After an action packed month, we are

On our way home. We had an amazing last week, with a wealth of experiences, from skiing in the al0s, travelling to München to watch the champions league, Farewell Parties and more...

Sadly, in the early hours of Wednesday we farewelled our families in Ulm. After many a tear and hug, we boarded our train and farewelled our new second families.

We are now at Kuala Lumpur airport, about to board to come to Melbourne. To everyone who has supported our trip, a big thanks.

See you soon Melbourne.

Today when we met, yet again, at the Ulm central station. Heidelberg was our destination: a beautiful city where we would spend the rest of the day. Being used to long journeys, our time on the train felt little more than 2 minutes, and before we knew it we had allready arrived in the city. As we walked through the narrow streets, trying not to get run over, we saw so many old and beautiful buildings that make the city such a popular tourist destination. We got to see various parts of the university, spread around town, like the centre for History Studies and the University Library. Ice skating however, was the highlight of the morning. 

Once we had got our skates, we all took to the ice. Gliding, shuffling, falling, and some of us (including me) skating a lot less gracefully than the others, we went round and round the rink. Somehow a game of tag started up, but soon after we had to leave. The old castle was our next stop. Although the funicular train ride to the castle was disappointing (it was over so quickly), the views from this height were truly amazing. We all took a long time to take photos, including selfies, and enjoy the view of the city below. 

Next we visited yet another christmas market, where we stopped to have lunch, and then wandered the Alt-Stadt (Old town) and even located the famous Zuckerladen (sweet shop) but everyone was too full to purchase. 

It was soon time to leave; after hours of walking and skating, this train trip felt longer than the last, but we were distracted by Mr. Millott when he got stuck in the automatic door. 

Looking back on this day, I can't see how it could have been better. The sun was shining and we all had a great time in Heidelberg.

Entry by Ellyn Hunt. 

Our students have been quite busy since their return from Berlin. Many were out and about over the weekend, soaking up the atmosphere and the highlights that Southern Germany has to offer. 

Tomorrow, we will travel to Heidelburg, and we will shortly thereafter report on our day trip there. In the mean time, here is a collection of images that you haven't seen yet...

We have enjoyed our time in school. Today, students were back into their normal routine, trying their best in German classes. Here are a couple of snaps of the school

We had a "bucket-load" of fun in Berlin. We came home super-tired, as we really tried to visit the whole city in our short stay. You have already seen some of our highlights in earlier posts, but here is a couple of extras...

If you can't beat them, join them... Although "selfies" (photos taken with yourself in the picture) were banned at the start of this trip, somehow even a fine system did not deter our students to indulge in their love of selfies. So, the selfie was embraced at Brandenburg Gate, pout and all...

Entry by Mr Millott

Today was great, everything in Berlin is great. (With the exception of an old lady being angry with me because I didn't know which trains worked and which didn't, plus a very smelly guy on a very crowded carriage.)

We started very early in the Alexanderplatz, not realizing that most things don't open until 10. So we were allowed to go off, do our shopping and collect yet another mug from the Christmas market there. 

Our walking tour with Callum was the highlight of the day. We were shown the public art and different sub-cultures of Berlin. He pointed out some well known pieces (our favourites being little Lucy with her cat) and a giant mechanical statue that, if it loves you, will move when you put a euro in. This thing did not love us. We visited various hot spots of street art in Berlin, around areas such as Alexanderplatz and the Hackescher Höfe, around the former train depot at Warschauerstraße and along Kreuzburg. 

After our tour and lunch we did some more walking along the east side gallery. It is a large section of the old Berlin Wall that has been painted with images of peace and hope.  The snow storms were only just rolling in so we were able to enjoy the gallery and get some good pictures in, but later, when we came out of the Checkpoint Charlie museum, it was so icy and horrible that all the Christmas markets had closed... And I had been looking forward to ice skating plus the snow slide all day!

So instead of the market and winter world we went to a lovely little Turkish restaurant for dinner. The boys were put on a kiddy table because there was too many of us, however they did get their food first and have a good conversation with the chefs. There was so much food I could hardly move afterwards. Döner and Turkish wraps were the good choices. 

Most stayed in the hostel while a few of us ventured out into the weather again to go to a robot art exhibition that the guide told us about. It would have been cool... If it had been open.

The day was amazing and I treasure every moment in Berlin

Entry by Tabatha Watson

We rose at our normal time, and unfortunately bad news hit, as Mr Millott found out that his camera was stolen :(

After a quick breakfast, we packed our bags and quickly headed to the Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial to see it during the day. Weather wasn't favouring us as a snow storm hit. Cold, heavy winds and snow pelted down and certainly made for an interesting experience. We all had fun on our way back to the main station, and were all glad to be back inside, protected from the elements outside. 

Our train ride back to Ulm was long; we were forced to catch another connecting train from Mannheim as our first train arrived late, and we arrived 1 hour later than planned. After spending 7.5 hours on the train, we were all glad to be back in Ulm and with our families. 

