About Australian Aborigines

The Australian Aborigines

The first aborigines came from Asia 40 000 years ago. There were 750 000 before colonisation (18th century), and there are 400 000 today (250 tribes)they live on reserves today .They’re good painters and they painted the dreamtime .They speak an aboriginal langage.

In 1967 the aborigines were given voting rights.


Text written by Anne-Michèle Heinrich.


My holiday.

During my summer holidays, I went to Toulon in the south of France. I stayed two weeks. I travelled by train with my brother and my parents! Every day I slept in, I swam in the sea, I did shopping and I bought lots of clothes! The sea in Toulon was a bit cold but beautiful!! It was a nice holiday!
Three weeks after Toulon, I went to Nice with Charline in a summer camp! We met lots of girls and super boys! Every day we had different activities like scuba-diving, sunbathing...!
It was my favourite holiday!!!

By Pauline.

I'm an actress !

Theatre Festival


Every Saturday, in the afternoon, I go to Heiligenstein for two hours of theatre with my friend Marie. Jaromir Knittel, my teacher is very nice. He is Czech and he speaks with a Czech accent.

In March, this year, me and my group went to the Czech Republic to take part in a theatre competition. It was a French Festival. Other groups represented other countries. There was: Italy, Roumania, Poland, Hungary and lots of Czech Republic groups. We were younger than all the participants and the only French group.
Every play was performed in French. It was nice because the other groups had learnt their lines in French.
We played a musical called Cats. In the play, we danced, sang and we played comedy. It was difficult because we learnt the play in one month. But it was nice. I sang with my friend Marie in a duo and it was beautiful.
All of my group was made up as cats and we had costumes.
At the end of our performance, all the public stood up and applauded for ten minutes. It was magical.
When the Festival ended, the prize giving took place and we had the first prize.
“The public’s prize”!
The Jury gave each person of my group a diploma with their name, and our teacher received theatre books.
Then, we returned to France to announce our success.


By Joy BAUER

DREAMTIME STORIES


Beautiful Colours

A long time ago in the Dreamtime, there was an awful island. It had white sand and the water had no colour.
A little boy lived on this island. He was bored of the landscape. He dreamed every night of a beautiful beach with pastel colours like blue, purple, green, grey and turquoise which represented the beach of his dreams.
One day he used pastel colours and painted on his friend’s body. He found the picture was like his dream. But the boy wanted the drawing to become real. He took his friend to the sea. The colours began to wash off in the water and the beach became like the boy’s dream.
Today this island is one of the most beautiful islands of the Coral Sea.

MIRB Marianne & KIEFFER Charline



C’est l’histoire d’un jeune garçon ennuyé du paysage qu’il voyait et qui avec un ami, des couleurs et surtout un rêve, transforma une mer.

WHY THE EMU CAN'T FLY

by Laure and Marie


A long time ago, in the dreamtime, the emu could fly. It was the most beautiful bird in the sky and all the other animals liked and respected the emu.
But the emu was conceited and unfriendly. So the sky decided to give it a lesson. He threw lightening on the emu. The emu fell down and the sky said :
“You must be more generous and friendlier”.
The emu tried and tried, but it could not fly. It was so sad it hid its head in the sand to cry.
But today, if it cries, it isn’t friendlier or more generous and its bad temper has punished all the emus.

The End.



C’est l’histoire d’un emu tellement prétentieux que le ciel décide de le punir.
Il ne peut plus voler et cache sa tête dans le sable.
Sa prétention a puni tous les emus.
C’est pour ça que les emus ne volent pas.

THE BABY KOALA

by Caroline and Mathilde


In the Dreamtime, a long time ago, the baby koalas had only one choice to stay with their mothers, which was to hold on to their mothers' backs with their little fingers. This was not very comfortable for the mothers or the babies but it was the only solution they could find.
Little by little, when the babies became bigger, they pulled on the poor mothers' skin and their skin became stretched. When these mothers had another baby they got a brilliant idea! The mothers made a pouch with the stretched skin.

Since this day, the baby koala sleeps in their mother's pouch, till they get bigger hands.



C’est l’histoire d’un bébé koala qui ne trouve pas de position pour dormir sur le dos de sa mère jusqu’à ce que sa mère trouve une solution....
WHY IS THE HEART REEF LIKE A HEART?


A long time ago in Australia, on a coral reef like many others, two turtles were in love. But, one day, the man turtle met a beautiful girl turtle! He decided to leave his partner to go with the turtle of his dreams!
Now, the first lady turtle who stayed on the reef was very sad because she loved her partner very much! She was so sad, that she ate the coast of the reef.
Three months later the man turtle returned to his reef because the turtle he met was beautiful but she was bad! When, he saw the reef, it was not a simple reef, it was a heart reef! The sad lady turtle was so depressed that she had changed the reef to a heart shaped reef! The man turtle returned with his first partner and they had a lot of baby turtles!!!
Today this reef is in the shape of a heart and lots of turtles go there to have their babies!


By Pauline and Laurine.

C'est l'histoire d'un couple de tortues, où la tortue femelle, folle de tristesse à cause du départ de son partenaire, mange les contours d'un récif, qui prend une forme de coeur et devient le 'Heart Reef'.
WHY DOES THE KOOKABURRA LAUGH ?

