Germany 2024 – Day 8
Today was our third day in Berlin. Our first stop of the day was a guided tour of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The gate where the prisoners entered was decorated with a quote; “Arbeit macht frei” which means work sets you free. We saw the garden of remembrance, their dorms and what was left of the gas chambers. After our visit, we went to our second stop; the topography of terror. At this destination, we took a group photo and took a look at the expositions. We had some free time in the afternoon. At 7:00 we had a dinner reservation in an Italian restaurant. Our evening was also free.
By Bianca Boisvert
Germany 2024 – Day 9
Today was the exchange’s final morning in Berlin before we returned to Gelnhausen in the evening. This left us with one final opportunity
to explore Germany’s wonderful capital city. In the evening, we arrived safely in Gelnhausen even with train delays. As always, we are honored
to represent Champlain College abroad and at our exchange partner’s school, Berufliche Schulen Gelnhausen.
By Eric Osmun
Germany 2024 – Day 10
Today, most of us went to our German buddy’s classes, while others went to Steinau for German class. For lunch, we went to eat at the Forum for our usual meal. After that, we went to take ice cream. Some of us tried the famous German creation, the spaghetti ice cream. The flavours were diverse, and it was really good. For the rest of the afternoon, we had free time with our buddies. We cooked for our host families a traditional Quebec meal.
By Éléanore Bolduc
Germany 2024 – Day 11
Today, June 4 we spent the day in Heidelberg. We left Gelnhausen at 7h50 by train and arrived in Heidelberg around 10h40. We started by taking
a bus to the old town and had a guided tour. The tour lasted an hour and a half, we saw the Heidelberg university, two different churches while the
tour guide was explaining us different things about the city. We walked through the village to the river. Over the last few days, the river flooded due
to heavy rainfall and the tour guide explained us how high the water had gotten during previous floods. After that, the tour finished. We took the bus
to our restaurant Urban Kitchen for lunch. After that we had about 2h of free time in Heidelberg. Some people went to the castle and others just stayed
in the city. We left by train at 17h and arrived around 19h30 in Gelnhausen.
By Saskia Bertrand
Germany 2024 – Day 12
We started the day with a breakfast prepared by the German class. A typical German breakfast with bread, jam and fruit. After, we talked about
the post-war aera in Germany. The German students had prepared a presentation on their trip to Canada. We had lunch at the forum, where we
chose between schnitzel and pasta. We spent the afternoon in Frankfurt with the German students. We started by visiting some food stands.
We saw the opera, where there was a running event, and ate a kebab. To finish the day, we walked on a bridge from where we saw all the skyscrapers
of Frankfurt.
By Laurence Blouin
Germany 2024 – Day 13
On June 6th we could choose where we wanted to go in the morning between a city called Fulda or an ancient castle in Ronneburg.
In Fulda, students visited a cathedral, a castle grounds and a café. In Ronneburg, students saw how medieval people lived, torture methods
and a beautiful landscape at the top of the castle tower. We came back around 3pm and had a free evening.
By Mirany Marchand
Germany 2024 – Day 14
Today, the students had the chance to join their buddies in class again. At the same time, some of us had a German class, learned about
fairy tales and did a bit of grammar as well. We then had some free time before going to the Forum together to eat our last lunch in Gelnhausen.
After lunch, we all got to have free time with our buddies. Some went back home, some went shopping, others visited the city again, etc. At the end
of the day, we reunited around 17h at the Florianhütte, a cabin in the woods, where you can make BBQ. Everyone joined in and brought salad or a
dessert, while the teachers were taking care of the meat and drinks. It was a really great evening, where kids and hosts families could talk and meet
the teachers as well.
By Aryel Gobeil
Germany 2024 – Day 15
We had to be at the train station in Gelnhausen at 5:15 for our train at 5:38 that led us to Frankfurt. We then had to take another train straight to Amsterdam.According to the plan, we were supposed to get there at 11:00! But you know, this is the German train system. So there was some complication
and in the end we had to make a stop at Köln. In Köln, we had about 45 minutes of free time and then we went to a restaurant. During that free time, I went
to the LEGO store. Most of the other students visited the famous cathedral of Cologne. Then, after eating, we took one last train to Amsterdam.
