Last Day :(

It’s our last day in Hamburg, Germany!! We woke up with mixed feelings, of heavy heart that we will be leaving our buddies and with happiness that we will be home tonight with our own families. We were all busy packing our suit cases in the morning and the thought of leaving our buddies was daunting. Being in Hamburg and learning German Culture is once in a lifetime experience for all of us. Leaving our buddies made us sad. It was easy to say good bye when they visited us in India as we were certain to meet them again in3months. Even though we know that we have made friends for life, it is hard to say Good Bye because we are not sure when we will be meeting them in person again.

 We enjoyed our stay in Hamburg and did not realize the mammoth task of the return journey which was so painful due to the long flight from Hamburg to Dubai and waiting at Dubai Airport for our connecting flight home. “Home” made us nostalgic with so many memories. It was the most horrible wait of our lives. We were so anxious to be home with our families and share our experiences with them. In the end it made us all so theosophical that we concluded, to gain something we have to give up something else. To kill time we explored the Dubai airport top to bottom discussing about our time in Hamburg and waiting for the flight announcement which will take us home. We wished we knew magic and were from Hogwarts, so that we could fly home on our broom sticks instead of Emirates.

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It is time to say Good-Bye to Indo German Exchange Program for now and get back to the reality that we are in 12^th, school is going to reopen shortly and our projects are waiting to be completed and submitted.

Day 17

The most important day of our stay here! We had to go to school at ten o´clock to present our projects. A few arrangements were made and then we started presenting our works. Students who took part in the programme last year also came to see our work. One by one each group presented their topic,the idea behind their cover,problems faced by them and how they solved it.

Then we had a cover contest and each one of us chose a cover that we liked and one cover was selected. After that we had a talk about our stay here and the German teachers wanted to know our experience and even our German buddies spoke about what they liked the most in these days. we had lunch after that and then the Indians had to fill in an evolution.

The next thing on the list was cannoeing and all of us went to Isekai for that. It was so much fun and the weather was perfect for it. we splashed water at each other and made the most of it but we couldnt spend much time there as we had to go home and get ready for the farewell dinner at seven o´clock.

At seven we went to for the farewell dinner at Eppendorf Gymnasium. There was a speech made by the coordinator of the junior school who was also a part of the programme four years back.There was a presentation by the Indians and also dance on a few songs depicting the various festivals celebrated in India. There was a presentation by the Germans and then few of us spoke about our experiences.

Then we had dinner and started dancing and spent the whole night on our feet. that was the end to one of our best nights and the last night in Hamburg!

Day 16

our day started with our visit to the University of Hamburg where we learned about the courses that are being taught there and the benefits of joining that university. After that we went to Heilvig gymnasuim and started to work on the completion of our project. 

Day 15

Small but the most enjoyed thing after weeks of cold, rainy weather is the sun. We woke up with a beam of sunlight sneaking into our room, the most amazing feeling. We put on our light clothes unlike other days when we had to wear layers of clothes to protect ourselves from the cold and left for school.

Our day started late today at around 10:00 am since we were tired after the trip to Berlin. 

Today we finally began on our project. Mr. Lockav taught us about layouts for our magazines.

We worked until 4:00 pm and then decided to spend some time relaxing. 

We enjoyed the sun all day long.   Alefiya, Shweta, Hema, Tanusha and I along with our buddies spent time at Victoria's house while many of our other friends went to the Alster and enjoyed the riverside, basking in the warmth of the sun. It was a very beautiful day and another amazing day that we will never forget.
                                                                                                                   -Trishla Ranka

Day 14!

    An interesting but tiring day began at 6a.m. at Eppendorf Gymnasium where the bus was waiting to take us all to Berlin. The journey was three hours long but we didn't notice the time fly as the scenery was breathtaking. 

 Our visit to Berlin started with the Humboldt Universität which is the oldest university in Berlin. We walked passed that, the Bavarian Embassy, and also saw a part of the Berlin wall on our way to the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth where Dr. Ralf Kleindiek, Parlimentary State Secrectary, gave us a talk about his job and also answered a few of our questions. Mr Oliver Frank, head of deptartment of renewable energies, DENA- German Energy agency, also showed us a presentation about the various sources and uses of various renewable energies and their benefits. Lunch was at the ministry itself. 

After our sessions at the Ministry, we saw the Brandenburger Tor which symbolised the division of Berlin in the 20th Century, after which we made our way to the Reichstag which is the Parliamentary house of Germany. At the Reichstag we had a question and answer session with Dr. Matthais Bartke, Member of Parliment, representing Hamburg. He also showed us around the Parliment building which was quiet interesting for all of us. We also had a walk up the glass dome which gave us an overview of the entire city of Berlin. 

After the visit to the Reichstag we had about an hour to ourselves where most of us went to the various cafes around the Stelenfeld Memorial to eat. At about about 8:30p.m. we boarded the bus back to Hamburg and reached around 12:30a.m.

-Vidhi

Day 13

On a lazy Sunday morning, all the Indian and German girls were lazing around in an around Hamburg. Few girls had an overnight stay at the Baltic Sea, Lüneburg and Netherlands too. Some of us reached the "Wildpark Schwarze Berge" by noon to have a look at the local species of this continent, including the bear. There was a small market for the tourists to pick up some souvenirs like dream catchers. The rest of the day was spent shopping and returning to the city while Simran and her buddy were at the miniature world. A couple of them also visited a place which had a world record for teapots. The others chilled at home with family and had some delicious barbeque. Everyone wanted to sleep well as each of us was looking forward to a day at Berlin the next day. Our last Sunday in Hamburg was just great :) Riya Chhajlani

Day 12

A long but eventful week came to an end. Our last weekend awaited us and with a pinch of sadness, we started enjoying to the fullest. Everyone had different plans for the weekend. Shweta and her buddy, Vici attended Vici's uncle's  wedding in lüneberg. Few people went for Eppendorf School Fest and the others were just relaxing. Six of us, i.e., Prerna, Trishla, me and our buddies went to a small town near the Baltic sea named Ahrensoop. A beautiful country-side place, it had a soothinv and relaxing effect on us. We cycled around the town and went to the beach. The weather worked in our favour and we could on the beach for a rrally long time. After the beach, we came back and treated ourselves to some delicious pies. After a delicious treat, we headed back the beach to see the sunset. A beautiful vuew, we couldn't not stay for a long time. Seeing the sunset was justs a reason for us to stay there for a longer time and take in the beauty of this amazing place. After which anotger lip-smacking dinner awaited us at home. After the dinner, we oiled each others hair. :P
All in all, it was a day well spent and a great start to the weekend! :)

-Srishtti :)