Field trip to Kent – Exkursion des EK-bili-Kurses der EF

Our field trip to Kent
by Hendrik Becker & Tobias Habeth

On Monday, 15th of June, the field trip of our bilingual geography class started in the early morning. By bus we arrived in Calais from where the ferry brought us over the English Channel to the port of Dover. When we sat down in the bus after the ferry had brought us to Dover, the bus driver detected a problem with a ventile of our bus. So we were brought to a police station, where we had to wait for about three hours for the bus to be repaired. However, it was not possible, so we took taxis bringing us to our Park, the Kingsdown Holiday Park.
Having arrived there the teachers, Ms Schmitz and Mrs Lessnow gave us the keys to our apartments for the next few days. We had 6 small cottages spread over the big park. The rooms were, from cottage to cottage, completely different and individual, so every group had different experiences. Every bungalow was clean and tidied up and I think everybody liked the park.
The first day after our departure in Kent we went to Canterbury. Arriving there an official tour guide of Canterbury, introducing herself as Margaret, started her guided tour. The weather was very nice and we had no problems understanding her accent. First we went to the old Canterbury Clock Tower. There the guide told us about the history of Canterbury during and after the second World War and how it was rebuilt in the years after the second World War ended. After that she showed us the old streets of Canterbury and the area of  Canterbury Cathedral, where we saw the oldest school in the world (King’s school which was founded in 597) in a really old building. After the guided tour we had lunch in town. After that we did some mapping activity, where groups had to map different parts of the town. Around 5 o’clock we went back to our park.
The next day we started early again to visit the nuclear power plant in Dungeness. We had a walk at the beach there before our guided tour started. We were divided into three groups and were introduced to security in the power plant. We had a guided tour, saw the top of the reactors and the turbines producing ernergy for the people. Still in Dungeness, after the tours were finished, we had lunch in a traditional restaurant, eating fish&chips. From there we drove to Rye, a small town with medieval character. The rest of the day we had some freetime again.
On Thursday, the fourth day of the field trip, we had three destinations. First we went to Whitstable (where the photo of the class was taken,) also a small town near to the sea, where our classmates introduced us to wind power in general and in the UK. We also had a guided tour through Whitstable by classmates. Whitstable is famous for their oysters and fishing.
The next stop that day was Margate. The first impression of Margate was really nice. Near to the beach it is a city with nice buildings etc. but getting farer away from the town centre you have a really different impression, the town seemed run-down.
The last stop that day were the White Cliffs of Dover. From the lighthouse we started a cliff walk to the port of Dover. On the walk we got a presentation too, getting to know the main facts and figures on the cliffs. Coming home that evening everyone had to pack their stuff for the travel the following day. The way back home was without problems and, as planned, we arrived at around half past eight.

(Hendrik Becker & Tobias Habeth)