Who am I?
My  name is Liza Bleogat, I am 17 years old  and I live in Hennebont, in France. I’m a year 12 student and I study at the school “Victor Hugo” in Hennebont. My special subjects schooling are Mathematics, Science and Biology. I spent my long-term  mobility  in Lahr, Germany. During my  stay, I lived with  the Ehinger family. I also went  to the school IBG in Lahr where  I studied Biology, I.T., English, Sport  and French.

II.Why did I want to go to Germany  with Erasmus +?
By going to Germany,  I wanted  to  discover the  German  culture  and language. In fact, before my  stay in Germany, I couldn’t say a word in German and so I hoped to learn how to speak German  a little bit. Moreover,  Germany  is a country  that  interests me  a lot and I think  that when  you  want to discover a country  the best way to do this is with Erasmus +. Indeed,  here you  are directly immersed  into the  German  culture  because you live with your  German  host family and you go to German  school whereas when  you  just take a trip  to Germany  for only one or two weeks you don’t really discover the German culture. I also wanted to  do this long-term  mobility  because it is the opportunityto  meet new  people.

III.How did I prepare  my long-term mobility?
To prepare  my  stay in Germany,  I had to do  a lot of different  things. First, I had to fill out paperwork  which  is not really a funny  part. I had different  forms  to complete  about  my health, my  placement in a host family, my applicationfor  the long-term mobility… All these documents  were  to be completed  in French  and in English too. I also had to  collect documents  such as the European  health insurance card, an authorization  to leave the territoryand  a „Civil liability“ insurance. Now let’s talk about a funnier part:my  researchabout  my  host countryand  host town.  I did a Power  Point  presentation  to  learn more  about Germany  and Lahr.  I searched information  about  the history,  the economy,  the demography, the cultural  heritage, the  politics and of course about  immigration.  It was very interesting to learn more  about  that  and to have an overview  of Germany  and Lahr. To prepare  my  stay,I alsoworked during two months on Babbel to improve my English. If I couldn’t speak German,  I wanted  at least to be able to speak fluentlyEnglish. Finally, before  going to Germany,  I had to  prepare  an essential thing:my suitcase. I took  a lot of clothes because my stay lasted two  months.  I also took sheets and a sorter  for my  courses in Germany  and I took course books in French. I was careful to take a notebook  with me in order  to record  all the activities, outings and my  impressions during  my long-termmobility.  Of course,I took  all the essential papers like my European  health insurance card, my authorization  to leave the territory… I am really proud because when I arrived in Germany, I realized that I hadn’t forgotten anything!In fact, if we prepare  everything  in advance, we are sure not  to forget anything.

IV. My host family.
I first met  mycorrespondentinJuly. Her name is Lola and she sent me a message on Instagram to tell me that her  family was going towelcome  me during  my  stay in Germany.  I have to confess that talking to her really reassured mebecause I was a little stressed about entering  a family I don’t  know. I had already guessed whenItalkedto Lolaby messagesthat she isa lovely person  but the  fact is that she is even more  so in real life!In addition,  she learnsFrench  at school so we could talk French together! So,  before my departure  for Germany,  I wentshopping with my  dad to  buy gifts for my  host family. I really wanted  to buy things which  are typically Brittonbecause it is the region where  I live. Therefore,  I bought  a bottle  of cider which is an alcohol tasted apple juice. I also bought  Britton  biscuits, a Britton cake, a jar of salted butter  carameland a Britton  bowlin which  we usually drink  cider.Then, I packed my  suitcaseand Itook  the train to  join Germany  and my  host family.Lola, her mother  and her  sister came to  greet me at the stationand it was very good to finally meet Lola in real. After  that I leftmy luggage in my  new roomwhich is muchbigger than the one I havein France and Lola, her  sisters and I went bybike to an ice-cream shop where  Lola usually works.  Afterwards, we went back home and we ate pizzas with Lola’s parents. I can say I have beenreally well welcomedby Lola’s family!The rest of my stay with  my  host family was as magical as the first day!V.My new school.The day after I arrived  in Germanywas my  first day in my  new school: IBG Lahr. During  my first day at school Lola showed me around  the  buildingand then  I met  Mrs. Hornstein who  is one of the  teachers who  managed the  Erasmus + project.  She gave me my  new  timetable and she lent me  a computer  to  work.  As I have said before, I studied Biology, I.T., English, Sport  and French.  So, after  my meeting with  Mrs. Hornstein,  I went directly  to my  English class where I found  Lola. I did a presentation  in English in front  of the  whole class to present myself and  my school in France. I was really stressed about  doing a presentation  in front  of people I don’t know at all but  it’s all gone really welland everyone  was very  kind with  me. Of course, as I don’t  speak German,  the  lessons were a little bit complicated to  understand  but thanks to Lola and her friends I was able to take the  courses by understanding  the  essentials. During my  two  months  in Lahr, I had to  do the  homework  which were given to me  in my  new school but I also had to catch my  lessons of my French  school. Sometimes  it was tough to deal with  that but  most  of the  time I was able toorganize myself well. During my time  there, I noticed few differences between  my new  school in Lahr and my  school in France.  The majordifference is school schedules. In France,  I start at 8 AM,  the class finishesat 6 PM and I have a 2-hour-lunch break, whereas in Germany,  I started at 7.45 AM,  the class ended at 3 PM  but I had only half an hour  to eat. It was very difficult for me  to eat in such a short  time because I am used to take my  time to  eat. Another  difference is the fact that teachers in Germanyseem closer to students and less strict. A last different point  between  the  two schools is that there  is no canteenwhile in France almost all the students eat atthe school cafeteria.

