BZU GOES BRAY 2012 – a review
BZU GOES BRAY 2012 – a review
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My host family
(Claudia Gisler)
Our family lives in a small house on O'Byrne Road. Since Lily was two years old, her father
has no longer lived with them, but they have good contact to him. The food was mostly
very good, but the water was almost undrinkable. Our room was very large in comparison to
the others in the house. Despite the fact that the mattress was not very comfortable, I was
able to sleep pretty well. We had a great time with them.
Journey to Bray
(Patrizia Häne)
It was Sunday morning at
7.20 when we met at the
station in Wil. We travelled to
Zurich by train and checked
in. Everyone felt very nervous
and looked forward to seeing
their host family. The plane
took off at 9.30 and all the
students got a little snack
from the flight attendant. The
sun was shining above the
clouds and we hoped that the
weather would be great in
Ireland. After two hours we
landed in Dublin, then we
collected our luggage from
the roller conveyor. Later we
travelled to Bray by bus and
at ATC we waited for our
host families.
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Day 1 (Ron Lieberherr)
The first day was Monday, 1 October. We had to do a test at school so they could see how
our English was. The test lasted about one hour and after the test we went to our classes
and had our first two English lessons in Ireland. In the afternoon we went to Dublin with
the bzu group, to have a look at the city and the monuments. In the evening we went to
the bowling centre in Bray and had a funny evening.
Going out in Bray
(Simon Heim)
On Saturday we went to a
pub for a drink, before we
went to the beach. The air
was cool and the
atmosphere was beautiful.
We went outside every day,
because the weather in Bray
was always great. Once we
walked to the Tesco store
near our accommodation
and talked to native girls.
After a short chat we went
on. On the Tuesday of the
first week of our language
stay we went bowling with
the whole group it was
funny.
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My teachers at ATC
(Nadine Bähler)
In the mornings we had two
lessons. The teachers almost
always arrived late. In the first
lesson in the morning we had
grammar and vocabulary. The
teacher of our first lesson in the
first week was Karen. I think
she is a good teacher and we
could learn many new things
from her. In the second week
we had a different teacher. His
name was Noel. After the first
lesson we had a break of thirty
minutes. The name of the
teacher in our second lesson is
Mary. Mary is 43 years old and
she has three girls. On Tuesday
and Thursday afternoons we
also had school; on Tuesdays
with Mary and on Thursdays
with Joseph. Joseph comes from
Australia.
Our English lessons (Nadine Künzle)
On the first day at school we had to write an English placement test. Then we were divided
into different classes so no one would be overworked or underworked. The first lesson was
from 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock. In this time we had grammar and vocabulary. At 11:30 the
second lesson started and it finished at 13:30. Then we had a speaking lesson and some
vocabulary. The lessons were interesting, but we had to concentrate all time that we
understood the teachers. On Tuesday and Thursday we had school to 17:15. In the
afternoons we learnt about Irish life and culture. But now the 26 lessons are through. We
learnt a lot and had a good time!
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Day 2 (Adrian Niedermann)
What an ordinary day. We got up at 7.30 and ate breakfast. At 9 o'clock school started with
the first lesson. In the first lesson we talked about different things in the past. In the
second lesson we spoke about plastic surgery. We found out that men are having surgery
more often. The afternoon was a funny part. First we talked about different homophones,
like the words sun - son, one - won or flower - flour. After that our teacher told us
something about the Celtic Tiger, a period in Irish history. The Celtic Tiger was the period
from 1994 to 2003. In the evening we went to the Hibernia Inn near the sea. We enjoyed
some Irish folk music from local musicians and a nice Guinness. At 11 o'clock we had to
leave the pub, but our teacher were able to stay. That was unfair ;D
Irish pubs (Lukas Bossart)
In Ireland all the pubs are
Irish so the name Irish pub
is not necessary. The people
inside are always very
friendly. You can ask them
all kinds of questions. For
example where you can
have a nice Irish breakfast,
or where the young people
go out. And they will gladly
answer you. You can also
drink the world famous
Guinness or any other stout.
It takes time to get a pint of
stout because the landlord
doesn’t fill the pint all the
way at first but waits for a
minute until the froth has
settled. Then he fills the pint
fully.
