Bremen - Museum, Strassenmusikanten und Weihnachtsmärkte

We departed in the dark from Münster for the hansaetic trading city of Bremen in the company of Mr Meyer, long-time friend of Kingswood School. Again our Elpers coach was very comfortable and many pupils caught up on some shut eye, while others chatted and chilled out to music. Ear wigging the conversations taking place at the back of the coach it is clear that the pupils have really enjoyed their stays and established some good friendships. Historically a good number of pupils have come back again to stay with the same families as they move into Year 11 and beyond. Those who have been before this time, have felt they have understood more and spoken much more German, which is encouraging to hear.  I hope a good number of the Year 10 pupils will want to come again and encourage more peers to come next year. Certainly for those who have continued to study German in the Sixth Form involvement in the exchange has been pivotal.  Language teachers gain their greatest pleasure from seeing the pupils applying their skills and being bold in a different language.

We spent an hour at the Natural History Museum in Bremen which focused on trade for which the city has been very famous since the Middle Ages and the connections the city has built with other trading posts around the world. We then moseyed into the Altstadt as you will see from the photos below where various Christmas markets were in full swing. Our rendez-vous point (Treffpunkt) was the old Town Hall and the famous bronze statue which pays homage to the Brothers Grimm story of the Street Musicians (a donkey, dog, cat & cockerel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_Musicians_of_Bremen

Während des Austausches habe ich siebenmal Currywurst gegessen!

We hope to be in Bath by 11:30 pm tomorrow night and look forward to seeing you all. If the plans change at all, we will contact you en route.  

As a final blog comment, I would like to add: the pupils this year have been excellent company throughout and Miss Brandstätter, whom I would also like to thank most sincerely, have really enjoyed spending time with them and seeing them fly solo 'auf Deutsch'.  Schiller parentswho have hosted have spoken very highly of their Bath guests.

Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins Neujahr!

A day of lessons in Münster

Miss Brandstätter and I have seen little of the pupils and still not heard a peep from them the via the various mobile numbers available to them,  which is very encouraging. We caught glimpses of them between lessons and attended some A Level lessons ourselves today: interesting discussions on the current refugee crisis and the UK's stance. The Christmas markets were in full swing tonight especially as the weather was good. The Kingswood staff enjoyed the hospitality of the Schiller English staff tonight. We are all off to Bremen tomorrow morning at 8 am to visit the Überseemuseum (http://www.uebersee-museum.de/)  and the Christmas Market in the main town square.

I wrote too soon that we had not heard from the pupils because having completed today's blog entry, I then checked my school e-mail account. I am delighted to report that Alex, his partner Fynn, Emily H and her partner, Anna, cooked dinner together tonight and sent in this photo for the blog. Gute Nacht!

Die Pferde in Münsterland und ein Outlet!

The pupils recounted very happy weekends including visits to Hamburg, Bremehaven, Dortmund, trips to the cinema, go-karting, riding, ice skating...and clearly some shopping, too! Sam claims to have now consumed five Currywurst meals. The pupils are enjoying using their German and it is clear they have acquired the odd colloquialism.  Many had enjoyed new food including venison and dumplings! It was great to hear how well the pupils are being hosted and does not surprise me at all given the visits I have taken, which only account for a third of the thirty years this exchange has been running.

Today Frau Näpel kindly accompanied us the state-owned stud in Warendorf, which specialises in eventing horses. http://www.die-deutschen-landgestuete.de/landgestuet-warendorf.htmlYes, believe or not, German taxpayers actually help finance this stud which can claim many Olympic Medal-winning horses, as well as countless domestic and international prized horses.  Our charming guide, Annika, took us around an explained about the different breeds, the reasons for the horses' names and how the horses are trained...as well as the matter of siring of future show-jumping horses around the world. The pupils enjoyed stroking these handsome beasts before moving onto the shopping outlet at Ochtrop (what a great name!) not far from the Dutch border.  https://foc-ochtrup.de/ The Lindt shop featured heavily in the purchases made and doubtless many of you will benefit! That's it from Münster today......lessons in school beckon tomorrow before our trip on Wednesday to Bremen with Mr Meyer.

Sunday 13 December

Miss Brandstätter and I assume all is well as we have not heard a peep out of the pupils all weekend. We look forward to seeing them tomorrow when we go on our day trip around the Münster area. We were taken out for a spectacular  lunch by Alex's host, the Thiesler family, again, where we all enjoyed Christmas goose, red cabbage, dumplings and some even managed dessert in Altes Gasthaus Leve, which is very well-known locally. Today also allowed us the chance to catch up with former German Assistants, Nadine and Kara at the Christmas markets. Bis morgen!

Sat 12 December 2015

You can take it that the pupils are having a great time because we have not heard anything from them. We look forward to catching up with them on Monday morning at school before setting off on one of our day trips out.

Lessons attended and town orientation sorted

The pupils came to school very early this morning for the first lesson. They had all eaten well and slept heavily, but not enough! We headed into town to visit the city museum after a couple of lessons before exploring some of the Christmas markets. The pupils  learnt about the development of the city of Münster and about opposition to the Nazis from the Bishop Van Galen in the 1940s. A number of pupils enjoyed the food stalls and Sam has eaten at least 2 portions of Currywurst! Host families have all organised excellent, fun packed weekends. We will see the pupils on Monday. Miss Brandstätter and I enjoyed a delicious meal of Grünkohl (sausage, pork and green cabbage with potatoes) in the company of one of the host teachers, Mrs Näpel, and her  family. We look forward to catching up with the pupils on Monday.

Problemlos in Münster angekommen

Our journey to Münster although long, went without hitches. The pupils were all met by eager hosts and familiar faces at Münster's main train station tonight. The pupils were in good spirits, but less enthusiastic about possible early rises and school tomorrow! Gute Nacht! Bis morgen.