though until we were about to take off!!!!! Got to Berlin fine and had to wait at the main station but this was when everyone got to try some German sausage and cake. We arrived in Dresden around 7pm and were met by our host families.

Thursday - we had a tour of the school and the pupils were unanimous that they prefered Sankt Benno to St Leonards! The Head, Mr Schäfer was really welcoming. In the afternoon we had a tour of the town and saw sights such as the Semper Opera, Frauenkirche and the Fürstenzug. That evening there was a party at school to welcome us and say good bye to the French Exchange group. We had a dance teacher in and our students learnt the Disco Fox to Cheryl Cole!

Friday - was an interesting day to say the least. We got the Schnell Bahn to Radebeul Ost where we were meeting Mr Kitson (as this is the small town where he is staying) and then we were going on to Schloss Moritzbug by the small steam train. Unfortunately Mr Kitson got lost and I had to save him so Frau Kladrowa and her teaching assistant went on with the rest of the group. Having missed the train, Mr Kitson and I followed on by taxi and met the group at the castle!!!!!!!!!! (So you were right after all Mrs Ledger!!!!!!) We had a fab tour of the castle where the students learnt that August the Great drank 18 litres of beer a day. We then went for a long walk around the grounds and got the steam train back.

Saturday - everyone was with their host familes. During the day I visited Pirna and Zuschendorf and in the evening the English dept, Mr Kitson and I went out for an Indian meal where conicidentally George was eating with his host family.

Today - we are off to the opera at 4.30 to see the Rosencavalier and I think it will be pretty spectacular. This morning I visited the Erich Kästner Museum. He wrote such stories as Emil and the Detectives, the Parent Trap (das doppelte Löttchen).

Anyway, all is well - everyone is fine and we are looking forward to our daytrip to Berlin on Tuesday.

Bis bald

Frau Semper xxx

Dienstag den 31. März

Hallo Leute!

Sorry we haven't  managed tp put anymore on the blog till now. It's all been pretty hectic!

Saturday - well we met at the opera to see the rehearsal of the concert - really interesting and the music was amazing. Afterwards we spent the weekends with our host families.

Monday - we went to school for a few lessons and then we went to a museum to see all the Saxon treasures!

Today was great though - Berlin! We were on the train for 7am and got into Berlin just after 9. First of all we went to the Holocaust memorial, then to the parliament building but unfortunately we couldn't go up the cupola as they were cleaning all the glass! Afterwards we made aóur way through the Brandenburg Gate, down Unter den Linden, quick stop at Starbucks and then did some shopping on the Gendarmenmarkt at the famous Ampelmann shop and chocolate shop! Our next stop was Checkpoint Charlie and we had a look around the museum - also bumped into Ewan MacGregor!!!!!!

Quick train back to the main station and then on the IC to Dresden - back by 7pm!

Tomorrow is our last day and we plan to go up the Frauenkirche..... do some last shopping and enjoy the sunshine!

Bis nachher

Frau Semper, Frau Bavaj, Sandy, Lily, Olivia C, Olivia, Grace and Dana xxx

Freitag den 27. März

Hallo!

So here we are in Dresden. Sorry it has taken a while to get something posted but free time is something that we don´t have a lot of! Well the journey went smoothly and there were no delays. We arrived in Dresden on Weds at around 9pm where we were met by our host families. Yesterday everyone was pretty tired still from the journey, coupled with getting up early since the first lesson begins at 7.45! The first two lessons we had a tour of the school and lessons 3-6 the group attended lessons with the penfriends and discovered that Sodium is Natrium in German and hence its symbol being NA! In the afternoon we walked into the city centre and the Sankt Benno students gave us a tour. Afterwards we had some spare time before the international party at 7pm when we were welcomed and we said au revoir to the french exchange group. At the party we did some folk dances and tried to teach the others how to do the Gay Gordon.

Today the students went to lessons 1 and 2 and then we met to go to Schloss Moritzburg. To get there we took the tram to Dresden Neustadt, the S Bahn to Radebeul and then most importantly we took the Kleinbahn to the castle - the Kleinbahn is a little steam train which we all loved! The tour was great and the guide was really funny!

So far so good, everyone seems happy - lots of cake, Haribo and Schoklade!

Frau Bavaj und Frau Semper chillen auch!

Bis bald

Frau Semper, Frau Bavaj, Snady, Grace, Olivia, Olivia C, Dana and Lil

Thursday 13th March

Dear All

So we are nearly at the end of the Exchange trip and everything has gone well. Tuesday we had a great day in Berlin and as you can see from the photos we found a fab chocolate shop! Yesterday was a more relaxed day and today we were in Meissen where we had a tour of the porcelain factory and the cathedral. Tomorrow is our last day so we will have a farewell party in the school in the afternoon but before that I'll take the girls shopping for their last bargains and then we'll be ready to make our journey back to St Andrews on Saturday. I doubt I will have time to add anymore to the blog tomorrow but I hope you have enjoyed the bits I've been able to share with you.

Alles Liebe

Frau Semper, Rebecca, Emily, Zofia, Louise und Jo xx

Tues 11th March 2008

Hallo!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get a comment up whilst we are out here. It has all been pretty hectic! We arrived quite late on Friday night and then had the weekend to recover from the journey and get to know Dresden and our host families. On Sunday night we went to the Semper opera house for the premiere of Giselle and another ballet called "A million kisses to my skin". I think the girls really enjoyed it. Yesterday they experienced German school life and in the afternoon our penfriends gave us a tour around the town. The weather was gorgeous, really sunny and spring like. Today we have been in Berlin all day, visiting the Parliament building, Holocaust Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie and we got back to Dresden around 7pm. Well I´m going to try and attach the first lot of photos now which show the journey here, the ballet and yesterday´s tour of the town. All being well I can upload the Berlin photos tomorrow.

Schöne Grüsse an alle

Frau Semper, Louise, Rebecca, Emily, Zofia and Jo xx

Preparations - February 2008

So we're off to Dresden on March 7th. This will be the fourth Exchange trip out there and the group is very excited about going and they are all hoping for snow. Flights and train tickets are booked and I'm now making sure everything is in place - risk assessment, diaries, phrase booklets etc. Well we'll keep you posted.

Bis bald!

Elizabeth Semper