At Goethe University
Thank you for following our Germany Educational Trip 2019. Mrs Lam and I had a great time learning overseas and sharing with you what we had experienced. You may revisit any of our days in Germany here:
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
As for the answers to the daily questions, here you go:
DAY 1
DAY 1
 | 1. These are love locks. They bear the names of lovers and sometimes a date and people lock them to a bridge with the key thrown away to symbolize “love forever”. |
 | 2. It's obvious that these letters are “CLOSED” in reverse. The photo was shot from the inside of a shop. When these tags were flipped, people from outside of the shop could see the word “CLOSED” spelled right to indicate that the shop was not open. |
 | 3. This was taken in a restaurant and this publication is indeed a food and drink menu! |
DAY 2
 | 1. The number tags are to label the trees so that they can be easily referred to. They are not telling you the age of the trees! |
 | 2. This silvery sculpture created by artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Hörbelt is located on the exterior of the Frankfurter Kunstverein’s building. The artists intend to create the sense of lightness from this object. The surface also creates textured images reflecting the surroundings. It indicates multi-perspectives and provides a contrasts to the traditional building on which it is lying. |
 | 3. This question asks for your opinions of the famous “thumb” poem in Germany. There is of course no model answer for this question. I personally think that the piece was fun to read, though it is too dark for a children's verse in today's standard. You may find its English version here and decide for yourselves! |
DAY 3
 | 1. For this mysterious figure on the floor, it was part of an exhibition designed by students of Frankfurt International School. Its theme was “Whodunit?” (Who has done it?). |
DAY 4
 | 1. These bars across the laboratory were in fact power sockets. They could be pulled down for students to plug in to provide electricity for whatever equipment involved in their science activities. |
 | 2. According to the Chemistry teacher of AHF-Elementary School in Detmold, the badminton racquet was used to introduce the special fibre to make it, which could be a good replacement to metal. It was bent to show flexibility. The hour-glass was a timer for experiments. It was to catch attention being hanged down from the broken racquet. |
 | 3. For this picture, I asked you to give me a caption. So, there is no fixed or recommended answer! Be creative! |
DAY 5
 | 1. This slide which was used by Georg-Müller-School Bielefeld during their presentation was to tell us to rethink about education. It led to questions like why do we teach? What should we teach? How do we prepare students for the real world?...etc |
 | 2. The boys had a “pupil” tag because they were learning English vocabulary. The teacher placed a tag on an object it referred to. There were several tags in the classroom not shown in this photo. The children were working on a worksheet on translating German into English at word level. |
DAY 6
 | 1. The question asks you to describe the style of buildings I saw in Frankfurt. While there is not a fixed answer, I think the buildings have a uniform and simple design featuring large windows that are lined up closely and tidily on the building. |
DAY 7
 | 1. The question asks you to name the sculpture by yourself with explanation. Therefore, no fixed answer. But the real name of this sculpture is “Body of Knowledge”, by Jaume Plensa. |
 | 2. Finally, this street bookshelf was part of Frankfurt's reading-promoting scheme known as “Open Bookshelves”. People were encouraged to borrow books there by themselves and donate their own books by shelving them there. |
That's all for the Q & A! How many did you get right? Please do not worry if your answers are different from the above. Every brain is unique.
I would like to thank the Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council for organizing this Germany Educational Trip. Thanks to Principal Dion Chen and Dr Samuel Cheng for leading the tour. And most importantly, thanks to Mrs Lam for inviting me to join the tour with her. It was an excellent learning opportunity for me personally and a great chance for me to bring what I gain overseas to my students at YWPS.
Final advice: Wherever you go, open your eyes and minds to learn, think and reflect more – the world is your classroom.
Dr H C Lee
I would like to thank the Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council for organizing this Germany Educational Trip. Thanks to Principal Dion Chen and Dr Samuel Cheng for leading the tour. And most importantly, thanks to Mrs Lam for inviting me to join the tour with her. It was an excellent learning opportunity for me personally and a great chance for me to bring what I gain overseas to my students at YWPS.
Final advice: Wherever you go, open your eyes and minds to learn, think and reflect more – the world is your classroom.
Dr H C Lee
Tour participants in a meeting
