Homestay in Annecy

Written by Sophia Malden 11S1

At the ungodly hour of 4am, 11 year 10s from Balcarras School embarked on a challenging yet incredible opportunity – to spend a week living with a French family in Cheltenham’s twin town, Annecy.  After our flight, we arrived in Geneva airport and travelled through the mountains, across the Swiss border and into Annecy.  As soon as we arrived, we were thrown into the deep end as we spent the whole of the rest of the day with our French family. We arrived on the 14th July, the national day, so we celebrated the day with garden parties, picnics and fireworks by the lake. The rest of the week we spent exploring the beautiful old town of Annecy by having a guided tour, boat trip and a day on the Semnoz (a huge hill) doing fun activities like sledging. We also attended a reception at the town hall with the Mayor and were featured in the French newspaper! This experience really improved our French skills and developed our understanding of French culture.   We are thankful to Mr Seguin and Mrs Hockenhull, our French teachers, for making this trip possible.

Des élèves de la Balcarras School de Cheltenham, en Angleterre, sont reçus à l’Hôtel de Ville d’Annecy par Valérie Gonzo-Massol, maire adjointe de la commune déléguée d’Annecy et chargée du jumelage avec Cheltenham, le mardi 16 juillet 2019, dans le cadre d’un séjour organisé avec l’alliance française d’Annecy.

 

 

Tea with the Mayor

Annecy work placement students Elise Collon and Mathis Lecry joined the Mayor and his wife for afternoon tea in the Mayor’s Parlour.  Elise and Mathis have spent the month of August in Cheltenham,  Elise working at the Cheltenham Trust and helping with Parklives and children’s workshops and Mathis working at the many community events that Cheltenham Borough Homes organise throughout the summer.   Both stayed with local families and thoroughly enjoyed being immersed into family life, English culture and improving their already excellent English.

A Celebration of 68 years of Twinning between Cheltenham and Göttingen

This summer Cheltenham Twinning Association and some 70 residents of Cheltenham and beyond participated in the highly successful 2019 Big Party visit to Göttingen. Making their way by trains, planes, cars and a comfortable Marchants’ coach, participants were given a very warm welcome on arrival and at a formal welcome ceremony at the Altes Rathaus (Old Town hall), where two David Austin ‘Golden Celebration’ roses were presented by the Mayor of Cheltenham, Roger Whyborn, and later planted in the rose garden in Cheltenham Park, Göttingen.

 

 

 

 

Guests as well as hosts enjoyed a joint church service, a guided tour of Göttingen on the double-decker ‘Miss Marple’ bus, a bus tour on the new e-bus led by the Göttingen Integrated Transport Association (GŐVB) as well as a demonstration of the latest hybrid technology.

 

The opening of the Cheltenham Göttingen photo exhibition by Mayor Ulrich Holefleisch at the Torhaus Gallery showcased a selection of outstanding photographs organised by Mike Walker of the Cheltenham Camera Club. Highlights of the 5-day visit included trips to the Friedland Museum, the historic city and castle of Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains and Scharfenstein Castle as well as the traditional party at the Kiessee.

The benefits of the trip are manifold and encompass a renewed commitment to peace. With longstanding and active twinning links between Cheltenham and Göttingen dating back some 68 years, the significance of the enduring peaceful relations, which continue to exist between the two countries, should not be forgotten. Information about policies and best practices in e.g. environmental developments in public transport were shared. In addition, through a working meeting, Cheltenham’s status as a ‘Festival Town’ was promoted and opportunities for mutual collaboration discussed. Links with the University of Göttingen as well as educational establishments and Göttingen’s tourism office were reinforced, and youth exchanges and work experience programmes were reviewed. At a personal level, old friendships were celebrated, and new acquaintances kindled.

This would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment in Cheltenham and Göttingen of respective Mayors, Twinning Officers, host families, interpreters and friends of twinning to whom we send a big thank you.

 

 

 

 

In summer 2021 we look forward to welcoming Göttingen guests to Cheltenham, when the two twin towns will celebrate their 70th anniversary. In the meantime, if you are interested in connecting with a business, educational establishment, club, society, or if you are a young person interested in doing a work experience placement in Göttingen, Annecy or any of Cheltenham’s other twin towns, or perhaps you might be interested in hosting guests from our twin towns, do please get in touch with Annette Wight.

Carol Stephens,Vice-Chair Cheltenham Twinning Association

 

 

 

 

 

Weihai Students in town

In July the Mayor welcomed over 50 pupils from our Chinese twin town of Weihai  who were in Cheltenham for 2 weeks.  There were two groups; one from the Ivy International School in Weihai

who stayed with local families and attended Gloucestershire College’s international summer school.

The second Weihai Yubo Group were attending a summer school programme organised by the British Study Centre  and stayed at the Cheltenham Ladies College.  We were delighted to see so many young people from Weihai who embraced the language and cultural differences with maturity and challenged the Mayor with some tough questions on Brexit and presented him with many gifts from China.

Göttingen Students meet the Mayor

A group of 11 young people and their 2 leaders from our twin town of Göttingen, Germany, met the Mayor for coffee and cakes in the Parlour during their stay in Cheltenham.   The youngsters were in Cheltenham for 11 days, staying with local host families and enjoying an organised programme of language learning, sporting activities at Leisure at Cheltenham, and sightseeing in Stratford, London, Bath and Clearwell Caves.  The 13-17 year olds told the Mayor that one of their best memories will be the food (Yorkshire pudding!) and the friendliness of their host parents.

Göttingen students present roses

One of the first engagements of the newly elected Mayor of Cheltenham was to welcome a group of 8 students and their 2 leaders from the Heinrich-Böll Special School in Göttingen on Thursday 16 May.   The students presented roses to the Mayor and Mayoress in the Parlour, sang a German pop song and asked the Mayor some very interesting questions.  The Göttingen school caters for those with physical and motor development difficulties and have been visiting Cheltenham now for 8 years.  The group were in Cheltenham for 4 days and had spent a day in Tewkesbury at the Alderman Knight School.   They were also spending time shopping and sightseeing in Cheltenham as well as visiting Gloucester Cathedral.

Scholarship in Weihai

The International Office in Cheltenham’s sister city of Weihai in China are offering a scholarship to someone aged 25-45 (age can be flexible) to go to Weihai for 10 months to study the Chinese language and culture at the local university and to assist with developing international relations and exchanges between the two cities. The scholarship would cover tuition, board and lodging and training fees.  Anyone interested in finding out more should contact the Twinning Officer.