Imrich Dioszegi

Short-term individual mobility

• ST. BENNO-GYMNASIUM • DRESDEN • GERMANY •

In June, I travelled to Dresden, Germany, through the Erasmus+ programme and spent a wonderful four weeks there. I think Dresden is an absolutely ideal destination for study trips to Germany. It’s close by and, much like Hradec Králové, is full of greenery, large parks, and a number of important landmarks. All these places are connected by a network of cycle paths, which is why I brought my bike with me. But if you don’t feel like bringing your own, you’ll find plenty of rental bikes parked around the city. The bus and tram system is also excellent. Dresden is a cultural hub with a stunning historic city centre. On Sunday, 6 June, I attended a performance of Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet at the renowned Semperoper Dresden. We went as a group together with students from St. Benno-Gymnasium Dresden, which I attended for three weeks.

This grammar school regularly hosts international students, so places for foreigners are occupied most of the year. I was very lucky to get in, thanks in part to personal contacts with friends living in Dresden. Most of the exchange students I met there were Americans, as the school runs regular exchanges with the USA. The school building is very modern, has its own cafeteria offering four meal choices daily—at least two vegetarian—an underground sports hall, two school orchestras, and a jazz band.

Teaching is conducted in a very relaxed and progressive way. There was much more work with resources than in the Czech Republic, and information wasn’t served up directly—we were expected to find answers ourselves. Personally, I prefer the good old Czech “listen and take notes” approach, especially when it comes to lists of information in a foreign language. However, I definitely appreciated the high level of discussion in humanities subjects. I do wonder, though, how they manage to cover the entire syllabus with this teaching style.

Especially in the beginning, the help of other classmates was crucial. It took me a while to get used to fluent German, but I felt it was important to make connections and participate in lessons nonetheless. Teachers appreciated the effort, and in some cases, it helped break the ice for others. On my first day, I sat alone at a table in the cafeteria, and a group of classmates soon joined me. They told me later that because I wasn’t afraid to speak up in class, they felt less nervous about talking to me. In lessons, I could always ask them questions if I didn’t understand something, and they would help me. Germans are great people. Towards the end of my stay, I played the clarinet together with the music seminar group during a church service.

I enjoyed my stay in Dresden immensely, especially thanks to the wonderful and kind support of my host family. Martin and Agnes Kuss hosted me in the third floor of their beautiful house with a garden and swimming pool, where they live with their four children: ten-year-old Lewin, thirteen-year-old Sascha, fifteen-year-old Gregor, and seventeen-year-old Marina. Martin plays the double bass alongside his profession, and all four children play musical instruments. The Kuss family welcomed me warmly from the start, offered to use first names, and made me feel at home. They showed me the surroundings and the beautiful city centre, taught me how to use Dresden’s public transport, cycled with me along the bike paths I would later use to get to school and around the city on my own, took me on trips and even urban exploration around Saxony. We talked a lot, played board games, and watched films together in the evenings. We always had breakfast and dinner together, and I tasted Asian cuisine specialties, which Agnes enjoys cooking.

During the third week, due to St. Benno-Gymnasium’s school trip (already fully booked), I attended Hans-Erlwein-Gymnasium together with Marina, the Kuss’ daughter and my wonderful friend. By then, the school year was winding down, and we mostly talked about school trips, upcoming holidays, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Together with Martin Kuss and my former teacher and family friend Pavel Linha, I played clarinet in a symphony orchestra at the last rehearsal of the school year before the holidays—performing Glière’s Horn Concerto and one of Sibelius’ symphonies. Shortly afterwards, Martin spotted an ad from the Dresden Wind Philharmonic looking for a clarinetist. I quickly tried to learn the repertoire and went to my first rehearsal, followed by a Tuesday rehearsal and two weekend training sessions. The Dresden Wind Philharmonic (Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie) was conducted by Italian Andrea Barizza, whose simpler German with a distinct Italian accent was much easier for me to understand.

