Pictures from our trip!

Click below to see a large collection of people pictures from Germany. Each shot has at least one of the GAPP participants in it; some are quite nice, some are pretty funny, some are ok, all are memorable. I'll send out the username and password in an email.

A First collection of our trip to Germany, June 18 - July 12th, 2009

Maps of Munich

Bella Italia Restaurant - our dining substitute for Sunday, July 5, and July 11 (Saturday) - Herzog-Wilhelm-Strasse 8, Munich

CVJM - Jugendgästehaus, Landwehrstrasse 13, Munich

Links to documents

I have emailed you all the username and password, now you can review the information I gave you recently on packing, expectations, etc.

Packing Tips and Assorted Reminders
Our Flight Itinerary and Overview of our Trip
Survival German - I started this, never completed it, but review it anyway.

Links for our trip......

Aside from the right hand column of this page, I'll include other links to help us get situated while in Germany this summer. Hope you'll peruse these links!

More information - when calling Germany from America:
Dial 011 then 49 (contry code for Germany) then the listed phone number in Germany.

First some travel tips for you to savor.....
The Ten Commandments of Flight Travel
The Ten Commandments of Traveling Abroad
More Travel Tips

In Germany......
Ladenburg, Germany - a picturesque city we'll visit while in Schwetzingen
Google Map of Ladenburg
Mike's Bike Tours in Munich - Monday, July 6, morning
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich - Tuesday, July 7, morning
Wikipedia entry for Nymphenburg Palace
Salzburg, Austria - Google Map - Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wikipedia Entry for Salzburg, Austria
Official Website for Salzburg, Austria
Andechs Monastery - Thursday, July 9, entire day, arrive back to Munich for dinner
Füssen, Germany - Google Map Friday, July 10
Brettschneider Bus Service - our driver to Füssen
Neuschwanstein Castle, in the area of Füssen - Wikipedia entry
Neuschwanstein Castle - information, pictures.
Neuschwanstein, Official website
Oberammergau - part of our tour on Friday, July 10
Oberammergau - Trip Advsior
Dachau Concentration Camp - Saturday, July 11 - Wikipedia Entry
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

Final Thoughts

It's been a long time since I updated this blog, and a lot has happened since the hockey game on April 2, when we saw the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers. We made a hockey fan out of Herr Fuchs, who insisted on seeing the Hurricanes play during the playoffs the past week. I of course happily obliged him, because one more Carolina Hurricanes Fan makes things even better....

So what did we do since the game? Well, on the next Friday evening we all met up at the Blue Ridge Theater in Raleigh for an early viewing of the movie Bedtime Stories, which was good, and the next day, we threw the big party at the St. Giles Presbyterian Church fellowship hall; thank you to the fine folks at one my students' church for allowing us to use the space for food, music, games, dancing and fun. We probably should have hired a DJ to spin the tunes, since the kids' I-Pods sputtered a bit with different styles of music. But all in all it was great fun.

Then on Tuesday morning our German friends went off on their group trip to Georgia, South Carolina, Tybee Island, Wilmington, Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston. We met at 5:30 AM bright and early for the send off. Their return was on time as scheduled on Easter Sunday at 5:30 PM.

On the next Herr Fuchs ventured off to Williamsburg, VA for an outing with whoever was interested. I remained at Enloe to crunch numbers for grades at the end of the quarter.

The remainder of the week was filled with our Hebel guests giving their required presentations on various topics to classes at Enloe. By all accounts their talks were greeted cordially by our students and staff. Topics of these talks included German customs, German music, schools in Germany, the Rhein-Neckar region around Hebel's home city of Schwetzingen, and teenage life in Germany.

Thursday night of that week, Enloe's Theater Arts Department regaled our guests with an awesome musical, The Pajama Game. I think they were suitably impressed with the production and left feeling pretty amazed at the quality of theater Enloe can put on.

The final weekend was a relatively quiet one, until Sunday night, when one of our host families whipped a North Carolina-style barbecue dinner for everyone at their home in North Raleigh. We feasted on some down-home cooking and socialized until it got dark. Then the Slumdog Millionaire was projected big and bold onto the family room.

Tuesday we met the Mayor of Raleigh, Charles Meeker, who welcomed all of us into his office for a little question and answer session. He and his staff were very kind to us, and we were whisked into the City Council Chambers to hear some proclamations and be recognized in the minutes for all to see. (Click on the video link for April 21, 2009 to some of us sitting there listening to the meeting!). We then strolled down to the Capitol building and took some pictures and enjoyed a beautiful Carolina day away from Enloe High School.

Thursday morning was a bittersweet day for everyone, as we met at the airport to see our new friends off to Germany. We took some pictures, I received a sweet card from our German exchange students, who I found to be a most polite and agreeable group. Parents were there to help out, some tears were shed, there was laughter and joy, and our happy clamour resulted in many stares and smiles from airport travelers and TSA personnel also. Our Hebel friends touched down safely in Germany, and now we look forward for the next phases of our GAPP exchange: preparing for travel to Schwetzingen, flying for our two-week sojourn in the Rhine-Neckar Triangle, traveling to Munich for a week of excursions and fun in Bavaria and nearby Salzburg, and finally for a return flight to Raleigh.

