The Abingdonian 2019

41 www.abingdon.org.uk Lent Term and in the history books shouldn’t be underestimated. The trip really helps humanise Germany as a whole and makes you realise that maybe we’re not so different after all (even if they do eat cornflakes with tea spoons). It’s also shed loads of fun, and you get free pizza. Across the week-and-a-bit that we spent in Germany we took part in a variety of activities, whether with the school group or with our exchange. Some of the highlights include: an English visit to the Dortmund football museum, complete with a friendly football match expertly filmed and commentated by Charles Maddison; an English visit to the beautiful medieval town of Hamelin (famously the home of the Pied Piper - but not as we know him) during which many of us enjoyed typical German pastries in the sunlight; a joint theatre project in which groups of both German and English students recreated famous talent shows such as the X Factor or Germany’s Next Top Model . It was all good fun as we struggled together to try and integrate a series of famous English and German literature quotes. Ultimately, however one group was crowned victor with their performance of a warped version of Germany’s Next Top Model . Other highlights were: a joint trip to an ice skating rink; top tip, Tonya Harding made it look a lot easier than it actually is; a trip to Dokter Oetker, during which we learned the history of Germany’s most recognisable dessert brand. We also tasted their amazing pudding and pizza, which certainly rival England’s recognisable Jaffa cakes. Finally we come to the England v Germany football game, in which each nation was split into three teams which battled in tight six minute games. Germany is alleged to have won, however, those who witnessed it must agree that they were somehow cheating. After all there’s no way they could have beaten the English at football! The German school system seems to be far more relaxed than the British one. They get to school at 7.40am, and with the hour’s time difference, this was especially early for us on the first few days. However, the early start is followed up by an early finish as well, with the Ratsgymnasium Bielefeld ending its school days sometimes as early as 1.30pm. You may think they make up for this lost time by piling on the homework like there’s no tomorrow, but no. In all the time I was there, I barely saw any homework set or done. Perhaps they have shorter holidays to catch up on lost time in the school day? Wrong again! While they do have shorter holidays, it is only a marginal difference and doesn’t add up all the extra hours. So how are the pupils so clever? I’ve absolutely no clue but they certainly aren’t as stressed about school work as we are here. At least, that’s the impression that I got. On the differences between the two schools specifically, they have more condensed buildings with more classrooms for the amount of space than at Abingdon, although they have a similar number of pupils. As to what they do in all this free time? Well, that one depends on the person. However one thing is for sure: whether they choose to spend it on their phones, playing sport, shopping, eating or any number of other activities, they have far more free time than we do at Abingdon. We also noticed a lot of differences between family life in the UK and Germany. The most obvious one, I found, was that my exchange family was much more tidy and organised (with their possessions) than most British families I know. This was quite a shock to the system to me seeing that my family is the furthest thing from this clean, crisp, everything-has-its-place style I found in Bielefeld. It seemed almost alien, in a welcome way, and I think it speaks to the cultural differences that the exchange is all about. Apart from this, the family were all very nice people. They were just as polite as any British family and were generally very hospitable. I’m sure it’s not only this family that was this kind and polite. Politeness aside, a final word of warning to future exchange participants; German cereal is vastly inferior to its British counterparts and they do seem to drink an unhealthy amount of sparkling water and fizzy apple juice! Charles Maddison and Johnnie Willis- Bund, 4LCAM