New York 2011


Strothoff International School offers every summer holiday a trip to different destinations. Last year, in 2010 we went to London and Oxford. This year Mr. Koini, Mr. Riede and 18 of our MYP students went to New York.

"I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps..."


Day 1

Picture
On the 4th of July our trip to New York started. When we arrived at the J.F. Kennedy Airport we were all really happy. We directly drove with the train to our Hotel in the middle of the city near Madison Square Garden. After one hour waiting in the hotel lobby we finally got our rooms and had afterwards dinner. Soon after the dinner we went to the fire work at the Hudson River. The 4th of July is Independence Day in the United States and the whole country celebrates it with parties and fireworks. It was one of the biggest fireworks we have ever seen. The whole sky was full of light and they were shooting smiles with their rockets. It was very impressing. After the firework we went to sleep because everybody was really tired from the flight and the time difference.


Day 2

Picture
Today we went to the Empire State Building. The whole group was impressed by the great view and took a lot of photos. To get to the top we had to use three different escalators. Luckily we came that early that we didn`t have to wait that long. After that we walked down the 5th Avenue directly to the Central Park, where we set down and took a little break. After the relaxing nap in the middle of the city, we went to the Natural Museum of American History and looked at stuffed animals and the history of nature.

Day 3

Picture
On that day we went to the Jones Beach at Long Island. We relaxed and chilled in the sun, went swimming and ate at the small bistro. The waves were amazingly tall and we had a lot of fun diving into the waves and surfing on them. Afterwards we drove back with the bus and train to Penn Station. We had about an hour break to shower and dress up for the cinema. Some of us watched Bad Teacher and some Transformers 3 D. It was another gorgeous day!


Day 4

Picture
At day 4 we went on a boat trip that showed us all the nice sights at New York Skyline, like the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, the Bridges and Wall Street. They showed us the spot where a airplane had a emergency landing and everybody survived. It was very cool because you could learn many things about New York. After that we went to Central Park and wanted to visit a mall but it wasn`t open yet. In the evening we went shopping and saw some nice break dancers doing artistic tricks in front of us and with us.

Day 5

Picture
At the 5th day we were at Jones Beach again because we found it so good there. We had a very nice time. We all went into the ocean in which were huge waves and we had a lot of fun. Later everybody relaxed in the sun. It was a very nice time and really everybody had fun! :)
We got back to the hotel and we all quickly took a shower because in the evening we were dining in China Town and little Italy. The food, the atmosphere and the shops were fantastic. Back in the hotel we were all tired and felt asleep.

Day 6

We went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) today. The museum is divided into different parts and areas. Especially the area of architecture was very impressing. There were nice furniture, interesting bridges and different vehicles like a Ferrari or a helicopter on the wall. You were able to watch different videos or you could go to the panorama café.  After the MoMA we went to the Guggenheim Museum. The whole architecture of the museum was awesome! In the Guggenheim Museum are different pictures and work of modern artists. The building is built in a kind of circle and you are walking in a screw to the next floor. Another highlight was the 1.000.000 $ room. It was a room which is made out of one dollar notes.

Day 7

Today we went to the Columbia State University and joined a tour with a guide, who studied there. We found out lots of information’s about the university and our tour-guide showed us every room, for example the big library or the rooms for the students. Then we went shopping on the 5th avenue. We all went to a shop called “build a bear”, a shop where you first choose the type of bear and then we saw how it got filled with the fluffy inner stuff. Then we dressed them up with different costumes. Then we went out for lunch and went back to the hotel to get ready for the musical “HAIR”.
The musical was overall good, but sometimes really confusing and hard to follow the story. But the best scene was when every actor was naked on the stage. That was really funny :)

Day 8

Today we went to a water park at long island called “Splish Splash”. At the beginning everybody didn`t know what to do cause there were so many people. After checking out the area we found the best slides and one slide with less people. This slide included two slides, which was perfect to make a race. Another slide was really high and it looked scary. But after we slide the first time we found out, nothing to be scared about…its fun. Looking back it was a fun day but the day`s at the ocean were way better.

Day 9

We went to Jones Beach for our last day because everybody had so much fun there.
The day started a little bit cloudy but after a few hours the weather turned nice. What can we say? It was fun again; nice weather, nice waves and everybody enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Being back in the hotel our teachers invited us to a nice restaurant called Niles. We had a lot of nice food and enjoyed our last event before flying back home.

Day 10

Picture
Resume: We all had a very nice time in New York. We saw a lot of different and interesting things like the NY lifestyle. Running around in New York City, exploring the museums and interesting spots were exciting. The best fun we had at Jones Beach and shopping all over New York. Of course we would like to spend more than ten days in NY, but at the end… you have and want to go home.

So in the morning we packed our luggage and checked the room if nothing is left. We took the train to JFK Airport and spend our pocket money at the duty free shops. The flight back home was really nice because we were flying with the new A380. It’s a real big plane and you got more seat space, a touch screen with video library and TV. Arriving in Frankfurt it was 5 o`clock in the morning and all parents were tired but happy to see us after the ten days.

Home sweet home!


But...        See you at our next trip in the winter holiday to Zell am See :)