Thursday 24 September
On Thursday we started our tour to Denmark at 8 o´clock. We started our trip with a goodbye to our friends and entered the bus with high expectations. We enjoyed the view and watched a film. In Puttgarden, we took the ferry to Denmark and spent the time on the deck until we went back to the bus for the last two hours. As we reached exit number 18 of the motorway, we were very nervous and started to comb our hair and to put on fresh make up. Some minutes later we reached the school in Lyngby where our exchange students were waiting to pick us up and to take us home. Everyone went to his family and got to know the parents, siblings and maybe some neighbours.
Friday 25 September
On Friday we met at 8 o’clock at the school in Lyngby.
After the greeting we had breakfast in the classroom with the exchange students and the teachers. We had a nice breakfast with rolls and cheese, ham, apple and orange juice.
While havin breakfast we got a group project where we had to compare one store from the Lyngby Storecenter with the shops from Ahaus.
After the introduction we went to the Lyngby Storecenter and listened to a presentation by a woman who worked at the shopping center. Then we went to the single shops with our groups, took pictures and asked the sales representatives to give information about the shops.
After a few hours we went back to school and worked at our presentation of the shops.
At two o’clock school was over and we had free time with our exchange students.
Weekend
On Friday evening we went to a party to meet all the people of the exchange and we tried to start a conversation. It was a great night, in which we drank some beer and celebrated the exchange. There were a lot of funny moments we never want to miss.
Next day we visited Copenhagen to see some sights of the capital. It was very nice to see the little mermaid. We sat down on the ground next to the harbour to see some boats and and the people passing by. After that some of us went to another party and the others did different things like watching a movie, eating something or going to sleep at home. After the school time we had the chance to sleep a long time.
On Sunday we also did very different things. Some of us visited the harbour, where the rich people live and went out to eat at a restaurant. Other classmates went to the sailing boat of one of the Danish partners to eat and drink.
All in all it was a very nice weekend for all of us.
Monday 28 September
Today we were in Copenhagen. First we visited the ruins of Christiansborg. We saw some old walls and part of houses and of the old castle under the ground. It was very interesting and you got historical background knowledge of Copenhagen.
Afterwards we visited Christiania. This is a Freetown in Copenhagen with an alternative lifestyle. It was a former military station. An inhabitant showed us Christiania and told us a lot of things about it, for example that there is a Pusher Street where some dealers sell soft drugs like hash. Christiania was one of the most exciting trips we made with our exchange students.
Then we left this part of the town and made a trip with the ship through the harbour. This was a sightseeing tour in English and German. So we saw all the sights with a good explanation of them. Also we were very lucky with the weather because the sun was shining.
After this program we had free time with our exchange partner. Some of us met at each other’s home and talked about the nice trip. In the evening we had lunch with our families.
All in all it was another nice day of this great exchange with Denmark.
Tuesday 29 September
On Tuesday we met in school at 8.30 in the morning at school and when we arrived we had to finish our presentations of a store in ”Lyngby Storcenter“. After finishing them we had to present them in front of our judges (our teachers). The winners had to present their presentation once again in front of all the participants of the exchange and won a little price as well. Then in the afternoon we had to work on a project about Christiania in the same groups. The project consisted of a written assignment and a movie. The school day ended at 2 o’clock.
Wednesday 30 September
On Wednesday we went to Helsingör by train. From there we took a ferry to Helsingborg, which is in Sweden, and had some time to do some sightseeing. At midday we went back to Helsingör and visited the museum of seafaring. During a guided tour we learned something about different centuries of seafaring and saw lots of models of old ships. The museum is placed in the underground near the sea on the bottom of an old dock. After this visit we saw the castle Kronborg, which is famous for its part in the Shakespeare play Hamlet. We weren´t just seeing it we also went to the castle yard where we took our group photo. Later we went back to Lyngby and just had some time with our student exchange partners.
Thursday 1 October
On Thursday we spent the last day with the Danish people. At 8:30 am we were supposed to be at school. Then we had plenty of time to finish our Christiania assignments in our groups and presented them two hours later. Every presentation was unique and nearly every group performed high-quality work. At the end of the assignments we had an evaluation. The evaluation was a questionnaire about the whole exchange and the programme we had in Denmark. At about 1 pm our school day was finished and we were allowed to leave school and we had a private programme with our exchange partners. In the evening the Danish and German students met at Xin Fu, a Chinese restaurant in Holten, for dinner. Later that evening we went home with our partners, stayed there for the last night and prepared ourselves for the next day and the long way home.
Friday 2.October
On Friday we had to be at school at 07:45 to leave Denmark. Everyone was already there for about 20 minutes and just one girl was missing. When she arrived with a taxi everyone clapped their hands. The first tears were already dropping. And when the bus opened the doors we all said goodbye to our Danish partners. After a long trip we finally arrived at Ahaus at 17:30. It was the end of an exciting time in Denmark and we already look forwards to meeting our new friends in March 2016 again.