Hoi everyone! (and just in case you think I can;t spell ‘hi’; ‘hoi’ is a swiss german greeting)
So I am now on school holidays which makes me extremely happy as I am absolutely exhausted! It is also spring and I have so many places I want to visit now that the weather is warmer and sunnier.
To conclude the ‘term’, I participated in a special week at school where each student from my grade chose a group (e.g photography, sport). I chose the theatre group along with Chloe (the other exchange student at my school). During the week we made and performed little skits in small groups and at night went to see plays/performances in bigger cities.
evening we went to Bern on the train (which is about a 25 minute train ride in case you were wondering). The show that we were watching that night was a musical comedy that was to be shown in a tiny church that had been transformed into a theatre. On our arrival we were given a short tour of the small church where we got to see the backstage (which was really just a little kitchen under the building) and how the lighting worked.
After our tour all the students were allowed to go off by themselves around Bern and buy dinner or do whatever they liked. Chloe and I were completely shocked. Th
is kind of excursion would never be allowed in Australia. First of all we would have had a private bus not just caught the train. Secondly they would not let us go off on our own (in Australia on excursions they literally mark the roll everyone 10 minutes and do head counts all the time). And finally a school excursion would never finish at midnight!
Anyway, Chloe and I went wandering around Bern and had a picnic in a little park outside the Bern Munster (although it was pouring rain!).
At 7pm we all met back at the church and saw the play which was in german. But surprisingly I actually quite enjoyed the play as I could understand bits and pieces from translating and also just the dance moves and things made it easier to catch on.
The next night we went to Basel (not pronounced like the herb) which is 1.5 hours from Biel on the train. This time the theater we went to was a lot larger then the one from the night before. The Basel Theatre is one of the most important in Switzerland and is famous for having the largest lift in Europe! Our school group got the privilege of going back stage where all the sets were being designed and made. There were so many massive rooms filled with wood and artworks that stretched on for ages. I have attached a picture of the massive lift as it was very cool. After the places where they made and housed the sets we entered the costume area which had aisle after aisle filled with cool but very ugly and unstylish closing (I will post some pictures of Chloe with them for your enjoyment). The play that night was not as interesting as the night before. I could not understand anything really and I was very confused what was happening. But it was entertaining to observe the design of the set as it was set in a sort of asian themed garden. The set was built on a large round platform that spun around each time a scene changed.
Massive paintings in the art room Cans of paint in the art room Europe’s tallest lift (ft Chloe) A tour of Basel where it started pouring
Different stylish costumes presented by Switzerland’s best models
So that was Theatre week! It was a lot of fun and definitely much better then school.
Jaimee xx
Here is a just a few sentences about the same few days but in german for my benefit:
Liebe alle!
Für theatre woche meine Klasse sind zum Bern und Basel gegangen. Am Dienstag abend wir sind zum Bern gegangen und wir sind eine show gesehen in einem kleine kirche. Es war sehr lustig! Am Mittwoch abend wir sind zum Basel gegangen. Wir sind eine Show gesehen in ein Große Theater. Es war nicht so interessant aber wir durfen hinter dem Bühne gesehen und das war sehr cool!
So das war meine woche! Habe einen shönen tag!
Jaimee
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