Entry by Mr Millott

Today we rose nice and early to all have breakfast togerher at 8.00am. The hostel put on a buffet breakfast, which is good because the boys like to eat a lot.
We left the hostel at around 9.00am and walked to the Nord Bahnhof where we learnt about the "ghost stations" and how the trains travelled from West Berlin, through East Berlin and then back to the West. We also learnt about how people escaped from the East to the West via the train lines.
We then walked throught a park where the Berlin Wall was recreated (even though it is backwards) where all of us Highvale girls took many, many photos. We also visited the ruins of a house that was close to the wall.
As Mr Millott enjoys walking, we walked through a park, saw the Siegesäule before walking through the Tierpark and past a zoo. Throughout the Tierpark were statues of historical figures and events. We then saw the Rosa Luxemburg memorial before heading to the Christmas Market under the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, which has been left untouched since world war 2. 

As stated before, Mr Millott really likes walking. Fast. So we walked for a while in all different directions before arriving at 'The Story Of Berlin' museum. There we had a two hour tour and learnt all about Berlin and we even got the opportunity to go into one of the former Cold War underground bunkers.
From there we went and had currywurst infront of KaDeWe, Europe's largest department story before heading inside to do a scavenger hunt and to find the most expensive item in the store. Georgia, Megan and Shannon found a 71100€ watch. They won the competition.
After we walked to a German restaurant. I was pretty upset that we weren't having Mexican so I ordered chilli. We then walked (Mr Millott's favourite thing to do) back to the hostel for a reasonably early night.
All of us had sore feet but we all had a ripper of a day.

Entry by Renee Conway.

3rd December 2013

First day to Berlin!

All were up bright and early to catch our train leaving from the Ulm station to begin our trip to Berlin. There was certainly no shortage of food packed for the ~6 hour trip, especially when it came to gummi bears *looks at Renee who happened to have a whole kilogram of the things*.

Almost everyone managed to catch some sleep on the second train while Mr. Millott marked and read our diaries, all but poor Tabatha's, which I am sure he thoroughly enjoyed.

Upon finally arriving at the airport-esque station known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof, we had to run to catch yet another train to Friedrickstrasse which would leave us within walking distance from the hostel in which we would be staying for the next 3 nights.

As soon as everyone was content having checked out their rooms, we left to begin our tour and getting to know the ever-changing city of Berlin. The first sight to be seen was the Jewish synagogue, we then made our way to various takeaway food outlets where many of us opted for a delicious döner meal! So damn good. After lunch we took a stroll across Berlin's famous "Museum Island" (conveniently not home to all of Berlin's 250 museums) and checked out what was essentially a traffic-light-man-fan-store (Ampelmann). continuing our adventure we then paid visit to the Brandenburg (punnily named "Brentonburg" after our accompanying teacher Mr Brenton Millott) Gate, which also happens to be near to that one window that the big MJ held his teeny tiny baby out of for the world to see.

Leaving from the Brentonburg Gate we came across the famous Jewish memorial, it was an artistic graveyard, with stone tombstone-like blocks of varying heights that created an amazing and reflective labyrinth for one to wander through in the dark.

Following some visits to various souvenir shops along the streets of the city. We proceeded to dine in the authentic deutsch restaurant know locally as "Pizza Hut", we paid visit to the parliament house of Germany, upon which stands a great dome in which we could climb up, it was very well designed and looked outstanding, sadly, the view was greatly obstructed by the thick fog common of Berlin.

After our activities were over, we made the trip back to our hostel where everyone scrambled to use the dodgy as free wifi and I wanted to buy cola but there was no dude at the counter...

The end.

Entry by Luke Montgomery

Whilst the rest of the group were visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein and the Allgäu region on the weekend, Shannon and Rob had an entirely different adventure. Check it our below:

With wind whipping in my face and the biting cold (down to minus 13 degrees) and with the adrenaline rush of gravity pulling me down I have already made a fantastic memory for me to cherish.

For my first full weekend since arriving in Germany I (with Shannon, Jan and Anna) went to Austria (only a two hour drive) to ski for the first time in my whole life.

Whilst the first day was learning the basics of turning, walking and stopping (they really came in handy) it was the second day that was magnificent, after a visit to a church for the christening of Anna's cousin it was off to the Alps to ski.

Once we were ready, Shannon and I were taken up a chairlift to the top of the mountain and with shaky legs we began our descent. For the next two hours we skied and I know I had one of the best times of my life.

Ultimately our day finished and we returned home to begin another week in what is shaping up to be an awesome experience.

Cobblestoned villages. Snow. Sauerkraut and Bretzeln. Freezing weather. Thick European accents. Lederhosen.... Just kidding. All of these are reminders that I'm not in Australia anymore...But this doesn't make me homesick; I am having the most incredible experience! 