The Kookaburra was always sad; he never laughed and had just one friend: a koala. The Kookaburra lived alone on his big gum tree .
Every day was the same for him he was very bored. One day, his friend came to visit him, because the Kookaburra was so sad! Then his friend told him a funny story about a hunter, who was hunted by a kangaroo!! The Kookaburra found this so funny and laughed all day long! He was so happy after laughing all day that he told the funny story to his cousin. And he thought the story was funny too and told it to his friends and to his family ... and so on ...
Finally the koala’s story was known by every kookaburra in the country .
One week later, a hunter walked near the Kookaburra’s big tree and the kookaburras thought of the Koala’s story and laughed and laughed at the hunter .
Since then, kookaburras have a song like a human’s laugh.

By Anne-michèle and Christelle


C’est l’histoire d’un kookaburra seul, qui ne riait jamais. Jusqu’au jour où son seul ami le koala lui raconte une « Funny Story ». Tout changea …

THE GECKO
By Léonie and Marine

A long time ago, the Geckos were completely white because their ancestors lived on a snowy mountain.
One day their ancestors crossed the desert to live in the tropical forest.
A little gecko walked in the desert and a horrible spider asked why his body was white. He answered: ”It’s because for several years I lived in a snowy mountain.” The spider was very surprised because she had never seen a white animal before. In the desert, animals are generally orange, brown or red.
The gecko was very frightened in the desert because all the animals could see his white body on the red sand.
The gecko continued to cross the desert… It was very very hot and the sun burnt his back. Little by little the gecko became red all over. He managed to cross the desert without any animals seeing him.
This is why today all geckos are red !

Why does the rattlesnake rattle?
By Nicolas and Antoine

A long time ago, in the dreamtime, the rattlesnake was a snake like all the others. It was silent, and that’s why it was very dangerous.

One day it wanted to go in the forest, to hunt some rats and some birds.
At the same time, in a tree, a kookaburra was preparing a nest. In her nest she had a rattle - kookaburras like to play with noisy toys! The snake heard the kookaburra and prepared to attack.
It ate the poor kookaburra and her rattle.
After his lunch, the snake went home, but when it moved, it began to rattle, so everybody called it Rattlesnake.

Now, when the rattlesnake hunts, the kookaburras can know when he arrives, thanks to the poor kookaburra.

The End.



Il était une fois un serpent très dangereux car très silencieux. Un jour qu’il chassait, il entend un Kookaburra jouer dans un arbre avec un hochet. Rapidement, il se jette sur l’oiseau et l’avale tout rond, avec le hochet. Le hochet en question s’est retrouvé dans la queue du serpent, qui depuis ce temps-là fait du bruit lorsqu’il bouge !

The European Parliament


We went to Strasbourg because we wanted to see and visit the European parliament. We saw a modern and beautiful building with lots of windows. There were also all the European flags.
First we went in its oval ground where we saw a big ball in the middle. Probably it was the earth. Then a man explained us things about the European parliament. We saw a film about the European Parliament and the European Union in a big hall with lots of red seats. We went to another hall, which was bigger than the previous one. In this hall all the seats were blue. In the parliament, there were also two small gardens. When we left the parliament, we could take a comic strip about the European parliament in different European languages. And there were also a lot of documents about the parliament.

By Thibaut.

Arthur in China



My holiday in China

China was very interesting and very different to France.
I saw the great Wall of China and the army made of clay.
At the great Wall of China I bought a Chinese hat. It was fantastic!!!
There were lots of Bouddha temples there, and a Shaolin temple too.
I bought a nunchaku, in China, it’s a weapon and I learnt Chinese writing for one hour.


China is a beautiful country but there was just a problem: 24 hours by plane!
By Arthur.

Charline on holiday

My summer holidays!

During my summer holidays, I went to a holiday camp in Nice at the end of July with a friend. We slept in a hut. Every day we had different activities. One day we went on a boat to do scuba-diving and we saw a lot of beautiful fish. We went for a ride on a bike too, it was good fun! We tried to do windsurfing but in the Mediterranean Sea it was very difficult. We always ate on the beach and we made lots of friends especially Pauline, who met a beautiful boy! Unfortunately we stayed only 10 days. It was a cool week! :D
After, I travelled with my parents in the north of Italy. There, we went hiking in the mountains and we saw wonderful landscapes. There was no sea but a nice swimming pool in the hotel. The weather was great, just one day which was rainy, that day we went shopping.
The rest of the time I met my friends and I had super summer holidays!

by Charline

Laurine's summer holidays.

My summer holidays

During the summer, I went to Carcans-Maubuisson, in the south-west of France. I was very happy because the last time I travelled I was five years old. The journey seemed too long because I was impatient to arrive. I stayed there one week with my family.

The weather was strange: first, at ten o'clock it was very sunny, then at midday it was rainy, the afternoon was sunny and hot and finally in the evening it was raining again! Each day we could go to the beach, and that’s what we did. I also swam in a lake but I prefered the sea: the waves are so big! Everything there was beautiful: the houses, the landscape, the sea… everything! But there’s a thing that I saw which was even more beautiful: the sunset on the sea!!!

I was sad to come back because I really enjoyed my holidays. But all good things come to an end!!!

Laurine

The Rabbit Proof Fence

The Rabbit Proof Fence

“The Rabbit Proof Fence” is a film about three aborigine girls, they’re eight, eleven and fifteen. The three girls are removed from their homes by white men because they are half caste.
They are sent to a school where there are white people and half caste children.
One day they decide to return to Jilagong but a tracker wants to catch them.
But the oldest of the three girls, is crafty and the tracker doesn’t find them.
She decides to follow the rabbit proof fence to find their home.
The girl who is eleven is caught but the two other girls arrive at home and they find their family.

