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 :)

Day 11

After some interesting field trips the day before, it was time for us to discuss the reflection of the same on our lives. From the discussions about our opinions on repowering the wind parks to the feelings that we had about the concentration camps. It was quite an eventful morning.We also prepared for our field trip to Berlin by learning about the history of Berlin and the ministry of family affairs. We discussed the functions of the ministry and prepared questions that we could ask the representative. After a short break the AFS an organization for intercultural programs conducted a few activities for us. It helped us to understand ourselves and each other better. We had the evening free and a few of us had a bonfire at the beach and it was fun.  - Prerana

Day 10


After briefing ourselves with the pros and cons of wind energy we were all et for the visit to the wind park today. Our day began with all of us meeting at the central station to take the train to neuengamme where the wind park was located.Mr.Jens Heidorn briefed us about the wind park and he was latrr followed by a number of questions from ourside which he answered really patiently. After the wind park we visited the Neuengamme Concentration Camp.It was a sad atmosphere.Everything was so sad that it seemed to be almost unreal. After looking around and watching the documentary on the Concentration Camp we made our way our back to the bus stop. Once we raeched the central station everybody split up and went their own way. Some went shopping and a few went climbing and a few others also visited the Church of St.michel.
It was a tiring but a rather interesting and eventful day!

Day 9.

It was yet another school day. We went to the Lise meitner gymnasium for our project work. The teachers had organised a debate for us. The debate was related to the increase in the height of the windmills in the wind park. The pupils were divided into six groups. Each group had a moderator and few people for the notion and few against it. The discussion was very good and its outcome helped us to understand the perspectives of all individuals towards the windmills for generation of power. After this discussion we had a short break which was followed by a presentation by Connor ,Jens and marilla about the concentration camps during Hitler's regime. After this all the pupils had lunch and we left for the Europe XFEL.  It was a field trip and was related to the atomic structures and big xray units which used renewable energy and resources.The Europe xfel is working on a huge project (Dsey and Petra 3 being plants) of creating a circular tunnel almost 2 kms for letting the small atoms pass through the huge xray equipments. We also visited the construction sites of one of this project and were given a briefing about it. After the very long day, all the pupils went home. Few of the pupils went for a game of football after the school and few of them went either for shopping or relaxed at home.

Day 6!

12th may, 2014. The much awaited trip to the Baltic Sea had finally begun! All the students and teachers met at the Hamburg Central Station at 8:40 am to board the train to Lübeck (9:06 am). We arrived at Lübeck at 9:48 am, after which we were to discover the beautiful historic city through an interesting puzzle hunt, after which we had lunch. At 14:03, we boarded the train to Travemünde and at 15:00 we checked in at the historic, beautiful ship Passat. We were alloted rooms after which we were free to explore our surrounding for about half an hour, after which we went to the beach and played rather interesting, fun filled group games! The wind, the various hues of the water and the pleasant greenery was very refreshing and a treat to the eyes! We had dinner after that and a few more exciting games were in store for us! After dinner, we all wanted to visit the beach again absorb the scenic beauty with one another after which we slept. It was a day spent beautifully.

Day 7

We began a new, fresh day on the ship Passat with the sun finally shining in the sky. It was still windy but the joy at seeing the sun was limitless and tangible. Breakfast was served at 8 and then everyone went back to their rooms to clean up. We then bid goodbye to the Passat and went to another beach which was close by. Luckily the sun was still out and the allure of the beach was impossible to resist. The scenery was absolutely stunning. But unfortunately the weather didn't last and it began to rain again. Emphasis on 'again'. So we packed up and stopped at a little cafe to eat and then hopped on the train to Lubeck, and then from Lubeck, back to Hamburg.  After coming back to Hamburg everyone parted ways. Everyone did different, exciting things. Some went to the townhall, some went to the supermarket on bicycles that were to big for them, (refer to Tanusha) and while some went home the others went shopping!! I went back home, where my buddy Ben was eagerly waiting for the juicy bits about the 2-day trip he missed due to an injury. After beating, scratch that , crushing him at a game of chess, we had dinner and it was an end to another wonderful day in Germany .



                                                                                                                           -Aapeksha Pingali

DAY 5

As the day began, it began with the laziness that Sundays generally begins with. Though getting out of the bed wasn't easy, soon we woke up to a lovely breakfast with the host family. Since I was staying with Malavika with her buddy Henriette and her family, (becuase my buddy was not in town until today) My buddy's(Conner) parents came to pick me up after breakfast to take me to the hospital for a vaccination that was due today. They drove me to the hospital. The hospital was very systematic and efficient. Not very different from the ones in India and very nice, in a way I'm glad I got to visit a hospital here just to know how different it is from the hospitals back home. After spending almost an hour there, I went back to Hentriette's house so we could go to pick Conner up at the station. I was very excited to finally meet my buddy. Ironically, in his own city I was going to recieve him which was quite funny. I was so happy after he was here, the wait was worthwhile. After he was here, we went to his house and had some amazing mouth watering lunch. It was really very nice to meet my buddy's family an interact with them. After spending a lot of quality time with the family, Malavika and her buddy Henriette and Dakshaa and her buddy Jens came over to our house. We all sat down and decided to enjoy a game of monopoly. It was loads of fun playing the game. My host family ordered some pizzas for dinner and all of us sat together and enjoyed our meal. With delicious food, amazing company and a good long laugh throughout, it was a perfect end to another beautiful day.
A few of my friends like Prerna and Trishla went for a ball with their buddies, while Shweta and her buddy went for a long walk by the Alster and stopped by a café bar restaurant for some waffles and coffee whilst enjoying the beautiful view. Palak went to a church with her buddy for her brother's conformation.

