Programme: trip to Lucerne / Lion Monument / Glacier Garden / City walk / shopping / Mountain Pilatus

Programme: Foxtrail in Zurich, shopping?, afternoon free

Programme: music workshop / chocolat factory Maestrani Flawil / jodeling workshop Appenzell

Programme: presentations and games at school / official welcome at Andelfingen Castle / trip to Schaffhausen and the Rheinfall

Finally … our friends from Strážnice are here!

We wish you and the Swiss families a fantastic week and many great and unforgettable experiences and impressions!

Thank you:

• Purkyňovo gymnázium Strážnice and its teachers for this wonderful Xchange
• Jan Willem Jongepier for the organization and for all the unforgettable memories
• Czech students and your parents for your hospitality
• Sekundarschule Andelfingen for enabling us this special experience
• Beat Merz for the perfect organization
• Colleagues for the substitutions
• Swiss parents for their trust in us and the Xchange project
• And last but not least thank you, dear Swiss students; we are happy to bring you all back home safe and sound, we are proud of how you managed to adjust to all kinds of different situations. We had a lot of fun together with you.

Ivana Ducci and Cornelia Roth

Saturday morning started very early for us. It was hard to get up after only four hours of sleep;  many of us had been celebrating for very long. At seven o’clock we met the other students at the train station in Strážnice. We made some last photos and had to say good bye. It was really emotional and it was sad that we didn’t have enough time to give all students a big hug. During the farewell there were a lot of tears but when we almost missed the train the mood changed very quickly to a good level again. Even though we were very sad, we were looking forward to seeing our family again. And the thought that we could soon be having a normal shower, standing upright, instead of kneeling in the bathtub, comforted us a lot. 

The song „Heiweh nach de Berge, nach de Schoggi und em Wii“ accompanied us on the way back home.  We made some stopovers in the cities of Hodinin, Vienna and Innsbruck. During those stops we were glad to stretch our legs and to explore the train stations.

On the rides we spent our time with singing, talking, listening to music, playing (stupid – editors’ note) computer games and with watching movies. On the way we saw that the landscapes of the Czech Republic and Austria are totally different and that was interesting for all of us.

It was a beautiful time together with all the students and the teachers.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS TIME!

Riana and Ronja

On our last day in Strážnice we all got surprised by heavy rain. Until this morning we thought that it would always be sunny in Czech Republic. 

For the today’s program we got split up into groups of four students. Half of the groups started with a quiz about Switzerland and the Czech Republic and the other half played a floorball tournament.

The questions of the quiz were distributed in the whole school building and the students had to go and find and answer them. It was quite tricky to find all the questions in this big school building. But luckily, all worked out well in the end.

Action was guaranteed in the school gym! We all had a lot of fun playing against each other. Some of us got really ambitious. Luckily, this time there were no serious injuries except for a few bruises. 

In the afternoon we did some last activities in our families. Of course we were all looking forward to the farewell party in the evening. We got invited to a nice restaurant for dinner. The Schnitzel and the Smažený sýr (fried cheese) were delicious and so was the home made Štrůdl.

At the editorial deadline the farewell party is still going on …

Manuel and Yannis

Prague! Finally! We were so excited even though we had to get up very early. The train trip was sooo short, just kidding, it was a 4-hour trip. Prague welcomed us with sunny weather and with many tourists.

First we were at the Wenceslas Square, which is one of the main city squares and also the centre of business and culture in the new town of Prague. And we can also recommend it for shopping. After a lot of souvenir shops we crossed the beautiful Charles Bridge, which took us over the longest river from Czech Republic, the Vltava (Moldau). On the bridge there were a lot of musicians, painters and merchants. We had a real holiday feeling and we enjoyed it very much.

With a red head and a thirsty mouth, we reached the castle. The castle is the house of the president of the Czech Republic and it is the longest and oldest still inhabited house of the world. Next to it, there is a wonderful church. We think it’s one of the most beautiful attractions we saw in Czech Republic.

After all that sightseeing we could finally start our shopping tour. But we had to take care of our bags, so that nothing would get stolen.

Now we are sitting on the train again, writing this text, our feet are hurting and we just want to fall into our beds.

Annina, Janine, Leonie

As usual we took the bus to go to school in Strážnice. When we arrived there we were split up into two groups. One group started at the crisps factory and the other group had a post-Easter workshop.

At the crisps factory we learnt a lot about the different types of potatoes. The man also told us what we need to make crisps: Water, rapeseed oil, potatoes and flavours. Then we went to the producing hall to see how the crisps are made. After the tour we walked back with a big box full of crisps. 

The second workshop showed us how traditional Easter whips are made. It looks easy, but we soon realized that it isn’t. We also got the chance to decorate Easter eggs and biscuits. After getting all the necessary information for tomorrow’s trip to Prague we took off to our free afternoon. 

Almost all the students met up in Uherské Hradiště, a lovely city, for a laser game. We had a lot of fun together.

Happy but also tired we caught the train back to our hometowns. Tonight we ate an early dinner. We need a good sleep because tomorrow is going to be a long day in Prague.

Florian and Joel