Arthur.

Christelle's working holiday.

MY HOLIDAYS.

During my holidays, I didn’t go on holiday, but I worked, during one mont hand a half, I picked tobacco. I earnt lots of money. At the beginning, it was hard work but after it was cool and easy.
To pick tobacco, we must first take three or four leaves, after three leaves, then three leaves again and finally the rest of the tobacco plant. When all the leaves are picked, we take them to an oven to dry them. When the leaves are dried, we must sort them.

During my summer holidays, I missed my friends but at the end and, at school, I saw them again and it was so great !!!

Christelle.

Nicolas on holiday.

My holiday in Ardèche

Hello, my name is Nicolas. This year, I went to Ardèche with my parents and my brother Thomas. We travelled by car, and the journey was very long. We rented a house, and it was very beautiful! Close to the house, in the forest, we found a beautiful beach, and every day we went there. But we didn’t swim, because there were lots of snakes in the water!
We were very lucky, because all the week, the weather was sunny and hot. We visited lots of caves and the saw the “pont d’Arc”. But these holidays had to end. A week after we arrived, we had to go back to Alsace. I think that was too short, but that’s life !
Nicolas.
WHY THE SNAKE IS SO LONG ?


A long time ago, there was a small snake which didn’t grow. He wanted to be long, so he was sad. He told his problem to his friends, but they laughed and said:
“We are small and and short, it’s alright!”

One day, when he went to look for a waterhole, two eagles flew over him! He wanted to hide but it was too late. The eagles caught him and fought to have him. The small snake was shaken in all directions. The fight was terrible. Suddenly, in their fight the eagles let go of the small snake. He quickly went to a hiding place.

When the eagles left, he came out of his hiding place and went home. His friends looked at him with big eyes and said:
“You are not small!!!! You are long now!!”
And the snake saw his tail! He was surprised! He was not small any more, he was a beautiful long snake! He was so happy!

He became the king of all the snakes and that’s why snakes are long now!!!


By Joy BAUER and Sophie HOCHSCHLITZ



Un jour un petit serpent fut la proie de deux aigles. Tiré et étiré c’est pour cela que les serpents sont longs de nos jours …
Why CROCODILES are green ?

One day in the dreamtime, there were some crocodiles who lived in a river in a tropical rain forest. The crocodiles were brown, white and grey. There were lots of trees in this tropical rain forest.
One day, it was very rainy and very windy. A lot of leaves fell in the river and the water became green. The crocodiles drank the water. Two days later the crocodiles were green too and they were very surprised. They liked the green colour because they could hide in the forest easier.
When they met other crocodiles, the other crocodiles asked why they were green. They answered “this colour is useful because we can hide easier!”. So the other crocodiles drank this water too. Since that day all the crocodiles in the rain forest are green.
Everyone must be very careful because they are very difficult to see!


By Benjamin FOELLER
And Jonathan CARL



Pourquoi les crocodiles sont verts ?

Un jour, il y avait quelques crocodiles qui vivaient dans une rivière, dans une forêt tropicale ou il y avait beaucoup d’arbres. Les crocodiles étaient bruns, blancs et gris.
Un jour il y avait une grosse averse et beaucoup de vent. Beaucoup de feuilles tombèrent dans la rivière qui devint verte. Deux jours plus tard les crocodiles étaient devenus verts aussi; ils étaient très étonnés. Grâce à cette couleur ils pouvaient ce cacher partout dans la forêt tropicale.
Quand ils rencontrèrent d’autres crocodiles ils leur demandèrent pourquoi il étaient verts. Les autres crocodiles buvèrent cette eau parce qu’ils pouvaient se cacher plus facilement. Depuis ce jour tous les crocodiles de la forêt tropicale étaient verts.
Tout le monde doit faire attention parce qu’ils sont très dur à voir !
The kangaroo and the koala



A long time ago, in the dreamtime, the koala walked fast and the kangaroo didn’t jump.

One day, the koala saved the kangaroo from a dangerous snake. So the kangaroo, to thank him, wanted to help him in return. The koala asked the kangaroo to bring him eucalyptus leaves because it was his favourite food. The kangaroo had to jump to get the leaves.
At first the koala slept and waited next to the kangaroo . But the koala wanted to go further and the kangaroo had to jump to find him. The koala asked the kangaroo to bring more eucalyptus leaves and the kangaroo had to jump higher to get them.
Day after day it was easier for the kangaroo to jump and the koala became lazier and lazier. He just slept all day and ate the leaves the kangaroo brought him.
One day, the kangaroo didn’t want to help him any more so the kangaroo went away. The koala had to climb up the eucalyptus trees to eat and it was very hard work!

Today if you go to Australia you can see lazy koalas in their trees and kangaroos jumping in the bush!

By Arthur and Thibaut.


Le kangourou et le koala
C'est l'histoire d'un koala très dégourdi, qui un jour sauva la vie d'un kangourou n'ayant jamais appris à sauter. Le kangourou, en échange lui proposa ses services. Le koala dit alors qu'il pourrait lui apporter les feuilles d'eucalyptus pour ses repas. Le kangourou ne sachant pas grimper aux arbres, commença à sauter de plus en plus haut pour cueillir des feuilles pendant que le koala se reposait.Depuis cette aventure, on rencontre en Australie des kangourous sauteurs et des koalas paresseux.
WHY KANGAROOS HAVE GOT A POUCH ON THEIR TUMMY ?


