2013 Corkaustausch

Schülerinnen und Schüler berichten von ihren Erlebnissen:

We were very surprised about the hilly landscape in Cork and surroundings. Cork is smaller than Cologne but it has got a nicer environment than Cologne. In Cork there is just one skyscraper but more houses which are mostly tiny but very comfortable. Cork is a city near the sea so in the summer it is very cool because you are able to swim in the sea. All in all Cork is a very beautiful city with very polite people.

Corkaustausch 2013

Schülerinnen und Schüler berichten von ihren Erlebnissen:

Robin Marc Koch and Felix Sebastian Galle

Ashton School

Ashton School in Cork starts at 9 am. The students are allowed to enter the school building from 8 am. Most of the pupils meet before school in the GPA – The General Purpose Area.

There are 3 floors: the ground, middle and top floor. Every subject has its own room. Each lesson is 40 minutes, except of Wednesdays, the only short day until 13.30 pm. Normal schooldays are until 4 pm. On Wednesdays there is an assembly in the morning, it is 15 minutes long. So on Wednesdays the lessons are only 35 minutes. At the assembly the students (about 500) meet in the gym and listen to the teachers. The students have to wear a school uniform. Its main colour is dark green. The boys wear grey trousers and a dark green pullover, the girls can decide between dark green skirts or the grey trousers. All students have to wear black shoes.

At school pupils can also play hockey. They have a big hockey pitch, a church and a football pitch.

Ashton school is really modern because the new school building is only a few months old. The old school building is already demolished. The students get a lot of homework at school.

Valeria, Femke and Paula

Our trip to Cobh

Our trip started at Ashton school at 9am. We went by train to Cobh train station. Cobh is a little harbor at the Irish South Coast. We had a five minute walk to the Cobh Heritage Centre.

In front of the Centre was a stature of Annie Moore. With her two brothers she immigrated to America in 1892. She was the first ever emigrant to be processed in Ellis Island.

Annie Moore and her two brothers

Then we went into the Cobh Heritage Centre. We learnt something about the Titanic, the Lusitania, the S.S America and the Queen Mary. These ships all stopped in Cobh harbor. We also learnt about immigration.

After that we went to St. Colman’s Cathedral. The catholic Cathedral is very pompous and big. Then our group visited a nice park near the beach and we saw the balk where the Titanic stopped the last time before it sank.

Finally we returned with the bus back to Cork. This day was great fun!

Yasmine Touray, Laila Oulahyane, Andrea Udovicic

The Ceili (Irish Dance)

On Tuesday in the last two lessons we did Irish dancing. There are three types of dance: Set Dance, Sean-nos-dance and Ceili. We danced Ceili. In the beginning nobody wanted to do it but at the end it was fun!

There are two lines (or 4, 6, …) of four: two girls and two boys in each line, alternating, starting from the left with a girl (girl – boy – girl – boy). Each pair of lines stands so that they look at the other line. The music is in three quarter time. The dance goes like this:

First both lines move towards each other and move back again (2 times).

Then two pairs change position and back: Girl and Boy take each other by the hands (the left hand on the left hand and the right hand on the right hand). The right pair moves to the left (in front of the other pair), the left pair moves to the right – two times.

After this is the „swing“: The boys/girls of the opposite line form a pair, turn around each other and return to their place.

At the end the two opposite pairs walk to each other and walk „through“ each other and back again.

This description might sound a bit confusing but it is difficult to describe Ceili in a few lines. To get a better impression, I would recommend having a quick search on the internet in order to find a Ceili video.

P.S.: I hope you won’t find a video from our course!

Nele Liebing & Malin David, 8b