“4 ‘o'clock?!” I said to myself when Mrs. Rynn told us what time to be at school, “I have to get up by 4 'o'clock to be in school by ten to 5?!”. And yet here I am, sitting on the plane.

It was during a dream, which I vaguely remember, that the incessant beeping of my alarm clock roused me to yet another day of boring school. But no, school seemed wrong: “Ahhh. My German exchange.” Filled with fears of lengthy inquisitions (in German, I hasten to add), I leaped (well rather more slid sluggishly) out of bed only to be confronted by two strange creatures from Mars! (Actually, it was one, the other alien creature appeared not to have roused from its daily hibernation.)

Having—by the time of 4:50—managed to cover myself in water then, after drying, strange things called clothes and eaten odd food provided by my alien captors, I was taken to the mother ship.

An hour of building excitement passed by quickly; me filling my mind with the prospect of seeing my exchange partner again. When we were dropped off at Terminal 1, wonderful new experiences encountered us all (you wouldn’t imagine the thrill of luggage trolleys).

I counted two people who had not flown before, so when we boarded our 'cosy’ 33 seater jet, tension was mounting. The journey passed uneventfully however, and we all enjoyed a lovely breakfast topped with black pudding (uh!).

With a bump, we were in Germany, through the gates and waiting for our luggage. Meeting up with Sonia on the way, we passed rapidly though the airport an to our coach.

The next few hours were spent with a guided tour auf English, during which we passed through to East Berlin, getting a sehr gut view of a remaining piece of the wall.

On arriving at the school, I can honestly say that the whole party was shocked at its interesting orange colour. Here, we all met up with our German partners, made our way up three flights of stairs to what appeared to be an art room with a balcony. By now it was about 2:00 in the afternoon so the lovely buffet lunch which had been kindly laid on for us was much needed…

I was glad to find Jannis well, and as my exploration crew (that’s us) each made their way back ot their quarters, I was happy to meet his brother Neils who had consented to drive us the long and trying trek home - round the corner!!

Goerzalle 20 / 12207 Berlin, is set back from the road with a small yet tasteful garden. Das haus has drei [floors] und meine raume ist auf die erste stock!