Brentwoodian 2019

20 Our rooms were clean and we tried to keep them tidy. I had four people in my room, but there were bedrooms that could accommodate 10 people! In the evenings we had lots of fun. One night we went bowling, and on the last night we had a disco in the Château. Even the teachers enjoyed having a dance (especially to the Macarena!) We got to taste lots of new foods, such as crêpes (yum!), frogs’ legs (just like chicken) and snails (chewy). Every day of the trip was full of amazing sights and interesting new experiences. We learnt so much French and it was great to be able to order our own food in a different language and be understood. We even ended up chatting to each other in French sometimes! In addition to learning the language, we also got first-hand experience of French culture and interacted with the locals of Normandy. Our collective favourite place we visited was Mont-Saint-Michel and the bakery. These were both interesting and fun visits. Our time in Normandy was far more than just a school trip - it showed us how much more there is to see and learn out in the world. At the same time as being educational and inspirational, it was so much fun. Travelling with friends and teachers was like going on an adventure with a second family. We were all very grateful to the teachers for looking after us so well. We definitely want to go on another language trip in the future - maybe France again, Germany, Spain, or even further afield? By Emma Burgess & Martha Mackray Berlin Between the 31st May and 3rd June, I and 38 other Fourth Year students participated in the Berlin History/German trip; the trip was an action-packed few days, and a lot happened as we got a whistle stop tour of the city, yet I have decided to narrow it down to three of my personal highlights: The Berlin Wall - starting off with probably the most famous part of Berlin, built in 1961 the 3.8 metre high, 96 mile long slab of concrete that divided the Eastern (Communist) and Western (Capitalist) sides of Europe (and the city of Berlin) became a symbol of a divided world. Despite the wall having been down now for nearly 30 years, many parts of the wall and reminders of its presence still remain, and seeing the remains of that wall and the reminders of it, for a group of 14/15 year olds was a very eye-opening experience, and a look back into the days when Berlin and the world was divided between East and West. Visits to Concentration Camp and Stasi Prison - obviously not the most enjoyable part of our trip but during our stay in Berlin we made two trips to prison camps, one of our first day to the Nazi Concentration Camp Saxenhausen on the outskirts of Berlin, and one on our third day to the Stasi Hohenschönhausen prison in East Berlin. To stand on the sight of such atrocities at both of these prison camps, and to hear various eyewitness accounts through the medium of our tour guides, was an incredibly eye-opening and shocking look into the past, and something no one on the trip will soon forget. The Reichstag dome - on our final night in Berlin, as the sun set, we climbed the 23.5 metre height to the top of the Reichstag Dome, and took the opportunity to admire the view, and look over one of Europe’s most beautiful and most powerful cities, that was once a city of a divided world, but now a multicultural city that stands as a monument to German and European power. (We also took the opportunity to take a few group photos for social media). All in all, everyone on the trip had some great experiences looking round Berlin and exploring the city’s historical sites, and it is definitely a trip that I would recommend to any future Fourth Year History or German students. By Thomas Woodcock