A long time ago in Australia there was a family of two kangaroos and a baby. In the middle of Australia there was a desert. At that time the kangaroos had no pouch on their tummy to put their baby in and the baby kangaroo had to walk next to its parents.

One day they found nothing to eat so the parents decided to go west. The three kangaroos crossed the desert but the baby kangaroo fell a lot and lost his parents. When the parents arrived et the end of the desert, they saw no baby.

The mother kangaroo had an idea. She saw lots of long grass and she weaved it together to make a pouch. Then she took a cactus needle and her longest hair; with these objects she sewed a pouch on her tummy. After that the parent kangaroos set out in search of their baby. When they found it the mother took her baby and put it in her new pouch.

It was such a good idea that all the other kangaroos copied and that’s why today all kangaroos carry their babies in a pouch .

By Isabelle and Jean-Philippe



"C'est l'histoire d'une famille de kangourous, le fils se perd et dès que le petit est retrouvé la mère trouve un moyen pour qu'il ne parte plus..."

8 AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS COME TO BERNSTEIN HIGH



Our Australia / Alsace partnership continues. This year, in June, 8 new Australian students were welcomed to Bernstein High. A group of 30 Australians in all came over.




OUR AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGE PROJECT
By Anne Stenger

This year, and for the 4th consecutive year, Bernstein High welcomed another group of Australian students from the Gold Coast, Queensland.

A bit of history: 4 years ago Bernstein High was contacted by the Local Education Authority in Strasbourg (le Rectorat) because a French teacher in Australia was looking for 3 or 4 schools in Alsace to start an exchange partnership. This teacher, Mrs. Nicole Davies, has set up a French Immersion Programme in her school (which is the equivalent of our German Bilingual Programmes in Alsace) where the pupils do half their school week in French! She was very keen to start up an exchange project with schools here in Alsace so that her pupils could live an authentic French experience. I answered her and agreed to participate, together with 3 other schools from the area (Erstein, Eschau and Gerstheim). That first year 12 Australian students came over. The following year the school in Eschau was replaced by Matzenheim and 24 students participated. And so the adventure continues... Last year a record of 30 students made the journey, and this year 28!

How it works: The Australian students who want to come to Alsace are put in contact with Year 9 (4ème) pupils in the 4 different schools around Christmas time. They correspond by email, MSN or snail mail for nearly 6 months before they come over for 3 weeks in June. The fact that they are in 4 different schools means they can’t be tempted to group together and speak English! Once back in Australia, the penfriends continue to correspond until the following April when our French students return the visit. Each year another school (and teacher) organizes the trip.

Thanks: I would like to thank our pupils and their families for everything they do in making our Australian visitors so welcome. Thanks also to our school administrators for making the whole project possible.

Long live our Australian Exchange Project!


NOTRE PROJET D’ECHANGE AVEC L’AUSTRALIE

Cette année, et pour la 4ème année consécutive, le Collège du Bernstein a accueilli un groupe d’élèves d’Australie.

Un peu d’histoire : Il y a 4 ans j’étais contacté par le rectorat parce que un professeur de français en Australie cherchait des écoles en France dans le but d’établir un partenariat. Ce professeur, Mme Nicole Davies, s’occupe d’une section bilingue française dans son école et voulait que ses élèves puissent participer à un échange linguistique en France. J’ai répondu positivement à sa demande, ainsi que 3 autres écoles de la région ( Erstein, Eschau et Gerstheim). La première année, 2003, 12 élèves australiens sont venus. L’année suivante Eschau a été remplacé par Matzenheim, et 24 élèves ont participé. L’année dernière ils étaient à 30 et cette année 28.

Comment ça fonctionne : Les Australiens qui veulent venir en Alsace sont appariés à des élèves de 4èmes à partir du mois de décembre. Ils correspondent par mail, MSN ou courrier traditionnel pendant 6 mois jusqu’à leur visite en juin. Ils sont répartis dans les 4 écoles pour qu’ils ne soient pas tentés de se regrouper et de parler en anglais entre eux ! Une fois de retour en Australie les élèves continuent à correspondre jusqu’en avril lorsque nos élèves (alors en 3ème) font le voyage retour. Chaque année c’est une autre école (et un autre professeur) qui organise le voyage.

Remerciements : Je remercie les élèves et leurs familles qui accueillent si chaleureusement les élèves australiens pour tout ce qu’ils font. Un grand merci aussi aux administrations des écoles qui rendent cette expérience possible.
My Australian penfriend
By Arthur

My penfriend’s name’s Thomas Parer.
He’s funny, lazy and he speaks French very well but he hates sport whereas I like sport a lot.
With him, we visited many towns: Strasbourg, Nancy, Obernai and lots of other towns!
In Nancy we visited the Stanislas Square, in Strasbourg we visited the cathedral. We visited many other things like the Alsatian museum and the chocolate museum.
We went to a small village in Lorraine to see my cousins.
In Europapark, we went on many attractions, it was fantastic!!!!
I think he enjoyed himself because we visited many monuments.
After Thomas went home, we sent many messages to each other.


MARIANNE AND SHANICE


My Australian penfriend is Shanice and was here from the 13th of June to the 7th of July with her friends. She lives on the Gold Coast and goes to Benowa State High School.
We spoke very much about friends, family and common interests: we love sport. With Isabelle and her billet Domi, we did lots of things. For example, we went to Strasbourg and went up to the Cathedral. We went to the Orangerie (it’s a park in Strasbourg ) and saw kukaburras: it was funny for Shanice and Domi to see Australian animals in France!
One evening we went to Epfig with Isabelle, Domi and Pauline for the Music Festival. They knew lots of music and danced like crazy girls. Once, we did jelly: there were lots of beautiful colours. It was a little bit too sweet but I liked it.
I’m so impatiant to see her and her family in Australia.


