We were very delighted as our school, Berufskolleg Lehnerstrasse in Mülheim offered a three week commercial placement in Darlington. Both towns are twinned since 1953.
During our three weeks we stayed at the King´s Head Hotel, which is located in the heart of Darlington. The location was very central and perfect for us.
Ricarda worked at the Arts Center, Vilas at the Darlington College, Mehmet at the Dolphin Centre, Phil at Evolution, Monisha and Vincent at the Town Hall and I worked at Thomas Cook Retail (6 Prospect Place).
In my opinion the time at Thoms Cook was fantastic. The girls were very nice and lovely. I knew before I left that I would miss them. I´m sure that I was able to improve my English by working there.
The visit to the Darlington College was a very interesting trip. There are some differences by comparision to Germany like the variety of the subjects.
In Germany we have Colleges as well, but they´re separated in different areas. We have colleges especially for construction, others for Childcare, Health and Social Care. But we haven´t all areas together in one college.
One attraction surely was the Darlington Community Carnival. In Germany a Carnival is celebrated in February so we were curious about it. People in Darlington celebrate it with passion. It was wonderful and lovely to see. All in all the inhabitants of the town were really friendly and helpful. Because of that we felt very welcome.
We hope we´re able to come again.
Report By: Melanie Rosskothen, Mülheim Student