In the following you will find a detailed report about our HES-Trip to England - written by students who took part (Betty, Paulina, Lara L., Mia, Nikolai, and Egor). The pictures come from Alan, Betty and Lara.

Sunday, 4th May 

At 6 o’clock in the morning, everyone arrived at the coach on time and talked about the trip. The parents were talking, laughing and meeting new people. Half an hour later, we were on our way to England. Everyone was having fun, so it was pretty loud on the coach. Some were watching films, others were talking and some were asleep. 

We went through the Netherlands and Belgium and arrived at Calais at around 5 pm. At the border they checked our passports, and our bus was searched by a customs dog. However, everything was okay and after a short time in the waiting area, we could go on the ferry. It was a big ship with many interesting things: shops, an arcade casino, a food area and a nice view out of the windows (water, water, and more water). Outside, the wind was so strong that it was hard to breathe sometimes.  

Later, you could see the cliffs of Dover. England was ahead!! 

After a one-hour drive we arrived at Herne Bay. Everything had gone so well that we were very early. So we went to the supermarket and had a look at the seaside. It was quite cold and really windy. 

Back at the coach, we were picked up by our host families. In the evening, we got to know each other a bit, gave them the presents we had brought, had dinner and finally went to bed. 

Monday, 5th May 

After our first night in our host families, we met at the parking lot at 8.00 am. Our coach took us to the O2 Arena in London where we arrived at around 10.30. The arena was very big and there were so many food shops. There we were allowed to go to the toilet or just walk around for a moment. We then took the Uber boat to London Bridge Pier and went to Borough Market. While we were on the boat, we got many impressions of London, for example the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London or the London Eye. When we arrived at Borough Market with its many different food stalls, we were allowed to walk around for an hour to have some food. Afterwards we were back on the Uber Boat and went to the Westminster area. There was a parade at Trafalgar Square because of the “Victory-in-Europe-Day”. There was also a flypast with jets from the Royal Air Force that left the colours of the English flag in the sky. It was great! There were a lot of people and a lot of very friendly police officers who allowed us to take pictures together with them. After the parade we walked around a bit and went past Big Ben. Big Ben really is very worth seeing. Then we went back to the river and took the boat to the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. There we had plenty of free time and were allowed to walk around the area. At 7.00pm we were back on the coach and went back to Herne Bay where we were all picked up by our host families. 

Tuesday, 6th May 

On Tuesday we left Herne Bay at 8:10 am and travelled to our partner school, Mascalls Academy. It’s located in Paddock Wood. We were very excited to see how the English students and teachers were. When we arrived, we were paired with Mascall students and went with them to their lessons. First, I attended a Spanish lesson. It was a lot of fun! Then I joined my partner for maths in the third lesson. Some of us had the chance to play a bit of cricket. During break, many students approached us. First, it was a little scary because they were almost shocked that we spoke English. However, we became friends with them and created a group through which we stayed in contact. At the end, we all took a picture together and were given lunch packages. When we left, it was quite sad. Visiting the school was one of the best things we have done during the trip. I’m very happy that we went to Mascalls. I’m missing the school so badly! I’m glad that I was able to experience this! 

After lunch, we drove to Royal Tunbridge Wells which is the twin town of Wiesbaden. There we were split into two groups and given a one-hour tour through town. We were shown and explained lots of things. When it was over, we had two hours of free time in town. We had some food there and looked around the shopping mall. Afterwards we walked to the coach and drove back to our host families in Herne Bay. When we arrived at the parking, the coach had a problem with the rear window because of a big tree. That was a bit of a shock, but everybody was okay. The window had to be fixed the next day. So, we had to take the train on Wednesday. In the evening, we relaxed in our host families. A successful day.  

Wednesday, 7th May 

When everyone had arrived at the meeting point, we walked to the train station together and took the train to Victoria Station. We travelled for 1 hour 40 minutes, and when we arrived at Victoria Station in the middle of London, we split into two groups. One went to the Natural History Museum and the other went to the British Museum. 

At the Natural History Museum, it was exciting because we saw animals that no longer exist, and we could see what the animals looked like before our time. The animals looked very lifelike. 

At the British Museum there were many old treasures e.g. mummies and sculptures from different cultures and from ancient times. We would recommend a visit to this museum. The things there are beautiful and breathtaking. The mummies were one of my favourites because they looked interesting. 

After the museum, where we were for about an hour, we had free time for several hours to have food, look around and do some shopping. The British Museum was in a beautiful area of central London which almost looked a bit like New York City. It was so nice to walk around! The food was great, too, with so many different options - everything your heart might desire. I (Betty) would go back anytime!  

At 6 pm we all met at Victoria Station and then had a relaxed journey back to Herne Bay. You could see a lot of the landscape. When we arrived at our host families, we were so tired that we just had dinner with the families, had a shower and went to sleep to be ready for our last day in England the next day. 

Thursday, 8th May 

On our last day we took the bus to Canterbury. First, we walked through the town and visited the cathedral which was very impressing! We were split into groups and got media guides so that we could watch videos and listen to information about the building and its long history. 

At around 12 o’clock we went to a fish and chip shop and got this traditional English food which was very tasty. After lunch we had three hours of free time so that we could have a look at the town and the shops and spend our last English money. 

From our meeting point at the cathedral, we walked to the coach and then travelled to the port of Dover.  On the ferry, we had a lot of fun running around the outside area because it was very windy again so that you could almost lean into the wind. In the evening, we arrived at Calais. 

Friday 9th May 

After our journey through the night, we arrived at the HES at 6 o’clock in the morning – happy, tired, and with a lot of nice memories. 

Many thanks again to Mike McGeary, the members of the Tunbridge Wells Twinning and Friendship Association and Mike Illsley from Mascalls Academy. Please find the TWTFA Newsletter with a report about our visit here (Newsletter der Tunbridge Wells Twinning and Friendship Association (PDF).