Between October 14th-19th, 12 pupils from Wimbledon High School were very fortunate to have taken part in an exchange with 12 girls from Gymnasium Neubiberg, located in Munich, Germany. The students in Year 9 and 10 were each able to stay with a different host family during their stay, where they were able to meet their penfriends, whom they had only ever spoken to online or through letters, and their family.
Initially, the trip started off with great difficulty, with the flight from Heathrow Airport to Munich Airport on October 13th being cancelled due to weather conditions. However, the pupils were fortunate to have been booked onto an early flight the following morning and so were able to travel, eventually. After arriving, the Munich girls kindly greeted the Wimbledon pupils with a lebkuchenherzen each (a traditional German gingerbread heart cookie). They then travelled into central Munich and were taken on a guided tour, which was planned by the students from Munich. They visited various sites, such as the Englischer Garten and the Rathaus, before visiting Zum Franziskaner, a traditional Bavarian restaurant, for dinner. After just one day together, pupils departed home to spend their first night with their new host family.
Everyone enjoyed a weekend spending time with their host families, with each girl enjoying activities arranged by their penfriend. Excursions endured included visiting Sea Life Munich, enjoying an afternoon of shopping in central Munich, visiting the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine in Austria and going to a local gymnastics club.
Pupils and staff were reunited on Monday as they visited Gymnasium Neubiberg for a morning of lessons, enabling the students to experience life in a typical German school. The girls from Wimbledon departed afterwards and travelled into the centre of Munich to visit the Kunsthalle Munich, an art exhibition currently featuring the work of French artist JR from 26th August to 15th January 2023. The German girls then departed school after finishing for the afternoon and met with their pen-pals again to visit the Nymphenburg Palace, which served as a summer residence and home to the Bavarian royal family.
During the last full day of the trip, both students and staff from both schools travelled to Schliersee, a small town in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria, named after the nearby Lake Schliersee. Everyone hiked up hill for hour, enduring a tough journey that was certainly worth it, as after reaching the top, everyone was able to relax and enjoy lunch accompanied by the stunning views of Schliersee. The journey back down proved to be a much more exhilarating and enjoying method of travel, as everyone was able to toboggan downwards!
To celebrate their final evening in Munich, the Wimbledon and Munich girls, as well as their families and staff, gathered together at Gymnasium Neubiberg to enjoy a tasty Bavarian buffet. Each family brought a traditional dish, with schnitzel, fleischpflanzerl (meatballs), pretzels and many other delicious treats featuring. The evening then concluded with a tour of the school and each family bid farewell to each other.
The exchange concluded the following morning with the pupils from both schools saying their goodbyes, before the Munich girls waved off the Wimbledon students as they departed to the airport on the bus.
I spoke to Rose, a pupil from Wimbledon who took part in the exchange, and asked about her experience. She responded, ‘During the exchange I learnt so much, whether that was about the language, food, culture or way of life. Despite the nerves of having to speak German and get to know them and their families, I quickly got to know my pen pal and her friends.’
