Settimana Linguistica a York 09-10

Our trip to York
19-26 March 2010

Friday 19th March 2010
From 19th to 26th March four classes of our school accompanied by four teachers went to York, in the United Kingdom. We left on Friday at 4am from the bus station in Fiera di Primiero and we arrived at the airport in Bergamo at about 7.30 am. The plane left at 10.40am and we arrived in Liverpool at 11.35 am. It took 2 and a half hours to arrive in York by coach. We stopped for a break in a stop area on the motorway. The journey was long but fun. When we arrived in York we were welcomed at Melton College by the principal Mr. Hjort and we were shown the school and explained the college rules. Then we met our host families and were taken to their houses.
Melton College is a prestigious school in York and many people from all over the world go there to learn English. During this week we weren't the only students in the school. There was a group of Spanish students too. After taking a placement test, we were divided into three groups according to levels. Classes were, the first part from 9.15 to 10.45 and after a 30-minute break lessons went on until 12.45.

Saturday 20th March 2010

On Saturday morning we met at 9.30 at Melton college and went to the centre for our first visit of York. We walked along the Roman town wall. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice. It rained quite a lot in the morning but, little by little, it got better. We visited the city centre, York Minster and the Clifford's tower, the ancient Norman tower built in the 11th century by the Normans. In the afternoon we went shopping and then we went back to our family for a special Saturday English dinner.

Sunday 21st March 2010
On Sunday we went on a trip to the coast of the North Sea: first to Scarborough and then to Whitby. At 9.15 we met at Melton College to catch the coach (notice the alliteration). In an hour we arrived in Scarborough, a nice seaside resort by the North Sea. Along the shore line there were many amusements arcades. We went walking on the beach and then sightseeing on the ruins of Scarborough castle. Some of us arrived late at the coach and the headmaster got angry with us. We travelled for an extra hour and then we got to Whitby, a fishermen's village with an arch at the entrance of the place made up with a whale jawbone. There we had 3-hours free time. We saw the ruins of Whitby Abbey and then we had a tour in the little fishermen's town. Some of us went to the amusements arcades, other to the pier for a walk, and a small group, in a flash of bravery, tried the terrible and famous fish and chips. Whitby Abbey is the place where Bram Stocker, the popular Irish writer, set his "Dracula". Finally we went back to York at about 7pm (deep night for English people, who usually have dinner at 5.30 pm).

Monday, 22nd March 2010
Our first day at school in York. We met at Melton college in Holgate Road at 9.15. At school we took a placement test, so as to make up three groups according to levels. We waited about 30 minutes for the results and then after being divided into three groups, we went to the classrooms and we met our teachers and started lessons. For lunch we had cheese sandwiches and some cookies. In the afternoon we went to the city centre and we did a treasure hunt, but it started raining when we were there and we had to walk around the city in the rain… however we had fun and we had the opportunity to see some hidden nice places in town, ...shops, restaurants and pubs. In the evening we ate with our families. Most of our families were very friendly to us and they devoted much of their time speaking English to us.

Tuesday, 23rd March 2010
As usually we met at 9.15 at school. Some of us had problems with transport because buses were late sometimes. After classes we had our delicious lunch with sandwiches and cookies. In the afternoon we walked to the National Railway Museum where we saw plenty of trains and locomotives, also the royal ones used by Queen Victoria at the beginning of the last century. The weather was typically English: little rain little sun! There we did a sort of treasure hunt; in groups of two we had to find out the answers to some riddles around the museum. It took us about an hour to finish the activity. The museum was interesting for the boys, but a bit
boring for the girls. After that we had some free time and we went to the city
centre to do shopping (prices were very low). Then we went to the bus station
and caught the bus to go home.

Wednesday 24th March 2010

Morning at school. Lunch at 12.45 and then to York centre to visit York Minster: the magnificent cathedral. This cathedral was built in the 11th century and it took several centuries to be completed. It is considered one of the biggest in the north of Europe. Inside the cathedral we were divided into two groups and we started the visit accompanied by two guides who told us everything about the cathedral and its secrets. It was really exciting and interesting. Later we had some free time for shopping and leisure. Some of us went to the cinema to see "Alice in the wonderland" a 3D movie.

Thursday 25th March 2010

Meeting time at 9.15. English lessons and lunch. This was our last afternoon at Melton college. In the afternoon around 2.30 we visited the Viking Museum, a Viking hamlet rebuilt and set as in the past. The smell inside was strange and our teachers told us that it was a Viking smell. Not very nice, actually! After the museum the principal of Melton college, Mr Hjort organised a farewell party for us, as it was our last afternoon at school. He dared to cook pasta for us and we were surprised because it was really good. We enjoyed it. Then we played a game by answering a questionnaire on Geography. We discovered some interesting things about Geography for English people. Finally we were given our certificates by Mr Hjort and then we went home for a last supper with our host families.

Friday 26th March 2010
Last day in York. We were taken to school by our host fathers or mothers because we had to bring our luggage with us. Some of us arrived by taxi. We were quite sad because we had to leave our English families. The week had flown too quickly... We had our last lessons and said goodbye to our teachers and Mr Hjort. We had a quick sandwich before catching the coach to the airport. We left at 1.30pm and arrived at Liverpool airport in a heavy rain storm around 3pm. We departed on time but had some problems in Treviso (the place where we were supposed to arrive) as, because of the fog, we could not land and after two attempts by the pilot we headed for Venice airport. Finally we landed at Marco Polo airport. Thanks to a fast coach driver who reached us quickly in Venice, by 2.30am we got home, safe and sound!

Classes: 3^ scientifico, 3^ impresa, 3^ tecnologico, 3^ turistico.
Group leaders: Ms Mirca Collesel, Ms Susan Jenkins, Mr Edilio Tissot and Ms Taziarga Lorenzet.