BZU GOES BRAY 2012 a review

Transcription

1 BZU GOES BRAY 2012 a review

2 Journey to Bray (Patrizia Häne) It was Sunday morning at 7.20 when we met at the station in Wil. We travelled to Zurich by train and checked in. Everyone felt very nervous and looked forward to seeing their host family. The plane took off at 9.30 and all the students got a little snack from the flight attendant. The sun was shining above the clouds and we hoped that the weather would be great in Ireland. After two hours we landed in Dublin, then we collected our luggage from the roller conveyor. Later we travelled to Bray by bus and at ATC we waited for our host families. My host family (Claudia Gisler) Our family lives in a small house on O'Byrne Road. Since Lily was two years old, her father has no longer lived with them, but they have good contact to him. The food was mostly very good, but the water was almost undrinkable. Our room was very large in comparison to the others in the house. Despite the fact that the mattress was not very comfortable, I was able to sleep pretty well. We had a great time with them. page 2

3 Day 1 (Ron Lieberherr) The first day was Monday, 1 October. We had to do a test at school so they could see how our English was. The test lasted about one hour and after the test we went to our classes and had our first two English lessons in Ireland. In the afternoon we went to Dublin with the bzu group, to have a look at the city and the monuments. In the evening we went to the bowling centre in Bray and had a funny evening. Going out in Bray (Simon Heim) On Saturday we went to a pub for a drink, before we went to the beach. The air was cool and the atmosphere was beautiful. We went outside every day, because the weather in Bray was always great. Once we walked to the Tesco store near our accommodation and talked to native girls. After a short chat we went on. On the Tuesday of the first week of our language stay we went bowling with the whole group it was funny. page 3

4 My teachers at ATC (Nadine Bähler) In the mornings we had two lessons. The teachers almost always arrived late. In the first lesson in the morning we had grammar and vocabulary. The teacher of our first lesson in the first week was Karen. I think she is a good teacher and we could learn many new things from her. In the second week we had a different teacher. His name was Noel. After the first lesson we had a break of thirty minutes. The name of the teacher in our second lesson is Mary. Mary is 43 years old and she has three girls. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons we also had school; on Tuesdays with Mary and on Thursdays with Joseph. Joseph comes from Australia. Our English lessons (Nadine Künzle) On the first day at school we had to write an English placement test. Then we were divided into different classes so no one would be overworked or underworked. The first lesson was from 9 o clock to 11 o clock. In this time we had grammar and vocabulary. At 11:30 the second lesson started and it finished at 13:30. Then we had a speaking lesson and some vocabulary. The lessons were interesting, but we had to concentrate all time that we understood the teachers. On Tuesday and Thursday we had school to 17:15. In the afternoons we learnt about Irish life and culture. But now the 26 lessons are through. We learnt a lot and had a good time! page 4

5 Day 2 (Adrian Niedermann) What an ordinary day. We got up at 7.30 and ate breakfast. At 9 o'clock school started with the first lesson. In the first lesson we talked about different things in the past. In the second lesson we spoke about plastic surgery. We found out that men are having surgery more often. The afternoon was a funny part. First we talked about different homophones, like the words sun - son, one - won or flower - flour. After that our teacher told us something about the Celtic Tiger, a period in Irish history. The Celtic Tiger was the period from 1994 to In the evening we went to the Hibernia Inn near the sea. We enjoyed some Irish folk music from local musicians and a nice Guinness. At 11 o'clock we had to leave the pub, but our teacher were able to stay. That was unfair ;D Irish pubs (Lukas Bossart) In Ireland all the pubs are Irish so the name Irish pub is not necessary. The people inside are always very friendly. You can ask them all kinds of questions. For example where you can have a nice Irish breakfast, or where the young people go out. And they will gladly answer you. You can also drink the world famous Guinness or any other stout. It takes time to get a pint of stout because the landlord doesn t fill the pint all the way at first but waits for a minute until the froth has settled. Then he fills the pint fully. page 5

