New York November 2017

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Our annual TY trip to China took place from Mar.27th to April 5th. 31 students and 3 teachers headed of to Beijing and Shanghai. An amazing experience awaited as they immersed in the Chinese way of life and got to visit all the major attractions in both Beijing and Shanghai. They climbed The Great Wall, strolled through The Summer Palace, practised Kung Fu, watched amazing acrobats, haggled in The Pearl and Silk Markets, zenned in The Lama Temple and explored the Temple of Heaven. A First Class train whisked them to Shanghai where they marvelled at the fastest growing city in the world, incredible construction, went to the top of The Jinmao Building, viewed the skyline from The Bund, and enjoyed the Yu Gardens.

The food was incredible and tasting such a variety of  flavours was a wonderful experience. China is an amazingly diverse country and to get this experience while in school is certainly a true education in the value of travel.

Germany 2016

On Wednesday May 27th a group of students and teachers from Wexford CBS travelled to Baden-Wurtemmberg in South-West Germany.This is the third year in a row that our students,in conjunction with students and staff from the Loreto Secondary School,have taken part in an exchange with a German secondary school, Sankt Ursula’s in Villingen-Schwennigen in the beautiful Black Forest Region.
The students stayed with the families of their exchange partners and for many of our students it was a culture shock! They had to get used to a school day that started at 7.45 am as well as the many types of bread and salami the Germans like to eat,even for breakfast,not to mention the fizzy mineral water which everybody drinks in Germany but which is definitely an acquired taste.
There were some compensations however: school finished every day at lunchtime and on the days when they were not in school the students went on trips. One trip was to the beautiful Lake Constance where they were able to explore the reconstructed dwellings of some of Germany’s earliest settlers and,of course, the shops in the city of Constance. Another trip was to the university city of Freiburg where the students had the opportunity to stroll around and absorb the lively  atmosphere.
The group arrived home on Wednesday May 4th exhausted but hopefully more knowledgeable about Germany and the German way of life.

China 2015

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A group of 29 students and 3 teachers have just returned after spending ten days in China. The trip has become an annual event, this being the fifth year a group from the school has travelled. It offers an amazing opportunity to experience Chinese Culture first hand. Pupils got to visit, The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, The Temple Of Heaven, Beijng Museum,The Olympic Park, Tea Ceremony, Acrobatic Show, Kung Fu session, overnight train journey to Xian, Terracotta Warriors,The Wild Goose Pagoda and  experienced shopping and haggling at The Pearl Market, Silk Market and Muslim Market. A truly wonderful experience.

German Exchange 2015

On February 5th a group of 5 students from the CBS and 51 from the Loreto Secondary School travelled to Baden Württemberg in Southwest Germany. They were taking part in an exchange with St. Ursula’s Secondary School which is situated in Villingen- Schwenningen in the beautiful Black Forest region.
The students arrived to sub-zero temperatures and lots of snow. This was perfect weather for sledging down the Feldberg Mountain the next day.
After a weekend spent with the host families eating German food and hopefully speaking lots of German, the students rose early on Monday morning in order to be on time for the first class at 7.40 am. The first half of the day was spent meeting some of the students at St. Ursula’s and touring the Ursuline convent which gave rise to the school.
In the afternoon a trip to the local ice – rink meant more bumps and bruises and freezing hands and feet!
The remainder of the week flew past. The students were lucky to be in Villingen – Schwenningen during “ Fastnet” or “Fastnacht” . In this strongly Catholic region of Germany the tradition of Fastnet dates back to the Middle Ages and involves parties and parades with costumes handed down through the generations. Historically, Fastnet was viewed as the last chance to enjoy yourself before Lent began and the Germans, believe it or not, do know how to enjoy themselves!
We look forward to reciprocating the hospitality shown to us when the German students travel to Wexford in September.

LONDON 2015

IMG_4639  Our journey started at 3.15 am when the bus arrived at Bride Street Church and brought us to Dublin airport where we boarded the plane for London Stansted Airport. When we arrived at Stansted Airport we got onto our coach and our guide William took us on a tour around London City. We saw some of the famous landmarks in London; Big Ben, London Tower Bridge (there was a Mexico exhibition here with lots of interactive stations and free tacos!), Westminster abbey, Buckingham palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leister Square, and Trafalgar Square and of course the M&M shop. We arrived at the hotel and had an hour to unpack before our delicious buffet dinner.

