FROschTOsch

by Henry Beaumont (LHS)

On Monday the 22nd of  November the Comenius group went together to The Big Pit near Blaenavon in Wales. Once we arrived we headed into the Museum and headed into the waiting room for the Underground Tour. We were only allowed down into the mine in groups of around 17. Once we were kitted up into belts and helmets we stepped into the lift and were lowered 90 metres down into the mine. There we were taken around by a tour guide who had himself worked in the mine when he was younger, and it was there that we learned children as young as five worked by opening and closing flaps for elder men coming through with mine carts.

As we went deeper into the mine we were told about the other workers in the mine and the horses. Horses in the early days of mining were used to pull around trains filled to the brim with coal. Once they had been taken down into the mines many horses never saw daylight again. That was until a new law was passed that required that horses had to have semi-regular holidays. Even after holidays had been introduced once horses were too old to work they were killed. Only two horses from the big pit were ever retired.

Towards the end of our tour we were told about the danger of burrowing into the Welsh Ground and Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The Miners used Canaries to test for this Gas and at the end of our tour after riding the lift, in miners’s tongue “the cage”, back up to the surface we met two other canaries before moving on and having our lunch in the miner’s canteen.

After this we went into the virtual mining experience where we saw a miners’ shower room and many historical photos of their  working life.

by Joseph Attwood (LHS)

On Friday the 19th of November I went to the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham with students from  Tadeusza Kościuszki liceum Ogólnokształcące in Poland and Bettine-von-Arnim-Gesamtschule in Germany. We had a good time and saw lots of interesting things like the rail ton world land speed record car from 1938, which did an amazing 394 mph, an old Spitfire from the second world war , lots of pieces of machinery and a human brain!!!!!. We went to the planetarium which was cool because I learnt about the stars and far off galaxies. Afterwards we went to a café for pizza. After this we went to the center of Birmingham and the German market.  In the Bullring we bought stuff and gave Scott money. Then we got lost for ages. Then we found the German market and went home.

by G. Fiedler (BvA)

On March 23, 2010 the FROschTOsch project meeting had the privilege to welcome two very special guests, Ms Erna Funk and Dr. Stephan Lipski. They were both born into the German minority in Gostynin before World War II and told the FROschTOsch team about how Germans came to live in Poland 200 years ago, what life was like as a German among Polish neighbours and what they experienced under Nazi German occupation.

2 Germans born in Gostynin report

by Jennifer Donteville (LHS)

Wir sind in Deutschland vom 17. März bis 24. März 2010.

Wir haben uns am Bahnhof in Hereford um sieben Uhr getroffen. Wir haben den Zug nach Birmingham genommen. Als wir am Flughafen angekommen sind, haben wir eingescheckt und unser Gepäck abgegeben. Dann sind wir durch die Security gegangen. Ich und meine Freundin haben ein Frühstück in dem Restaurant “Waterspoons” gegessen. Wir sind zum “Terminal 2″ und wir haben den Flug nach Düsseldorf genommen. Dann wir haben den Zug nach Langenfeld mit einigen Problemen genommen. Als wir am Langenfelder Bahnhof angekommen sind haben wir unsere Gastfamilien getroffen.

Tag 1: Donnerstag den 18. März

Wir waren in der Schule. Wir haben die Gastfamilien unserer Freunde getroffen. Wir haben in der Mensa gegessen. Es war sehr lecker. Dann sind wir bei den Gastfamillien geblieben.

Tag 2: Freitag den 19. März

Wir sind in die Schule gegangen und dann sind wir in Gruppen für Düsseldorf eingeteilt worden. Ich war nicht bei meiner Gastfreundin. Ich war bei der Rheinischen Post. Es war interessant, aber ich war müde. Am Abend bin ich und meine Gastfreundin nach Hause gegangen. Alle Austauschschüler verbrachten den Abend bei ihren Gastfamilien.

Tag 3: Samstag den 20. März

Heute sind wir in der Schule. Wir sind an den Computern, wir machen einen Artikel für FROschTOsch. Dann später werden wir Mittagessen und einkaufen. Nachher werden meine Gastfreundin und ich in die Stadt gehen um einen Tanzwettbewerb zu sehen.

Tag 4: Sonstag den 21. März

Morgen sind wir in Köln. Wir müssen uns auf Langenfelder Bahnhof treffen. Wir werden in das Schokoladenmuseum oder Sportmuseum gehen. Dann werden wir die Kirche sehen und ich hoffe wir gehen einkaufen .

Tag 5: Montag den 22. März

Wir werden uns in der Schule um 8 uhr treffen. Dann werden wir in die Stadt gehen. Wir werden nach Solingen gehen für ein FROschTOsch Event. Dann sind wir in dem Restaurant ” Clemens Galleries” in Solingen.

Tag 6: Dienstag den 23. März

Wir werden in der Schule sein und wir werden üben mit Skype umzugehen. Dann werden wir ein Gespräch mit Dr Lipski führen. Dann werden wir in der Mensa essen, und “Aufwiedersehen” sagen zu unseren Gastfreunden. Wir werden nach Hilden oder Langfeld gehen.

Tag 7: Mittwoch den 24. März

Wir müssen an der S-Bahn um 8 uhr sein. Dann die Engländer müssen zum Düsseldorfer Flughafen gehen. Wir müssen um 11 uhr demFlug nehmen.

by F. Gadfield

The Comenius party spent Monday visiting the centre of Hilden and at an art studio in Solingen.

Hilden

Hilden has many interesting old buildings and also offered a good opportunity for shopping!

Hilden Kirche

We then travelled on to Solingen to the gallery of Regis Noel where artistic skills were put to the test.  Students were asked to complete small panels, one for each country with designs representing country, school and city.

At the end of the afternoon the pictures became a giant jigsaw puzzle and formed a large picture which was then split into three small pictures, one for each country.  These pictures will be sent to each of the participating schools in the near future.  The large picture can only be seen  on the internet where it contributes to the art project “be a part of it”.

The Unique "Big Picture"

by F. Gadfield

The group split into groups to visit two very different newspapers in Düsseldorf.

Rheinische Post

Rheinische Post Online is the online version of a daily newspaper which has extensive local coverage as well as news from around the world.   Students toured the editing room and saw how the paper is printed. They were able to view the news of tomorrow today!

Students learnt of the importance of meeting deadlines in the world of journalism and the following day were able to read the newspaper that they had seen in production.

fiftyfifty

is an organisation which supports the homeless and produces the biggest street magazine in Germany.  It is sold on the streets of Düsseldorf and many other cities in the area.

fiftyfifty

The magazine has over 400 vendors in Düsseldorf alone and we were lucky to meet two of them, one of whom had been working for fiftyfifty for 15 years.  Articles and pictures are the work of homeless people.

fiftyfifty runs seven hotels for the homeless – these are funded from sales of the magazine and from the art gallery.  Many famous artists have donated their work to the organisation and the group were able to see current exhibits in the gallery.

The Big Issue is the British equivalent of fiftyfifty – but whilst The Big Issue covers the whole of the UK, there are many separate magazines in Germany.