Ernst Haeckel Gymnasium Werder (Havel)

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Today was our last day in New Zealand and it was filled with mixed emotions. In the morning, we all had breakfast together one last time. It was a really lovely final meal with laughter, memories and a few tears.
After breakfast, we went to the airport. It was very busy there, with long lines, tired faces, but also a lot of excitement. Everyone tried to take their last photos.
On the plane, high above the clouds, it became quiet. The view from the window – endless clouds and a hint of sunset – felt like the perfect farewell to a country that had given us so much.

Today is Wednesday, our last full day here in Auckland. As usual, I got up at 7, had breakfast with my host family, and then went to school.

At the start of school we met in front of the Upper Gym one of the school’s two sports halls, together with the Lower Gym. To our surprise, we actually had a German PE teacher. He first explained some handball basics and also told us why we were playing handball in the first place. The goal is to establish handball as a proper team sport in New Zealand. We warmed up with a few dribbling and throwing exercises and then got split into two teams. At first the game was a bit slow, but after a while everyone got into it and started working together really well. The players communicated nicely and everyone covered their part of the field so there weren’t any big gaps. I personally really enjoyed it because everyone was involved in the game.

After that everyone went to their Hui Mai classes and enjoyed the break.

At the beginning of the second block we met again in the Upper Gym for a K-pop workshop. The teacher was unfortunately sick, so we had a substitute, and the students helped organise the workshop themselves. We warmed up for dancing with some games, for example “red light, green light”, which most people found really fun. Then the New Zealand students showed us three K-pop dances that we were going to learn. We split into three groups and each group was taught one of the dances. It wasn’t just the German students, others joined as well, so we were a really big group. The dancing was a bit tricky but also really funny, and in the end everyone had learned something and gotten moving. Each group performed their dance in front of the others, and afterwards we voted on who did the best.

Everyone spent the lunch break however they wanted. I sat on a bench with my friends, ate, and chatted.

The last workshop of the day was a cooking class. First, everyone had to put their things away and put on an apron, then we split into groups of three or four. Our task was to bake two things: oat cookies and a New Zealand dessert called pavlova. Most of the groups divided the work to save ingredients two people made the cookies and the other two the pavlova. The only part most people struggled with was separating the egg yolk from the egg white, but other than that everything went really smoothly and without any problems. The teams worked well together and there were no accidents. One tray of cookies got a little burnt, but they still didn’t taste too bad. We got to decorate the pavlovas with sauces, fruit and edible flowers and of course everyone got to try them. In the end we cleaned up the kitchen, washed the dishes and hung up the aprons again which took a bit longer than expected.

That was the end of the school day, so everyone got picked up by their exchange partner and went home.

In the afternoon I went to the swimming pool and out to eat with my friends it was a really nice last afternoon in New Zealand. Back home, like most others, I still had to pack my suitcase and backpack, and I spent some time talking with my host family.

It really was a wonderful time here in Auckland.

Today, we met up at 9 o’clock at Lynfield College, where we got into the school-owned vans and were driven to the first stop of the day: the lighthouse on the Awhitu Peninsula. The so-called Manukau Heads Lighthouse was originally constructed in 1874 and was refurbished in 2006 to match ist original design. From the top of the lighthouse, there was a beautiful view across Manukau Harbour and the stunning turquoise ocean. After everyone had enjoyed the view, we got back into the vans and drove to the home of our two guides. The interesting thing about their house is that it is almost completely self-sufficient. They filter rainwater and use solar power, and they also have a large garden where they grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We were given a short tour of the house and the property before we got to enjoy our lunch and the astonishing view from the porch. Our final stop of the day was Brook’s Homestead, a historic building. It was built in 1878 by English settlers John and Sarah Brook and was used until 1971, when the land was sold to create a regional park. Today, you can look inside the original buildings to get a glimpse of how people lived in the early 20th century. The homestead was very interesting, but sadly it was the last stop of the day. Afterwards, we got back into the vans for the one-and-a-half-hour drive back to Lynfield College, where we were picked up by our host families.

The day started differently for each of us – some got up early, while others left the house at the very last minute. We met at 8:55 a.m. at New Lynn Station to take the 9:10 train together. After a short ride, we got off at Grafton Station and walked from there to the Auckland Museum.

In front of the museum, we first took a group photo before being led to our own room, where we received a short welcome and introduction. Afterwards, the large group was divided. In my group, we learned about the Mana Newspaper. Our guide explained very clearly how it was created and what importance it had. He answered all our questions in detail, which made the session really interesting.

Next, we took part in a workshop led by an archaeologist. He told us how the Māori came to New Zealand and showed us various ancient tools they used. The most impressive moment was when he played a nose flute at the end – the sound was unique and created a very special atmosphere.

After the workshop, we had a lunch break before we were allowed to explore the museum on our own. There were many exciting exhibitions, including a recreated volcanic eruption that felt very realistic. Some of us used the time to look at different parts of the museum – others found more creative ways to use the stairs.

At the end of the day, we could choose whether to go back to school or stay in the city for a while. My friends and I decided to stay a bit longer. We got something to eat and discovered a photobooth where we took some funny souvenir pictures.

Everyone spent the evening individually – a great ending to an exciting and educational day.