German-Indian Exchange Project
Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium, Straubing – Lotus Valley International School, Noida
Who is the best cricket player in the world? Which team do you support? Questions that are easily answered by anybody from India. But what answer would a German exchange student give? None! Cricket is hardly known in Germany. Many even confuse the sport with croquet.
Our German exchange student Jakob therefore started the quest to explore the world of cricket. He interviewed his Indian host to explain the rules to him.
At the end, Jakob was still quite confused. But, just listen yourself.
Beside the many radio stations the region of lower Bavaria comprises some regional television stations which air local news, weather forecasts and even small productions about regional events.
One regional event definitely was the visit of our international exchange students at TV-A television station in Regensburg. At this place the students got to know about the creation of television news, about technical details and about the work of the TV-A team.
What they got to know? Just watch yourself as they interviewed one of the TV-A reporters and recorded everything with the original studio equipment.
We just reduced the quality of the video for you, as it will more convenient for you to watch it on the phone.
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:
In the morning our teacher had organised an interview with the national level volley ball player Rachel Olynik of the Straubing volleyball team NaWaRo. She was an amazing, friendly person who told us a lot about herself and how her never giving up attitude made her what she is today. During the interview she gave us wonderful tips that would surely help us in our lives. At the end of her interview she even promised to bake some cakes for the whole exchange group. We all are really looking forward to eat them.
After the interview we went to the antique liabrary of Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium where really old books were kept. some of those books were handwritten and were written on a material which looked like paper but was completely different from it. the books looked really old and gave us a scent of the old age. it was a wonderful experience.
our teachers had then organised a rock climbing session where we had to climb up big walls. This climbing instructions took place in a special gym of the so called Alpenverein. This is a club where everybody can learn how to behave and to travel in the Bavarian mountains. it was really fun. there were experienced instructors who helped us a lot while climbing.
After that climbing experience we all went to the city centre of Straubing for shopping with our german friends. we were shopping for our friends and family in India. we ate a lot of food and had clicked a lot of selfies.
german breads and cakes are famous all over the world but being a vegetarian i could not taste everything. but the aroma was really tempting.
do you also like trecking….?
Yagyna Gupta
The parents are deeply involved in every exchange process. Not only do they pay for the tickets, they invite a foreign teenager to their house and invite him to become a family member. For two weeks they have to take care of one more child.
Is it really worth that work?
Again, we interviewed a mother and a father of the Indian exchange students to get the answers:
An exchange project is always a whole family project. The siblings often have to give away a room and the parents have to host the foreigner, have to share their apartment or house and have to pay for tickets or field trips with the guest.
So why should they allow their child to participate in our exchange project with Germany and India?
We interviewed Aaditya’s mother and another father of an Indian exchange student to get the answers:
In the column “before the exchange” the German and Indian students explain why they participate in the exchange project. They write about their first preparations and their first contact with their partner.
Today Bhavya, a student of Lotus Valley International School, tells us how he was chosen for the exchange project, what he is looking forward to and why he is participating in our students exchange.
Speeking the German language quite fluently, he wrote his full statement in German:
Der deutsche Austausch ist eines der interessantesten Ereignisse, die in unserer Schule und allen anderen PASCH-Schulen stattfindet. Ich wollte immer daran teilnehmen, als ich mit der deutschen Sprache in der 6. Stufe begann.
Als ich am Ende der Klasse 9 vor den Abschlussprüfungen war, wurde unsere Klasse dem Konzept der deutschen Börse vorgestellt. Alle Schüler, die an der Börse teilnehmen wollten, mussten den jeweiligen deutschen Lehrern ihre Namen geben. Ich habe auch gern meinen Namen gegeben, aber ich wusste nicht, dass die Gelegenheit so schnell meine Tür schlagen würde!!! In der nächsten Zeit kam nun Radhika Maam zu unserer Klasse und rief mich und zwei meiner anderen Freunde. Sie brachte uns in eine andere leere Klasse und sagte uns, dass wir auf der Grundlage unserer deutschen Fähigkeiten, Verhaltensweisen und anderen wichtigen Aspekten für die Deutsche Börse ausgewählt wurden. Ich konnte mein Glück nicht glauben.
Alle drei von uns waren ihr dafür dankbar.
Continue reading “Before the exchange – Bhavya’s first impressions”