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Two months lockdown.
I arrived on the 3 January again in England after I had spent Christmas at home in Germany. This meant quarantine. I was really not looking forward to it but in the end it wasn’t that bad after all. Because of lockdown I had online lessons and didn’t miss any school and I facetimed my host sister for every meal so we always ate ‘together‘.
As soon as I finished quarantine my host sister and I went on walks together again. One afternoon we decided to go to the Itchen Bridge, which connects us to the city centre and we saw the most beautiful sunset.
That was definitely a highlight of lockdown.
I find online lessons okay. Of course, it’s not as great as seeing your friends and teachers in real life but the teachers still try to make it as interesting as possible even though there are sometimes some technical issues.
Normally I join the meeting in the morning, the teacher explains something and then sends us away to do some work.
After that we come back and present our work. It is really nice that the teachers understand that the situation isn’t easy and don’t expect too much from us. We also normally don’t do the whole two hours and our teachers tell us to get some fresh air and spend some time away from the computer.
On the 8 February was my first and hopefully only lockdown birthday. It was Monday so I had school as always. In the morning my host sister came into my room and gave me a little present.
Then I opened a parcel from my friend and family in Germany. In the afternoon we went on our daily walk and when we came back, my host mum had made a cake for me and two presents. It was really nice and I hadn’t expected it at all.
It was cool to once spend my birthday in a different country and experience something completely different from home.
On the 16 February was national pancake day in the UK. I had never heard about it before and was really excited for it. Because it was half term my host sister and I made pancakes in the morning.
For dinner my host mum also made pancakes. It was very interesting to see the difference between English and American pancakes because in England they are much thinner and bigger, more like crepes, and the American version is smaller and fluffier.
Tomorrow is the 1 March and on the 8 colleges and schools open again. I’m excited to see my friends and the college again because my last real school day was on the 11 December which feels like forever ago.
Take a look at other blog posts written by HSI student Carlotta during her time in the UK.
From arriving to site seeing, from embracing the English cuisine to the Christmas holidays, read about it now…
