Vom 18. bis 29. November 2019 besuchte eine Gruppe mit 22 Schülerinnen und Schülern der neunten Klassen die Partnerschule in Astoria, Oregon.

Reisebericht von Tom Kißling, Klasse 9a

Astoria (Oregon)/ New York
18. – 29.11.2019
Montag, 18.11. now the adventure started
At 6.oo a.m. the bus to the airport started at the Schulzentrum Walldorf. All pupils and teachers and passports were ready to start the greatest adventure of their life. In Frankfurt we had to wait until 10.35 a.m.. Now the engine started. On the looooong flight we had two meals – but, you can believe me, none was delicious. We spent the time with sleeping and watching TV and after hundreds of hours we landed in Seattle. Not enough that I had spent three days in the plane, there was a long ride by bus afterwards. So we arrived in the family more dead than alive. Nothing than sleeping was possible anymore.

Dienstag, 19.11. new American family
On the next morning, we went to school. There we were welcomed by the director of the school – unfortunately only from tape – Now we were with our exchange students in the class the whole day. Science, Maths, Sports, English and Spain. All in English – yippieh!!!! The evening we spent in the family. Now it was time to get to know where I got there. They were all nice to me and showed me around. The house was very far out – if they would make me disappear, no one would ever find me here – so what?

Mittwoch, 20.11. see the pacific
Today we all made some trips in the nearby areas. We saw the coast and the the day we spent in our family. Sophie, the mother of Dietrich, took both of us to another really marvelous beach. Next time I will come back in summer to get into the water. But – did you know: the people who live there don´t go to the
pacific- too cold!

Donnerstag, 21.11. american sunset
So it wasn`t only a pleasure, we went to school again. Really interesting to see another school from inside. For my feeling a little bit chaotic and non organized. Here I had the possibility to make the first experiences with Spain. I´m not quite sure but I hope I will never have a girl from Spain – but if, I will talk Chinese . After this part, we spent again the rest of the day in the family. They took me to an old lighthouse where we had a spectacular sunset, which filled my mobile! After that they took me to a restaurant – but unfortunately I couldn`t eat anything. After the landing in Seattle my stomach said no food!

Freitag, 22.11. seaside
Beach and then to town for shopping. We also visited an aquarium, where the visitors had the possibility to feed the seals. It was really funny and wet – the seals knew the procedure and splashed on the water for more! So we got wet and laughed a lot! The rest of the day we spent in the family.

Samstag, 23.11. bye bye Astoria
Today we packed our things, said good bye and thank you to our families, met at the school and left Astoria by bus to visit Portland. Portland is a big city – for us from Walldorf anyway. Every city is a big city – seen from our little hometown. We had a really nice hotel with breakfast.
Sonntag, 24.11. shopping from dust till dawn
Today it was the day for the girls but not for their pockets! Shopping all day long in a really huge shopping mall until the doctor comes – Now there was the chance to get something for the loved ones at home. After that we fell in our bed with many nice little things, and no money left!

Montag, 25.11. big apple is waiting for us
We had needed rest absolutely because there was the third part of the journey very near by. We all had waited for this event but no one had waited to get up at 3 a.m. But everything has its price – so we left Portland early in the morning to finely see New York. The flight took us about 6 hours – nothing for long- distance-bro`s like us. It was extraordinary to see the skyline of NY the first time. Always talked about it and now real!!! We moved to our rooms. After that, we met and walked through the streets of NY to feel the spirit of the town and to find something to eat. So many people – different in colour and nation – were moving around. And we in the middle! Unforgettable! We visited the Time Square and the Empire State Building. A great view from up there.

Dienstag, 26.11. explore a city
Today we went to the Statue of Liberty by boat – the symbol of freedom and liberty. After Ellis Island we went to our new workplace – the Wall Street. On this day the courses had gone up certainly – because we were in front of Ground Zero was very impressive and made the past real. In the evening we all entered a restaurant and I had my first american burger. Now I had arrived in the United States!

Mittwoch, 27.11. a city on foot
On this morning we visited SAP NY. Really interesting – if you are interested in the latest technology and robots! I really need a robot for my homework – I have just ordered one. During the day we visited the Central Park and saw hundreds of squirrels. They were not shy at all. After that we went to the Natural History Museum of NY. I was looking forward to it, because I loved the movie “Nachts im Museum”. But I was a little bit disappointed. It was expensive and everything extraordinary costed extra. After that we took the subway back to our hotel.

Donnerstag, 28.11. way back home
This day was a very special day in NY. Thanksgiving. Unfortunately we had to check out early, because otherwise we would not have been able to leave Manhattan because everything was closed. So we had a long boring day at the airport. But in the end we all came home well. Tired but happy.

Artikel über den Besuch in Astoria aus der Zeitung „THE COLUMBIA PRESS“ vom 29. November 2019