IMG_4640 On Day 2 we woke up early in the morning and went down stairs to receive our buffet breakfast. Today was a visit to the London Sea Life Aquarium. In the aquarium we saw many wonderful sea creatures from all over the world. This was followed by the Imperial War Museum which was excellent. Highlights included life size trenches, war tanks, cars, and missiles. Some of the more serious exhibitions like “a family at war” and “the holocaust” were very moving. After the War Museum we took the bus to the restaurant “Bella Italia” the food was divine. After dinner we went to the outstanding Lion King show in the Lyceum Theatre. It was an amazing show! The music, lights and puppetry was like nothing we’d seen before. The show ended at 10:00 pm and when we got back to the hotel we went to bed.

 

IMG_4642Day 3 brought us to Stamford Bridge home of Chelsea football club. We started in the museum of Chelsea football club viewing cups and other notable historical events of the club. We got a tour of Stamford Bridge where we saw the pitch, the press room and the two changing rooms. Next up was the National Science and Hist ory museums. In the Science museum we got to see how energy was made, space exploration and history of medicine. The National History museum had the massive bone structures off the Tyrannosaurus rex and the Blue Whale (which was found washed up on the beaches of Wexford). We returned to the hotel for another lovely buffet dinner, we then had to pack our suitcases and bags to be ready for the departure on Saturday!
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Our final day was a visit to the London Dungeons. The London Dungeons were very scary especially when Jack the Ripper jumped out of the shadows. After our visit to the London Dungeons we transferred to Westfield Shopping Complex. Westfield was absolutely massive and it had all the best shops in it. When we left Westfield our time in London came to an end. We departed Stansted Airport and took the return flight back to Dublin City. The tour was incredible and we all had an amazing time. J
Aaron O’Connor

Nigel Ross


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An Ghaeltacht 2014, Oileán Acla

Bhí an turas go dtí an Ghaeltacht arís go hiontach. Don dara bliain as a céile, chuaigh meascán de dhaltaí na hIdirbhliana agus an 5ú bliain amach, go luath ar maidin Dé Céadaoin go dtí an t-Oileán Acla, Co Mhaigh Eo, in iarthar na hÉireann.

Ar theacht bhí fáilte ó chroí ag na cinnirí romhainn, agus bhí lón réidh dúinn chomh maith. Ón bpointe seo ar aghaidh, thosaíomar ar an réimse leathan gníomhaíochtaí, a bhaineann leis an tírdhreach speisialta seo, ag tosú leis “Ag pleidhcíocht sa phortach”. An rud atá I gceist anseo ná, caithfidh tú léim isteach sa phortach; cosúil le láib-folctha ach le culaith uisce! Chualamar cúpla scéal faoi roimhe. Dúradh  go mbeadh  do chuid gruaige agus do chraiceann níos boige agus níos sláintiúla tar éis tamaill sa láib.

Na gníomhaíochtaí éagsúla eile a bhí ann ná, “Ag Siúl Abhainn “, “Ag ailleadóireacht”, “Ag curachóireacht”, “Ag léim san fharraige” go “Cluichí Foirne”. I rith na hoíche bhí seans ag na daltaí páirt a ghlacadh ’sna céilí, I gcluichí grúpa agus iniúchadh a dhéanamh ar an Sráidbhaile Gorta Tréigthe. Bhí ceachtanna acu ar stair an Oileáin Acla agus ar traidisiúin na Gaeltachta.

D’fhan na mic léinn ina dtithe gach oíche, áit a raibh an Bhean an Tí, aka “Mamaí eile” ag tabhairt aire do na buachaillí. Seans maith a bhí ann do gach daltaí a bheith ag labhairt Gaeilge leis an mBean an Tí agus a scileanna cumarsáide trí Ghaeilge a chleachtadh.

