Welcome to Werder

Still a little jet-lagged but very excited to finally be in Germany, we assembled this morning at Ernst-Haeckel Gymnasium. The students were taken on a tour of the school by their hosts, while the teachers had "2nd breakfast". This was followed by a tour around the old town of Werder which was both informative and beautiful, despite both the church and the fish restaurant being closed. The most exciting part of the trip, if measured by student reaction, must be given to the ice-cream shop which proved to be inordinately fascinating given both the cold weather and ready availability of ice-cream in New Zealand. 

Once we had all calmed down a little bit, we returned to the school where we were met by our hosts for lunch. This was the traditional bread, meat, and cheese, accompanied by the slightly less traditional but equally delicious gummi-bears. 

To conclude our first full day in Germany, we were welcomed by the principal of Ernst-Haeckel, and the Mayor of Werder. In response to this, the filmed introductions that we spent weeks labouring over back in Auckland were played and Frau Ankersmit gave a presentation on Lynfield College and the City of Sails itself. While our film was, admittedly, a little silly, the humour was not lost in translation.