A Trip to Germany

On Saturday, the 13th of November, we set off to on an adventure. This adventure would take us to a magical and awesome land called Germany. We went there from Tallinn by plane.

First we flew to Copenhagen, where we waited for 3 hours. After that we wiped Denmark’s dust from our feet and stepped onto the second airplane which  took us to Düsseldorf.

It was already dark when we arrived in Germany and met our host families. We greeted each other and then drove to Neukirchen-Vluyn. When we arrived, we ate lunch and got to know each other.

The next day we went on a field trip to a museum. We saw a collection of old toys and farm buildings, then we ate traditional German pancakes.  After that we went ice-skating for a bit. Our host families fetched us from the ice-skating rink to go home for dinner.

On the third day, we went to a German school. I visited a music lesson, a chemistry lesson, and a French lesson. Everybody was very friendly and wanted to talk to me, so I spoke a lot.  After that we went back home, had lunch and played some games with other children. Then we ate dinner and went to bed shortly after that.

On the next day we went on a long field trip to different places that use renewable energy sources. Like solar energy and biomass. We were shown and explained how the renewable energy is produced in Germany. We could also see a PowerPoint presentation about the building with the roof covered with solar panels. There are some solar panels on the roof of the schoolhouse as well. 

I quite liked the trip and hope to visit the country again. I liked it because the people were so friendly and the sights were interesting. I found out about alternative energy and recycling. I also got to know the local culture a bit. I found some new friends and  hope to keep on touch with them. The lessons were quite different. First of all they were all in German and I didn’t understand anything except chemistry. They have a different grading system where 1 is the best grade and 6 is the worst. Almost all the students go to school with bikes.

I hope to meet my German friends here in Estonia.

Andres Anissimov

School in Germany

I was in Germany for five days and saw the school system and the school traditions.

In Germany school starts at 7.55. Before the lessons the students wait in the hall. There is no wardrobe in the school, so pupils wear outdoor shoes and they put their overcoats on the backs of their chairs in the classroom. Also, the students do not have to wear a uniform.

They have few lessons a day because one lesson lasts for seventy minutes. Earlier the lessons lasted for forty five minutes but it was changed because the schoolbags were too heavy.

When lessons begin students do not stand up but they greet their teachers by saying „Good morning“ in German. The difference from our school is that pupils talk a lot and when the noise becomes too loud the teacher asks the pupils to be quiet. In Germany the grading system starts with 1 which is the best and 6 is the lowest.When they have a language lesson everybody speaks in this language. When a student wants to answer he raises his finger instead of a hand.

There is no canteen because they do not get free food from school. If they are hungry, they can buy something at the cafe´.Some students have lunchboxes with them which they have packed at home. Students and teachers eat also during the lessons.

In music lessons students can play different musical instruments.

It was very interesting to see the differences between Estonian and German school system.

Ave-Ly Toom

 

Estonian in Germany