MOOR TO SEA – ALL YEAR ROUND
by Jona Mae Santos

June 3, Sunday and it’s already12 a.m., but I’m still lying in my bed and can’t get out of it. I am so tired because the day before (or should I say night?) I just got back to Vienna from my stay in England. I can’t believe that those two weeks away from home passed so quickly and that I’m back home again. My thoughts, heart and soul are still at Moorland Hall and it’s a pity that I couldn’t stay longer.

Well, after sitting the whole day at school trying to concentrate, counting the hours until our flight to England, trying to suppress the excitement and trying not to annoy my surroundings because every sentence that I said contained „England“, it was a reward (the best reward that I could get) that I was finally going abroad – to England.

Flashback to May 20 at about 9 p.m.:

Check-in time at the airport was at 6:15 a.m..I was at home and my parents were yapping about what to pack, what not to pack, what to do when travelling, etc. „Take care of your passport and call us....“, bla bla bla....“Where’s your money and the chewing-gums...“, bla bla bla. Like most parents mine couldn’t accept the fact that their firstborn was going abroad without them. They were going bananas at the sight of the tons of clothes and other things I was planning to bring (Hey, I’ll be gone for two weeks, for entire two weeks!) So I just listened to their yapping while watching them how they fussed over my luggage and in the end, they packed up my things.

In the early morning at 6:20 when I came to the airport, I had to grin at the sight of my classmates‘ luggage. I thought,“Thank God, I’m not the only one who must have brought along the entire household.“ After endless waiting we finally took off!

FIRST STOP -  LONDON

It was a two hours‘ flight from Vienna to Heathrow, but it seemed to be long – even endless until we landed. But then it was Welcome to England!

When we arrived at Heathrow Mr. Farrington, our host, was already looking forward to us. Then we went by minibus to London. In London we walked around and saw some famous sights like Big Ben , The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

I couldn’t believe I was in England. I wanted to say, „Somebody slap me!“, but when I looked at the others I noticed that they were thinking and feeling like me. It was like in a dream – no – most of us thought that it was like an excursion to Salzburg.

Then we drove to Stonehenge for about two hours. It wasn’t as huge as we had thought before. From Stonehenge it was another three hours‘ trip by bus to Moorland Hall. In the evening when we arrived at Moorland Hall, I was speechless! It was amazing. Moorland Hall is the youth hostel where we were accommodated. Really, it was a surprise! It was so huge and there was a lot of green.

Some people don’t know Moorland Hall. Well, here are some interesting facts about it: Moorland Hall is situated in County Devon and located within Dartmoor Nationalpark. It is in an area rich in archaeological sites and there are a lot of places of historic interest. Mootland Hall is a Victorian countryhouse and now it is an accommodation especially for young people. It is run by Mr. and Mrs. Farrington. There you can do a lot of activities like mountainboarding, archery, rifle shooting, highropes and many more. But because of the Foot-and-Mouth disease we couldn’t visit the famous Nationalpark. But through the windows of the bus I could admire the landscape. I found out that Dartmoor has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

LIVING AT MOORLAND HALL

When I lived at Moorland Hall , on the one hand I felt as if I hadn’t left home (although I never wanted to go back to Vienna), but on the other hand I felt that it was different: I had to speak English the whole time (but I didn’t do it all the time – I couldn’t). The run of the day was very well organised. Every morning after breakfast Joe, Mr. Farrington, informed us about what we were going to do.

We were split up into four groups, each group doing two projects:

Careers and Training & Legends in Britain
Dartmoor’s Geography and History & Customs and Traditions
Food & Exeter’s History
Tourism & Plymouth’s Historic Harbour.

In the morning two groups had to do risky but exciting activities and the other two groups had funny and amusing but also informative English lessons with John, our English teacher at Moorland Hall. After a short break each group had to work at their projects. The groups had to find out information about their topic and then work it out. It was a hard job, but we made it. Besides we had a lot of fun because it was very interesting and all of us had a lot of ideas.