By Marianne.

My Australian friend.



Accueil Australien


My penfriend is called Domi, she’s Australian and she goes to Benowa State High School. The 13th of June Domi came to France. She was with me in school.

We did lots of things together. The first day, I showed her the forest next to Epfig.
With my friends we visited Selestat and did shopping. It was very funny because she bought many postcards !

The first Sunday we walked to Mount Saint Odile with my parents.

Domi and I, were invited to Pauline’s Party, it was cool ! We danced and ate mashmallows on the barbecue ! It was very delicious !

One Sunday, we were with my family, Marianne’s family and Shanice to visit the Cathedral in Strasbourg. We went to the Orangerie too, it’s a park in Strasbourg. We saw Kukaburras !

The weather was not very good every day, so we tried to do Anzac biscuits but they became very strange ! Delicious but very strange !

Another Sunday we walked in the forest to two castles.

We visited the Monkey Mountain, that was very funny !

When we were on holiday, Marianne invited us to her birthday, it was funny we had a water battle in the garden !

She went back to Australia on the 7th of July. I was very sad to see her leave France.


By Isabelle
My Australian penfriend.
By Laure Vanderschaeve.

The 13th of June, 8 French children were waiting for 8 Australian children.
I was there, waiting for Chloe, my penfriend.
We became friends very quickly. It was good fun to ride our bikes, go to the swimming-pool, to visit castles or to meet friends with her. When my rabbit died, she was very nice with me.
She brought a lot of presents from Australia or from Paris. Chloe was very polite with my family.
We had fun for one month together and I enjoyed meeting her.
The Australian billet

I had a billet from Australia. His name is Alex. He came to France for 3 weeks ( 13 July/7 August 2007 ).

At 10.30 a.m he arrived at Bernstein High. When we were at home we had lunch, and he went to sleep because he travelled for 21 hours. The first week we went to school and he thought that the school was boring. In the evening he went a bit on the computer and we watched T.V.
Sometimes, it was difficult with him because he was shy. The 2 other weeks we didn’t visit lots of things because it was rainy all the time. We did lots of things with Léonie and her billet Kristina. We went to the cinema, to Strasburg to see the new T.G.V railway station and the cathedral. We visited some villages like Obernai, Barr, Valff…
We went to eat at the restaurant. We did sports like tennis and football. For the meals my mother prepared Alsatian specialities.

Alex was nice but VERY shy. These 3 weeks were an interesting experience.


CARL Jonathan
My Australien billet came to France.


My billet’s name is Kristina Rybishar.
She came on the 13th June 2007 for three and a half weeks. There were 28 Australians but not all went to Bernstein school, some went to Erstein , Matzenheim or Gerstheim.
During her stay in France she visited lots of monuments and she thought French culture was very different from Australian culture because in France everything is smaller than in Australia.
For Kristina Paris is the most beautiful city in the world.
It was very interesting to meet Australian students because I learnt different things about another country.

Léonie.

My Australian penfriend
By Marie

In June some Australians came to France.
My penfriend’s name is Sarah, she comes from the Gold coast.
She was very happy to come and I was very happy to see her.
We got on very well. She was very tired the first day in the aftermoon we walked a bit in the vineyards.
At school she made new friends and I learnt about the Australians. She liked Alsace.
We visited Strasbourg, the cathedral, the “Petite France”. We visited an old castle. She was happy, she liked walking and we rode bikes. She ate some alsacian food and she liked it but not the sauerkraut !
When she left we were sad but I’m very happy to go to Australia and see her again next April.
BEN'S AUSTRALIAN PENFRIEND

My billet was a very nice boy. His name is ZACHAIRY;
He comes from The Gold Coast near Brisbane. He arrived in Dambach on the 13 th June and stayed with me for 3 weeks.
We went to Strasbourg, to do shopping, and to see the cathedral and the European Parliament, and we visited the town by night, on a boat.
One day, Christina, Léonie, Jonathan and Alex came to my house : we swam, played, talked and laughed. That was a very good day!
My family liked Zac. The last day was not very good for me because Zac went back to Australia.

Bye bye my friend !


(I don't have any photos, sorrry !)

THEY WERE IN THE NEWSPAPER !

Une trentaine de collégiens passent un séjour d'échange en Australie.

