St Benedict's German Exchange trip 2023
St Benedict’s German GCSE students spent a week in Meschede, capital of the North Rhine-Westphalia district.
Following the students from Germany's visit to London in March of this year, our St Benedict's GCSE German students took part in the annual long-standing German exchange partnership and spent a week with their German exchange partners in Meschede.
Oliver from L5 (Year 10) shares his experience of the trip with us:
On Saturday the 23rd September, we arrived at St. Pancras train station at 7:30 to get on four different trains, until we arrived at Meschede at 18:30, where the exchange partners and their families were waiting for us.
The next morning, after Mass, the partners went home to do what they liked. Some went on hikes, some played, some played laser-tag and some went to a fair. Most people had already tried German food, such as Currywurst and barbecued food.
On Monday and Tuesday, we went with our partners to school, having to wake up at around 05:30 to start school at 07:30.
There was a football match on Tuesday afternoon, between the exchange and the school football team. After two quick goals by the opposition, Bjarne (my partner), scored a tap in before half-time to make it 2-1. After relentless pressure and many missed chances, we finally scored an equaliser in the last minute (the scorer was Malte). It was a solid all-round team performance, where the two 'men of the match' were Victor and Florian (the goalkeeper).
On Wednesday we were in the first 2 lessons of school, and then went to Dortmund on the train for 1 hour and 2 hours. When we arrived, some of us went to the football museum and the others walked around Dortmund and had 3 hours to do whatever they wanted.
On Thursday, after the first two lessons of school, all of us went to Willingen to go on the skywalk, a foot bridge which was 100 metres high. Some found it very scary, whereas others found it very fun and a great experience. We went on a hike afterwards.
Friday after school, we had a mass, then a barbecue, where some played football and basketball, and we ate hot dogs with curry sauce.
A week had already passed on Saturday, so we had a lie in and went to the station, where we said our final farewells to our German friends who had looked after us very well.
Overall, it was a very good experience, and thank you to Miss Davis, Mr. Thomas and Fr. Thomas for organising such a great trip.
