My review of the trip to Germany – by Ana Hren Traveling to Germany was wonderful because I had a lot of fun, made new friends, saw and learned a lot. I flew by plane for the first time in my life, but at the same time we were also driving with many other means of transport: by taxi, bus, tram, car and boat. Of course, the greatest excitement was caused by the plane and the view through the airplane window. I'll remember those moments forever! My stay in Freiburg was as beautiful as the trip. Lydia and her family were very friendly, kind and excellent hosts. I've had really nice moments with all of them that I will probably remember for a very long time. During the presentations and workshops at the school, during our trips, dinners and lunches, I met a lot of new peers from Poland, Sweden, Greece and also from Germany. We had a city tour of Freiburg and visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the EU Parliament in Strasbourg in France and the silver mine in Black Forest. Among all that, I do not have a favourite place because everything was perfect to me. Every day we had a new experience and it was really a wonderful time. The most beautiful thing for me was the fact that our Croatian group always got the biggest applause after the presentations. In the end we had a farewell party at school which was very emotional, and we had a lot of fun that night. They gave us a little present to remember them and the whole meeting in Freiburg. It was a boat that is a typical toy for children in Freiburg because they like to play with it on the lake. On our way back to Zagreb, we spent a night in Frankfurt and had a chance to meet this city. Our teachers surprised us with a gift... with the boat city tour, so we were sailing along the river Main for an hour and we were very grateful for that. After all, I was happy to come back home, meet with my family and share my new experiences with them. That whole week was amazing to me and I enjoyed every moment of it because I experienced something incredible. That's why I can hardly wait to go through something like that again and I'm ready for all new project assignments.
My experience of Freiburg – by Jackson Matthew McConnell This trip was a lifetime experience. I was looking forward to it since the beginning of the school year. It all started on the 19th of March at 6:00 am at the Franjo Tuđman International Airport. I love flying with planes, but when your plane doesn't have a jet engine, that's scary, it was a propeller plane! But that was just a minor inconvenience. We flew from Zagreb to Vienna. The flight was about 45 minutes. Then after that we flew from Vienna to Basel. After we arrived in Basel and picked up our luggage, we met with our driver. We drove for about 1,5h, when we arrived to most modern school I've seen in my life. It was big, it was modern, it was absolutely amazing. There in the school we met with Matthias, the German teacher. After about 15 minutes our "families" started arriving. There I met my host Finn (14) and his mom Melanie. They were such warm and nice people. I loved the dinner at the restaurant. The second day we all met at the school at 8:30 am. There we had breakfast and introductory games and activities. After that we had presentations about our hometowns and schools. We had a break and went outside to play soccer after which we presented about inventors from our countries. When we were done with presentations we went to the old city of Freiburg and had a thematic guided tour. The tour was over and after the tour we went to Starbucks. The third day we went to Stuttgart. We had a 2,5h drive to Stuttgart because of traffic accidents. We were divided in 3 groups and had tour at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. I personally love cars and now when I learned the background and history, I have a totally different view on cars. The design and architecture of the building were fascinating. I loved the tour of the museum and would love to visit it again. After the tour we had a meal at a nearby restaurant. Since there was a little bit of snow, we had a snowball fight. The fourth day started at 8:00 am when we had workshops about online quizzes and presentations. The online quiz workshop was really interesting and amusing. After those two workshops we had a meal at the school. Then we headed towards the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France. I loved the look of the building, it was very modern. We had a guided tour around the building, and after the tour we went to a room where a huge group of people were debating. At about 7:00 pm we arrived to Freiburg. I was really overwhelmed by the experiences I had experienced that day. The fifth day at 8:00 am we had a lecture about MP3 microchips, it was very interesting. Later we went to the old silver mine by public transport and had a half hour hike. There where snowballs flying all around. It was wonderful and so fun. When we arrived to the old silver mine we had to take security precautions, so we put on helmets and gloves. We met our guide and so we went underground. We had to go underground by ladders, eight ladders to be precise. It was fascinating to me but it would be a hell hole for a claustrophobic person. Yes, in some parts it was really tight, and in some parts the ceiling was really low so I bumped my head a couple of times. Our guide turned off the lights so we experienced full darkness. To me it was amazing and fascinating, but some girls didn't like it as much. After we were done with the tour we had to hike to the bus station. After we arrived in Freiburg we had some free time. Unfortunately, it was the last day.
