FROschTOsch

by Julita Kowalów, Karolina Krukowska, Magdalena Mańkowska, Katarzyna Sielaczek (LOG)

Sport is one of the most famous way of spending free time in our school. It’s very important for young people’s health and mental condition.

Our students take part in many competitions and they attend many extra ordinary lessons after school. They devote their time for improving their sport skills. Also our teachers commit themselves to training pupils.

We have 3 school representations: volleyball team, football team and basketball team. They achieve many successes in regional competitions. Our biggest achievement is the fact that we have been champions in our region for 7 years in volleyball and basketball as well.

We are proud of our sportsmen and we wish them more and more success.

by Julita Kowalów, Karolina Krukowska, Magdalena Mańkowska, Katarzyna Sielaczek (LOG)

Euro 2012 is  organised in Poland for the first time. As we all know it’s associated with many changes and improvements in our country’s infrastructure.  It’s  a great opportunity to promote our country in the world. It is  also a great entertainment for football supporters.

The sports stadiums are being built in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław. These buildings were designed not only for sports competitions but for other kind of entertainment like concerts or shows. We also started to renovate our railway stations and airports. For example we built a new terminal in Łódź and we are building many motorways.

Euro 2012 is a chance to cooperate with neighbouring countries mainly  Ukraine. Poland and Ukraine are planning to organize  the final together. During the sport event in our country there will be about 3500 journalists who will be reporting championship for millions of people all over the world. Communication network area’s preparation are connected with cooperation with Ukraine, therefore it is a task  which must be mastered together.

On the other hand, it is a big responsibility to cope with such a duty. There are some complications with infrastructure. There are some delays, the motorways may not be built in time. Chinese consortium which is building motorways in Poland doesn’t  pay Polish subcontractors on time so they went on strike. Problems are also appearing in roads’ investments and building of National Stadium. The disparity between official work plan  and actual situation is 16 per cent. But authorities think that these problems won’t disturb in completing the task on time.

There are 361 days left to the Europe Championship and despite of some complications we hope that everything will be successful.

by Philip Kulej (BvA)

From the 8^th up to 13^th June the German Comenius group of Langenfeld had a visit to their partner city Gostynin in Poland. When we arrived at the hostel in Gostynin, I went towards my room.

But after  ten minutes, Mrs. Arnold called me and asked me to come down to her and Mrs. Śniecikowska – she is the wife of the major of Gostynin and our hostel leader.

Because my whole family is from Poland I know this language and could help to translate a few things at the morning for example when the breakfast should start. After our breakfast we went to the school, the Liceum Tadeusza Kościuszki in Gostynin and had there a German-Polish guide who showed us the school. I understood  everything the Polish students talked about  us .

On the trips to Plock, Torun and the old town of Warsaw, the Polish students got to know me better and were surprised when they heard I can speak Polish. So sometimes I had to translate  between the German and Polish students when they had problems to communicate in English.

One afternoon Mrs Arnold, Martin and I met  the mayor and his wife at the hotel by coincident and had a difficult conversation about the Polish and German school system. The conversation was very intensive and long. So I had sometimes difficulties to translate things but Martin can speak Polish too, so we helped each other and had a successful conversation.

At our last breakfast in the hotel we had a special guest, the mayor Mr. Włodzimierz Śniecikowski,  who talked to  us about the history of Gostynin  and other things. All in all my  unexpected translator job in Poland was very exciting and was a lot of fun.

by Marta Lewandowska and Małgorzata Leonarcik (LOG)

School is really important in every youth’s life. Education determines our future career – our job, our status, our satisfaction. This is why deciding on our path is such a serious matter. In every field, we need different qualifications. School can help us develop our abilities.

When we decide on our school life, we also choose our leading subjects. That means we learn the subjects we need in our future job, e.g. Maths for engineers, Biology for doctors. However, when choosing a path, we are still very young and inexperienced. It is hard to make a proper decision. Youths are likely to change their mind as they learn new things and find their new passions and interests. It means that even if someone has been learning History diligently for 2 years, he can suddenly go on to learning Physics and taking a path of an engineer.

We conducted a survey at our school. We wanted to find out opinions of our schoolmates that chose different majors. The questions was their future job and their reason for picking it out. We think that the survey made many people think about their life.

The results of our work are quite interesting. We found out that people that chose Science as their main subject (and also Biology, Geography, etc.) are more likely to take jobs connected with it. People learn Biology and Chemistry because their plan for life is being a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist.

