English 
Deutsch GIBS Students at the European Parliament
The day started yet very sleepy at the Strasbourg railway station. After the extremely long journey and the restless night we were all pretty tired, but during the bus ride to the youth hostel and especially at breakfast we woke up again. Then we went straight through the city where we took a look at the huge cathedral and strolled through the Christmas market that was just being built. Afterwards we took a river cruise where all the important places, buildings and monuments were explained to us. However we were most enthusiastic about the swans that swam to us and posed for our photos.
During noon we had about one hour to look for something to eat, so in smaller groups we tried out the various restaurants and the specialities, for example quiche lorraine, tarte flambé and tarte à l’oignon. For shopping there was not much time left but somehow people managed to get something for their families. After dinner some of us took a stroll through the beautiful city of Strasbourg. It was a pity we did not have the chance to be at the opening of the huge Christmas market. It’s really an attraction! We only saw the small houses being decorated and built but the dimension the market would take was clear. At Christmas time the whole city of Strasbourg would turn into one single Christmas market.
All in all we enjoyed staying in Strasbourg, especially because our French skills were not put into test at all. Strasbourg can be compared to GIBS: Everyone knows at least English, French and German.
Susanne Heil and Mara Schilhan (7b)
Euroscola in Strasbourg
On Tuesday the 22nd of November in the afternoon 24 students from 7A, 7B and 8A left Graz for an amazing trip to Strasbourg to take part at the Euroscola meeting two days later. After 16 hours traveling in the train we finally arrived in Strasbourg in the morning of the 23rd of November. We spent the rest of the day visiting this beautiful city. The next day was the actual highlight of our journey: the day in the European Parliament where the Euroscola event took place. After going through a security check we could enter the building. Then after a short welcoming in the dining-hall all of the 500 students from 20 different EU countries went into the plenary chamber. First every school and country was presented in a short talk by selected students, in our case by Larissa Maierhofer and Julian Lechner (both 7B). The program was introduced in a few words and then four politicians came and we were allowed to ask them questions which interested us. They answered in an easily comprehensible way so everybody could understand even the most complicated subject. After lunch in the dining-hall, most of the students took part in a quiz. We had to form a team with three other people from three different countries and answer 20 questions. The four best teams would take part in the final later that day. When we had finished that, we joined our groups which had been fixed beforehand. There were usually four people from every country in one group. In these groups we discussed interesting and current topics and came to a solution for it. Every group had a president and a speaker. After two hours everybody met again in the plenary chamber to present what they had done. The presidents reported how the group had worked and what their topic had been, and the respective speakers presented the solutions and answered questions of the other students. Andreas Heri (7A) and Agnes Varga (7B) were presidents of their respective groups, and I acted as the speaker of mine. Subsequently the final of the quiz was played, and one GIBS student, David Hirner (7B), was among the winners. Then this long and interesting day was over and we started our trip home just two hours later and arrived in Graz Friday noon. We are very happy to have experienced this and thank our teachers, Mrs. Hermann and Mrs. Pfistermüller, who accompanied us.
Philip Fuchs (7B)