We had a farewell party/buffet at the school, I didn’t like it because it was really emotional… It is amazing how much people can bind after just 5 days. I loved it there and would love to go back. On our trip back we had a night layover in Frankfurt, so we had some free time and went on a boat tour on the river Main. It was about an hour long and it was very beautiful, we saw so many different buildings for example an old house with a brick tile roof next to a skyscraper. I loved it! After the boat tour we went to the center of the city and walked next to all kinds of shops and restaurants and different places. After our legs started to hurt we went to a Turkish restaurant and had dinner. After the dinner we started walking to our hotel. We went through a park and there were rabbits in a park in the middle of Frankfurt! I was amazed! When we finally arrived at the hotel everybody went to their rooms. I was so tired that the second I laid in my bed I fell asleep. The next day we were back home…
My Freiburg experience – by Veronika Turk On the 19th of March we were going on our trip to Germany for the exchange program for Erasmus+. Our first flight from Franjo Tuđman airport was at 8:25 am. The flight was one hour long and our first stop was Vienna. We waited there for our next flight to Basel. When we came to Basel there was a taxi waiting for us to go to Freiburg. Our hosts were waiting for us and we had some free time with them till our dinner in the pizzeria. After dinner we went home with our hosts. On our second day we met kids from other countries and played some games with the German teacher. That day we also had to present our country, school and Croatian inventors. When all the presentations were finished we had a little city tour around Freiburg. The third day was my favourite because we went to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum. It was a really interesting museum with old and new cars. After the museum we had a delicious meal at a restaurant. We did not have any free time to go around Stuttgart but when we came home we went on a little shopping trip in Freiburg. On the fourth day we had a workshop about online quizzes and presentations which was very interesting to learn. After our meal at school we went to Strasbourg to visit the EU Parliament. We also did not have any free time to visit Strasbourg but we had free time to wonder around Freiburg again. For our last day we had a lecture about MP3 microchips and we visited the old mine. Me and my teachers did not go into the mine because we are afraid of small spaces and heights. Instead we went to the nice hotel to drink some hot chocolate. When we returned to the city we had free time till 8:00 pm. At 8:00 pm we came back to school for the buffet and to say our last goodbye to all the exchange students. On Saturday morning there was a taxi waiting for us to go to the Basel airport again. We said goodbye to our hosts and left with some nice memories. In Basel we waited till 2:05 pm for our flight to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt we had a bout tour on the river Main and had a nice dinner in the Turkish restaurant and then we left to rest in our hotel. On my last day in Germany we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then we had to check out and go to the Frankfurt airport where we waited till 12:00 am for our flight to Zagreb. When we returned to Zagreb I was so happy to finally be home but I was still a bit sad that I had to leave all of my new friends.
My Freiburg Diary – by Leonarda Vitas Monday (March 19, 2018) At 6:25 am we arrived at the airport. We said goodbye to our parents, checked-in our suitcases and took boarding tickets. After that we had free time. Veronika and I went to a shop. The first flight was very interesting since it was my first time on the plane and the view was amazing. We came at the airport in Vienna where we waited for a flight to Basel. After arrival we waited for the bus to Freiburg. Our families that we were to stay with waited for us in front of their school. Each one of us went with their family. Later, in the evening we all had dinner together at a pizzeria. The students from Greece, Sweden and Poland also came. The dinner was great. After that, we all went back to our host families. My family Hosch was good, fun and very kind and the girl who hosted me named Hannah. Tuesday (March 20, 2018) After breakfast Hannah and I went to school. On Tuesday we had the introduction day and a lot of presentations. German group presented their school and after that we played interesting games. The goal of the games was to get to know each other better and to connect. After that there were presentations of all other schools. Each school presented the city, school, and inventors. We learned a lot of things. We had lunch at school. After the presentation we went for a city tour. Freiburg is a very nice city with really beautiful churches. We had some free time when the girls and I went shopping. The day passed fast. Wednesday (March 21, 2018) Today we travelled to Stuttgart to visit Mercedes-Benz Museum. The journey lasted for two and a half hours. We all talked on the bus and had fun. The museum is very big and I liked it. We saw the first bike, the first car and much more. I would love to go there once again. After the museum we had lunch at the restaurant, it was delicious. We did not have enough time to see the city so we went back to Freiburg. The day was cloudy. I was very tired so I went to sleep as soon as we came home. Thursday (March 22, 2018) Today some other students had presentations because they did not make it on Tuesday. After that we had a lecture on how to do quizzes and Prezi presentations online. It was interesting, I learned a lot. Later we went to Strasbourg. We did not travel long because Freiburg is close to the border with France and Strasbourg. We visited the EU Parliament. The building is large and very nice. In one room we watched the movie about Europe and then went on a tour. After we came back to Freiburg we had a lot of free time. Girls and I went to the city. We went to Starbucks and later after that we went home. Friday (March 23, 2018) At 8:00 am we had a lecture on MP3 microchips, which was interesting. After that we went to the silver mine in the Black Forest. It was very cold, dark and wet there, so I didn't like it. In the evening we had a farewell party and plenty of free time for our new friends. It was a very nice evening. We all got together and talked about everything. I'm glad to have met all of them. Saturday (March 24, 2018)
We said goodbye to our new families and went by bus to the airport in Basel. After arriving to Frankfurt we came to the hotel just to leave our things because we had to rush and catch the last boat city tour along the river Main. It was very nice, and the weather was really good. Frankfurt has big skyscrapers and I liked them a lot. We enjoyed the tour because we had an opportunity to see the city from such a special perspective as is the deck of the ship. After that we went to dinner and to our hotel on foot. The hotel was nice. Sunday (March 25, 2018) In the morning, we left our hotel by taxi to the airport. There were a lot of people. The flight was easy and smooth. We came to Zagreb in the afternoon and soon met with our parents again. During this week I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to the next trip.