On Monday the students presented their highschool “Varde-Gymnasium” to us. The school is very big and tidy it was generally much quieter than our school. All the students sit in communities and did things for the school. In addition the students made a presentation about their class and presented it. We had two German lesson(90 min.) which were very much fun. Then we had a kind of dance lesson and we learned the “the Lancier”. In the beginning the dance was hard but with a few pushes from the sport teacher it went with the time. The dance is presented in their “Abiturball” by the Danish students. Then we watched the movie “Unter dem Sand” which was very interesting, exciting and emotional. After the film we spent the rest of the day with our exchange students and their family.

It was the first day when we could sleep long. The bus picked us up at 11 o’clock at the “Varde Gymnasium”. The first place we went to was the Tirpitzmuseum in Blavand. It consists of a dune and an old bunker which was built in the Second World War by the Germans. The museum has 4 different exhibitions, one about our earth in the course of time, one about amber, another one about mines and the film “Under sandet”, and the last one called “Army of concrete”. Everything we saw in there was very interesting. After the museum the bus took us to the Blanvandshuk Lighthouse. It’s a high lighthouse with a great view and beside this it’s the most western point of Denmark. Around 16.30n we were back at the “Varde Gymnasium”. In the afternoon most of us drove to Esberg. It’s Denmark’s fifth largest city and only 20 minutes away from Varde. In Esberg we were all together at a restaurant where we noticed that food and drinks in Denmark are much more expensive than in Germany. Some other students were on a Gymnastic competition from Rasmus and other Danish students. It was a mix out of dance and Gymnastics. Also on Tuesday the weather started to get colder and windier.

On Wednesday we took the bus to the west coast near Ribe to have a look at the wadden sea. The Trip was very funny .When we arrived we quickly changed our clothes and started after a short introduction. Meanwhile we had some tasks in our group, some of them were morte fun than the others, but in the end everythingwas fine. At the first station we should gather mussels and animals in the slik. At the second station we should repeat the task just in the sand. And at the last station, go fishing for shrimp and crabs. We had a lot of fun despite the wind and the cold weather. The best part, however, was when we were able to explore the animals afterwards and we learned a lot. For example , we´ve found out how a living shell lokks from the inside. Very interesting. After the stay in the wadden se centre we took the bus to Ribe to have a look at the old town where the houses are small and uneven which makes them so beautiful. Ribe is one of the oldest towns in Denmark. Afterwards we all went home and had a nice time with our host families.

On Thursday, May 2nd, we drove to Oxbøl in the morning to the refugee camp there, which has been converted into a memorial today. You don't see much of the former area anymore, only a few buildings remind you of that time, like the former hospital and the former kitchen (today a kindergarten). At the beginning of the exchange, we were divided into groups and completed individual tasks in these groups. For this purpose each group got an old suitcase and was introduced to a person who had been in this camp after the Second World War. On our tour we were able to learn more about the general system in the camp for example that these 200.000 people were all registered by the Danes, so that they could find their relatives. All in all, the inhabitants of the camp lived like in a small town that could provide for itself completely. Due to the biological focus we also carried out an examination of the soils in the dunes at Vejer beach. Here we found out that in the green zone of the dunes a higher biodiversity occurs than in the grey zone. Afterwards we drove again to the Varde Gymnasium and everyone could let the evening fade away for him or herself or do something with others.

Luca Pochanke

Friday was our last day in denmark. We went to school and finished the week’s tasks in our groups. We made short films and presented to all exchange students in the library. It was very much fun and very nice to see what we all did in only one week’s time. In the evening we had freetime and many of us went to Esbjerg and went for a meal and went shopping. Thank you very much for this amazing week we had a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to seeing you all in September in Wilhelmshaven.