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Day 3 (Pascal Fischli)
On Wednesday 3 October I went to Dublin with my friends after a normal morning of
school. We took the train from Bray to Dublin, which took us about 40 minutes. First we
went shopping at Penneys and ate a burger and pizza in one of the many really good take-
away restaurants. Later we went to a lovely Pub in the middle of town. After that we walked
to the famous Temple Bar Square. There we thought we must drink a pint of Guinness in
the Temple Bar, which is a pub in Temple Bar Square. We sadly noticed that this was just a
tourist bar. The atmosphere was not like in the other pubs we'd visited and it was also very
expensive. Afterwards we were hungry and walked into the next best Irish restaurant on the
other side of the street. This was a tourist place too. The food was good but, like most of
the Irish food, a bit tasteless. After dinner we went to Connolly Station to get our train back
to Bray. In Bray we took a goodnight pint at Crissy D's, a nice pub just a few minutes from
our host family’s house.
The weather in Ireland
(Ramona Schönenberger)
Before we travelled to Ireland, I
thought that the weather wouldn’t
be good. When we arrived on
Sunday, I thought my prediction
had been right. In the course of the
day the weather became better and
better and the sun came out. The
following day the weather was
relatively cold, but the sun was
always shining. The weather in
Ireland is mostly very windy and
cool. And when it rained you just
had to wait for about an hour and
then became better again. The
weather in Ireland brings a new
surprise every day.
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Day 4 (Raphael Baer)
The fourth day was a really long day. We were at school the whole day. The first lessons
were the same as the other days. So we had school from 09.00 - 11.00 a.m. and from 11.30
- 01.30 p.m. Then we had a short break of 45 min. In this break we had time to eat
something and to relax. In the afternoon we went to school again. At school we learned
something about Guinness and the story of Guinness. It was very interesting. At 05.15 p.m.
we finished school and went home. We were all tired. In the evening we didn't have any
programme so my friends and I went to the beach. Later we went home and slept till the
morning.
Day 5 (Sebastian Lehner)
On Friday 5th October went to
the Guinness Storehouse in
Dublin. We met at 2 o'clock at
ATC and walked to the train
station. We got off the train at
Tara Street in Dublin and walked
through Dublin to the museum
for about half an hour. Then we
visited the exhibition and learnt
something about how Guinness
was brewed and its ingredients.
We also saw some information
about the history of Guinness.
After we had seen the whole
museum, we enjoyed a pint of
Guinness in the attic bar of the
Storehouse and also enjoyed the
breath-taking view over Dublin.
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The city of Dublin
(Simon Hengartner)
Dublin is the capital City of
Ireland. A very important means
of transport is the Dart train. With
the Dart connection you can
travel from the towns along the
coast into the city centre. In the
centre you can go sightseeing or
shopping. Next to Grafton Street
there is a big park called
St. Steven's Green. To the south
of Grafton Street lies St. Steven's
Green shopping centre, built in
October 1988. Trinity College of
Dublin was established in 1592.
Dublin has about 530’000
inhabitants.
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Sports activities (Pascal Berger)
The sports activities were more than welcome, because the food was mostly unhealthy.
They were not always well attended though. The following sports were performed:
GOLF: A lot of fun could be expected. For most of us it was premiere. Obviously some of us
have potential in golf. Unfortunately, the course suffered a bit from our golf skills.
RUNNING: Our top athletes were active during the day and at night, trying to break the
course record running up to Bray Head. SWIMMING: The swimming was used by few
students. It took place at Shoreline Leisure, a swimming pool in Bray. Some reckless
students even dared swimming in the icy sea! FOOTBALL: The football players got their fair
share; they had a lot of fun on the pitch, and showed what they were capable of. HORSE
RIDING and BOWLING were also part of the sports programme.
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The countryside (Severin Heeb)
On Sunday we went to see the Irish countryside. We went to Powerscourt Gardens and to
the Glendalough lakes. Powerscourt is a very beautiful old castle with a really amazing
garden which you must see when you go to Ireland. There is also a restaurant inside, but
that’s a bit expensive. The Glendalough lakes are really picturesque. It’s a walk of about 25
minutes and when the weather’s nice it’s great. I like the Irish countryside because
everything is really green and lovely.
