INTRODUCTION

The aim of this report is to show you our experience in Germany.

We had a very good time and me met a lot of new friends during

the stay in Lohmar. Besides, the families who put us up were very

kind and they looked after us nicely. What´s more, there are some

big differences between each country´s habits. To start with, water;

we were surprised that they drink water with gas instead of still

water. Secondly, the timetables; they do every activity earlier than

here like getting up, meals, going to bed… Finally, the taste of the

food was such strong that we had to make an effort to eat it.

LOHMAR The place where we stayed is called Lohmar.

It is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North

Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Lohmar is located

about 20 km east of Cologne and 15 km north-

east of Bonn in the Bergisches Land area.

Because it is only 20 minutes by car to

Cologne or Bonn, Lohmar is a popular place

for commuters. The main part of the town area

is at the course of the Agger, southern

of Overath. The population is about 30.000

inhabitans but it is a very large city taking into

account that the houses are expanded taking up

a huge surface. That’s why we got surprised

about such an unusual house style.

Day 1 – 17/03/2014 Travelling day

We met at 11:00 o’clock in the school to go the airport by car because we

had to take the plane to Frankfurt at 13:10. We were very nervous but in

the same time, excited. The flight didn’t have any problem so we could

relax. We arrived at 15:10 to Frankfurt in which we also took the high

speed train, destination Siegburg. One time there the teachers pick us up

to the school in Lohmar where our exchange students were waiting for us.

Eventually in the end of the day we met our families, we had dinner and

we went to sleep since we were exhausted.

Day 2 – 18/03/2014

We met at 8:00 o’clock in the school. We had some classes before going to the trip. Furthermore, the classes were in German so we got bored because we couldn’t understand anything.

Later on, we took the bus and we went to visit The Open Brown Coal Pit in Paffendorf.

There, a guide gave us an explanation about

the sources they use to produce energy which

the most used is the brown coal. What´s more,

we realised that they damage the environment

continuously in many ways. One of them is to

dig the surface in order to find and reach the

brown coal. The other one is the pollution it

creates when the coal is burnt. Besides, as far

as dead towns are concerned, unfortunately,

they are destroyed leaving local inhabitans

without home; in the same way, we concluded

that german people should reduce the amount

of energy they consume

After visiting the museum, we took the bus and we went on a tour; we saw all the

brown coal pits around Lohmar and the dead towns which are destroying to create

more pits as there is a lot of coal underground.

A Brown coal pit

A Dead town

Day 3 – 19/03/2014

We stayed all the morning in the school because we had to do the

presentations of our countries. We were very nervous as we had to talk in

front of many people who we didn’t know yet. The presentations consisted

on a survey and explanation about our countries and schools.

In addition, we had lunch in the school canteen. Although we thought that the

food wouldn´t be good, It wasn’t as bad as we expected. After lunch we were

looking forward to visit Cologne and its famous cathedral and bridge. We put a

lock in the bridge to remember our stay there. Then, we had free time so we went

shopping with our exchange students. We had a wonderful time!

Day 4 – 20/03/2014

As everyday we met in the school and by bus we went to the Mining museum in Bochum (mining

shaft and the tower type headgear). It was very interesting because we learn a lot about the

energetic history of Germany. We entered in an underground artificial mining and we recorded a

very funny video inside.

After that we had lunch in Bochum and we saw a little bit of the city. It was great!

Then we returned to Lohmar and we had free time until

the party. The party was next to the river and we made a

fire and we did a small picnic with some tipical snacks

from Lohmar. It was a good way to know more about each

other! It was brilliant and unforgettable!

Day 5 – 21/03/2014

In the morning we wanted to take advantage of the last day so

we went to Siegburg to do some tourism. After that we

returned to the school and we spent the remaining time with

our families until the time to take the train. We were a bit sad

as we had said goodbye to our new and very nice friends, and

of course, our host families. We arrived home late at night with

the souvenirs from Germany and the feeling that we had a

brilliant experience thanks to our Comenius project!