East Ayrshire Saxony link

Yesterday was a busy day. After lunch we cycled to a nearby village where there was an open air pool with a volleyball court, and an indoor bowling lane (Kegelbahn) . We had a selection of cakes delivered from the nearby bakery. Lecker!
http://web.mac.com/kmcmeekin/iWeb/Saxony2007/Tuesday.html

This morning we cycled to Weißwasser where the Cumnock pupils visited Landau Gymnasium and the Grange pupils visited the nearby Bruno Brügel Mittelschule.

Photos coming soon!

The weather has brightened up after heavy rain yesterday afternoon and we are OK to cycle to the sports facilities in the next village this afternoon.

I am posting photos on my mac.com site. It is quicker than Flickr

http://web.mac.com/kmcmeekin/iWeb/Saxony2007/Monday.html

Tonighr we “treated” the Germans to the tinned haggis which was surprisingly good. We ran out of mashed potatoes so I had mine with herby curd cheese (Kräuterquark) which was different bit not actually too bad.

After tea – which ran a bit late as it took rather a long time to open 20 cans of haggis – we looked at our photos and sang some songs. Off to bed now.

Gute Nacht!

After breakfast we went through the park in daylight this time. We learnt about Prince Pückler, a visionary landscape artist and designer of the park. We stopped at the new castle and the students were set a challenge. They were sent off in groups of 3 or 4 to find out bits of information in the park. They also had to master a tongue twister eg Blaukraut heißt Blaukraut und Brautkleid heißt Brautkleid.

After lunch they chose a group to work in: either music, theatre or film and started to plan.

The weather turned rather wet after lunch to make us feel as if we were at home.

More photos coming soon to Flickr.

After supper we got to know each other with some games and then went on a torchlit walk through the park.

We had a bus tour of Berlin and arrived at the Turmvilla in time for tea. The accommodation is like a hotel and the food is super. This evening we are getting to know each other playing some games led by a young teacher called Marcus.

Will try and upload some photos to Flickr

I thought you were all brilliant at abseiling last night.

I’m uploading the photos to Flickr  at http://www.flickr.com/photos/saxony or

see under “Links” on the bar on the right of the main page.

Annette has told me that you will be able to use computers at the Turmvilla to send emails home!

My latest plan is I will join the Grange bus at school at 4, so look out for me. I will be spending the day with the foreign language assistants. Have you met Christiane yet?

Remember to bring something to eat!

Bis morgen!

On Thursday you will be given a cycle helmet away with you to pack in your case unless you already have one you can bring.

Nice to see you the other day when I was in at Grange, Derek. As for what to wear on Thursday it will be muddy even if it is not actually raining so please don’t wear anything pale coloured. Mike and Dave will bring wet gear – trousers and jackets. But wear something appropriate on your feet!

I had an email from one of the staff at the turmvilla asking about instruments you play. I think she might be able to borrow some. So if you play soemthing and haven’t ‘fessed up, you still can tell me now. She was very excited by the bagpipes. Cameron, I think we are insured for the bagpipes and I believe you now have a case that could go as hand luggage. Will double check EA insurance situation. Presumably they are covered by your household insurance?

How is the haggis hunt going? At the parents’ meeting I asked if you could all bring a tin or 2 of Grant’s Haggis available from Morrisons for 59p. This is so I do nor have to carry all the tins myself. As I have to take laptop, cameras, presents documentation etc my luggage will be heavy enough!

Any ideas for presents? Tartan pencils are lightweight.