Franziska je dijakinja katoliške gimnazije St. Irmengard v Garmisch-Partenkirchu, ki jo je že lani obiskala ena od maturantk. Letos smo gostiteljska šola postali tudi mi, gostiteljski razred 3. a, gostiteljica pa dijakinja Klara Svetelj, ki bo odšla na tritedensko izmenjavo na Bavarsko v novembru.

Prvič v Sloveniji

Za Franzisko je bila izmenjava prvi stik z našo državo. V razredu se je dobro počutila, saj so se sošolci potrudili, da so jo vključevali v pogovore in dejavnosti. Večino dni je preživela v 3. a, skupaj z njimi je bila pri matematiki, kemiji, telovadbi in jezikih. Posamezne ure angleščine, francoščine in španščine je obiskovala v drugih paralelkah, imela pa je tudi nekaj individualnih ur slovenščine. En dan je preživela z dijaki na biološko-kemijski izmenjavi.

Šola, ki jo obiskuje v Nemčiji, je dekliška, zato so se ji zdeli naši razredi precej bolj glasni in zabavni, vsebina pri pouku pa podobna. Posebej všeč ji je bil petminutni odmor med posameznimi urami, ki ga pri njih nimajo, zato morajo iz ene na drugo uro zelo pohiteti. Uživala je tudi med glavnim odmorom, ko je bilo priložnosti za druženje res veliko. Ker v njihovi šoli nimajo jedilnice, so dijaki med glavnim odmorom razkropljeni po mestu, sama pa gre pogosto kar domov, saj živi nasproti šole. Začutila je povezanost razreda in njihovo ljubezen do glasbe. Ravno, ko je bila tukaj, so nastopili na dogodku za svetovalne delavke, zato se jim je pridružila pri vajah in občudovala njihovo ubrano petje.

Klara je poskrbela tudi za pester “spremljevalni” program. Obiskali sta Ljubljano, Postojno, Lipico in slovensko obalo ter se udeležili tudi koncerta.

Franziska se je tako polna pozitivnih vtisov vrnila domov tik pred jesenskimi počitnicami.

V nadaljevanju objavljamo njene vtise, kot jih je zapisala sama:

Dober dan! My name is Franziska Krätz, I’m 17 years old and I live in Bavaria, in the south of Germany. For two weeks I got the opportunity through ERASMUS+, to experience the life of a student at St. Stanislav’s Institution in Slovenia.

I have never been to Slovenia before, so I was a little nervous to travel to an unknown country to live with another family. But after my 8-hour train ride, my host family welcomed me with open arms. Also on my first day in school I was immediately taken in by my exchange partner‘s classmates in 3a and they always included me in the conversations, even if it meant they had to talk in English with me. I attended different subjects, such as Maths, Chemistry, PE and for the most part different foreign languages. I had the impression that the contents of the lessons are quite the same here as in Germany, with only little differences. The dynamic of the class here on the other hand was surely different from my class in my hometown, especially because the St. Irmengard Gymnasium in Garmisch-Partenkirchen is an all-girls school. I would say that classes are a little bit more quiet without teenage boys but also a little bit less fun. Something I really enjoyed here was the community of the class and their love for music. Once, they practiced for a short performance and I felt so honoured to witness their ability to unite in the songs. It was also very special to be part of the choir practices with so many singers. At my school, the choir is much smaller and it‘s not renowned like the choirs at this school. In our free time on the weekend, I did a little road-trip with my host family to Koper and Piran, stopping on the way in Postojna and Lipica. First, we visited the caves and exhibitions in Postojna, then we watched as the lipican horses returned to their stables in the late afternoon. We watched the beautiful sunset over the sea near Koper and lastly we went up to the church in Piran to get a breath-taking view over the town and the lights of cities across the sea in Italy and Croatia.

Before the exchange I didn’t know much about Slovenia. But now that I have seen a little bit of your country and culture, I think that many people underestimate Slovenia. My impression was that the Slovenians are very friendly and open-minded and the landscapes are just magnificent. I am so grateful that I could have the chance to get to know Slovenia from its best sides. I will take a lot of friendly interactions with you home with me and hopefully I can stay in contact with the lovely Slovenians I got to know here. Hvala and adijo!