Saturday, April 17, 2010

Die Nord See

Ok, well I got slack again these past few days so I am going to attach the report letter that I wrote for Rio Tinto who are so kindly paying for my stay here. Vielen Dank Rio Tinto :)

It pretty much summarizes my time in the North Sea and in Germany thus far.

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To Whom it may concern,

Guten Tag!
I have been in Germany for just over six weeks and I am so far loving the experience. After arriving on the 27th of February I was tired but ready to start an adventure that I will never forget. In my six short weeks I have already visited the cities and towns of Düsseldorf, Kaiserwerth, Ratingen, Greetsiel, Pilsum, Norden, Bremen, Bad Honnef and Pewsum. Today I just got back from a week away at the North Sea which was as the Germans say ´schön´ which is beautiful. The fresh air is very good for your health and therefore many older people retire and live there. However there are also many visiting tourists with young families who visit in order to see the seaside (which isn’t as common as it is in Australia) and relax. There is also plenty of time to have an ice cream as you walk along the harbour or even try some of the local herring which isn’t to everybody’s taste! The surrounding towns are very old with the church dating back to over three hundred years old. However they have been restored so that the present generation and generations to come can still bask in the history of the area and reflect upon the past. About an hour and a half from where I stayed with my host family in the North Sea is the city of Bremen. Bremen was first founded under the name of Fabiranum or Phabiranum around 150AD with the first stone city walls being built in 1302. From that point on Bremen has grown and developed to become one of the most populous cities in Germany. However while Bremen´s wealth once lay in shipping, merchants and trade this is no longer the case because of the cost of the ships. The city’s past wealth is reflected through the intricate details on the buildings and furniture outside and within places such as the city hall. However much of the history of the city was destroyed during the Second World War with only some streets and buildings surviving. The older city however was breathtaking and proves the importance of the old within the new. I thoroughly enjoyed my tour of the city and would love to return there one day.

Me in the town of Greetsiel which is at the North Sea

Tomorrow I return back to school in my town of Ratingen. I attend the high school Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker- Gymnasium where I am in the twelfth grade with my host sister Pia. While I can’t understand most of the classes except for English, my German is slowly improving with the help of some of the friends I have made there as well as my Deutsch books. The subjects that I am taking are English, German, Art, Biology, Sport, History, Math’s and Religion. Each lesson lasts forty five minutes and the number of lessons that I have a day ranges from four to eight. This means that most days I am home for lunch which is the main meal of the day in Germany. It is usually warm and can be anything from pasta to vegetables and veal. For dinner we normally just have bread, rolls, cheese and sliced meat. As you would know this is the reverse of how it is at home with dinner in Australia being the main meal. In my free afternoons I do any homework that I can complete, practice my German, go to the gym and spend time with my host sister and friends from school. I often spend time in the inner city of Ratingen. Ratingen is in the district of Mettman, in North Rhine-Westphalia and is about twelve kilometres north east of Düsseldorf. It was settled before 849 but only received city rights in 1276. At the end of the Middle Ages it experienced a boom and at the beginning of the Industrial Age the first manufacturing plant opened (1783). As there was relatively very little damage during the war many of the older buildings have survived and can still be seen today, such as the local church within Ratingen Mitte and the Catholic and Anglican Church in my suburb, Homberg. Ratingen further developed during the 1960s and 70s with the population increasing from that point on. Now approximately 92,000 people live in the town which hosts shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, churches and even a small disco. Below you can see one of the local churches.

On the weekends I go to meet people at café bars, cocktail bars and clubs, at their houses, in the city or even at soccer games. I have played ´kicker´ (table soccer) in a friend’s basement as well as seen an actual soccer game in Düsseldorf where I cheered on Düsseldorf Fortuna. However at the soccer game that I saw the score was null all- very disappointing. It was still however a good experience because of the atmosphere of the fans cheering on their team.

The weather differs greatly, whilst in Perth it is mostly sunny except for the colder months in winter (which really aren’t that cold) it is often rainy and it even snows! I saw snow for the first time in years here and got over excited and picked some up in my bare hand which I tell you is not a good idea! The snow made everything seem peaceful and covered the fields behind my house. However as the weather is warming up (it is currently spring) the snow melted quickly. However I am looking forward to summer as it allows the opportunity to travel and explore more of Europe. I hope during my time here I will get to see much of not only Germany but all of Europe so that I can see the diversification of the cultures as well as collect some tacky souvenirs. I am entirely grateful to Rio Tinto for allowing me this opportunity to live in another country and be immersed in it’s culture. It is amazing that I can see buildings older than any in Australia, customs that date back years and learn another language. My time here is flying by and before I know it I will be back in Australia. However I am sure that I will never forget my time here with the amazing support of my host family, friends, the AFS exchange program and Rio Tinto.

Vielen Dank for this chance to see the world and grow as a person.

Yours sincerely,

Lauren- Marie Wiszniewski
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and there it is. Hope you enjoyed it :)

ok still can´t insert images, sorry. check my facebook instead :)

1 comment:

  1. Bahahahha need help with image insertation bee???

    on a side note....seriously where's the side-note where you mention how much you miss me??? huh? huh?? HUH?!?!?! ;)

    Also, woah! Seriously, how do you know so much about the history of where your staying??? Cause if someone said all that to me in German I highly doubt i'd understand them :|

    Post again soon kay! Don't be slack.
    xxxxxxx Miss you.

    ReplyDelete