When in May 2014 the two forms 7 b and 5.bi2 set off for England, I sat down on the coach and tried to recall the statistics of our DFG England trips, which had made for Quorn Hall in Leicestershire from 1998 to 2012 and changed to the more southern Hastings from 2013 on. When I ended up adding the numbers, I was quite surprised about the result : in 15 years we organized and undertook 28 trips to England, taking 57 classes with more than 1.500 students across the English Channel !
After initial worries, Hastings and the English south coast have proved to be a perfect location – so we returned to our cosy hotel on the seafront, looking forward to spending another amazing week there !
I’m really glad to say that everything worked well and all of us had a very good time. We remember a week of sunshine and only very little rain, a suitable hotel with reasonable food and accommodation, a charming historic place, fascinating outdoor walks, two complete days in London and finally a warm and friendly relationship between pupils and teachers !
Very very special thanks go to Anne-Laure Fischer, Caroline Reysset and Helmut Dudzus, who accompanied the travel group and put so much effort into making it an unforgettable event !
Yet, there was so much to learn, and school trips are never meant to be a perfect time-off, without parents, limits and rules, nor a guided shopping tour or a five-star holiday. School trips should help to improve the students’ motivation for England and – above all – the English language, in order to get a deeper insight into a wonderful country, its language, people, history, culture and above all, its way of life. So you all had to find compromises with classmates, even with your friends, because you had to spend 24 hours together and that for seven days and six nights. Personal conflicts and problems were hiding everywhere ! So what really mattered was respect and regard for others, cutting down egoism, following rules and instructions given by teachers or guides, paying attention to punctuality and cleanliness and reducing the immense noise made by 53 pupils ! Even a week without mobile phones was quite an experience, wasn’t it.
So after all, you deserve a big praise : everything worked perfectly well, everybody enjoyed the sometimes tough programme without complaining or moaning, and everybody was open and extremely positive during that week, and that’s exactly the pre-condition of having a good time !
Back home we have put something together that we all can enjoy for a lifetime. And that’s in the end my motivation to produce this little booklet, although I always promise never to do all the work again.
Thanks go also to the members of the photo team and to family Gurti for the printing ! And now let’s just enjoy this travel diary ! I think it’s great, we have individual reports in German, French and English.
These reports – and most of all more than 400 pictures – will bring back memories and be still worth looking at, when “you guys” are old and grey, and your own 13-year-old kids are kicking your nerves !
So all the best to you – and take care !!!
Marcus Boese
» excerpt of the travel diary (printed version available with Mr. Boese)