A week in Ipswich, England –
diary of an exchange

Monday, March 5^th

On Monday morning at 5 o'clock, all the people from the exchange met at the airport in Dortmund. After this, everyone had to check in and at 7 o'clock we flew to London Luton. The flight was very good. After 40 minutes of flight we landed at the airport of London Luton and then we took a bus to drive to Ipswich. Everyone was very tired and everybody were glad when we arrived at 10 o’clock. But instead of going to sleep, we put away our cases and then we explored the city. At 3 o'clock after our exchange partners finished school, we could go to them. We were so glad to see them all again. Then we were picked up by the parents of the English people and everyone went home. There everyone got to know their host family. There was much to tell and the people from the exchange were shown everyone their house. After an hour of chilling a little bit the day was going on. We met at McDonalds and ate fast food. Everyone told so much and it was very funny. We met many friends of our exchanges and they were all very nice. After had eat we went all to a girl from the exchange and we chilled in the garden. At 9 o’clock each of us was picked up and we were allowed to go to bed. It was a very tiring day but also very successful for us.

Luana and Joline

Tuesday, March 6^th

On the second day of our exchange we had our first wake up in England at our families. The breakfast wasn’t much different from at home, but there where things which aren’t heard often in Germany. While we had toast or cereals we watched the breakfast news and saw that in England is a big interest being informed about everything, sometimes also only by radio. Because of our plan to go to Cambridge without our exchanges we could do a lot with them, so we drove to the station. At the station we had the first time the exchange our first impressions of England with our German friends. What we all thought that the English seem much more polite and friendly. In the train we exchanged more things and also saw a wonderful landscape at some places. When we arrived in Cambridge we had to walk a bit to the centre of Cambridge. When we arrived we had a tour by a German speaking woman, which was a bit boring at the end for us. In Cambridge was the first time we had to use English knowledge with unknown people. So we went eating at McDonald’s and used the free Internet access. It felt first a bit strange for us German to be in a crowd of English people, but we were able to deal with it. All that day we improved our English more and more by buying things, asking for toilets and other things. But still it helped us to be in a group more than three. When we went home, we watched a football match to see with some more friends from Germany and new English people at Samuel’s exchange partner. The comments on the football match were similar to German comments and easy to understand. While watching it and eating ice-cream, chocolate und crisps, we also just took turns of FIFA 2012. After an exciting football match of Arsenal against Milan FC we were a bit tired. I think it was eleven a clock when we went to bed. The first day in England was a very interesting impression and we have learned many things about the life and people in Ipswich and England. One thing is that it’s more easy to speak English in England than in Germany. It was a very cool day.

Tobias and Samuel

Wednesday, March 7^th

On Wednesday, we got up at 7 o’clock. We ate breakfast with our exchange partners Georgina and Andrew and after that we went to their school. The Northgate High School. The playground was really huge and the lessons were different to those in Germany. At half past twelve we ate lunch in the big school cafeteria. After one more lesson school was finished and we went back to our guest families. In the evening we met everybody at the cinema. We watched “The woman in Black”. It was pretty scary. After we had eaten a little dinner at McDonald’s everybody went home and the day ended. It was a really nice day.

Eileen and Leon

Thursday and Friday, 8^th and 9^th March

Winning London – Friday was the second time for us to go to London. This time our English exchanges came with us. It took nearly two hours to get to London by bus, but as we were a really funny and lively group even just sitting in a bus was quite entertaining. The London Dungeon was our first stop. We had to split up into two groups because 40 pupils at once would have been too much for the actors. Having been there a few times the teachers already knew that it is sometimes better not to be the first ones to go through the Dungeon. Being sent into the ages of the plague, Jack the Ripper and Sweeny Todd, some German students were so frightened that they began to sing. “Can you feel the love tonight” and »Alle meine Entchen« – techno version -were the most popular songs to chase away the fear. Nevertheless, finally we agreed that the London Dungeon is something they should keep on the “must-see list” for the exchange. As always when teachers advise pupils to wear solid footwear nobody was listening. So the walk to the Buckingham palace seemed like miles to us. Many photos had to be taken when we arrived there. It is also a popular tradition to annoy the Royal Guards. “Oh my God, you smiled, I’m gonna tell the Queen,” one of the English pupils suddenly shouted. The London Eye was impressive. We were able to see all of London at once. As the Eye moves very slowly we had the chance to enjoy the view without getting sick. We were not so lucky with the weather, but at least it didn’t rain. After the “flight” we went to a 4D show about London and the Eye. Some of the boys who had not shown any sign of fear in the Dungeons were really terrified by the virtual seagulls flying towards us. London was really worth seeing and we hope we will have a chance to come back.

Pia and Sarah

Saturday, March 10^th

Today me and my exchange partner Rob Brennan were on a football court with my friend Tobias and his exchange partner Jack. There were also some of Rob’s friends who played with us. We hat a lot of fun and after 2 hours we went home. At home we got some lunch and watched TV. In the evening we had a party at Rob’s house where we played on Rob’s X-Box with Jan-Niklas, his exchange partner Danny, Justus and his exchange partner Paul. We ate pizza and had a lot of fun. When they went home I had dinner and then I went to bed.

Patrick, Nico and Philipp

On Saturday morning we got up at 11 o’clock and got ready for a shopping day with our exchange partners Brittany and Izzy. We met at 1 o’clock at Brittany’s. Then we went through a cemetery, which was a little bit scary, but after a few minutes we arrived in town. First we went to different shops and bought a DVD and some sweets for the evening. After that we went into a card-shop, which is very typical of England and where you can buy uncountable postcards for Mother’s Day, weddings and lots of other events. Arrived at Brittany’s again we watched a couple of movies. For dinner we ate different pizzas. British pizza isn’t really tasty! At the end of the day we watched the film “What’s happened in Vegas” which was fun. This was a very relaxed and sunny day which was a chance to visit Ipswich again. The day was perfect!

Pauline and Lena

Sunday, 11^th of March

On Sunday morning we woke up at 10 am. We were on a Sleepover at Paul’s house. After an amazing breakfast we went by car with Paul’s and Danny’s family to “The Dolphin” restaurant and had a traditional English lunch. It tasted really good. After everyone had enough we walked down the road to the beach and played around half an hour with stones and enjoyed the great weather. The sun was shining and we had around 15 degrees and no clouds. When we got bored we went back to the cars and drove to the pier. We spent really much money for those British humored slot machines and hours of time. Our last pence were spent for a little snack on the pier. Everything was so expensive there. After a long day everyone went back home and Justus and me packed our ligguages for the next day and fell very tired asleep.

Justus and Jan-Niklas