6 The weather in Ireland (Ramona Schönenberger) Before we travelled to Ireland, I thought that the weather wouldn t be good. When we arrived on Sunday, I thought my prediction had been right. In the course of the day the weather became better and better and the sun came out. The following day the weather was relatively cold, but the sun was always shining. The weather in Ireland is mostly very windy and cool. And when it rained you just had to wait for about an hour and then became better again. The weather in Ireland brings a new surprise every day. Day 3 (Pascal Fischli) On Wednesday 3 October I went to Dublin with my friends after a normal morning of school. We took the train from Bray to Dublin, which took us about 40 minutes. First we went shopping at Penneys and ate a burger and pizza in one of the many really good takeaway restaurants. Later we went to a lovely Pub in the middle of town. After that we walked to the famous Temple Bar Square. There we thought we must drink a pint of Guinness in the Temple Bar, which is a pub in Temple Bar Square. We sadly noticed that this was just a tourist bar. The atmosphere was not like in the other pubs we'd visited and it was also very expensive. Afterwards we were hungry and walked into the next best Irish restaurant on the other side of the street. This was a tourist place too. The food was good but, like most of the Irish food, a bit tasteless. After dinner we went to Connolly Station to get our train back to Bray. In Bray we took a goodnight pint at Crissy D's, a nice pub just a few minutes from our host family s house. page 6

7 Day 4 (Raphael Baer) The fourth day was a really long day. We were at school the whole day. The first lessons were the same as the other days. So we had school from a.m. and from p.m. Then we had a short break of 45 min. In this break we had time to eat something and to relax. In the afternoon we went to school again. At school we learned something about Guinness and the story of Guinness. It was very interesting. At p.m. we finished school and went home. We were all tired. In the evening we didn't have any programme so my friends and I went to the beach. Later we went home and slept till the morning. Day 5 (Sebastian Lehner) On Friday 5th October went to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. We met at 2 o'clock at ATC and walked to the train station. We got off the train at Tara Street in Dublin and walked through Dublin to the museum for about half an hour. Then we visited the exhibition and learnt something about how Guinness was brewed and its ingredients. We also saw some information about the history of Guinness. After we had seen the whole museum, we enjoyed a pint of Guinness in the attic bar of the Storehouse and also enjoyed the breath-taking view over Dublin. page 7

8 The city of Dublin (Simon Hengartner) Dublin is the capital City of Ireland. A very important means of transport is the Dart train. With the Dart connection you can travel from the towns along the coast into the city centre. In the centre you can go sightseeing or shopping. Next to Grafton Street there is a big park called St. Steven's Green. To the south of Grafton Street lies St. Steven's Green shopping centre, built in October Trinity College of Dublin was established in Dublin has about inhabitants. page 8

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10 Sports activities (Pascal Berger) The sports activities were more than welcome, because the food was mostly unhealthy. They were not always well attended though. The following sports were performed: GOLF: A lot of fun could be expected. For most of us it was premiere. Obviously some of us have potential in golf. Unfortunately, the course suffered a bit from our golf skills. RUNNING: Our top athletes were active during the day and at night, trying to break the course record running up to Bray Head. SWIMMING: The swimming was used by few students. It took place at Shoreline Leisure, a swimming pool in Bray. Some reckless students even dared swimming in the icy sea! FOOTBALL: The football players got their fair share; they had a lot of fun on the pitch, and showed what they were capable of. HORSE RIDING and BOWLING were also part of the sports programme. page 10

11 The countryside (Severin Heeb) On Sunday we went to see the Irish countryside. We went to Powerscourt Gardens and to the Glendalough lakes. Powerscourt is a very beautiful old castle with a really amazing garden which you must see when you go to Ireland. There is also a restaurant inside, but that s a bit expensive. The Glendalough lakes are really picturesque. It s a walk of about 25 minutes and when the weather s nice it s great. I like the Irish countryside because everything is really green and lovely. page 11

