Treuenbrietzen

Today was a first for many people - it was the first time Frau Zimmer had taken her students to her hometown, so naturally, it was the first time people in her hometown had met students from Lynfield College. We were all quite hesitant about visiting in case we somehow insulted, offended or made a bad impression on the people of Treuenbrietzen, or Frau Zimmer herself. After a longer than usual train ride, we arrived at the Treuenbrietzen Bahnhof. We were informed we would be split up into five groups and assigned to a group of students from the local high school, Gymnasium "Am Burgwall" Treuenbrietzen. I was placed in a group with Andrea, Sean and four students from the high school. They were all friendly but quite shy and it took a while for them to warm up to us. Before heading to the school, we stopped at the townhall for a brief visit from the Mayor and the Sabinchen couple. We were given information booklets about Treuenbrietzen and a warm welcome from the Mayor, and naturally we posed for a photo in the empty fountain. We headed to the school and were more than happy to see the food they had prepared for us. Before eating however, Oliver, who happens to be the nephew of our very own Frau Z, told us about his experience in New Zealand with the help of a powerpoint presentation and some humourous videos. We applauded his exceptional English and on came the food.

We then went on a tour of the town and were shown some of the highlights: Nikolaikirche, the skate park and the 'Swan Lake', the icecream parlour and other things that have unfortunately escaped my mind at the moment. After our relaxation and free time was over, we returned back to the school for cake and sadly, goodbyes. The cake was good, though. Before we left we performed for them Te Waka, the traditional Māori chant. After we exchanged gifts and finished the cake, we all headed towards the Bahnhof to wait for our train. As our train stopped and waited for us to hop aboard, we all said goodbye to our new friends and made promises to accept them on Facebook. We also said a temporary goodbye to Frau Delgrosso as she was staying in Treuenbrietzen for a bit longer and had plans to eat Spargel, or 'white asparagus', which is considered a delicacy here. Cool story, Chelsea.

In fewer words, our day was rad and we're special because we were the first group to go to Treuenbrietzen. Woo. (by Chelsea)