Today we had our extra trip to "Chester".
I let the students choose between an extra trip to "Alton Towers" which would have been a fun fair our "Chester". 16 students wanted to go to "Chester", so the majority decided.

I must say, luckily they did so because a fund fair at these weather conditions would have been a nightmare.

Our coach left at 8.30 am and once again I was very happy with all my students who have always been on time and extremely well behaved. So at this point I have to say a HUGE "thank u" to all students of my lovely grouo (if any of you read this diary) and also a HUGE compliment to their parents =)

Most of the times this doesn't seem like work but like to have a large family around @ campus.

@ Chester we went around the ancient Roman town wall and took a picture of Britain's second most photographed clock.

On the bus, we were provided with very interesting information by the Italian group leader Maggie. Thanx Maggie.

After the tour which took us about an hour or a bit longer, the students were free to enjoy plenty of free time to do their shopping or just relax.




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Heute sind wir gleich nach dem Fruehstueck in den Bus gestiegen und nach Chester gefahren. Im Bus erzaehlte uns Maggie sehr viel ueber die Stadt , unter anderem, dass alle Staedte, die mit "chester" enden, frueher von Roemern eingenommen wurden. Als wir in Chester ankamen, machten wir einen Rundgang ueber die Stadtmauern. Ansschlieszend waren wir shoppen und als wir wieder in Abbotsholme waren, gab es einen Carneval-Abend mit verschiedenen Aktivitaeten. Wir haben diesen Tag alle sehr genossen.
by Luise, Anton and Paula

Today we had our first full day excursion which lead us to a beautiful town called "Stratford upon Avon" where also one of the most famous writers of all times was born....

...Shakespeare...


we went to see his birthplace, a really old house built in the early 16th century which belonged to his father who owned a glove factory...this was very interesting.

after the guided tour, the students could spend their free time on shopping (finally as they were desperately looking forward to this for the whole week), writing post cards and grabbing snacks.

I think everyone enjoyed this really great day.





Unfortunately the students forgot to write an entry about todayu, but it'll come soon!

Today we went back to having a "usual" day at the camp.

We were doing sports in the afternoon, I myself played Rounders with some of my SFA girls and some French students which I really enjoyed.

In the evening we had "THE BIN BAG FASHION SHOW"
where every class had to dress one boy and one girl in bin bags.

I was very impressed by the different creative bin bag outfits.



Freitag, 17.Juli
Heute Abend hatten wir eine "Fashion" Show, wo von jeder Klasse ein Junge und ein Maedchen in Muellsaecke und Alufolie gekleidet werden mussten. Auch Maxi wurde neu eingekleidet.
Am Ende gewannen aber 2 Franzosen, weil die lauter schreien konnten.
by Maxi and Theo

I haven't found much time to come to the internet since Wednesday, so it took me some time to do the report from Thurdday, but finally: here it is.

We went to see the new Harry Potter on it's first day out. I really enjoyed it and think most of the students did aswell.

Personally, I think it has been one of the best Harry Potter films - so far.

In the evening we had the best evening activity so far, we had disco night. The motto was "Bad Taste" and we really enjoyed ourselves dancing and joking around until 10 pm.






Donnerstag, 16.Juli 2009
Gestern waren wir im Kino, wo wir uns Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz angeschaut haben. Am Abend gab es noch eine Disco unter dem Motto "Bad Taste". Jeder hatte sehr viel Spasz. Zum Schluss mussten wir noch nach Hause gehen und wir fielen vor lauter Anstrengung ins Bett. Sofort schliefen wir ein.
by Claudia, Anna, Laura, Klara and Ulla

Today we had our first half day excursion which led us to the "Heights of Abraham" where we could go up to lead mines in cable cars.
It seemed that the students had great fun and they enjoyed the beautiful scenery which could be seen from inside the cable cars.



on the way there









Mittowch, 15.Juli
Wir mussten um 7 Uhr in der Frueh aufstehen und uns fuer das Fruehstueck fertig machen. Von halb 8 bis halb 9 haben wir die Moeglichkeit, ein Fruehstueck zu uns yu nehmen. An diesem Tag begann der regulare Unterricht. Zwischen den drei Stunden gab es eine 10-Minuten-Pause und eine 15-Minuten-Pause. Dann gingen wir zum Mittagessen. Anschlieszend hatten wir etwas Zeit, ins Zimmer zu gehen, um uns fuer den darauffolgenden Ausflug vorzubereiten. Wir fuhren mit dem Bus zu "Heights of Abraham". Dort fuhren wir mir Gondeln hinauf und gingen mit einer Fuehrerin, die uns alles erklaert hat, durch die grosze Hoehle. Es war ziemlich kalt und rutschig. Aber trotdem spannend. Als die Fuehrung zu Ende war, durften wir uns was im Shop kaufen. Dann gingen wir zurueck zum Bus und fuhren zurueck zur Schule.
by Fanny and Rebecca

Thanks to Fanny and Rebecca for the diary entry.

