We have seen several places in and close to Munich during our time together. The first particularly exciting visit was the one at Carl-Orff-Gymnasium. We joined Mrs Höcherl´s German class and taught each other different languages from isiXosa to Austrian dialect. Our South African friends were really surprised that the German students leave all their stuff in front of the class rooms without taking care of it. They told us that that would never happen in South Africa. We showed the visitors our whole school, the room of our drama classes and the props.
On the next day we walked to the castle of Oberschleißheim, which was quite close to the place where we stayed those two weeks. This afternoon was very funny as the Germans wanted to show the South Africans the most beautiful parts of the park, but they were so overwhelmed by everything they saw that they took photos and photos of everything and everyone. But in fact, we saw the park differently, too and were surprised when a statue was photographed that we had never perceived before.
Another castle we visited was the Herrenschloss on the Herreninsel in the lake Chiemsee. We had a guided tour there and everyone was amazed by all that gold and that pomposity. Out of those two castles the South Africans and also some of the Germans learned a lot about the culture, especially of Bavaria. We didn´t only see that gold and diamonds, but also heard of the poor people that had to suffer while others planned a non-inhabited castle. That was something the students of course didn´t think about when they first saw the castles. They learnt that the German population had not always been as wealthy as it is now.
On the day at the Chiemsee we also went to the Fraueninsel and to the church that is there. The churches we visited were also very new to our friends as it isn´t typical in South Africa to see a church as a sight. We also were in the Asam-Church in Munich, which is almost overcrowded of gold and other expensive things. Church and religion were a very important part in Germany´s culture and we discussed a lot with our exchange partners why religion is becoming less important and about religion in general. We were surprised that we heard similar arguments and points of views on both sides.
Something very special was visiting Mrs Höcherl´s and Mr Blum´s flat. None of us Germans would ever have had the chance to visit a teacher´s home as well as the South Africans. This time was really very special for us as we saw pictures and other private things that we usually would never have had the chance to without that exchange. It wasn´t only new for our friends but also for us.
After that we were at the lake of Oberschleißheim where we went swimming and splashing. Some of us didn´t have swim suits with them but still we had lots of fun. This experience was something special as usually in South Africa our friends wouldn´t go swimming that often, especially not in lakes. That is exactly the other way round than in Germany, as we need to go far away to see the sea but we can often go to lakes as they are everywhere.
A experience that was seen as the highlight of all of those visits by many of our South African friends was the guided tour at the concentration camp memorial site in Dachau. We Germans didn´t really expect that as we of course knew about the terrible things that happened during the time of National Socialism and saw it as a part of German history, that should never happen again. But we were really surprised when many of our friends started to cry when they heard of the fate that happened to the people that were in this camp. After the guided tour I think most of us leaned something important: that no country in the world could always have been or will be happy and wealthy. Germany and South Africa have their pasts and presents and futures that will hopefully get better.
Written by Melissa Köllner