On Monday 31st March, three LEH girls and nine Hampton boys, accompanied by Mrs Johnson and Ms Barry, set off for a week’s German Exchange in Munich. The German partners had visited us in November 2007, where they took in the sites of London and Brighton, amongst other things – now it was our turn.

The trip did not get off to an auspicious start with the cancellation of our flight from Heathrow’s Terminal 5, due to the new terminal’s teething problems. In the end, we got an evening flight, arriving in Munich at 11.30pm, where we were greeted by our hosts and taken to our homes for the next week.

Tuesday arrived early, as German pupils start school at 8am (!) in the morning. The morning was spent in lessons with our hosts, where we took in six hours worth of lessons in German. Iit was interesting to see the differences between our school and theirs. Ottobrunn Gymnasium is massive, catering for up to 1500 students, with huge open plan halls and classrooms. There is no form time and students spend break eating ‘Brötchen’ in the corridors or the school canteen.

After school and lunch at home, we set off with our partners for a tour of Munich, which included visits to the Frauenkirche and Marienplatz.  After the tour, we ascended the 350 steps of the Alter Peter Tower, where, despite the gathering clouds, we had a spectacular view over the entire city. Having taken some time to recover from climb, we returned home for dinner with our hosts.           

Wednesday dawned wet and cold and after attending the first lesson at school, we visited the Residenz, the 500 year old home of the Bavarian Royal Family, which was completely renovated after the British bombed it in World War Two - the irony wasn’t lost on us, as our guide showed us several pictures of the bombed out remains.  The afternoon saw us meet up with our partners and battle our way through wind, hail and sub-zero temperatures to the Allianz Arena, home of Munich’s Premier League team, Bayern Munich. The stadium is only two years old and is a feat of technology, with a bubble-like coating that glows different colours. Much to the excitement of the boys, we had a tour of the grounds, trophy room, executive lounge and the changing rooms.

Thursday arrived with yet more rain, rendering our planned mountain hike unfeasible. Instead we headed on the train through the beautiful Bavarian countryside to Chiemsee, the biggest lake in Bavaria and home to the Herreninsel and one of the many palaces of King Ludwig the second. After a short ferry trip across the lake, we arrived at the island and had a tour round this beautiful castle, marvelling at the ballroom with over a hundred chandeliers and the bedroom covered in real gold. The weather brightened up for the journey home to Munich East’s Station, where we met our hosts to head home.

Friday brought better weather for a short tour around Munich led by one of the teachers from the school at Ottobrunn. We took in the beautiful Asamkirche, an intricately decorated church right in the middle of a busy Munich street. Next stop was the Theresenwiese, where the annual Oktoberfest is held and then on to a brewery for a short tour followed by a traditional Bavarian lunch in the brewery’s restaurant. We were free on Friday afternoon to explore in Munich, with some going to the cinema and others souvenir hunting. A party on Friday night gave the Germans and English partners an opportunity to socialise and experience a different German ‘cultural’ experience.

The entire weekend was spent with host families, who showed their English guests a range of the local sites. Some were lucky enough to go over the border to Salzburg, whilst others went up into the mountains to see the beautiful Neuschwanzschein Castle, which Walt Disney based his castle on and has just been made a UNESCO world heritage site. Other weekend activities included shopping, cinema and going to see Bayern Munich play in the German Premier League.

On Monday morning, we all met at Ottobrunn School to start our final day of touring. We started off with a trip to BMW world, a car showroom visited by people from across Europe looking to buy a BMW followed by a visit tothe adjoining Olympic Park. The park still stands from the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and a trip up the Olympic Tour gave us magnificent views all over Munich and of the stadiums from the Games. At lunchtime we headed back to Ottobrunn where our last few hours were spent at home with our hosts, before we said our goodbyes at the station and boarded our train to the airport. We headed home full of great memories from a fantastic trip.

Thanks must go to Frau Johnson and Frau Barry for accompanying and organising such a brilliant trip. Everyone certainly noticed a dramatic improvement in their German, which can only come about from such an immersion in German life and culture.

Lottie Baker