VI.How did I communicate  with other people?
As I have said before I couldn’t speak German so I had to adapt myself. Fortunately, Lola speaks French  very well therefore  it was really easy to  communicate  with  her. But not everyone  studies French  at school or is able to  speak French,  then  I spoke English with people most of the time. With Lola’s friends and family for example, I spoke English. It was really great for  me because it allowed me to improve  my  English. However, even if I couldn’t speak German,  I wanted  to learn a few words.  So,  Lola and her friends helped  me to learn this language firstly and secondly, I had German  lessons with students from  the Erasmus group  of my  new school. Once a week,  I had a German  lesson with two  people of the Erasmus group.  It was really interesting and so that  I could  talk German  a little bit. But it was also the occasion to spend time and to discuss and discover people that I didn’t know! I truly loved German  courses!

VII. My experiences.
Now, let’s talk about the funniest part: my experiences. What did I do during  thesetwo months  in another  country?  The answer is: a lot of things! Indeed,  during  my long-term mobility  I had the oppportunityto experience new  things thanks to  Lola. For  example. I have ridden  a scooter  for the  first time, it was incredible! I have also tasted a lot of specialties like the Currywurst,  the  Schwarwäder  Kirschtorte,  the Bretzel,  the Spätzle, the  Schnitzel, the Flammenkuchen… I also went to a typical German party which is called the Oktoberfest. It was very  fun and Lola and I wore  a dirndl  whichis a traditionalGermandress.Every  Sunday, we went  with Lola and  her sister to stables to take care of the  horses, and I couldalso ride a horse through  the vineyards!  Thanks to  Lola, every day was full of fun  and adventure!  I discovered the  region and different  cities such as Fribourg  and Offenburg, and I also went to Bavaria duringthe  holidays. My  most beautiful experience  is when I had a hike in the Black Forest with Lola’s family. We climbed rocks and we drank  Schnaps, it was really entertaining!I had a lot of other  amazing experiences like the day I went  to Europa  Park, all the picnic I did near lakes or vineyards and also the parties with Lola’s friends!With all the things I did, I didn’t have time to feel homesick and I haven’t seen the two months go.

VIII.The association
“Freundeskreis  FlüchtlingeLahr” for immigrants.
During my  stay in Germany,  I also went to an association which helpsrefugees to  integrate the society. This association is named Freundeskreis  Flüchtlinge Lahrand I went there  once a week. I attended  to  literacy courses given by Eveline Bayer who  is French.So, every  Monday, I went to  the association in the  city center  of Lahr at 2 PM. From 2 PM  to 3 PM  takes placethe literacy course for a blind person.  It was really interesting to see how  a blind  personcan learn the  alphabet and write  with theBraille alphabet. Mrs.  Bayer made  little cards andeach card represents  a letter  of the alphabet written  in Braille. To learn the alphabet, the blind person  had to write  or  read a sentence with the  cards. Mrs. Bayer told  me about  his very  moving past and how  he became blind wanting to  flee Syria. He’splanningto train to become  a masseur and I really wish him  success because he is a very nice person.  Then, from 3 PM to  4 PM  takesplace another  literacy course. Mrs.  Bayer is always very invested in her work  and I think  that refugees really appreciate havingsuch a patient  and pedagogical teacher. What  I preferred  during  my  time in the association is meeting the  refugees and discovering their past because, even if they don’t know the German alphabet, they have a cultural background a thousand  times higher than ours.

IX.My conclusion.
As a conclusion, I would  say that my  long-term  mobility  is a truly  incredible experience that  I will never  forget. If I was offered  to  go two  months  to  a foreign countryagain, I would  say yes without  any hesitation. I learnt  so many  things about  myselfand about  the  others. For example, I feel like I am more  confidentand independent,  my  English is better and now  I can speak a little bit German!  It is a life-changing experience! Of course, I will miss my host family, particularlyLola who has always been there  for me  and has made these twomonths in Germany  a real dream. I’ll always be grateful to her.  I will miss the school, the breathtaking landscapes, the horses… I will miss each second that I spent there. I hope that Lola cancome toBrittanynext  year because I really want to  see her again and show her my region.I would  never have hoped  to meet  such a wonderful  person  as Lola. And if you who read this text, you  hesitate to embark  on the Erasmus + adventure,  don’t  wait any longer because I can assureyou  that you  will spend one of the  most beautiful moments  of your  life! I know  it may  sound scary to go alone in a foreign country  but  if you  are organized and above all very  motivated  to  discover a new country  then  you shouldn’tbe afraid.Thank you  very  much  for reading me, I hoped  you  enjoyed  discovering my  long-term mobility  in Lahr. I wish you to  live as beautiful experiences as what I have expierenced

Liza Bleogat