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Irish people
(Alexandra Zahnd)
Irish people don’t worry so
much about punctuality. They
find it okay to be late. Here’s an
example from my host family:
We had to meet for a school
event and I only had half an
hour to get ready but my host
mother hadn’t finished
preparing dinner. She said ‘no
stress - don't hurry, it’s normal
here be late’. Here in Bray I find
that people are very friendly
because in the morning a lot of
people say good morning to
you, but in Dublin people are
very different.
Shopping (Alessia Hauser)
Shopping in Bray is not very interesting, because there aren’t a lot of shops. The
supermarket Tesco is everywhere. In Dublin on the other hand, there are lots of shops, for
example Penneys! Penneys is a shop everyone loves! There are clothes & shoes for men &
women and they are cheaper than in Switzerland! In Switzerland the shops are a lot more
expensive than in Dublin! But there’s also a Zara or H&M as in Switzerland. So if you go to
Dublin, you must go to Penneys, the most famous shop in Dublin! The shops are also open
until 6 o'clock on Sundays. During the week the shops are open until 7 o'clock, on Thursdays
they're open until 9. So if you want to go big shopping, you're right in Dublin!
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Day 8 (Felix Scheiwiller)
I woke up at 7:45 and we met at 8:45 in front of the school for some information, like every
morning. It was a normal school day with grammar and speaking exercises. At 14:00 we
met again in front of the school to do the Cliff Walk from Bray to Greystones. It took about
2 hours to get to Greystones. The railway along the cliffs is beautiful. The weather looked
like it would start to rain any moment. This railway part is the most expensive part of
railway in all of Ireland. The cliff walk is 7 km long and the path lies above the railway
tracks. When we arrived in Greystones we went to a pub and had a drink. At 15:45 we took
the train from Greystones back to Bray, so we saw the cliffs from out of the train. When we
arrived in Bray we all went back to our own host families.
Cliff walk to Greystones
(Fabrice Göldi)
On Monday, 08/10/2012 after
school, we could do the Cliff Walk.
The Cliff Walk is a straight path
between Bray and Greystones. It’s
6.2 km long and took around one
and a half hours to complete. It’s
above the railway which links Bray
to Greystones. After lunch we
started to walk in a group of 8
people. The weather wasn’t very
good, but it was not so bad. It was
Irish weather. The walk was really
beautiful. We enjoyed the whole
walk and when we arrived in
Greystones, we went to a pub and
had a drink. Then we took the train
back to Bray. The train journey was
definitely shorter than the long
walk. It was a great afternoon.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
(Ralf Zellweger)
On Tuesday 9th October, we met at
ATC at 6 p.m. 20 students and 2
teachers travelled together from Bray
to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. We
saw a very interesting stage play
called "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
which was written by Oscar (Fingal
O' Flahertie Wills) Wilde. He was an
Irish author and was born in Dublin
on 16th October 1854. On 30th
November 1900 Oscar Wilde died in
Paris.
Day 9
(Simon Krämer)
In the morning we had school at 9 o'clock.
It's the same every morning at school and
this is a little boring. But we learned a lot at
school. In the afternoon we also had school.
In this lesson we learned a lot about the
history and the teacher. It wasn't very
interesting. The teacher told us a lot about
the history of Ireland but most things we
had already heard about in secondary
school. In the evening most students went
to the theatre. The other students had free
time.
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Day 11 (Annina Lanker)
Today was the second last day, not a very interesting day because we had go to school the
whole day. The first thing I saw as I looked out of the window was rainy weather… In the
morning we learnt something about English grammar and speaking. In the afternoon we
played some games and did exercises to expand our vocabulary. After school some crazy
people went swimming in the sea. I think it was very cold because of this bad weather
today (but only to watch it was funny ;P). In the evening we went to the Harbour Pub for
the last time with our friends and some Swiss students from Luzern. It was a great evening,
I’ll miss Bray!
Our leaders
(Marc Fräfel)
On our journey to Bray our
leaders were Mr Müller and
Mr Mathis. We had two
weeks full of fun and
interesting sightseeing.
We've seen so many
different things all around
Bray and Dublin. We took a
city trip to Dublin, a guided
tour to Powerscourt and
Glendalough; in Dublin we
also visited the world
famous Guinness brewery.
Once we went golfing at a
local golf club. We had some
really nice experiences with
our leaders.
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