Summer vacation is over, and the empty rooms at Steinmühle Boarding School are coming back to life. The rooms are being lovingly decorated, personalized, and prepared for the upcoming school year. Everyone had a relaxing summer and is arriving full of excitement and anticipation for the new 2022–23 school year.

 

To ensure that the start of the school year and the process of getting to know one another go smoothly, the traditional house trips are set to take place again this year. They’re scheduled to begin as early as the weekend of the first week of school. All the houses have prepared to have a great time together and get to know one another in new house groupings. But as is so often the case, things don’t go as planned. A flu outbreak sweeps through the Westfalenhaus and Bremerhaus. Both houses have to postpone their trips to Amsterdam and Hamburg. Too many students and teachers have fallen ill. Of course, a spontaneous alternative program is quickly put together for the healthy students.

Fortunately, the remaining houses are spared and can set off on their journey. So Mühle, Biohaus, Stammhaus, and Hessenhaus pack their things and load them onto the buses. Full of anticipation, the fully loaded buses roll across the courtyard with loud music and cheerful singing.

 

The Stammhaus group kicks things off; this year, their trip takes them to Soltau. Once there, the Stammhaus guys set up the big tent at the campground and get to know their tent neighbors. They spend the weekend at Heidepark, enjoying fast roller coasters and plenty of adrenaline. In the evenings, everyone gathers around a cozy campfire to enjoy good food, fun games, and lively conversations.

 

Mühle and Biohaus also want to spend their weekend full of “action” at Europapark in Rust. Here, some of the students and teachers reach their limits. Through mutual emotional support, they are even able to overcome some of their fears. The two groups spend the night separately. The Mühle group is staying in a self-catering house with a large dormitory, and the Biohaus group is staying in furnished cabins at a campground.

 

 

The Hessenhaus group heads to a campground on the Moselle. There, they find tents that have already been set up and furnished. Since they don’t have to set anything up, they have enough energy the next day for a hike to Eltz Castle, where they get to enjoy a beautiful view. They even have enough energy left for an evening visit to a trampoline park, after which they collapse into their tents, completely exhausted. To top it all off, the group heads to Koblenz on Sunday for brunch, followed by a tour of the city center.

 

 

Meanwhile, at the boarding school, students from Bremerhaus and Westfalenhaus come together for brunch, barbecues, and club activities. The rest of the students and teachers are visiting an escape room, doing yoga, playing tennis, making friendship bracelets, making music together, and preparing a Disney movie night in the large group room at Westfalenhaus.

 

Exhausted but with beaming faces, all the houses gather for dinner on Sunday evening. There are lots of conversations about the attractions and the experiences of the weekend. Everyone is happy and can now really get in the right mindset for the new school year. The Westfalenhaus and Bremerhaus are really looking forward to making up for their own house trips very soon.