All in all, everything has gone smoothly thus far. It's been a memorable time with our German friends from GAPP!!

Ice Hockey, April 2, 2009 - Carolina 4, NY Rangers 2

The hockey game last night was a terrific success. Everyone had a fun and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers also, 4-2! And then afterwards everyone went to the basement of the RBC Center in Raleigh to meet a couple of of Hurricanes, Frank Kaberle and Dennis Seidenberg. Herr Seidenberg is a native of Mannheim, Germany, near Schwetzingen, where our GAPP partners go to school. An extra treat for everyone in our GAPP program! A special thanks to Mrs. Saenger who arranged for some tickets to the game and for our special passes to visit with the players afterwards.

Ice Cream, Pictures, Enloe and Hebel!

Hello everyone. We had a great ice cream social this afternoon with lots of people: Enloe German students, Hebel Gymnasium students, and other Enloe students. Special thanks to Mrs. Sakowski, Mrs. Raby and Mrs. Phillips who flexed their muscles to dish out ice cream to tens of students! And to our German Club officers and members who helped with clean-up afterwards and for making a run to a convenience store for some ice cubes.

Kegeln = Bowling = Spaß haben!

Western Lanes in Raleigh is an older bowling alley with a lot of charm and atmosphere. We had a blast last night striking pins, laughing loudly, cheering, and bemoaning our lack of skill in the art of bowling. We also had to score the old-fashioned way - on paper! It was a rainy night, perfect for being indoors with great company.

Arrival!

What a scene at the airport yesterday! We welcomed our German guests after a bumpy stormy ride from Charlotte, NC. Here are some pictures from the exciting welcoming of our German friends.

The Day has Finally Arrived!

By tomorrow evening, 15 German teenagers and their teacher will be staying with our Enloe host families. After all their planning, the day is here. Our trip to Germany is virtually all planned also, and the GAPP Exchange of 2009 is underway.

Don't forget the Bowling excursion at Western Lanes Saturday night. For $9 dollars per person, you get 2 rocking games of bowling plus shoe rental! It should be quite fun! Let's meet there at around 6:00 PM and begin bowling promptly at 6:30 PM. Punctuality is crucial, everyone; let's not be late to events. We want to maximize our time together, and events could get underway without you if you are not on time. Bring your cameras!

Herr Fuchs und seine Schüler - their arrival into RDU

Here are the details of the Hebel students' arrival into RDU:

Arrival:

FRI March 27 : FRA dep. 10:40a US 705 arr. 3:35p at CLT ;

CLT dep. 6:00p US 1915 arr. 6:51p at RDU

Departure:

THU April 23: RDU dep. 12:52p US 980 arr. 1:55p at CLT

CLT dep. 4:30p US 704 arr. 7:00a at FRA on April24

Their Trip - Atlanta, Savannah and Tybee Island GA, Charleston and Myrtle Beach SC, Carolina Beach, Ft.Fisher and Wilmington NC

TUE April 7: 5:15a Motorcoach arrives at Enloe HS, Raleigh NC, departure 5:45a

SUN April 12: c.5:30p Arrive back at Enloe HS.

List of Raleigh Host Families and their German guests

A student wanted to me to post the list of the Hebe; Gymnasiasten and which Enloe students will host them. So here is a *pdf file of that list.

Klickt hier für die Liste!

Fotos und so weiter . . . .GAPP und Enloe und Hebel!

Hier sind ein paar Fotos. Zuerst unsre Partnerklasse in Deutschland, das heißt, in Schwetzingen auf dem Hebel Gymnasium:

Dann versuchte ich ein Gruppenfoto zu machen.....aber nicht alle sind gekommen.....hier ist unser Foto:
Wer ist das im Foto? Von links - Herr Kandah, Ryan, Kurt, Adam, Mary Grayson, Soren, Brenna, Ashlea, Cat, Sarah.

Und dann in der vierten Stunde trat Lea vor die Kamera auf. Sie fährt mit uns nach Deutschland:
Und in der fünften Stunde hatte ich die Gelegenheit, einige GAPP-Teilnehmer zu fotografieren. Hier sind sie:


Wer ist das im Foto? Von links Grace, Cal, und Nathaniel. Grace nimmt eine Hebel-Gymnasiastin auf, aber fährt nicht nach Deutschland. Cal und Nathaniel fliegen dahin, und Nathaniel nimmt den SchwetzingenerJacob auf.

Wir haben eine Facebook-Seite: GAPP-2009 Surft mal dahin!!

Samstagabend, der 4. April - eine Party!

Mark this date on your calendars! We are going to have a party in honor of our German exchange students. It'll be held at a church hall in Raleigh. Details will be forthcoming. We'll sell tickets to the party for a small price to help raise money for food and drink. I hope to have a PA system and some amps setup also for anyone who wants to play music for us. Maybe even a drum set! But in any case, there will be music and food, games and door prizes also...

Sound fun? Good!

Remember: March 27, 2009 - die Deutschen kommen, die Deutschen kommen! Und wir werden Sie Willkommen heißen!