In the week from 3rd to 7th June 2024, we took part in a student exchange programme with the Polish school “Szkoła Podstawowa nr 39” in Gdynia, which was financed by Erasmus+ and the European Commission. We were 15 students in total, ten students stayed with host families and 5 in a hotel. We were accompanied by Ms Markovic, our class teacher, and Ms Bayram, our school social worker.
On Monday around noon, we took a train to Poland. When we stopped at the station Frankfurt (Oder) which was the first stop after Berlin Hauptbahnhof, we were informed that there was a problem with the train staff. At first, we didn’t think much of it and thought it would be over in maybe 10-20 minutes, but, oh well, were we wrong. In total we were three and a half hours late! Yes, you read that correctly! We were really exhausted once we arrived in Gdynia and as soon as we reached our accommodation, we all got into bed and fell asleep within seconds.
The morning of the second day started at 6:30 o’clock. Elif, Amelie and me (Adelisa) got ready for the day and at 7 o ‘clock we went downstairs to have breakfast. There was a huge choice of different foods to pick from, but in the end Elif and me opted for some cornflakes. Then we all got ready and went to the main train station in Gdynia to meet with the Polish students and their guests. Our train arrived and we were on our way to Gdànsk to do a city quiz organised by the students of German philology. After that, we had lunch at a local restaurant. At around 2 pm we took the train to Sopot, where we did some sightseeing and got to try some gofry aka the Polish waffle. After a long day of activities, we were back at our hotel, and we realized that we had made 20 000 steps that day. In the evening, we had some pierogi for dinner, a traditional Polish dish, and also had time to relax and text or call our family.
On Wednesday we spent the day at school. We all had our breakfast, got ready and went to school by bus. We met there with other students and were first given a school tour. Then we had a workshop on robotics with the principal Mr. Chyś. We got to control the robots with the help of an app, and we also made short videos in groups. In between, we had a short lunch break at the school’s cafeteria.
Hey, that’s us!
Later that day, we went to the beach together with our teachers. Some of us went knee-deep into the water and we started splashing each other. After a while we were soaking wet so that Elif decided to jump into the water and swim. The water was quite shallow and calm, and I guess it was really funny seeing the four of us in the water with clothes on. For us that experience was the highlight of the week!
On Thursday we met with the rest of the group at the main train station in Gdynia at 9 am to do another city quiz. This time on Modernism in Gdynia. After that we went to see the aquarium, and we also did a workshop there called Shark Encounters. As the name suggests, we got to learn a lot about sharks, and we also looked at shark teeth and skin under a microscope. Then from 2 pm to 2:50 pm we did a boat tour. It was really cold on the boat! Brrr!
The workshop Shark Encounters.
We were all absolutely famished by the time we reached the pizzeria, where we had our lunch. We all ordered a small pizza, but the staff was so nice that they made big pizzas for all of us. After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and got some rest. We only had 1 hour to rest because we had to be at school by 7 pm. We were having a farewell party. We were really impressed by everything the Polish teachers, Ms Kraszewska and Ms Helinska, as well as the parents of the Polish students, prepared for us. There was a big table full of all types of sweets, cakes and snacks. It was really fun to be there and get appreciated by all the other people. We also celebrated the first birthday of our project since almost a year ago another group of students, accompanied by Mr Erdmann, was in Poland.
Overall, it was a really fun and exciting experience for everyone participating in the student exchange programme and we definitely recommend trying it out for yourself!
By Adelisa and Elif, 8b