If one spends much time on Maths, he probably dreams about being an architect, a banker or a businessman. The reason for that can probably have something to do with a specific character of the subject. A student needs to think logically and to understand many rules and laws of the nature.

There’s a difference in regard to humanistic subjects. The subjects are rather not very specific and it may be the reason why students’ plans differ so much. It is quite common to find people who want to be psychologists, lawyers, journalists, but others prefer being geodesists and doctors! They don’t care that it’s difficult to take this path, while they aren’t used to learning Science. They want to fulfill their dreams no matter what. Maybe humanists are just such full of passions people that think with their heart and not their common sense…

We also asked about motivations of young people. Most of them chose… money. Maybe Poland is still a poor country and that’s the reason why every one dreams of being rich. Wealth can help fulfill all the dreams and aspirations. Isn’t that sad?

However, many people choose their job according to interests. When someone likes drawing, job of an architect is actually perfect for him. One can realize his potential and be satisfied in his life. We are also proud that some of our schoolmates just want to help others- that is the reason for being a doctor or a policeman. Other causes can be: a contact with people, traditions in family, travels and prestige.

However, it is also quite disappointing that not every one has a good reason for choosing a particular path. Life is sad when one doesn’t have a motivation. It is harder to achieve your goals, when you don’t feel like really achieving them. That is why, our young age can actually create a problem. We are still indecisive and we don’t know much about the world. We can dream, but we can’t be sure… And (for good or for bad) it is the most important time for us, when our future life is being determined.

Let’s take this challenge!

by Dominika Lewandowska IIe (LOG)

I was born in a small mystery town called Gostynin, where maisonette castle was built on the hill which used to be densely crowned with wood. At present townsfolk have had the castle reconstructed, but spirit of old one is still present in many legends and memory of the oldest people living here…

The modest, wooden but really comfortable castle was overlooking the mingy village. Nowadays at the same place the sun’s radiance is given back by Kocioł Lake tract. In the stronghold a foreman with his beautiful young wife were living. Their peaceful existence was interrupted by Tatar’s breaking into Polish land. The foreman had to go fighting with the pagans, unfortunately he was taken captive. One day a young and handsome knight came to the castle. The forewoman was jaded, she hadn’t got any message about her husband and because of her loneliness she fell in love with the knight. A few months later  emissaries arrived to the castle. They were to take a ransome for the foreman’s life, but perfidious knight had them incarcerated and he said no word to the forewoman.  By-and-by a message was brought to the citadel telling about foreman’s death. Unfaithful wife and the knight got married. During pompous wedding the spirit of the foreman appeared and damned traitorous woman and sneaky knight. The castle with wedding’s guests caved in the ground and on its site Kocioł lake came into being. The sole relic of old castle was crucifix, which was sticking out the lake’s tract. One day a country woman was washing underclothes, she caught the crucifix and invoked. Just then the roob disappeared for ages, but during the full moon, they say, it emerges in the moonlight.

Kocioł lake is frequent motive in Gostynin’s legends and the next tradition will be about it too. In the castle a prince was living, whose daughter married a plebeian in spite of her father objecting. The outraged prince killed the bridegroom while a priest was blessing newlyweds. The church, which had been situated on the hill, disappeared under the ground and now people can see there Kocioł lake.

Other legend says that before the ages, on the place where at present there is the Kocioł lake, was a sizeable town. Hard-working and opulent people were living there, however because of their vanity, they started sinnig against the Lord. The God punished sinners cruelly – the town caved in the abyss and from the hole surfaced the lake called Kocioł. The fishermen angling fishes there claimed they had been able to hear the voices and clang of a church’s bell during the Easter. It was said that a sinless girl who will be washing her clothes in the lake, may reverse the bad fortune and restore the town to the life, if she isn’t scared of a vision of it. Someday a young girl was washing her raiment in the Kocioł Lake and she felt she had touched something strange. The girl realized that had been a steeple, unfortunately she was shocked and a little bit frightened. The church had to stay in the darkness forever.

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 Paige Morgan (LHS)

Kington show is held at The Ovals Farm, Kington. Kington show is a traditional agricultural show with Horse, Cattle, Sheep, Dog and Horticultural classes together with Young Farmers competitions, Shearing competitions and Farrier demonstrations. There are also activities for children such as a Rodeo bull and children’s rides. Late at night there is a show dance.

There is a shuttle bus which takes people from the centre of Kington up to the show. There is an entry fee of: adults are £10, £8 pensioners, £5 10-16-year-olds and under 10’s are free.  The society has been established since 1881 and the shows are always held around 18^th September. The sheep shearing contests are supposed to attract the UK’s top operators and also shearers from overseas.

