On September 17, classes 8a and 9a/b bili went to England for a one week trip. It started with us leaving the school grounds at 4:30 in the morning on a bus. This bus took us to a port in Calais, France, from where we would take a ferry to Dover, England. Unfortunately, on the way to France, our bus had a flat tire and we had to wait for more than two hours for it to get replaced. Then we drove all the way to Calais without any incidents. At the port, our passports were checked, after which we waited for around two hours for our ferry. By the time we reached Dover port in England, it was around 11:00 pm. From Dover, the bus took us to Folkestone, where we would be staying in host families. Once we reached Folkestone, we were picked up by our host parents where we stayed in pairs. My parter and I went straight to bed after that long bus ride.
On Monday morning, we had breakfast and had to walk to a bus station, where our bus would pick us up from. From there, we went to pick up the other students at several pick-up-points and finally drove to Dover Castle. After that, we went on a short hike by the White Cliffs of Dover and had some free time in Folkestone town center in the afternoon. At about 6:00 pm, we were dropped off at the bus stops again and went back to our host families, where we had dinner with our host partents.
On Tuesday we had a town rallye and later went to Canterbury, where we had a guided tour and some free time.
On Wednesday we went to Hastings. There, we went to a smuggler’s cave, which had been turned into a museum. After that, we had some free time and visited a tea museum in the afternoon. We also had to pack on Wednesday evening already.
On Thursday morning, we were dropped off at Folkestone city center with our luggage. After we had loaded all of our luggage onto the bus, we drove to London, where we visited famous landmarks like Buckingham palace, Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. At the end of the day, the bus took us back home the same way we had come to England a few days earlier.
All in all, the trip was something that was really cool. I had a lot of fun and it was a good trip.
(Shaurya, 8a)
On September 17, we started our one week field trip early in the morning by bus. Only 15 minutes after departing, we had to wait for over two hours to have a tire replaced. Once we got through passport control at the port in Calais, France, they told us we had missed our ferry. On board of the ferry, we stayed outside and watched the ocean and had fun with our friends. When we arrived in Folkestone late in the evening, we settled into our host families’ houses. Our host parents were kind and it was easier than I thought to talk with them in English.
Monday: Our first day and of course we had the best windy and rainy weather. We had to walk to a pick up point and walked past a girls’ school where we saw the girls in their English school uniforms. Our walk also led us right by the seaside, which looked like right out of a movie. On the first day, we visited Dover castle and the cliffs and had some free time in the afternoon.
Tuesday: We started the day with a city quiz in Folkestone. My group gave up after a few questions but it was still quite fun. That day was so windy, we nearly flew away. But the best thing that day was the tour through Canterbury in the afternoon, where we also visited the Cathedral. Our guide told us that the team had asked to film Harry Potter there but they said no because they didn’t think it would go well with the Christian faith.
Wednesday: Our program for this day was set in Hastings. We visited the smugglers’ caves and learned a lot about the history of smuggling. We then had some free time, which most of us spent at the beach. In the afternoon, we had a proper English tea time where we learned about the history of tea, how to drink it correctly, ate scones with clotted cream and jam, learned how to dance and wore cool costumes.
Thursday: Our last day meant that we were going to London! We visited many sights like the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and so many more. We also went to a street food market, where lots of us got the famous strawberries with chocolate we knew from tiktok.
All in all, it was a good experience and completely worth it. We had such a great time, had fun and laughed together and learned a lot more than in school.
(Linda, 8a)