A la découverte de l'Australie
Après une semaine de vacances très dépaysantes avec leurs correspondants australiens, trente collégiens alsaciens (collèges d'Erstein, Gerstheim, Matzenheim et Dambach) ont repris le chemin de l'école, mais dans l'hémisphère sud.
Plusieurs établissements privés et publics de la Gold coast, en Australie, accueillent une trentaine de collégiens pour une dizaine de jours dans le cadre d'un échange, leur permettant ainsi de découvrir un système scolaire très différent. A défaut de porter l'uniforme de rigueur, les élèves sont arrivés vêtus aux couleurs de leurs établissements.
Ici la journée commence à 9 h et se termine à 15 h. Très souvent, les cours n'excèdent pas 35 minutes, et le sport est omniprésent dans le cursus. Le restaurant scolaire est remplacé par un pique-nique sous les palmiers. Les élèves ont apprécié la diversité des matières proposées, et certains ont réalisé d'excellents gâteaux lors d'un cours de cuisine animé par un professeur australien. Pendant les activités sportives, ils ont pu profiter des installations exceptionnelles et découvrir les règles compliquées du cricket et autres touch ball, AFL... La plupart des établissements scolaires disposent d'immenses espaces, à l'image de leur pays, ce qui permet à 1 500 élèves de travailler dans de très bonnes conditions.
Anzac Day, fêté le 25 avril, est un jour de commémoration pour les Australiens et les Néo-Zélandais tombés lors de la Première Guerre mondiale en Turquie (Gallipoli) et en France (bataille de la Somme). Les élèves ont participé à la cérémonie à Benowa state high school, au moment de l'« Assembly », où les hymnes nationaux français, australiens et néo-zélandais ont été chantés. Le séjour se terminera par une courte visite de Sydney, étape incontournable avant le retour en France. De toute évidence, ce séjour en immersion de trois semaines aura permis à ces élèves d'acquérir une belle aisance en anglais et aura développé leur capacité à s'adapter à une autre culture.
© Dernières Nouvelles D'alsace, Mercredi 25 Avril 2007. - Tous droits de reproduction réservés

ONE NIGHT IN SYDNEY ! by Nina


THE END


It is the end of this extraordinary trip, and the last place to see is Sydney..! We are sad because we just left our penfriends, but we are excited too!


After a 1 hour flight, we arrived at the hostel and left our luggage to go and eat in one of the famous fast food restaurants... Mac' Donald’s!! Do you think that we’re fat? NOT AT ALL!








Mr Roberts gave us a really yummy ice cream and after that, we walked to the huge Sydney Opera House! We wrote some names on it (shush!) and we took photos of Sydney Harbour Bridge... Next we had time just to buy some presents or to hang around with our friends!





Finally, we took the taxi-boat to go back to our hostel "Big on Elizabeth" ( http://www.bighostel.com/ ). When we saw our beautiful room, we were so happy to spend a crazy night there! We ate a barbecue on the roof and after that some of us played cards and others watched a movie! The night was very short but soooo cool!!

The day after (our last day in Australia!), we went to the museum. We saw aboriginal things, animals (and spiders!) and the biggest gold nugget in the world! It was a little bit boring sometimes… because we were very tired!!
Next we took mini-buses to go to the airport! And after 24 hours of flying, we arrived very excited and full of memories to tell in France!! WE LOVED AUSTRALIA! WE WILL LOVE AUSTRALIA FOREVER!
La fin de ce voyage extraordinaire arrive, et la dernière étape est Sydney! Nous sommes tristes parce que nous venons de laisser nos corres’, mais nous sommes aussi très excités ! Après 1 heure de vol, nous sommes arrivés à l’hôtel où nous laissons nos bagages pour pouvoir aller manger dans un des célèbres fast food… Mac 'Donald ! ! Pensez-vous que nous avons grossi ? PAS DU TOUT !
M. Roberts nous a offert une glace vraiment délicieuse et après ça, nous avons marché pour aller à l’énorme Sydney Opera House! Nous avons écrit quelques noms dessus (Chuuuut!) et nous avons pris des photos du pont Harbour Bridge... Après nous avons eu un temps juste pour acheter quelques cadeaux ou pour trainer avec nos amis ! Finalement, nous avons pris le bateau-taxi pour revenir à notre auberge de jeunesse "Big on Elizabeth" ( http://www.bighostel.com/ ). Quand nous avons vu nos belles chambres, nous étions si heureux de passer une nuit fort agitée là-bas ! Nous avons mangé un barbecue sur le toit et après, certains ont joué aux cartes et d’autres ont regardé un film ! La nuit a été très courte mais tellement cool ! !
Le lendemain (notre dernier jour en Australie !), nous sommes allés au musée. Nous avons vu des choses aborigènes, des animaux (et des araignées mortelles!! Berk !) et la plus grande pépite d'or du monde ! Parfois c’était un peu ennuyeux…parce que nous étions très fatigués ! Ensuite, nous avons pris des minibus pour aller à l'aéroport !
Et après 24 heures de vol (rires, fatigue, musique et films à volonté!), on arrive en France, excités, crevés, et surtout pleins de souvenirs à raconter et à faire partager!!


WE LOVE AUSTRALIA !

SURFING ON THE GOLD COAST



My surfing lesson by Alexia.








-I went on a surfing lesson with my billet Alex. We were around 10 people in the same group, with 2 teachers. First the teachers told us what to do to stay safe. Then they showed us different positions with the board and we had to do the same on the sand. And after a while we were able to go in the water and try what they showed us. It was very difficult at first and I let go of my board several times. Then it became a bit easier but it was still painful when we hit the bottom. In 2 hours, Alex stood on her board twice. I stood once but I fell off one second later. I was only able to "surf" when I was lying on the board and when I was on my knees.

-J'ai pris un cours de surf avec Alex, ma correspondante. On était à peu près 10 dans le même groupe, avec 2 profs. D'abord les profs nous ont dit ce qu'il fallait faire pour rester en sécurité. Ensuite ils nous ont montré différentes positions avec la planche et on a du faire pareil sur le sable. Apres quelques temps, on a pu aller dans l'eau et essayer ce qu'ils nous avaient montré. Au début c'était assez dur et j'ai lâché ma planche beaucoup de fois. Après c'est devenu un peu plus simple mais ça faisait toujours autant mal quand on touchait le fond. En 2 heures, Alex est restée debout sur sa planche 2 fois. Je suis restée debout une fois mais je suis tombée une seconde après. J'ai seulement réussi à "surfer" quand j'étais couchée sur la planche et quand j'étais à genoux.