It was an amazing Sunday spent well with our buddies and their families.
At the end eveyone got busy in getting ready for tomorrow since we will be off to an overnight stay at the Baltic Sea.
Waiting for another amazing day!

Day 4!

My buddy, Victoria(Wrage), and I woke up to a few rays of the sun sneaking in through the blinds, into the room we share. Excited that the sun was finally paying us a visit, albeit a short one, we got out of bed and tidied ourselves. While I finished breakfast, Victoria brought back from the tailor the dress that she will wear to the wedding that we shall attend next weekend. We then decided to go into the city and sit by the Alster, one of the biggest rivers in Hamburg. I was met with one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen when we exited the train station.

Vitoria and I met a few of our other friends Alefiya, Elena, Victoria(Cr), Hema, Nele, Tanusha, Dakshaa and Jens.

While the first four and Victoria and I proceeded towards the Alster, the other four went in a different direction, into the mall. We bought ice creams and sat by the river, enjoying our treat in the cold weather. we attracted quite a few birds to our spot because Elena and Alefiya fed a few ducks pieces of their cones. Ducks, swans, sparrows and pigeons all flocked towards us and feeding them, we left for Jim Block, a burger restaurant. There, we enjoyed a nice filling meal and said good day to Dakshaa and Jens who were leaving to watch Hamburg's soccer match that was to be held that day( for anyone interested, Hamburg won!). The rest of us then commenced shopping. I learnt later that many of our other friends too went shopping, though only after they had visited the ongoing Harbour festival and took rides on the ferry and ferris wheel- and in the rain too!

When Victoria and I got home that evening, her youngest sister, Isabelle(who is the cutest little girl), greeted us with a big kiss. We had dinner at home(yummy, chicken! Sorry, vegetarians), and then drove to Victoria's(Cr) home to watch a movie. Alefiya, Elena, Ben and Aapeksha came too and, while we Indians watched, "Meet The Millers", our buddies sat outside, chatting away with purple coloured peel-off masks on their faces. We got back home after a rather eventful day and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

                                                                                                                -Shweta Mehta

Day 3!

Our third day started with rain, rain, and some more rain. 

We went to Heilwig (which is another school) and our day at school started with an activity which involved getting to know each other after a long break. We were provided with a set of questions that we had to find answers to from people from the other country. During this activity, we got to know quite a bit about each other. It was interesting to get know little, but interesting things about each other. 

We had another team building activity. each group of six were given forty straws and some tape. The task was to create the tallest structure out of those forty straws. Through this activity we got to know where we stood in the group and what role each of us played in producing the final result. Simran's team win that with their structure being 2.20 m. 

We had lunch at the canteen in school, after which we went Hafen City. Marilla's father, Mr. Perry, was our guide. 

He told us all about the old buildings and the new ones. He kept us engrossed throughout the afternoon. He told us about the various methods of energy conservation used in the buildings. 

The weather played spoilt sport and it started to pour in the middle of our little excursion. We ran into the Unilever building. And even there, Mr. Perry told us how the building one of the most modern and hi-tech buildings in Hafen City. 

The day ended with a huge storm and all of us dispersing and heading back home after a long and rather eventful day. 

- Malavika Adiga

Day 2!  

After we all recovered from our flight insomnia, we got ready to live our first day in Hamburg. We were all to meet at Lisa Meitner ( one of the schools) . It was so fascinating to walk the streets of Hamburg. It was freezing for us since we weren't accustomed to the cold but we did fine. 

When we arrived at the school, we were welcomed by the Principal. The school band then played some wonderful music for us.  

After this, we started our project work immediately. The physics teacher had some pretty interesting things planned for us. We were divided into two groups. The first group went to explore the school and researched about the school's way of saving energy. The second group was working on some experiments on thermal, wind and solar energy. 

We ate some delicious lunch after which we dispersed. Most of us went to a nearby mall called Elba and had our first shopping experience in Germany. It was wonderful. We then went back to out respective homes. 

It was a day well spent!  

-Palak Agarwal. 

First day!

7th May, 2014. The day we had been waiting for since 3 months, one week and five days had finally come.  Most of us couldn't sleep the previous night.  We all checked in, in time (for once) after the teachers assured our parents that we are coming back so that they can finally stop hugging us and leave, which most of them didn't till we got our boarding passes and were completely out of their sight (phone calls followed). Honestly,  we didn't feel anything at the airport. We didn't know what was going to happen,  we didn't know what to expect.
Our flight to Dubai was good and the lunch was delicious. We kept ourselves engaged in talking or watching movies or listening to music. After reaching the airport (which was so beautiful), we were deciding what we could buy on our way back and had some snacks. We also spoke to our parents that we are completely safe and sound after a three hour flight!
Our flight to Germany seemed longer than it really was. We couldn't really do anything because in the back of our head, we were all thinking about how it's going to be like, is our experience going to be good,  are they as excited as we were, will they treat us the same way we did,  so many questions! The food again was really good.

The minute we landed, our excitement sky rocketed. Suddenly, we just wanted to run outside to meet all of them. We rushed out with our luggage to see all of them eagerly waiting for us with flowers and placards in their hands. We were also served the tasty breads which were a speciality of Hamburg. We were so overwhelmed! It was such a pleasure to meet our buddies, their familes and all the others with whom we built such a great bond in such little time. We went back home to our respective host families, had dinner with them, assured our parents we are still alive and hit the bed after the long day we had. It was indeed a tiring day nevertheless it was worth the wait. We are all looking forward to make memories worth a lifetime. <3

-Tanusha ^^