Once in Amsterdam, we went to the hostel to drop off our luggage and after that Matt gave us a mini tour of the downtown. We then had some free time until
our last supper together in Europe. During that time, we went exploring and shopping a bit. After the supper, we all went to get dessert at a typical Dutch pancake place. I got churros. On the way to the hostel to go to sleep, some of us stopped at a rubber duck store (lol). Back at the hostel, most of us celebrated the last night
of the exchange at the hang-out place of the hostel with karaoke, music, and some matches of foosball. Then we went to sleep.
By Shawn Fournier
Germany 2024 – Day 16
The first thing we did this morning is having breakfast at the hostel. There was a good choice of breakfast food. Then we packed our things and had some
free time until 11am. Most of us went back into the city to buy some last minute souvenirs, or just enjoy walking around. At 11am, we met at the hostel, grabbed
all our suitcases and took the cool ferry one last time to get to the train station.
We had lunch on the go from the various take-out restaurants at the train station Amsterdam Centraal and ate outside by the water. At 12pm, we then met to
leave by train to go to the airport. Everything went very smoothly there. After the flight, we said goodbye to everyone and went home with our families.
By Alyssa Bernard
Germany 2024 – Final Reflections
The German exchange was an incredible experience for us all. Over the 2 weeks we spent in France, Germany and the Netherlands, we had the
opportunityto visit so many different cities and to learn about their cultures. First stop was Paris. This city was incredible, with so many things to see!
We definitely did not have enough time to see everything, we’ll have to come back because the little taste that we had of this city left us all hanging for
more. Between the pastries and the cute little shops, everything was beautiful. Seeing the Eiffel tour with our own eyes was also incredible.
Then, next stop was Gelnhausen, where we got to see our Germans buddies again and to go finally live with them! Some of us had some difficulties with
that part of the trip, but overall, we were all happy to see our friends again and get to spend some more time with them. I personally really loved to go on
car rides on the autobahn with my buddy and to go get ice cream with her after school sometimes. About the food in Germany, we all discovered that
people like to eat bread and to drink sparkling water a lot ! That was a big change for most of us! We also tasted the famous Currywurst and the Döner
Kebab which was very popular amongst the Germans. While in Gelnhausen, we learned about their school system, and that some of them get to “practice”
their future jobs while in school (cooks, mechanics, etc.). Additionally, in Germany, we got to visit Berlin, Frankfurt, Fulda, Heidelberg and Hanau. My
personal favourites were Fulda and Heidelberg. Fulda had some beautiful cathedrals and we felt like we were in an old movie while in that town.
Heidelberg was also very pretty and had some very interesting architecture, I know for a fact that this city was a group favorite and a lot of Canadians said
they would see themselves living there. Before ending our stay at Gelnhausen, we had a little final BBQ with our German families where we got to taste
some more German food. This was a sad night for most of us because we knew the end was coming.
Finally, our last stop was Amsterdam, but before that, we got to stop unexpectedly at Cologne because of a problem with our train. I think that was a really
nice, unexpected stop because even though we got to Amsterdam later, we had the chance to see the cathedral at Cologne and it was one of the most
beautiful architectures I had ever seen. Then, we got to Amsterdam, and we spend our final supper together. I think that was a really nice moment, we
were all very sad to go back home at that moment because we knew we would have to leave each other, but we still had a lot of fun that night.
In Amsterdam, we discovered that people probably ride their bikes more than they drive their car and that they go really fast! You have to get out of the
way! Also, I really liked the fact that we had to take a boat to get to the city from our hostel, it was a fun experience. I think the group will mostly miss
Berlin and Heidelberg. Those cities were the most talked about at the end of the trip. In Berlin, we got to learn so much more about the World War ll and
we had a lot of meaningful conversation together about this experience. Heidelberg was a favorite for the group as well. In the end, in Amsterdam, we all
knew each other much more than at the beginning of the trip and that made us feel closer, and we made a lot of memories there. I would definitely go
back and I know most of my friends think the same way !
Emy Houle