12 Irish people (Alexandra Zahnd) Irish people don t worry so much about punctuality. They find it okay to be late. Here s an example from my host family: We had to meet for a school event and I only had half an hour to get ready but my host mother hadn t finished preparing dinner. She said no stress - don't hurry, it s normal here be late. Here in Bray I find that people are very friendly because in the morning a lot of people say good morning to you, but in Dublin people are very different. Shopping (Alessia Hauser) Shopping in Bray is not very interesting, because there aren t a lot of shops. The supermarket Tesco is everywhere. In Dublin on the other hand, there are lots of shops, for example Penneys! Penneys is a shop everyone loves! There are clothes & shoes for men & women and they are cheaper than in Switzerland! In Switzerland the shops are a lot more expensive than in Dublin! But there s also a Zara or H&M as in Switzerland. So if you go to Dublin, you must go to Penneys, the most famous shop in Dublin! The shops are also open until 6 o'clock on Sundays. During the week the shops are open until 7 o'clock, on Thursdays they're open until 9. So if you want to go big shopping, you're right in Dublin! page 12

13 Day 8 (Felix Scheiwiller) I woke up at 7:45 and we met at 8:45 in front of the school for some information, like every morning. It was a normal school day with grammar and speaking exercises. At 14:00 we met again in front of the school to do the Cliff Walk from Bray to Greystones. It took about 2 hours to get to Greystones. The railway along the cliffs is beautiful. The weather looked like it would start to rain any moment. This railway part is the most expensive part of railway in all of Ireland. The cliff walk is 7 km long and the path lies above the railway tracks. When we arrived in Greystones we went to a pub and had a drink. At 15:45 we took the train from Greystones back to Bray, so we saw the cliffs from out of the train. When we arrived in Bray we all went back to our own host families. Cliff walk to Greystones (Fabrice Göldi) On Monday, 08/10/2012 after school, we could do the Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is a straight path between Bray and Greystones. It s 6.2 km long and took around one and a half hours to complete. It s above the railway which links Bray to Greystones. After lunch we started to walk in a group of 8 people. The weather wasn t very good, but it was not so bad. It was Irish weather. The walk was really beautiful. We enjoyed the whole walk and when we arrived in Greystones, we went to a pub and had a drink. Then we took the train back to Bray. The train journey was definitely shorter than the long walk. It was a great afternoon. page 13

14 The Picture of Dorian Gray (Ralf Zellweger) On Tuesday 9th October, we met at ATC at 6 p.m. 20 students and 2 teachers travelled together from Bray to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. We saw a very interesting stage play called "The Picture of Dorian Gray" which was written by Oscar (Fingal O' Flahertie Wills) Wilde. He was an Irish author and was born in Dublin on 16th October On 30th November 1900 Oscar Wilde died in Paris. Day 9 (Simon Krämer) In the morning we had school at 9 o'clock. It's the same every morning at school and this is a little boring. But we learned a lot at school. In the afternoon we also had school. In this lesson we learned a lot about the history and the teacher. It wasn't very interesting. The teacher told us a lot about the history of Ireland but most things we had already heard about in secondary school. In the evening most students went to the theatre. The other students had free time. page 14

15 Day 11 (Annina Lanker) Today was the second last day, not a very interesting day because we had go to school the whole day. The first thing I saw as I looked out of the window was rainy weather In the morning we learnt something about English grammar and speaking. In the afternoon we played some games and did exercises to expand our vocabulary. After school some crazy people went swimming in the sea. I think it was very cold because of this bad weather today (but only to watch it was funny ;P). In the evening we went to the Harbour Pub for the last time with our friends and some Swiss students from Luzern. It was a great evening, I ll miss Bray! Our leaders (Marc Fräfel) On our journey to Bray our leaders were Mr Müller and Mr Mathis. We had two weeks full of fun and interesting sightseeing. We've seen so many different things all around Bray and Dublin. We took a city trip to Dublin, a guided tour to Powerscourt and Glendalough; in Dublin we also visited the world famous Guinness brewery. Once we went golfing at a local golf club. We had some really nice experiences with our leaders. page 15

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