BYRON BAY and CURRUMBIN WILD LIFE SANCTUARY by Caroline



Byron Bay and Currumbin Wild Life Sanctuary

We went to Byron Bay which is the most eastern point of Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Bay We saw the light house and some dolphins in the sea.














After we went to the Currumbin Wild Life Sanctuary ( http://www.currumbin-sanctuary.org.au/content/home.asp ) which is a big park in which we can see Australian animals. You can see kangaroos, koalas, alligators, dingos, emus… The kangaroos walk in the park and the visitors can take photos, stroke and feed them.











Nous sommes allés à Byron Bay, qui est le point le plus à l’est du continent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Bay Nous avons vu un phare même des dauphins !
Ensuite nous avons visités le Currumbin Wild Life Sanctuary ( http://www.currumbin-sanctuary.org.au/content/home.asp ) qui est un parc dans lequel on peut voir des animaux typiquement Australien. On peut y voir des kangourous, des koalas, des alligators, des dingos, des émus… Les kangourous peuvent se promener librement dans le parc, et les visiteurs peuvent les prendre en photos, les caresser et les nourrir.

By Caroline.

MOVIE WORLD by Alexia ( ;D )








MOVIE WORLD

The fist Monday, we went to Movie World, an amusement park about movies, with our billets. It was very hot! The first ride we did was "The Leathel Weapon", a huge ride with loopings. It was so scary! Then, we did "Superman Escape", another great ride. The boys wet us and we were soaked, from head to feet. Another great day with the Australians !

Le premier lundi, on est allé à Movie World, un parc d'attractions basé sur les films, avec nos correspondants. Il faisait super chaud! A peine arrivé, on est allé faire "The Leathel Weapon", une attraction géante avec des loopings. Ensuite, on a fait "Superman Escape", encore une autre attraction trop cool. Les garçons nous ont mouillé et on était trempé de la tête aux pieds. Encore une journée inoubliable en compagnie des Australiens.

by Alexia H.

WET 'N WILD by Deborah


WET 'N' WILD
by Deborah


http://www.wetnwild.com.au/ (Lien copié sur le site officiel)



Wet ’n’ Wild was the most fabulous theme park I had never been to! I have loved slides very much since I was little!
Imagine! You know the slides in the swimming pools like pipes with water where you can slide! Now imagine that, but much much BIGGER than in the swimming pool!
At this park there are many different slides. The first I went on was a white one: we were six on a big life board and we needed to hold on very strong because the slide got rough and felt very wild and I was very wet at the end. That’s why I suppose this park got it’s name Wet ‘n’ Wild !
I did a lot of other slides this day. I think my favourite slide was the “terror canyon” because we were in the dark and there were some beautiful little coloured lights and at the end there was a big fall - that was GREAT!!!!
Then I did the orange and blue one. At first I thought that I couldn’t do a slide so big and with such a big drop but I was very brave and I said to myself “ I’ll do it ! I’ll do it!” And I did it! And I screamed! I was very proud after!!!

Reporter : Deborah

Wet ‘n’ Wild est le plus fabuleux des parcs où j’ai jamais été ! J’aime les toboggans depuis que je suis toute petite!
Imaginez! Vous connaissez les toboggans à la piscine comme le grand tuyau avec de l’eau où tu glisses! Maintenant imaginez ça mais vraiment vraiment gigantesque! Dans ce parc il y avait plein de différents toboggans; le premier que j’ai fait été un blanc - nous étions six sur une bouée et nous devions nous tenir car la bouée allait de droite à gauche très vite et très nettement … J’été vraiment mouillée à la fin de ce toboggan et ma première impression a été : « trop bien je veux le refaire !!!!» Je pense que c’est pour cela que le parc s’appelle Wet ‘n’ Wild (sauvage et mouillé)!
Ce jour là j’ai fait plein d’autres toboggans. Parmi tous mon préféré a été le « Terror Canyon » - nous étions deux sur une bouée et le tuyau étais complètement fermé et il y avait plein de lumières colorées qui éclairaient le chemin. La fin du parcours qu’entreprenait la bouée était vraiment magnifique - il y avait une grande descente et je me retrouvais une fois de plus trempée!
Après cela j’ai fait le grand toboggan orange et bleu - c’était une grande descente qui finissait dans une grande parabole où nous allions de droite à gauche. Au début j’ai cru que je n’allais pas le faire mais après je me suis dis « Allez ! Je vais être courageuse ! » et je l’ai fait oui, JE L’AI FAIT !!! Comme j’étais fière !
Je n’ai jamais vu un parc aussi génial !!!

BENOWA STATE HIGH SCHOOL

Benowa State High School by Adeline

There are more than 1500 pupils in Benowa State High School. Our Australian penfriends (or billets) are in grade 10, in France it is the '3ème'.



Benowa school is very big; there are three tennis courts, on which we can play cricket or football too.


This photo shows the annual school Cross Country running.

When we went to this school, we learnt how to cook; over there, cooking is a normal subject but it doesn't exist in France.

The teachers that we had in Benowa school were very nice and friendly with the pupils and all of them could speak French because they are immersion teachers.


Here a teacher is showing us aboriginal instruments.


In this school they don't have a canteen but a sort of 'fast food' which sells sushis, chips, sandwiches, drinks,...






