The document summarizes a 14-day exchange trip to Germany by an Indian student. It describes each day of the trip in detail, including arrival and being paired with host families, attending school and participating in class projects on biodiversity, visiting tourist sites like zoos, parks, and castles, participating in cultural and cooking activities, shopping, and experiencing sadness and tears at departure. Overall, the student expresses that it was a wonderful, enriching experience that left an indelible lifelong impression and helped make them more independent.

1. German Exchange – 2014
My experience
13th
July, Sunday
We all met at the Chennai Airport and were really excited about the
trip; we boarded the flight and reached Frankfurt. From Frankfurt we
took the flight to Hannover.
DAY 1 – 14th
July, Monday
We arrived at the Hannover Airport and were received by our host
partners and their families, 2 teachers Ms. Ilka Pusch and Mr. Olaf
Landeck. After a tiring and a tedious journey though, we never had any
jet lag as everyone were talking about it before leaving for Germany.
We all met in the evening in the Stadthagen marketplace, we were then
split into groups to go around. I and my partner, Maren Struckmeier left
to another friends place.
DAY 2 – 15th
July, Tuesday
At the school we all met and we were given an official welcome by the
Headmaster, Mr.Holger Wirtz. We then attended the classes. Again,
this evening we went to the marketplace. We were welcomed by the
Deputy Mayor. We were given free icecream coupons. We relished the
icecreams. We all walked to the bowling centre, played for some time
and went back home.

2. DAY 3 – 16th
July, Wednesday
We went to the school and started out with the project. The German
students spoke about the Bio-diversity in Germany (lower Saxony) with
a Power Point presentation. They spoke about the dangers and threats
that are being created by mankind to the ecosystem, biodiversity and
tourism. Then, the Indian students spoke about Bio-diversity in Tamil
Nadu. It was interesting to share each other’s ideas. We were split into
groups and were also instructed to make posters based on Bio-
diversity. Then we went back home and a few of us met at the river.
DAY 4 – 17th
July, Thursday
All of us met at the train station and took a train to Hannover; from
there we took another train to the Harz National Park. A Geologist,
Dr.Friedhart Knolle gave us a brief explanation about the park and its
lynxes. We were taken by a rope car to the top of the mountain, and
then we started walking. We walked for 4 Kms and then we saw the
lynx (It was an extinct species in Germany). We started walking back to
the train station. It was a tiring day for all of us.
DAY 5 – 18th
July, Friday
On this day we went to a zoo in Hannover. We saw many animals. We
were also given an assignment that had to be finished before we left
the zoo. We split into groups again and started finding answers for the
questions. After we finished it, we started exploring the zoo. We saw
animals like the kangaroo, polar bears and penguins. After the zoo, we
all went to the city for shopping.

3. DAY 6 – 19th
July, Saturday
It was an amazing day; we visited an amusement park, Heide Park. We
went on the roller coasters; it was so much fun to go on those rides. We
also went on the world’s tallest Free fall tower. From there we went to
Kaya’s house, Madhumita’s host partner’s house and had dinner with
their family and then we played a French game called as Pétanque.
DAY 7 – 20th
July, Sunday
We got up early and started preparing lunch for the Indian teachers. I
and Maren made a north Indian curry and Indian bread. Once we had
lunch, we went to the swimming pool. Then we went to the bowling
centre again.
DAY 8 – 21st
July, Monday
At school we were collecting information on Bee hotels and also
finished up with the posters. We also a watched a short documentary
by Dr. Jane Goodall, a well known environmentalist. She said that
elephants should not be kept in zoos, and the local people should be
involved to preserve biodiversity than in zoos. We were asked to give
our opinions on “why do you think zoos exist”. We were allowed to see
some tiny slides of bee wings, eyes, through a microscope and were
asked to draw them. Maren and I drew 3 slides which we observed
through a microscope. Then during lunch break we went to McDonalds
and from there we went to the train station. We visited the Bückeburg
Schloss. The tourist guide gave clear and distinct information of the
castle. We were allowed to see only 8 rooms out of 250 rooms

4. approximately, since the last Duke still resides there in the castle with
his family. We went around the castle and saw the history of Germany.
We visited the Royal Stable too. Then we had some ice-cream and went
back home.
DAY 9 – 22nd
July, Tuesday
We got into our bus. We were leaving to Steinhüder Meer, a reserve for
endangered birds and animals. We walked to the lake and saw many
birds. They also explained us about each and every bird. Then we went
to the other side of the lake and played in the water. After sometime
we played beach volleyball. Then we started back to Stadthagen.
DAY 10 – 23rd
July, Wednesday
We got into our bus and left to Hamburg. Once we reached Hamburg
we went on a short cruise around the Harbor. We were taken to 17
dock yards. The harbor is so huge with many docks, I think. It is also
the 2nd largest harbor in Europe. After that we shopped again. We
went back home, then left to Kaya’s house.
DAY 11 – 24th
July, Thursday
At school we started collecting material to make the Bee hotel, we
were split into 7 groups and we started making the bee hotels with
great interest and enthusiasm. I was thrilled to use all the gadgets to
make a bee hotel; it was so much of practical work than the theory.
Once we finished our bee hotels we attended our lessons.

5. DAY 12 – 25th
July, Friday
It was the last day at school. We attended our lessons, went back
home. We started cooking for the cultural event; I made some Indian
food and then went back to school. We had our lunch and danced for
the song Vande Mataram. Thank you to Uthyu sir. The cultural event
started with the small prayer to Lord Ganesha. All of us had to speak
about the festivals of India dressed in our traditional wear like pavadai,
kurta, etc. Vaishali and I spoke about Pongal. The head master Mr.
Holger Wirtz was so happy about the whole program which was really
colorful, of course the host partners and their families too enjoyed.
Vote of thanks was delivered by Mrs. Padma. We went back home and
I started packing my bag.
DAY 13 – 26th
July, Saturday
We got ready and went to the train station. We left to Bremen. Once
we reached Bremen, we saw the Bremen Stadtmusikanten, the Church
and then we went for shopping. We took another train to the shopping
mall; we shopped more and then had some frozen yoghurt. Went back
home and then finished packing my suitcase.
DAY 14 – 27th
July, Sunday
Got ready and got into the car, we were leaving back to India. We all
cried and hugged each other; we did not want to leave Germany. Got
into the Flight and then reached Frankfurt, we took the flight back to
India. We reached India by 28th, 12:30 am.

6. All together it was a wonderful experience. I have become more self-
reliant, independent. I enjoyed my stay in Germany, made new and
awesome friends. Especially an awesome sister and family. It was an
enriching experience for me for my whole lifetime. The 15 days has left
an indelible impression for me. I would like to thank from bottom of
my heart to Ramani sir, Sridevi mam, Uthyu sir for an awesome
choreography of Vande Mataram dance, and all my teachers for giving
me these defining moments in my life. Thank you very much.