France - Two German diaries

Jennifer:
After a long and exhausting day we arrived in Chateau du Loir, a little village near Le Mans, with the Spanish and Belgium people.
We were welcomed in the college, by our host-students. They were all very friendly to us, but the whole situation was a bit tough. But while we went to the guildhall, my host sister and I started our first conversation which was still a bit hawed.
The welcome in the house of my host family was as great as I imagined it. We ate all together and because her mother and brother can’t speak English or German, my host sister translated everything they talked about. This helped me very much and made me feel already home there.

Our day in school was in some cases different to Germany, for example the class goes up to the afternoon and so they eat in a cafeteria.
Unfortunately we had lessons like physics and biology,where we couldn’t understand anything.But the view of our host students was very informative, we saw articles of their student newspaper. I was really amazed that they write their articles also in English and German.
The sport tournament in the afternoon was really funny and surprising, that it is possible to connect different people from different cultures with sports.
Because mostly when we were all together we stayed in our groups and not with the people of the other countries. And while playing volleyball and badminton it seemed to be easier to get into contact with each other.
After two exhausting and interesting days everything was lightened up. In the castle we made our first pictures with our host students which shows that we did more with them and the relation to them got better.
I think it always takes its time to get to know somebody better and that’s why Saturday, the free day with my host sister was the best and funniest we had. We were all together, all four countries connected, ice skating and shopping.

But the most impressive thing for me was how my host family welcomed me and that they took care in doing the best that I feel very well and at home there.
Also very formidable was how different they live. They had such a big house which was really amazing because it was in an old-style. And their eating culture was also very different to ours, for example that they have four meals a day.

My personal profit out of this project is that I got to know another culture which was really exciting.
I also learned that you have to be a bit more openminded, because they are all humans like you and there is maybe the difference of the language but this shouldn’t matter.
The further education aspect is also a big profit for me, because when you are forced to speak English you are able to and you advance in your level.

I would take part in such a project at any time again.
Jennifer

Melanie:
My days in France were very interesting. I learned a lot about the culture and have seen some beautiful cities and places. What I really liked was that the French people were very friendly and frank to us e.g. in school.

My correspendence was regrettably a bit shy. It was a bit difficult to have a conversation.

The lessons there were certainly interesting, but I did not understand what they were saying. The other students tried to explain what the teacher said and it was funny.

After school we had a sports tournaments where we played Badminton and Volleyball.

It was really fun. I enjoyed it and in Badminton we made the third place.

The following day we made a trip to Amboise, where we visited the 'Château' and Tours.

In Tours we had freetime and went shopping. It was a little bit difficult, because we had to go with our French correspendence. So we were a big group and everyone wanted to go to another shop, it was complicated but it was cool to have some time to do things without the whole group. We bought a lot of clothes there.

The last day in France I spent with my correspendence Pauline, her sister and the sister's boyfriend. We drove to Le Mans to go shopping and do a little bit of sightseeing. I liked it although we had little time. The cathedral of Le Mans is so beautiful I was really impressed. In the evening we were invited to Camille, the correspendence of Jennifer. We played Wii and ate pizza end fooled around. I had a really good time there.

As a result I can safely say that the trip to France was a very interesting experience for me. I have seen a lot of new things, I learned something about the French culture and met a lot of nice people and I would never regret to have made such a trip. I would do it everytime again and advise everybody who has this possibility, to do it. And I want to thank my English-teacher for giving me this possibility.
Melanie