Our time in Cork

Our time in Cork from the 10^th until the 18^th of October 2013

It was a great time in Cork and we went on a lot of trips:

-                   On Friday, the 11^th  of October, we visited the Cork City Gaol. The City Gaol once was a prison. But now it`s closed and you can visit it as a kind of museum. There was a woman who told us some facts about it and showed us how it looked like in the past.

-                   On the weekend, we spent the time with our host families and exchange partners. We went shopping and bowling. We visited some sights ( for example: Blarney castle), baked a cake or cooked a meal.

-                   On Monday, the 14^th of October, all students (German and Irish) visited Bunratty and Limerick. In Bunratty we were in Bunratty Castle. A guide told us about the history and we were allowed to walk through the castle, to visit the dungeon and to go upstairs to enjoy the great view over the city. In Limerick, we visited the “Hunt-Museum”. We did a costume workshop: Some students had to try on a dress from the last centuries and presented it to the other ones – that was partly funny, partly embarrassing.

-                   On Tuesday, the 15^th of October, 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 stand 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 their 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, we recommend you do a quick search on the internet in order to find a Ceili video. P.S.: We hope you won't find a video of our course!

-                   On Thursday, the 17^th of October, the German students visited Cobh. There we were in a museum about the Titanic. In this museum we did a ralley about facts of the Titanic and other huge ships. After that, we went back to Cork City. There we were allowed to walk through the streets by ourselves for one hour.

The next day we had to leave Cork already. We were sad that we had to leave, and (almost) everybody is looking forward to the time here in Cologne!

The School: „Ashton School Cork“

School in Ireland is not like school in Germany! Some things are very different: On the first day in school, it felt as if everybody was staring at us. This was because we did not wear the school uniform like the Irish pupils. The school uniform of Ashton school is dark green and grey. Pupils wear a white shirt and a green yellow tie (girls and boys!). The girls wear a green skirt or a grey pair of trousers. The boys also wear grey trousers. They all have similar looking shoes. Most pupils additionally wear a dark green pullover with the school´s coat of arms (1.). 

Every Wednesday morning there is an assembly which every pupil and every teacher has to attend. In the assembly, the school principal, teachers and sometimes pupils inform the others about important things of the next week or e.g. interesting results (e.g. who has won a price, results of the hockey team …). In the assembly it is really quiet. Every pupil just stands in the line of his year and listens. Nobody talks or whispers! After the assembly, they walk out orderly in these rows, nobody hurries, nobody is pushing or overtaking somebody else.  We think it would be a good idea to have an assembly like this in our school. But we fear at Lessing-Gymnasium it wouldn’t be so quiet and we wouldn’t manage to stand in the lines of class and walk out in proper rows like in Kindergarten...

Also, the rules are stricter than in Germany. There is a catalogue of things you are not allowed to do (two categories: A and B). When you do something listed in this catalogue (e.g. eating, drinking, chewing gum in class; not wearing school uniform; arrive very late without a written excuse), you get points. When you have four points of category “A”, you have to go to detention on Wednesday, for two points of category “B” you have to go to detention on Friday. We think it wouldn’t be a good idea to have a system like this in our school. :)

One thing we liked very much about Ashton School, and we suggest we do the same here in Cologne: Ashton School starts at 9:00 o'clock!

Malin &  Nele