In der Woche vor den Fasnachtsferien reisten die Schüler des ABG in Begleitung von Herrn Henning zum Final Meeting des Erasmus+ – Projekts „There is no Planet B“ nach Belgien. Lesen Sie nachfolgend den Reisebericht in englischer Sprache. (Oder lassen Sie ihn sich alternativ hier übersetzen: https://www.deepl.com/home)
Waregem Travel Diary
Saturday
Our journey to Belgium began on Saturday morning, Feb. 15, 2020, when we were taken to Schelklingen train station by Mr. Jung. After waving goodbye we started our train ride via Ulm, Stuttgart, Frankfurt Airport, Brussels and Ghent to Waregem. After first problems at Geislingen/Steige, where we had to use a replacement bus service, we inevitably missed our connecting train in Stuttgart. In such a way freed from the infamous „Zugbindung“ we travelled onwards to Belgium and finally reached Waregem with a delay of more than 2 hours where we were welcomed by our Belgian exchange partners and their families.
Sunday (by Benedikt)
I went with Maral, Paulin and our exchange students to Kortrijik to the cinema and watched Birds of Prey, the new movie.
Before the movie we went to Pizza Hut and had an all u can eat. After we had a great meal we moved on to a café in the city. Then we met Lukas and Arthur in Kortrijk and spent some time in a bar. Then we went to a restaurant and after that to another café and even another bar. As we kept to some drinks we were impressed by the mass of food our Belgian exchange partners were able to eat.
Then the dad of my exchange student picked us up and we went home and I fell asleep.
Sunday (by Paulin)
Around 12:00 p.m. I went to Waregem with Maral, Benedikt and our exchange partners where we ate in a restaurant until 2:30 p.m. After lunch we crossed the street to the cinema and watched Birds of Prey by Harley Quinn. At around 4:30 p.m. we took the bus to town and met Arthur, Lukas and Boris and then went for a drink. Our exchange partners wanted to go somewhere else and then we ran through the pouring rain and took refuge in a restaurant where we ate something again. Finally, we headed to a bar and ended the evening.
Sunday (by Gaspar)
Ruben and I got up at 10 o’clock and we had an English breakfast, after that we travelled to Brussels, which is the capital city of Belgium, with our exchange student and her parents. The trip by car was about 1 hour from Waregem. In Brussels they showed us the Atomium, it is the landmark building of the city. Then we went to the city centre of the town, where we spotted Manneken Pis, ate something and walked through the city. In the afternoon we had some waffles and after that we made it back home and watched a movie.
Sunday (by Manuel)
On Sunday morning I had breakfast with my exchange student and then I had two hours off. Later on we went to Brussels with his parents and had a look at the city. I also tried a Belgian waffle. I can highly recommend them. In the evening we headed back to Waregem, it was raining heavily. This caused a lot of accidents and traffic jams on the highway. The father then had VIP tickets for a soccer game, the food there was very good and after the game there was of course French fries. The soccer game was more like a German 2nd league game but it was worth the experience.
Monday (by Manuel & Benedikt)
The school began at 8:30 a.m. and we had a big meeting with all the students of the exchange program: the Scots, the Estonians, the Hungarians and the Belgians of course. We all presented our school presentations and afterwards we had a guided tour through the school. Then we had a two-hour lunch break where we went to a café in Waregem city centre. Following the break, we got divided into several groups and started the project work. In the late afternoon we prepared for the food court that took place in the school’s canteen. We got to taste lots of different dishes from the participating countries. After that we went to a pub.
Tuesday (by Paulin)
On Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. we continued our project work. Each group had to create a website on the subject of climate change or the topic There is no planet B and then present it. After lunch we went to a bar where we stayed until 1 p.m. because we travelled to Bruges at 1 p.m. where we had to solve some riddles. For example, the Belgian teacher played music to us which gave us a hint where the places were located we had to look for. We always had to take a picture of the place we found (and upload it to Facebook what almost no one did because we don’t use Facebook anymore). Then we had free time and were allowed to look at Bruges. The price of the scavenger hunt was € 50 for the 1st place, € 25 for the 2nd place and € 15 for the 3rd place. Our group was 2nd and so we went to eat with our vouchers in a burger shop. In the late afternoon we headed back to Waregem by bus and went to a bar with everyone.
Wednesday (by Moritz)
At 8:30 I started my work on the school project in the school in Waregem. Then we had lunchtime at 11:20, and resumed our program at 13:00 with company visits. First, we visited an 81-year-old woman who also was a social worker. After retiring from her job as an elementary school teacher, having seen the inequality of the city, she decided to still be active to this day taking donations of food and clothes and driving all day, distributing them to families in need. Next, we visited a Bike repair shop, which was focused on social aspects, such as teaching immigrant workers the Dutch language, and rehabilitation for long time unemployed people. Lastly, we visited a Fair-Trade only store, which, as the name implies, sold only fair trade products, where we were also given a presentation. After going back to the school in Waregem, we had free time until 19:00, in which we strolled around the city. Then we had lunch in the restaurant „De Treffer“, which is located at an athletics centre. After that, we went back to Waregem to a pub, Boris and me were invited to a house party by one of the Belgian hosts. At 23:30, we went back home.
Thursday (by Gaspar & Lin)
In the morning we did some project work and after lunch we went to Ghent. The train ride was about 20 minutes and after our arrival we walked to a museum. The topic of the museum was the geographic location, history and art of Ghent. The next stop was the city church which we reached after a 25-minute walk. We climbed the church tower and enjoyed the view. After that we had free time. We met again at 8 o’clock and travelled back to Waregem by train. We were picked up by our host families and they drove us to Anne’s home. We celebrated the last night in Belgium. It was really funny.
Friday (by Arthur & Ruben)
On Friday, 21st February 2020, we had to present the results of our project work website. The project work was about sustainability and the project’s topic There is no Planet B. Six groups presented their websites and project work results from the week. After that we went to the train station and said goodbye to everyone before taking the train to Brussels. From Brussels we went to Frankfurt main station where Benedikt and Maral got off. The rest of us travelled on to Ulm where our trip officially ended. All in all, we had a great time in Belgium, the host families have been kind and friendly and we enjoyed the stay.
Text: Benedikt Troff, Paulin Henßler, Gaspar Völker, Manuel Mekle, Moritz Tresselt, Lin „Boris“ Wang, Arthur von Aretin, Ruben Ludwig; Fotos: Erasmus Team & College Waregem (https://www.collegewaregem.be/activiteit/europa-waregem)