Today it was our second day at Abbotsholme and we had just equally as much fun as we had yesterday. Since my battery was low, I couldn't take pictures in the afternoon but aren't the best memories always those you have just stored in your memories?

In the evening we had

CASINO ROYAL

Everyone was supposed to get dressed in really posh clothing but the rain made it impossible for most of us because opf our field we have to cross to reach the main buildings ;)

But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves anyway...




waiting for the "staff race"



the staff race



some of us were really elegantly dressed for the casiono











Today's diary entry is from Fiona, Magdalena, Kathi and Vanja:


Dienstag, 14.Juli, 2009
Der erste richtige Schultag: Wir trafen uns um 9:15 im Theater und wurden in unsere Klassen eingeteilt. In der ersten Stunde lernten wir uns erst einmal kennen, in der zweiten und dritten Stunde begannen wir jedoch schon mit Grammatik, Uebungen und Topics. Die Klassen bestanden aus ca. 15 SchuelerInnen. Nach dem Unterricht trafen wir uns alle yum Mittagessen.
Wir durften unser Essen selbst waehlen. Nach einer kurzen Mittagspause machten wir uns zu unserer ersten ausgewaehlten Nachmittagsaktivitaet aus: Arts&Crafts.
Da es Mangel an Papier gab, bauten wir Skulpturen aus Strohhalmen. Trotz der geringen Teilnehmerzahl bei unserer zweiten Aktivitaet Drama, machte uns das Schauspielern viel Spasz.
Nach einem kurzen Besuch im Computerraum gingen wir Abendessen. Nach dem Essen brezelten wir uns fuer die bevorstehende Casinonacht auf. Es gab 9 Stationen bei denen man sein Glueck versuchen konnte. Wir spielten um Papiercoupons. Am Ende legten die Portugiesen ihren Gewinn zusammen und gewannen somit den Preis. Wir freuen uns jetzt noch alle auf eine erholsame Nacht.
by Fiona, Magdalena, Kathi & Vanja

Accomodation

The girls and Anton live with me in the "Clownholme House" where we have to walk across a cow meadow to reach the school:

To reach the pupils on the house telephones, it is best to call between 7am to 7.30 am before breakfast (8-8.30 in Austria) or 10pm-10.30pm before they have to be in their beds (23-23.30 in Austria)

Telephone numbers:

CLOWNHOLME house(girls and Anton): 0044-1889-590-257

CEDARHOLME(boys): 0044-1889-594-269

If you want to send letters or postcards, I am going to list the address below. Please mention the name of your child and the house on the envelope.



The school's address is:

c/o Project International
Abbotsholme College
Rocester, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 5BS



Unfortunately the battery of my camera is low, so I can't upload any videos or pictures for now, but they are soon to come ;)

So, we have successfully spent our first "regular day" on the Abbotsholme campus and I have to say that it seemed like the participants were enjoying themselves.

I am happy that my group seems to be getting on with each other very well and a lot of them have also been able to bond with students from other countries already.

I asked the students to give me a short description of their day, so you will be able to read short entries from the children every day.

Yesterday we had a very nice evening activity, they called it mini olympics, I took some funny pictures and made some videos which I am trying to upload.





Apart from various meals to choose (which no one has been complaining about to me - so far), there is also a salad bar, yeah ;)



Afternoon activities

There is also a heated swimming pool on the school ground which some adventurous children dared to check out:









The afternoon activities are split into two sessions, so the children can pick two options every day:



Evening activities: mini olympics







Wir sind erst seit kurzer Zeit hier in der Abbotsholme School, aber wir haben schon viele Leute kennen gelernt und finden es toll mit Kindern aus anderen Laendern Zeit zu verbringen. Heute, am Tag nach der Ankunft, haben wir einen Test geschrieben, welcher nicht ganz so schlimm war, wie manch anderer dachte.
Nach dem heutigen Tag ist uns das Schulgebauede auch schon vertraut, was wir gestern noch nicht behaupten konnten. Wir freuen uns nun schon auf die weiteren Tage und den Unterricht, denn nach diesem Klasseneinfuehrungstest wissen wir nun auch in welchen Klassen wir sind und welche Lehrer wir haben.
Die restlichen Tage werden sicher auch toll
Luise, Anton and Paula

Today's diary entry was from Luise, Paula and Anton - thank you very much ;)

In den naechsten 2 Wochen soll Sie dieses Internettagebuch ein wenig ueber die Sehnsucht nach Ihren Kindern hinwegtroesten.

Ihre Kinder werden hier die Moeglichkeit haben, selbst ueber ihre Reise zu berichten und ich werde so gut es geht jeden Tag ein bisschen was ueber den vorangegangen Tag berichten.

Fuer heute stelle ich aber erstmal zwei Gruppenbilder online.

Als ich die Bilder gemacht habe, war Clara leider schon im "Dramacourse" - also keine Panik ;)


Am Montag nach dem Mittagessen