DAY 7

Our day began with a bright and comforting reflection of the sun ! we all met at the main station of Altoona from where we took the train to the Island of Sylt and we reached the Island by half past 11 and we were accommodated at the Youth hostel where we had our lunch ! After lunch we packed the stuff required for the beach and we had a brisk walk to the beach and reached there soon! We spent our time at the beach playing games , splashing water, swimming and lot more and altogether we had loads of fun!! then we returned to the Youth hostel where we had a barbeque party for dinner . Then we were given free time to spend the evening and all of us chose different activities of our choice to while our time. This was our first day at the Island and we all loved it and cherished every single minute and second of our day!!

- Lasya Chowdary

DAY 6

On the fifth day we arrived at Heilwig Gymnasium at 9am and started off with familiarizing ourselves with the island of Sylt as we would be visiting it for the weekend. We were shown videos that gave us information about the tides and the mudflats in the North Sea.

After that we were given roles to play like the Ministers of environment,  the tourism managers, nature conservationist, coastal protectionist and the agriculturist in an international conference between Germany, Denmark and Netherlands where we discussed important issues on coastal protection measures. After the discussion some decisions were taken by the Ministers of environment of each country and they are as follows:

(Questions asked)

(Roles)

(decisions taken)

After lunch we were free to do anything so we chose to go to the Central park and celebrate Tamara's birthday. We played around in the park for awhile and then dispersed as we had to pack for our trip to the island of Sylt where we were going the next day.

          

                                                                                - Isha

DAY 5

Today was the fourth day of our Indo German Exchange Program and most of it was spent at  Heilwig Gymnasium.

Our day began with a lot of enthusiasm with the Head Mistress of Heilwig Gynasium Mrs.Krause addressesing us about how happy she was to see all of us and  she hopes that the Germans are treating us with the same hospitality  like the German students were treated with when they were in India.

We were then briefed about what we were going to do today by the Chemistry teacher at Heilwig Gymnasium Mr.Bergfeld

We were told that we would be divided into groups randomly and the groups would again be subdivided into more groups with two indians and one german in each group. Then group A was asked to go  the Chemistry lab and work on their project there,

while group B were given some questions who's answers they had to find on the internet, like for instance what is a fuel cell or where they are used etc.

While Group B did this Group A did experiments - They built a car out of Hydrogen and fuel cell and after that they held a race in the corridor to see which car would win and the group which one was given a chocolate. Later on after they completed this t Group A and Group B exchanged their work and now Group A did all the research work while Group B built their car and held the race in which our team (Fenja , ayesha and i) won.

After all the afternoon madness which was enjoyed throughly by us all, we then met at the library to discuss about all the reaserch work that was done by both the groups and then we headed off for lunch.

Feeling very brave because of the pleasant weather all of us shed our jackets and  headed off to River Alster for canoeing. After a long walk we finally reached the beautiful River Alster and  we again divided ourselves into groups with two Germans and two Indians in each group and then were given our life jackets to wear before entering the lake.

We went canoeing for probably two hours straight through the beautiful and breath taking scenery of river Alster which would have probably been better if we didnt have Anton and his evil group splashing really COLD water on us (sorry couldn't upload pictures of us in the river Alster because we were to busy enjoying its beauty).

But like the saying goes "Good things always come to an end" so did our boating trip and so did the pleasent weather ( Yes it started raining) and all of us went our own ways eager for tomorrow.

---Sanjana

DAY 4

Today was our second day in hamburg, though it dint feel like one. We already feel very attached to this place in just within a day. We went to the Heilwig Gymnasium today and some of us went a little more early than the others because our buddies had to write their exams on a timing very different from their friends. The rest of the group joined us by 9 AM and after some time we went into the library and were given a briefing of the day ahead. we were then taken for a walk around the school by the Heilwig students and we were acquainted with it pretty soon.We saw something called  THE MAC ROOM and we were surprised to know that that it was full of APPLE MACS some thing very unlike what we have ever seen :p .Today was the first day that we started our projects and we were given sheets on which our topics for the presentations were mentioned. We were divided into the same groups as were in india and each group had to choose a topic and work on it. We worked on the projects and and some wonderfull charts. We had a break in the middle in which we had our lunch and after fifteen minutes or so we all presented our projects one by one and as complemented by the teachers they had come out pretty well.We were left free by around 3.30 in the afternoon and so we all decided to go for a little shopping though not much shopping was done. We went tpo the center of the city where we roamed around the streets looking for something to shop and when finally we were quite tired of it we went to THE STAR BUCKS CAFE. We "chilled" there for some time and ate or drank something to fill our stomachs a little bit as they were a little empty due to A LOT of walking!!! Finally we all dispersed and retired to our homes after a long and tiring day.
                                                                                                                            -Ayesha

DAY 3

The first official day of the Indo-German Exchange Program started with all of us rushing out of our buddies homes, eager to get to school. Most us us had never travelled by public buses or trains before, and we were pleasantly surprised to see how efficiently they worked.

After braving the public transport and freezing weather, we all assembled in music hall at Lise MEITNE000R Gymnasium. We were treated to the melodies of the school band who played beautifuly.

Then was a short speech by Mrs Oldenberg, the headmistress, followed by a few words by two of the girls who participated in the program last year. We were then divided into groups and taken around the school. Breakfast followed, and then bundled up in as many jackets as we could find, we set off to the first destination of the daz, Lake Alster

After a long walk, we finally reached lake where we had to wait for a few minutes, before getting onto a boat for a quick ride.
After the boat ride, we went to the Michel church. Formally known as the St. Michalelis Church, it is the largest and most famous church in Hamburg. It has a spire, which offers an excellent view over the city and the harbour.

We had to climb up 453 steps to get to the top, and we were exhausted by the time we did, but the view from the top was worth it. We could see most of the city spreading out all around us, and it looked absolutely breathtaking!

 After getting back down (most of us took the shortcut and took the elevator) we entered the chapel, which was gorgeous. We all settled down in the pews and listened to the beautiful music, and then it was time for us to leave.

We all were given instructions for the next day, and then we left, extremely eager for it!

Aashima

DAY 2

  A long, long, long journey finally got us to Hamburg at around 7:45 p.m (Hamburg time).  The whole day spent travelling, we couldn't wait to get the immigration processes done with so we could get to our homes for the month.  After everybody had collected their baggage, we rushed out the gates to see all our buddies standing outside with a single, pretty flower in each one's hand.  Unable to hold it in, there were squeals of excitement all over as we greeted every one of the German friends we had made not so long ago.  Immediately after though, we rushed home to the rest of the families, knowing we'd make the most of this trip, hoping to leave with memories of unforgettable moments, places and people.

Tamara

Phase 2, May 12th - 30th: DAY 1

The Second Phase of the Indo-German Student Exchange begins on the 12th of May. The project on renewable resources which was started by the Indian and German students in Hyderabad during January, will now continue in Germany. 

The countdown has begun. Each of us is definitely counting each second to our departure from Hyderabad. Packing clothes, pulling out a few unnecessary things, last minute shopping, beautifying and sooo much more keeps us all busy today.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, we wonder what project we will be working on soon, whether we'll be able to work on them with ease, whether the presentation will impress the teachers, whether our efforts will gain applause. But more than all this we're definitely thinking about our host families, the fun times planned for us and most importantly, how we are going to make the MOST of the eighteen days lying ahead (both project-wise and also enjoyment-wise)

With mixed feelings of excitement , nervousness, sleeplessness and much more, we wait for the sun to rise to the new day which takes us all the way to Germany. :)

Ananya