Broadstairs 2013

Hi folks,
well, as some of you may have noticed, the ninth grades were, again, given the chance to visit the small adorable town of Broadstairs (with its beautiful beach). At first, this is NOT just a boring summary of the stay in Broadstairs, this is more or less an adventure diary through every single day there. Sit back and enjoy your journey:

Monday, very early in the morning:

After a quite long drive to England (18 hours!) we finally arrived at our destination: Broadstairs. We were all nervous and also a bit anxious about how our host family would be like. But later that day everyone realized that we didn't have to, because the families we were “handed over” were very friendly and typically English people. We all soon noticed that this week would be a very great time.

Monday 9:00:

After our first proper English breakfast – no fried sausages or kippers -, we all were shown our way to school. We met in front of “Kent School of English” and everyone was very nervous because we were told about a test we had to do in order to find out how good our English skills really are. Actually the test wasn’t as hard as we expected it to be and on top of that we learned quite a lot about stress and syllables that day. In the afternoon we had to do a funny quiz about Broadstairs. - Did you know that Charles Dickens lived here? -After we had finished it we were tired and happy, because it was so much fun. In the evening we watched “Die hard” at the local (and very cute) cinema. The best quote of the film: 'I thought I had a problem child.'

Tuesday:

Like every day the day started with class from 9:00 to 14:00 (slowly everything became routine). We were given new room numbers, it depended on how good our English was, we were put together with Italians and pupils from Kaufbeuren, who were the same level like us. Every day we learned a lot of new stuff about the English language. Like every day lunch was a delicious burger or a pizza and in a small, cute bakery we bought buns and cakes . Ever tried hot cross buns? That day we did one of the highlights of the whole week – the coastal walk. - Remember the tongue twister: She sells seashells....? -The sun was shining and on our way to Ramsgate we were given the chance to see the white cliffs and the beautiful sea. We were quite lucky because the tide rushed in quickly that day and the Austrian group trailing behind us had to wade through chilly waters to get on to the path again. At Ramsgate we enjoyed some free time, which everybody spent differently - Rumour has it that a certain Mr Z. even bought a coffee table there...- Have you ever tried barn dancing?. It was hilarious to watch us trying to imitate the movements a professional dancer was doing in front of us. - Some of the boys practically bulldozed their way across the dancefloor! - But all of us joined in and soon we danced with literally everybody in the room, even with the Italian guys.

Wednesday:

Our trip to Canterbury. When we arrived in at this medieval town, a guide led us through the small streets and told us nearly everything about the typical “tourist attractions” there, like the Marlowe Theatre or the Cathedral where Thomas Beckett was killed. - The notorious ducking-stool can still be seen, without the witches, of course! -After that tour we were allowed to have a look around in the little shops of this lovely place. In the evening KSE had a karaoke night organized for us. It was great fun, everyone was singing along with the pupils who dared singing in front of three German groups and two Italian ones. - It is definitely not true that all Italians are born opera singers!-

Thursday:

That afternoon we were given several choices of what we wanted to do. Unfortunately it was raining that day , so hardly anyone picked an outdoor activity like football or tennis. I chose “arts and crafts”, so I was out of the rain. In the evening a live band was playing folk and rock songs that we were singing along to. - You should have listened to our version of 'Country Roads' ! - Another great day was nearly over and slowly we realized that the end of the week was coming closer.

Friday:

After our last class we were all a bit sad, but in the afternoon we went bowling so our mood got way better than it was in the morning. - It definitely looks easier than it is! - That night we had a disco at Margate all to ourselves. We danced to the latest hits and were again very tired when we got back to our families. - That day it wasn't raining men but cats and dogs!-

Saturday:

We were all waiting for this special day. Our trip to London was knocking at our doors and we were all ready to let it in. Though we had to get up an hour earlier and though it was really cold that day we were all motivated to discover London. After our boat trip on the choppy Thames, a guide led us through London explaining things about Big Ben, the London Eye and many other sights. We were deeply impressed by this huge city with its skyscrapers and historical buildings, its old-fashioned taxis, phone boxes and red double deckers. - Queen Elizabeth II had wanted to invite us for tea at Buckingham Palace, but unfortunately one of her Corgies got ill. - So it was time to go shopping in busy Oxford Street - Primark, here we come!- . I’m sure that nobody will ever forget this day in a lifetime. After this eventful day we were sitting on the coach heading back to Broadstairs for the last time.

…. I hope you enjoyed this little insight into our week in Broadstairs. I think I’m speaking for everybody if I say that I can totally recommend this offer the school made us. You really learn the language a lot better. And you’ll get to know many new people from other cities and countries, which is always helpful.
Last but not least: Many thanks to Mrs. Bullmer, Mrs. Sommermann, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Menner and Mr. Zanker for organizing and enabling this trip. So, thank you very much for making this week so unforgettable.

P.S.: There are three things forever true: 1. English food is bad.
2. School trips are boring.
3. The earth is a disk.

Jennifer Bäckerbauer, 9b (with a little help from Mrs B.)