From Wednesday 6th to Sunday 10th December, we spent four days in Mainz and stayed with the families of students from Maria Ward-Schule. During that time, we had a glimpse of the school system in Germany, ate amazing food in multiple Christmas markets, and experienced amazing hospitality from our host families.
In school, we made lots of friends and attended a variety of interesting lessons. Although it was all in German, we tried our best to understand it, which allowed us to learn more and improve on our existing German vocabulary.
In our free time, we visited the well-known Gutenberg Museum for printmaking, and we ice skated in Wiesbaden. One of our highlights were the Christmas markets, where we got to try so many delicious foods, such as crêpes with Kinder chocolate, flammkuchen and fries. We also baked and decorated Christmas cookies with the host families while we got to know each other.
Despite us all having different exchange partners, all of them were very kind and their families were all very considerate.
Not only did we learn about German vocabulary and phrases on the exchange trip, but we also learnt a lot about cultural practices and lifestyles of German people. Talking to our host families was vastly different from the German we speak in class, and it was a bit difficult to talk with them at times - especially on the first day as they spoke quickly and there were words that we didn’t understand. However, as we communicated more, we gained a lot more confidence in our German, even if occasionally we said something wrong!
When we left, many of us were sad to depart and even shed a few tears. The exchange was very exciting and memorable.
Mary and Kitty LC3
