Okay I sent this in for the school magazine. It's a lot more serious than I'd originally planned for, but whatever. I was feeling really low when I wrote it.
See naaaa! :D
The journey to Germany started on the morning of 6th April. After an 8 hour long flight, the 15 students from DPS Gurgaon, along with their teacher - Ms. Sapna Dhawan - landed in Munich. From here, a flight to Stuttgart was taken, where the German students awaited their Indian partners. The schools involved in the exchange were Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium (Crailsheim), Erasmus-Widmann-Gymnasium and Gymnasium bei St. Michael (Schwabisch Hall). After a long busride, the students finally arrived at their partners' homes by nightfall.
The first five days (7th to 11th April) were spent at their partner's homes, due to the schools having Easter holidays. Most students used these days to grow familiar with their new surroundings and their partners' families. On 12th, schools reopened and the Indian students accompanied their partners to school, where they met students from other schools (DPS Noida and Mayo College). The first week involved guided tours of Schwabisch Hall (for the students in Erasmus-Widmann-Gymnasium and Gymnasium bei St. Michael) and Crailsheim (for the students in Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium), where the Mayor welcomed the students with great warmth. The children also attended a Fit for Germany seminar and visited the Audi car manufacturing plant with great enthusiasm.
The second week started with the Dance Project for all the Indian students, where they learnt a fusion of hip hop and jazz, which spanned four days scattered across the next two weeks. To their great joy, the students visited the Daimler-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, followed by sight seeing and shopping. There was also a guided visit to a German forest, where both the Germans and Indians learnt about German forests and wildlife. This was followed by a delicious barbeque during late afternoon, much to the delight of everybody. The Indian students also planned a visit to Tripsdrill, an amusement park.
The next week, students attended lessons in school (like they did in the first and second week). They also started working on the 3rd Reich Project, where they were told about Nazism, Hitler's policies and the political (and consequently, social) history of Germany. They took part in an interactive session, where they discussed their thoughts on Nazism. They were later asked to prepare a presentation on a variety of topics related to Hitler's government, which proved to be greatly informative. The next day, the German and Indian students went to Munich, where they visited they Dachau concentrated camp, and were later taken for shopping and sightseeing.
On the day of the farewell, everybody was busy preparing to make this event a memorable one. The students of DPS Gurgaon also got a chance to paint a pillar in Gymnasium bei St. Michael and leave a mark behind. The farewell itself was a grand and was held in Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium in Crailsheim. Every performance was recieved with deafening applause and cheers by the German families. There was an atmosphere of sadness and nostalgia, where tears and smiles mingled together as everybody remembered fond memories of their stay.
After endless number of pictures and hugs, and long drawn out goodbyes, the show finally came to an end. The next morning, most German partners accompanied their Indian friends to the Stuttgart airport. After their final goodbyes, everybody looked around, taking in the fact that it was finally over. The most memorable experience of their lives had come to an end.
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Okay I just realized it's WAY too serious. Damn.
But they wanted it to be informative! I couldn't have written how much fun we had while we were bar hopping. Or drunk :P
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| We The Crailsheim-ers :D DAMN. I miss this. Those will be the best memories :') |
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