10th July – 15th July 22
Our trip to England (Neustadt (Germany) – Calais (France) – Dover (England) – Herne Bay/Whitstable) started in the early morning on Sunday, 10th July, with 41 students and 4 teachers. A long travel was waiting ahead of us – even longer than expected because we didn’t catch our ferry at 6.00 p.m. in Calais. In the end, we had to wait for the next one for two hours. At 9:30 p.m., we finally arrived in Herne Bay where we would be staying for the next five days. Our host families were already waiting for us and took us ”home“.
On Monday, the programme started with a rallye through Herne Bay where we could explore the town in small groups. We had a lot of fun. After that we walked along the seashore to meet up with our driver, who took us to Leeds Castle. There, we did a photo challenge and took pictures of ourselves in the castle or in the large gardens. The castle was interesting and the photo challenge helped us to take a closer look and notice small details. I really liked the surroundings and the statues and paintings.
The next two days were the ones I had been looking forward to the most: We went to London. On Tuesday, we saw many sights there like the Globe Theatre, the London Eye or the Millennium Bridge. We also visited the Tate Modern Gallery and the Natural History Museum. We walked a lot that day and saw the city of London, which was really interesting. On Wednesday we started our walk at Parliament Square and had a look at the famous buildings all around it. On Trafalgar Square we saw the statues of the four lions, but also a strange modern piece of art that was displayed there. It showed whipped cream with a cherry on top, decorated with a fly and a drone. We stopped at Covent Garden, which we could explore by ourselves. After our free time we walked to a theatre in West End where we saw the musical “Dear Evan Hansen“. The play was about the boy Evan Hansen, a socially awkward teen who wanted purpose and understanding in his life.
The next day, Thursday, was the last day in England, so we had to say “goodbye” to our host families. After that we took public transport to Canterbury. We saw Canterbury Cathedral, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is head of the Church of England. We also did a punting tour on the river Great Stour with a lot of information about the history of Canterbury and England, which was extremely intriguing. After that we spent some free time in Canterbury and could visit many cute shops and restaurants. In the evening we had to start our return journey. We took the ferry and and drove through the night. We arrived at the KRG early the next morning and went to bed when the other students started their lessons. All in all, this trip was a great experience and we really had a great time.
(Text: Jule Wilmes / Zeichnungen: Elanur Kostak)