There is also a trotting or harness racing and Kington is well known for this. Originally, the horses were all Welsh cobs but over the years a standard breed has replaced them. There are also dog shows and there are competitions to see who has the best cow or horse etc…

by Marika Cholewik (BvA)

The little town Hilden, hometown of many students of our school,  is situated on the little river Itter and near Düsseldorf, the capital of state Nordrheinwestfalen. The town is more than 1000 years old, but the year of origin is not exactly known.

In the 13th century, the protestant church “Reformationskirche” was built. Through the centuries the church has been changing between the Protestant and Catholic denomination, but in 1624 it has been decided that the church should be Protestant and the Catholics built a new church named “St. Jacobuskirche”.

Important Dates in the History of Hilden:

1823 – the first post office

1849 – waterworks

1900 – the old townhall was built and Hilden got its city coat of arms

1904 – electricity supply

Celebrities of Hilden:

(16th/17th century) Anton and Wilhelm Hüls – Pastors

1560-1634 Wilhelm Fabry – famous German doctor

Ellen Wiederhold – she was the Mayor of Hilden for 25 years (1969-1994)

by Nitharsini Y. and Katrin H. (BvA)

Maybe, you already know the town Langenfeld, but here are some details about our town – where we live and where our school is.

Langenfeld is a town which belongs to the county of Mettmann. It is divided in five parts named Richrath, Immigrath, Reusrath, Berghausen and Wiescheid.

Map taken from: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langenfeld_(Rheinland)

All in alll, there are 59.000 inhabitants.

We have lots of options to go shopping! There is the “Stadtgalerie” where there are lots of shops. For example: a bakery, Madonna, C&A, the post office, a drugstore, a bookshop, etc. Since November 2009, we have a new shopping center, called “Marktkarree”. It is very big and has lots of new shops like New Yorker, a boot shop, a big multiple drugstore.

In Langenfeld you can do a lot of sports, for example: go swimming, play golf, go horseriding. In Langenfeld – Berghausen there are popular water ski facilities, in the summer there are many visitors. In the center of Langenfeld you find big sports fields where the sport clubs like football clubs, an American football club (Longhorns), basketball clubs etc. have their training. We also have a gliding airfield.

In Langenfeld there are six secondary schools, our school “Bettine von Arnim Gesamtschule” is in Langenfeld-Richrath and the only comprehensive school here. Also we have a big supermarket, two bakeries, two schools to learn driving, a hair salon, a little post office, etc.

So you can say: We like to live inLangenfeld-Richrath because it is small but we have all things we need and we are very happy

by Nitharsini Y. and Katrin H. (BvA)

by Mira Pabich (BvA) and Callum Allman (LHS)

On 25 June 2010 Wilhelm Fabry would be 450 years old. Hilden celebrates this year the Fabry-Year 2010. There are many events and Hilden will be established as  “Fabry-City”.

In Hilden you can see a statue of Wilhelm Fabry. He is a very famous person and well known in Germany. Wilhelm Fabry is seen as the best German surgeon of his time and as the founder of scientific surgery. Besides, he was very famous for the medical works he published. Among them “Observationum et Curationum Chirurgicarum Centuriae “, a summary of case reports during his lifetime. A street, a school and the only museum in Hilden were named after him.

Still today his works stamp the city.  The city celebrates him because his birthplace is Hilden and he has reached a lot in his life. On 15 February 1634 Wilhelm Fabry passed away in Bern.

Am 25. Juni 2010 wäre Wilhelm Fabry 450 Jahre alt geworden. Hilden feiert in diesem Jahr das Fabry-Jahr 2010.
Hilden soll als „Fabry-Stadt“ etabliert werden. Wilhelm Fabry wird als der zu seiner Zeit bester deutsche Wundarzt und als Begründer der wissenschaftlichen Chirurgie angesehen.
Er war unter anderem sehr berühmt für seine medizinischen Werke, die er verfasst hat. Unter ihnen das “Observationum et Curationum Chirurgicarum Centuriae”, eine Zusammenfassung von Fallberichten zu seiner Lebenszeit.
Eine Straße, eine Schule und das einzige Museum in Hilden wurden nach ihm benannt. Seine Werke prägen die Stadt noch heute.
Die Stadt feiert ihn, weil seine Geburtsstätte Hilden ist und er sehr viel in seinem Leben erreicht hat. Am 15. Februar 1634 verstarb Wilhelm Fabry in Bern.    www.fabry-jahr.de