A brief move to Munich for St Mary’s
THE Second and Fourth Year students studying German in St Mary’s Secondary School recently participated in a student exchange with Oberhaching Gymnaisium in Munich. We flew from Dublin to Munich where our exchange students were waiting to greet us. They all took us to their family homes which we settled into quickly.
The following day we attended their school and got to experience a full school day. We started off with a traditional Bavarian breakfast which consisted of a pretzel and white sausage whilst watching a documentary that explained more about Bavarian culture. We then joined our exchange partners in their classes for the rest of the day. There are several differences between the German schooling system and our schooling system; with their timetable being the main one. Classes begin in the morning at 8am (a big change for us) and all the students finish at different times. If they have a free class, they are permitted to go outside to the gardens, roam the halls, or go to the bakery in town.
While there, we went on many different excursions. We saw Munich, Salzburg, Allianz Arena, Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Castle and the Bavarian Film Studios.
Our favourite trip was to Munich on the Wednesday. We went to Munich on the S-Bahn and got a tour of the city where we visited many churches such as St Michael’s and St Peter’s.
Each day after our trips, we met up with our classmates and did fun things like eat ice cream, watch movies and go to each other’s houses.
Finally, on the last night, we all went for a meal with our host families and the teachers involved in the exchange. This was followed by an extremely emotional moment at the airport when the Irish walked through the departure gates.
We left not only the beautiful city of Munich but also left all of our exchange partners behind… for now at least. Some will be returning to Ireland in the summer.
On the trip we formed some amazing friendships; not only with the German students but we became closer as a school group. We all learned more about Bavarian culture and expanded our knowledge of the German language.
This exchange was an invaluable experience and we are all so grateful to have been given this opportunity.
Written by Sarah Wynroe, Erin Leahy & Rachel Burgoyne.