One of my favourite things about Germany is how beautiful the country is. I love how people live in villages- some of which are centuries old! Surrounding the village I am staying in, there are green fields and forests that seem to go on forever. It snowed on Monday night and the whole village was white - one of the most incredible sights I've ever seen! The next morning, Tiana and I enjoyed making snowballs in the school courtyard while everyone stared at us crazy Australians from inside the warm common room. It's freezing here, but I love the cold weather. (Plus it's always warm inside)

Yesterday we went on an excursion into Ulm. We visited the Donau (Danube) - a river that stretches accross almost 3000 km of the country! 

We also went to the Weihnachtsmarkt - a place which is truly magical. Food, gifts, hustling and bustling may be the usual aspects of a market, but adding some Christmas spirit, German culture and the Ulm Münster as a backdrop makes for a picture perfect scene... And once again I have never seen anything quite like it. 

I have also loved being able to speak German, and I have learnt so much by being immersed in the language and culture. Although sometimes it's hard to understand people or know what to say, I'm loving the experience and my German is improving everyday. 

I'm excited for the other wonderful experiences yet to come and hopefully I return speaking far better German than when I came ! 

Entry by Sarah Broome

On Monday, it was the first day of school. I woke up at 3.30am because I was that excited (didn't have to get up until 6.00am but I didn't want to be late on my first day of school). I didn't want to take the risk of sleeping in. We left the house at 6.50am, everything was so peaceful and dark. When I got to school, reality overcame any interpretations I had of the school. It was big, three levels, different, indoors, safe and warm. The classes work in doubles but don't feel like an hour and a half long. I was lost when it came to paying attention to the teacher talk about history, I couldn't even tell you about history in English! Although, school went really well, and to top it off, I was catching baby snow flakes with my tongue that morning and night.
When my exchange partner - Sebastian, told me to come downstairs with my camera, I squealed! I also saw and touched a hedgehog. It was cool!

Tiana Savic 

Germany must be the greatest place in the world. The flights were long, but to get here and see our families was well worth it. Over 26 hours of travel and finally in Ulm, our first day was the struggle of staying awake until night, when we'd be allowed to sleep. Unfortunately, I failed this, succumbing at 3 in the afternoon. Although I slept through 16 hours that night, it took its toll the night after, when I woke at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. Eager to keep us busy, Reneè, Sarah and I's families organised a day to bake christmas cookies. I swear we made about a thousand. Then the first day of school came, something we were all nervous about. Riding a bike to school was a challenge in itself for me. The school runs from age 10 up, so at some points it's similar to being in a primary school with kids screaming all around you. Classes are difficult to make sense of. Anna had her last two periods free, so we left early. That night Rob, Reneè and I had our first experience with the Christmas market. I've never seen anything like it in my life! Christmas lights all over, mobs  of people everywhere, everyone drinking mulled wine and eating sausages. Glassblowers and stalls of their ornaments dotted the place, and food stalls dominated the rest of the space. And as we explored the market, the first snow of the season fell. It was quite a magical scene. All this in just the first three days, I'm excited to see what the rest of the month will bring!

Shannon Fowlie

In the late house on Thursday night we farewelled our exchange students from Germany. After an action packed 4 week homestay and cultural program - that included trips to Sydney, Melbourne CBD, cooking and footy classes, shopping and more.
Many a tear was had at the international departure gates, however, one thought stuck in all our thoughts
98 days til we fly there :)

On Thursday 1 August we all headed into Melbourne CBD to visit some Melbourne Landmarks and experience some of Melbourne Culture.

First Stop: Queen Victoria Market; an opportunity for everyone to buy their tourist needs. T-Shirts, Stuffed Kangaroos or Koalas, Road Signs and Books were the order of business. After an hour of shopping we were ready to depart, after a beautiful coffee in the market.

Second Stop: Melbourne Central; everyone's hunger needed to be met as we headed for the food court. Everyone fancied something different, which made the Food Court the perfect lunch stop. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian were all eaten, as well as some sweet cupcakes to follow.

Laneways and Alleyways: The group then got ready to tour Melbourne's hidden spots. Some shopping experiences through some of Melbourne's Arcades, the sweet smells of fresh food and coffee through some of Melbourne's Alleys, and then looking at some of Melbourne's Public Art on Hosier Lane. A brisk walk through Federation Square and along the Yarra allowed us to reach our final location

Last Stop: The views from Eureka Tower were breathtaking. Our visitors even challenged their fear of heights in the "Edge" Experience. After an hour being 88 floors above ground level, we walked back over the Sandridge Rail bridge back to Flinders Street Station.

On Saturday all our families met at Healesville Sanctuary to visit some of Australia's famous animals.

Highlights included:
- The Birds of Prey show, with some low flying birds and some very talkative birds
- Feeding Kangaroos
- Patting Koalas
- Getting up and close with some dingoes

At 1:00, we all met for a BBQ lunch and a chat. It was a perfect opportunity to have a chat with everyone and share our experiences one week into the program. Thank you to everyone who also assisted in cooking the BBQ.

I am pleased to announce that our German Exchange Students will be arriving at our schools in July. This is even more exciting as Melba College will also be hosting 15 Japanese Students from its Sister School, the Sasayama Homei H.S, at the same time. 

More details to follow