With this orchestra, I played three concerts between 20–22 June in churches in Lauchhammer, Calau, and Meissen. The programme featured works by Cesarini, Barbaro, Oriola, Meij, Ravel, and Williams. I was delighted that the Kuss family came to the Calau concert, and my mum and grandfather came to the Meissen one. Playing in such a high-level orchestra with many professional and top-class musicians, including members of the Dresden Opera and Philharmonic, was an enormous experience for me in every way.

I can only recommend short-term study stays abroad. If you have the chance to go abroad—don’t hesitate. If you have personal contacts in the country you’d like to visit through Erasmus+, make use of them. My month in a German-speaking country went smoothly, improved my German conversation skills and my music, and I enjoyed it immensely. I am certain the Kuss family and I will remain lifelong friends—they have invited me to visit and stay with them anytime. Conductor Andrea Barizza basically ordered me to come in November for rehearsals for the next concerts. So I will definitely return to Dresden—and I can honestly say I will return with great joy.

We asked...

Why would you recommend your classmates to participate in the Erasmus+ programme and what advice would you have for them?

Apart from the obvious language development, trips abroad teach you to define your own daily routine. Outside of school and activities with your host family, you have plenty of time that you need to use at your own discretion. If you are lucky enough to receive Erasmus+ funding and are considering a short-term stay, I would definitely recommend going in spring. Missing the months of May and June can be tricky to catch up on—especially if your trip runs right into the summer holidays and you don’t return to school in between. If you have contacts in the country you’d like to visit through Erasmus+ who would be willing to host you, make use of them. It will save time and work not only for you but also for the organisers at your school.

What experiences and highlights from your stay are worth mentioning?

There were many—from all the concerts and rehearsals with the orchestra (where we once rather comically played on glasses), to urban exploration of an abandoned military airfield near Leipzig, to climbing in the mountains of Saxon Switzerland despite my fear of heights, presenting a German book I hadn’t read a single word of, and finally, a fire brigade intervention with the evacuation of the entire grammar school the day before the summer holidays due to an experiment in the chemistry labs. I spent four weeks in Dresden, and there were countless funny moments and wonderful experiences. I can hardly imagine how much more one could experience during a long-term stay.

How would you describe your typical day?

My host family prepared breakfast for me every morning, usually bread rolls accompanied by some Chinese speciality, yet I still usually made it to school at the last minute. Getting up on time was beyond my powers even in Germany, especially with lessons starting at 7:50 a.m. The grammar school was less than two kilometres away along a cycle-priority road, so commuting was easy. The school had four floors, but thanks to the nationwide German timetable app, I had no trouble finding my way around. Each class lasted two periods. I particularly enjoyed music lessons, where we analysed individual passages of musical works in detail, including the instruments used and even the emotions the melodies evoked in us. What surprised me most was religious studies—I was placed in a Protestant class where I was the only atheist. This made the teacher involve me even more in discussions and debates. Thanks to the completely open-minded approach of the whole class, I paradoxically enjoyed religious studies more than any other subject. In addition, I took German, English, maths, philosophy, and geography. My schedule was irregular: Wednesdays were short, only four lessons, while Mondays and Thursdays were long. Before 1:30 p.m., the whole school went to the cafeteria for lunch. Apart from the great choice of four dishes, I appreciated that not once did I sit at a table alone—someone always joined me and asked about me and the Czech Republic. The cafeteria also had windows into the indoor sports hall, so during lunch breaks we could watch various games. After school, I would head home, often stopping at Lidl or the corner shop just one street from my host family’s house. Afternoons varied. The weather was mostly good, so I often cycled around Dresden, sometimes with family members who gave me a detailed guided tour of all the important places, including the library, Frauenkirche, old town, and even the recently collapsed bridge over the Elbe. On weekends and every Tuesday, I took the bus across the city to orchestra rehearsals. Evenings were spent with the family—playing games or visiting my clarinet teacher who lived nearby. Since I had an entire empty floor to myself, including a table football, private bathroom, TV, bedroom, and living room, I tended to go to bed quite late. I didn’t mind—it just meant my days were longer and filled with even more experiences.