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Introducing Mystery Class #8

Bonn, Germany
50.700 N, 7.167 E

 

GutenTag, and welcome from Bonn International School, Germany.
Our School 

We are an international school, located on the banks of the river Rhine just south of the city of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. We are three classes of 6th graders in a K-12 school.

Our school is in a newly built building on the former site of the Bonn American High School. Before the capital of Germany moved from Bonn to Berlin in 1999, Bonn International School (BIS) was formed from the British High School and the Bonn American Primary, Middle and High schools.

As a school we have grown considerably in the last few years, along with the many new international organizations that moved to Bonn such as the United Nations (UN). Our students reflect the varied nationalities of the people who work in this small city and surrounding area.

All students new to Germany learn the language and customs of their host country. It's nice for them to be able to walk into town and use their German language skills. Here are some of the phrases the students use here when speaking "auf Deutsch" (in German):

  • "Guten Morgen": If it's before noon, the kids would say "Guten Morgen" to anyone passing by, or when addressing someone in a store.

  • "Guten Abend": If it's in the evening, "Guten Abend" would be appropriate.

  • "Wie gehts?": Is the phrase to ask about someone's health
    (How are you?).

  • "Gut!" would be the answer if one feels good, or maybe "Schlect" if they are so-so.

Now let's talk food! "BITTE, EINE HEISSE SCHOKOLADE" is what you would say when you step into a "CAFE" and would like a hot chocolate. A "CAFE" is a place that anyone can enter and ask for something refreshing to drink, and just sit outside and enjoy a pause in the day (and be seen, and see others). Maybe you would just like a bottle of mineral water, and so you would ask for:

"EIN GLAS MINERAL WASSER BITTE!"

What the kids here REALLY like to order is "EIS", or Italian ice cream. There are many flavors, such as LIMONE (lemon), FRUTTI DI BOSCO (mixed fruit), CIOCCOLATO, and many other great flavors. Warm weather is upon us now, so I am sure the kids are visiting the EIS CAFE very often.

This school is located opposite a national park, the Siebengebirge, which is named after the seven ("sieben" auf Deutsch) hills which are formed from extinct volcanoes. Living in the Rhine rift valley, we are sometimes reminded of our volcanic past with mild earth tremors.

 
Our City

Our city is the birthplace of a famous musical composer called Ludwig van Beethoven.

The city was founded by the Romans over 2000 years ago as a military camp near to the settlement of Colonia (Cologne), and this city was one of the most northerly outposts of the Roman Empire.

The celebration of "Karneval" is a very important part of local tradition in this region of Germany which is called the Rhineland. Karneval takes place in February in all cities and small towns of the Rhineland. Each of these towns has its Karneval Verein or club which organizes the events taking place during the Karneval season starting at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th day of November and ending at the beginning of the Christian fasting period of Lent.

 
Our Country

Germany is a country located in western Europe. It borders with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech republic and Poland. The population of Germany is approximately 84,000,000 people. Many of its cities are well known throughout the world, such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart.

Germany is a major world economic power, ranked by some in 2006 as the third largest economy in the world (behind the United States and Japan) and the largest in Europe.

Germany is also where the present Pope Benedikt of the Roman Catholic church comes from. In Germany, the official language is of course German.

We enjoyed the Mystery Class activity and hope you did too. "Tschuess !"

 Would You Like to Write to Us?


We hope you enjoyed learning about our school, city, and where we live. If you want to write to us, please send an e-mail to our teacher, Mr. Carroll at: ronan.carroll@bis.bonn.org