In Australia, all pupils have to wear a uniform. In Benowa, girls wear a grey skirt and boys wear grey shorts, and everyone wears a white shirt.





On ANZAC day (25th April), there is a big Assembly in the hall where the pupils sing and make speeches to remember the Australian people who died during the War.

L' école de Benowa compte plus de 1500 élèves. Nos correspondants australiens sont en 'grade 10', ce qui correspond à la classe de 3ème en France.L'école de Benowa est très grande, il y a trois terrains de tennis sur lesquels nous pouvons aussi jouer au cricket ou au football.
Lorsqu'on était dans cette école nous avons appris à cuisiner; chez eux, la cuisine est un cours comme les autres, ce qui n'existe pas en France.
Les professeurs de Benowa sont très gentils avec les élèves et savent bien parler français parce qu'ils sont profs d'immersion.
Dans cette école, il n'y a pas de cantine mais une sorte de fast food qui vend des sushis, des chips, des sandwichs, des boissons,...
En Australie tous les élèves doivent porter un uniforme. A Benowa les filles portent une jupe grise et les garçons portent un short gris, et tout le monde portent un chemisier blanc. Le jour d'ANZAC (25 avril), il y a une assemblée dans le gymnase du collège où les éleves chantent et font des discours pour en souvenir des Australiens qui sont morts pendant la guerre.
Texte et photos publiés par Adeline.

THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL by Antoine


The Southport School http://www.tss.qld.edu.au/

The Southport School (TSS) is a very well known private school in Australia. TSS is situated on the Gold Coast in Southport, and it is situated on the Nerang River. TSS is well known for the many sports which take place at the school. These sports include:
- Rugby;
- Football (Soccer);
- Rowing;
- Swimming;
- Cricket;
- Basketball;
- Athletics;
- Cross Country (Running)
- Sailing;
- Tennis;
- Chess; and
- Debating etc.


The facilities at TSS are among the best in Australia, they have two swimming pools, a sports centre “Centenary Centre”, four tennis courts, four basketball courts, four soccer fields, and five rugby fields. Besides sport TSS is also a very academic school. The students at TSS commence their school day at 8.30am and they finish at 3.30pm. TSS is run in a house system, similar to Harry Potter. At TSS there are 12 houses. Four of the houses are boarding houses and the other eight houses are for boys who live with their parents. TSS also has many cultural activities including Music, Art and Drama. TSS also has a chapel, which is greatly respected by the students who attend TSS. TSS is one hundred and five years old and is well known as the best boys school in Australia.

Some Differences between schools in Australia and in France:
For example in Australian classes there is air conditioning and ventilators. The corridors are outside and there are different buildings, one for science, one for English, maths and French and another one for sport. For the first break we eat sandwiches and something savoury, not like in France. And for lunch, we eat what we bring from home, for example sandwiches or pizzas… But there is a small canteen, called a tuck shop, where we can buy sushi, fruits, vegetables, and something to drink, coffee or milk…
For my part the biggest difference is the super sports equipment, not like in France. But it’s very expensive for the parents to put their children in this school, that’s why they have a lot of sports equipment. I think in Australia, sport is more important than in France and that’s really good.
Reported by Antoine.

The Southport School (TSS) est une école privée très connue en Australie. TSS est située sur la Gold Coast à Southport et près de la rivière « Nerang ». TSS est très connue pour les nombreux sports pratiqués à cette école, ces sports sont par exemple:
- Le rugby;
- Le football;
- L’aviron;
- La natation;
- Le cricket;
- Le basketball;
- L’athlétisme;
- La course
- La voile;
- Le tennis;
- Les échecs;


Les équipements à TSS sont parmi les meilleurs en Australie, il y a deux piscines, un centre de sport « Centenary Centre », quatre cours de tennis, quatre cours de basket-ball, quatre terrains de football, cinq terrains de rugby. Sans compter que TSS est une école de très haut niveau. Les élèves de TSS commencent les cours à 8 h 30 et finissent les cours à 15 h 30. TSS est une école semblable a celle d’Harry Potter, elle fonctionne avec des maisons, il y en a douze à TSS. Quatre d’entre elles sont des maisons de pensionnat et les huit autres, sont des maisons pour les garçons qui habitent avec leurs parents. TSS enseigne aussi beaucoup d’activités culturelles comme par exemple : musique, art plastique et théâtre. A TSS il y a aussi une chapelle, ce qui est considérablement respecté par les élèves. TSS fonctionne depuis cent cinq ans et elle est reconnue comme la meilleure école pour garçons en Australie.

Quelques différences entre l’école australienne et l’école française :
Par exemple, dans les classes il y a de l’air conditionné ainsi que des ventilateurs. Les couloirs sont à l’extérieur et il y différents bâtiments, un pour la science, un pour l’anglais, les maths et le français et un autres pour le sport. Pendant la première pause, on mange des sandwichs ou d’autres choses salées. A midi, on mange ce que l’on a ramené de la maison, donc des sandwichs, des pizzas… Cependant, il y a aussi une petite cantine où on peut acheter des sushi, des fruits, des légumes et quelque chose a boire : du café, du lait…

Pour ma part, la plus grande différence est la quantité d’équipements sportifs que possède cette école par rapport à nos écoles françaises. Par contre cette école coûte très cher aux parents qui y envoient leurs enfants… Ce qui explique la quantité d’équipements sportifs. Je pense qu’en Australie, le sport est beaucoup plus valorisé qu’en France et cela est une bonne chose que la France devrait améliorer.