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To quote one of the students, “The Amazing Race was, well, Amazing!”
We met up at school for a briefing and some last minute pointers at 8am. They were armed with only their prior knowledge of the city, a tube map, a day pass for transportation, and their wits. It might not sound like much, but these kids were well prepared!
The competitors were all decked out in their team colors and some even made flags. We decided to give extra points for spirit and creativity, and just like with everything else, they exceeded expectations. Two students actually dyed their hair to match their team colors!
We sent them of in their groups only to meet again at the Official Amazing Race Hamburg 2010 Starting Point, also known as the Hauptbahnhof McDonalds. We knew this was going to be a special group when Heidi and I arrived to find every single team already present with hands outstretched for their course lists a full 10 minutes before the designated time!
With that, they were off! Ten teams comprised of Edison, La Conner and IC’s finest, off into the hustle and bustle of Hamburg. The weather worked out
flawlessly as it wasn’t too hot and we actually got a refreshing shower that moved through at about 2pm.
Heidi and I wandered the course, keeping a keen eye out for teams as they completed their journeys.
In a rather shocking and quite ironic turn of events, Max’s team, the most experienced competitor in today’s race, was the first to use their free lifeline, all of 15 minutes into the contest!
Just after this call came in, and with Heidi no doubt a bit flustered by the premature call for assistance from her son, who was formerly thought of as a rather quick witted and capable individual (he still is), the fun continued. Heidi was corned and a T.V. camera placed in front of her. The three men, a host, a cameraman and a sound man explained that they were from a television show. Their all important question as the two of us stood on camera… “Who does the dishes in your home?" Heidi of course answered, “my husband Ted usually.” Then she proceeded to try and explain to them that I was not in fact her husband Ted. One day soon our German friends will be
watching television when the two of us will appear on their screen. What a shock that will be!
We bumped into our first group about 10 minutes into the action on the main shopping street. Emily and Anton, team “Kick Butt”, had already completed their first task and were heading to their next at a brisk pace.
We bumped into them again three more times at various locations as the day wore on.
Jason and Keana were spotted near the river walk. It was great to see those two working so well together! Jason, the intense competitor, and Keana, the intense shopper, working together as one cohesive unit toward what seemed at times, two different goals. We watched in amusement as Jason went to the information booth to ask for directions as Keana remained at the door and perused postcards that may soon be sent home. Nevertheless, they were getting along brilliantly and making very steady progress.
Next to be spotted, Jake and Alex. When Alex caught site of us he was instantly in a dead sprint in our direction. Nothing was wrong, he just wanted the 10 minute deduction that came with finding Heidi and
I and shaking our hands. He used the opportunity for some free help and we sent them on their way to the Europa Passage Mall Oakley store. To our great surprise and with great laughter, we saw them no more than 2 minutes later, not more that 100 meters away, sitting down and enjoying an ice cream cone in the sun. Priorities I suppose!
Our students did a great job of making it back to the designated finishing point on time, save for one group and a broken down U-Bahn train. This can be and was of course excused as it was simply one flagrant example of one of the joys of city life and a dependence on an at times unreliable public transportation system. Even finely tuned German engineering breaks down once in a while!
We took the obligatory group picture at the finishing point and we were off. All along the journey back to Harburg, it was great fun to hear the non- stop stories being relayed about the day. From broken down trains to information desk workers with conflicting information to the German that fell asleep on the train. It was truly an adventure that
will be remembered for a lifetime!
Quote of the day:
Mr. Davidson- (answers the phone) Hello?
Un-named Student- Hi, where is the finishing point located?
Mr. Davidson- Right next to the Rickmer Rickmers at the Landungsbrucken S-Bahn stop
Un- Named Student- Ok, What city is that in?
Gotta love it!
It was great to see that nearly all the groups were able to get within a question or two of completing the very challenging course! It really speaks to how engaged they are in this entire experience as well as their overall abilities.
The students are now in the process of completing PowerPoint presentations with the pictures that they took. They are also writing a recap of the adventure. I’ll try and post a few of those on the blog in the coming days.
We should know the winners of the Amazing Race Hamburg 2010 by Thursday!
Heidi mentioned it to the kids today in our briefing, but I’d like to echo the sentiment here. We are both incredibly proud with how well our students are handling themselves at all times! They are open to trying new things, engaged
and willing to participate in anything that is thrown their way, and are very caring and accepting toward their fellow students. It’s been great to see and these kids are an absolute pleasure to be around!
-Ben
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