Transcript and video of Jakob’s moving speech at the MUN

Manuscript MUN speech
The original manuscript of the MUN speech.

It was time to close the three day lasting MUN event. For this reason hundreds of delegates gathered in the new auditorium of our partner school waiting for the final MUN ceremony. Kathak dancers, Yoga students and real diplomats  were announced to be part of the well balanced program. 

And in the midst of all one German students was anxious to be called on stage to share his thoughts about the whole event.

Jakob MUN Speech
Jakob during his MUN speech

Jakob Schweiger, a participant of our exchange project volunteered for holding a speech and you can imagine how frightening an international audience full of diplomatic experts can be for a 15 year old student.

But his voice didn’t shake when he startet his speech and when he won the hearts of all by calling India “a second home”. Continue reading “Transcript and video of Jakob’s moving speech at the MUN”

Day 7 – Astonishing Interview of Mr Madan Lal

Madan Lal Interview
Mr. Madan Lal during his interview in LVIS

Everybody knows how to play cricket. Even we German students from Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium tried to play a match with our Indian friends. But such matches are only for fun. We wanted to know what it is like to play on a professional level. What do you need to get better and how can you stay focused so long.

During our exchange we got the chance to interview the former national cricket player Mr Madan Lal. He visited our school and explained us what it is like to be a professional athlete. He also emphasized strongly the importance of school sports and reminded our students to stay focused if they want to be successful in live.

A short part of the interview with Mr Madan Lal can be seen in the following video:

Der Profispieler Mr Madan Lal beim Interview

Day 15 – Rope Skipping is faster than the eye

At the last day of our stay in India we examined our schedule a little closer. In between the announcements of the Farewell Dinner and the Farewell Assembly we found the word “rope skipping”.
Hmm. That shouldn’t be too difficult. And we were looking forward to showing what our exchange participants can do with a rope. But what we got to see was much more than we expected.
 
The show

When we entered the assembly hall 6 athletes of the Indian Rope Skipping Federation were already waiting there. They placed their skipping ropes in a certain pattern at the floor. All of the ropes were in different colours, at different lengths and were weighted with small plastic pieces.  Only because of these pieces we were able to see the fast motions later. 

Mandatory speeches were hold and after some time the breath taking show finally started:

Seilspringprofis
The after party

During lunch the athletes told us about their sport life: Daily training sessions, weekends filled with tournaments and always new ideas to  try and new moves to learn. There is also some rumor that the German teachers tried some of the tricks. But unfortunately there are no pictures or videos available to proof such a session 😉

Day 15 – A German interpretation of Indian sports

Three days before our departure our creativity was challenged once more. LVIS is applying for the International School award and therefore the German students of Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium had to create and to perform a skit during the farewell assembly. We are still not sure how a German play about Indian sports is connected to a British award but of course we were glad to help.

After some research on the net we decided to interpret the poem “sports” by Rahul Travasso and of course all exchange participants had to take part. 

So enjoy our unique sport skit:

 

Day 15 – There’s no place like home

In the famous 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” the main character Dorothy undertakes unforgettable adventures in a foreign country. There she avoids mysterious dangers, meets strange looking animals and makes friends for live. But at the end of the movie she feels a little homesick and by tapping her heels three times while thinking “There’s no place like home” she is magically transported in her home country.

Where is that country full of magic and miracles?
Real India
The “Real India” – a mysterious place full of adventures

A movie? A fairy tale? Only fiction? For 17 students of Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium the trip to India felt exactly like that. They have heary of that magical country in the east. They have seen pictures of elephants and monkeys and they read about the dangers that can occur there. But they were brave enough to start that adventure and like Dorothy they all met wounderful people and became friends. They were allowed to experience the real India, the India full of colours, smells, noises and tastes and were guided through the dangers like traffic, smog or egotistic youngsters hungry for pictures. That previously foreign country became a second home.

Time to to go home
Farewell
Saying ‘Farewell’ to the new family

But like Dorothy our students missed their family members in Germany. Their pets, their parents and even their siblings. It was time to say goodby. Thats why an Friday the 10th we tapped our heels together and were magically transported by plane to Germany. But not before we celebrated an outstanding farewell party, cried and laughed a lot and promised to see each other soon.

On Saturday 11th a group of parents waited in front of Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium and went crazy when the bus with their children turned around the corner, opend the doors and released all the exchange participants.

We are gone – our love stays with you
German family reunion
Reunion of the German family

The adventures, the friendship, the whole exchange will surely never be forgotten. And who knows when the next children will be transported to that foreign country full of miracles and wonders?

Thanks to everyone for your help, your patience, your love.

Day 2 – Pick up at airport experience

Unsere Begrüßung am Flughafen
Welch warmherzige Begrüßung

The excitement was on its high when we all went to Indira Gandhi Airport to pick our partners. Really excited to meet all of them. And the time comes, they arrive at the airport and after a long queue of formalities they finally came out of the airport. It was really good to see them again. We all met each other and conversed a lot. Then we left the airport for home and came home to get some good sleep.

Written by Gautam Sethi