Erasmus+ project Cultural Exchange in Karlsruhe, Germany

26.11. Sunday

DAY FULL OF ACTION: THE TRIP BEGINS

Sunday morning started early. Taxi took ten students and two teachers from Merenojan yhtenäiskoulu to Ylivieska train station. Our train was late but we managed to get to Helsinki in time. The flight was not in time either and we arrived in Frankfurt one hour late. It was a bit hard to find the regional train. Finally we caught the right train and reached our destination Karlsruhe by midnight. Host families were there waiting for the students and it took some time until they all got home, tired but excited. Kristiina and Hanna were taken to their hotel in Königsbach.

27.11. Monday

LET'S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER

On Monday morning both students and teachers went to the school at 9.40. At school we met each other. German students showed us the school building. The name of the school is Willy-Brandt Realschule. There are about 600 students in this school that consists of the primary and the secondary schools. The school building is quite modern and well equipped.

Students began to work with their task that was presenting the Christmas traditions in Finland and Germany. They used tablets and wrote about food, decoration, habits etc. They also used their own photos.

During the fourth and the fifth lessons the Finnish and German students played ice breaking games. “Zip Zap” was a game played with ropes and a crane. The task was to put a wooden block on top of the other block and make as high a tower as possible. And the students also played Christmas Kahoot. After these games it was time for the school lunch. Students in Germany have to buy school lunch and it is pretty expensive. That is the reason why most of the students go home and have lunch there or they bring packed lunches. We had lunch at school also on Tuesday. When the school day was over it was time to go to the host families and have free time.

28.11. Tuesday

CHRISTMAS BAKING 

On Tuesday we had to wake up early and go to school. From 8.35 until 10.20 the Finnish students followed hosties' lessons like art and German. In the last three lessons it was time for home economics. Some Finnish muffins and German Christmas cookies Lebkuchen were baked in mixed groups. Students succeeded well and all the pastries  were delicious. The home economics classroom was pretty much the same as in Merenojan yhtenäiskoulu. After school we all had free time and some students went to visit Karlsruhe with their German hosties.

29.11. Wednesday

VISIT TO STUTTGART 

On Wednesday we made a trip to Stuttgart. We traveled there by train. We visited the Museum of illusions which was really fun and cool. All the students enjoyed the different interactive displays and visual tricks. After all the illusions we went to a big shopping center nearby and had lunch there. Later we walked around the mall full of seasonal decorations. We also went to the Christmas market  and did some shopping there. In the afternoon we arrived at Königsbach railway station.

 The evening was free and it was time for the students to do some activities with their hosties. Some had made Christmas wreaths of branches of spruce.

30.11. Thursday

VISIT TO BRUCHSAL 

On Thursday morning we all followed lessons at school. After the lessons we took the train to Bruchsal  with the German students and teachers. We saw the beautiful Bruchsal castle that was really big. Bruchsal Castle is one of the most majestic prince-bishop's residences in Germany. There were two museums in this castle too. German music machine museum and Municipal History museum.  We heard some self playing instruments that played music for us. It was really interesting.

After visiting this castle we went to the Christmas market in Bruchsal. It was so nice to see the marketplace full of life. The day was really great and it was so nice to get to know many old things and the history of the castle. The evening was free and the students spent time with their host families.

1.12. Friday

THE END OF THE WEEK 

On Friday we all followed some lessons again. During the first lesson we had art and we colored some pictures. Next lesson was PE and the students played some games together there. The rest of the school day was spent with the Erasmus-group finalizing the Christmas presentations that were then presented to the whole group. 

Because this was the  last day of our exchange the principal of the school handed  us the certification of attendance. After school the students had leisure time with their German families.  Some went bowling or shopping and had dinner afterwards.

2.12. Saturday

DAY FULL OF ACTION vol 2: BACK HOME

On Saturday we began our trip at 8.00 in the morning. We headed to Karlsruhe train station. It was time to say goodbye to the host families and the colleagues and fly back home. Our train was 20 min late. The train was really crowded. Almost everyone had big suitcases. It was hard to get to the right seats because in Germany you don't need to buy a seat ticket.

At the airport the queues were enormously long. We had to queue everywhere, to the check-in, to the bag drop, to the security check. Finally the flight to Helsinki began one hour late. Afterwards we heard that all this chaos was because of the heavy snowfall in Munich.

After having dinner at Helsinki airport we took a regional train to Tikkurila. From there we continued by train to Ylivieska at 20.45.  Nobody slept during this trip on the train so one can only guess how tired we were when we arrived in Kalajoki at 4.15. Tired but happy.