Just imagine, we had to present our projects in English and nobody thought that we would make it. But we did and were very proud because our teacher and the people there were impressed by it. The presentations were really successful.

Even though we had a lot of activities and work to do we still had enough freetime to take a breather and to relax, or to go swimming when the weather was nice (and if you had done your work!)

After supper we had so-called evening activities which were real fun and which made you tired so you fell asleep quickly, or which gave you enough stuff to talk about the whole night.

PLACES WE VISITED

Exeter:
We had lunch at the Quayside and then we went to Exeter Cathedral. Well, then we had two hours of freetime and I took the chance to go shopping. I went to famous shopping streets, High Street and Queen Street. Then in front of the Cathedral the class met again and together we went in. We stayed for about half an hour and then went back to Moorland Hall. A pity we didn’t visit the Rougemont Gardens.

Plymouth:
Early in the morning we went to Plymouth Dome and there each group had to fill in a questionnaire about Plymouth’s history. We could walk around in the Dome to find the answers. Then after two hours of shopping we went to the Barbican area where we could see how glass objects are made. On the same day in the afternoon we went crabbing. It was very cold but also great fun.

SCHOOLS IN BRITAIN

We visited an English school, Tavistock College, and found out that the schoolsystem is very different to the Austrian system. The students have more choices of what to do if they stay at school or leave school.

Because the students our age had their GCSE’s or GNVQ’s and other exams, younger students took us around and showed us their school. It was very huge and there were a lot of buildings for each subject. The students were very friendly and I liked them a lot.

It was a pity that we didn’t stay longer, but I had the chance to attend a lesson. I was in a science lesson- the teacher was very crazy.

TYPICAL ENGLISH FOOD

When we think of English food we think of cheddar cheese or baked beans. But that is not the only typical English food. There are others like Fish and Chips, Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, lambchops, Saffroncake or egg and bacon. Did you know that the typical English breakfast is mainly egg and bacon?If no, well, you know now!

What is the typical English Sunday meal? That’s Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding. To explain what Yorkshire Pudding is: it is not sweet just because you call it pudding – well, the best explanation is that it tastes like „Semmelknödel“ in Austria.

Oh, I almost forgot „Marmite“. Hm, Marmite is something that 50% of the English people like and eat, but the other 50% think it’s awful.

I had the chance to taste it and I have to say that it really tastes awful and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. (Sorry to the English people who like it).

SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING

Are you looking for trendy clothes? Go to „Tammy“ or „C&A“ or „Topshop“.
Are you hungry and looking for food? Go to „McDonald’s“ or „Burger King“ or „Tesco“.
What about „Boots“? You think you can find high heels, sandals, boots or sneakers there? You are wrong! It’s a chemist!

To go shopping in England is really cool. They sell a lot of crazy clothes and stuff which is cheap and handy. If you don’t know what to buy go to „Debenham’s“ or „Sainsbury’s“. There they sell everything. Once you go shopping, you can’t stop until your feet hurt from walking.

THE LAST DAY

The last day was a very hectic and stressy day. We only had twenty minutes for breakfast and then we had to drive away. Away from Moorland Hall!

Check-in time at the airport was at about four p.m.

Well, first we went to Windsor Castle, where I spent my last money in a shopping street. Then we drove to Heathrow. After we had checked in, we still had some freetime and there I spent my really last money. In contrast to May 20, when I was in Vienna, the time on that last day went by really quickly, and suddenly I was sitting in the plane. After a two hours‘ flight I was back home.

BACK TO VIENNA

Even though I would have liked to stay longer in England, I was happy to be home again. After getting my luggage and saying good-bye to my teachers I could fall into the arms of my waiting parents.

In that night while I was thinking about the last two weeks in England, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I’m sure my class, including our teachers Mrs. Bouda and Mrs. Bucheder, will never forget those days in May in Moorland Hall.

A big THANK YOU to Mr. and Mrs. Farrington, John, Gary, Andy, Jody, Esther and Pete!