Bhí taithí an dearfach ag na daltaí. D’éirigh leo a gcuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú go neamhspleách. Thug an turas seo deis dóibh bheith ag éisteacht leis an teanga beo, mar gnáthchaint na ndaoine áitiúla.  Bhí siad in ann an Ghaeilge a thuiscint mar chuid thábhacht dár n-oidhreacht, cad is brí le bheith ina Éireannach, agus taitneamh a bhaint as áilleacht an oileáin bhig seo.

Tá súil againn leanúint ar aghaidh lenár dturas go dtí an Ghaeltacht sa todhchaí. Creidimid go bhfuil beocht teanga i gcroílár aon teanga.

Míle buíochas le gach duine a chabhraigh linn i rith na bliana.

Slán agus Beannachtaí,

Roinn na Gaeilge

 

 

China 2013

China Tour by Jack Egan

Day 1

We were all exhausted by the time we had arrived in Beijing, a two hour flight to Paris, then a ten hour flight to Beijing, (but at least they had TVs on the plane). We arrived at a restaurant for our first taste of real Chinese food, we ate all kinds of chicken, pork, rice and all kinds of other food, and all without the hint of a knife and fork, chopsticks only, lads. After the food we checked into The Tianfang hotel where we were staying, and after being up and travelling for the best part of two days, we finally found our beds.

 

Day 2

On the second day we were officially welcomed to Beijing in the Great Wall Chinese Centre, speeches were made and we were all given free T-shirts. After the welcome ceremony we went to Nanlougo lane Houtong, a very old street full of ancient building which had been converted into shops. after that we went to Pearl Market, you could buy nearly anything there for absolutly dirt cheap prices, we bought at least five pairs of Beats headphones each for about fifty euro per person, whereas that would have cost at least ten times as much in Ireland, amon the other things bought were lasers, Jackets, T-shirts and silly hats. We had to haggle for absolutly everything there, we didn’t even care what we were buying, we just wanted to haggle, and we got some cool stuff for almost no money on the side.

Day 3

Day 3 was a big one, we checked out of the Tianfang hotel, where there was an incident involving a bottle of Old Spice that we will not go into further, Once we had gotten our baggage sorted by leaving it with the hotel we visited Tiananmen Square, which is truly massive, no single photo can show how huge it really is, after the square we went into the Forbidden City , which is right next to it, inside the Forbidden city there huge buildings which were ideal for taking group photos in front of, the tour took a more than an hour, because the Forbidden City is probably even bigger than Tiananmen Square, we came out the other side eventually and got a bite to eat, then it was on to Wangfujing street, where you could buy Chinese street food, which was very different to say the least from Irish food, The lads ate scorpions, star-fish, beetles, and some kind of unidentified meat on skewers. After we finished with the unusual food we set off to the train station to get to Xi’an.

 

 

Day 4

To put it simply, the night train to Xi’an was absolutely terrible, we were six in a room the size of a coffin, and we didn’t have doors, that was the difference between economy and first class, first class had doors. The hostel, on the other hand, was one of the best parts of the trip, it was called the 7 Sages Hostel, and we had a western style breakfast (or theclosest the Chinese chefs could manage), huge rooms (four of us even got V.I.P rooms, my-self included), and brilliant weather to top it off. After an hour or two in the hostel of playing ping pong or doing parkour or martial arts or whatever you did to pass the time, we went to the wall of Xi’an, which surrounds the original, ancient part of the city, once there we cycled the whole 13.7 km of the wall on tandems. There were collisions, there was banter with the locals, there were races, there were even threats, but after an hour and a half of cycling we all eventually made it back to the point we started at on the wall. After a few ice creams we were on the road again to a Muslim snack street. The snack street was like a miniature version of the Pearl market, but with more terracotta statues and food, we didn’t get much time there, unfortunately, and half the time we didn’t know what we were eating there either, but it tasted good and no-one got food poisoning, which was nice.

 

 

 

Day 5

The first thing after checking out of the 7 sages that we did on day five was go to a factory where they make replicas of the terracotta warriors, they showed us how they were molded from clay in casts, and all the various types of soldiers. Of all the original warriors buried underground, only one was still intact when the archaeologists dug them up, the archer, it only survived because it was crouching, after the factory we set off for the army itself, but you don’t just go to the army, you have to go through alot of buildings first, where there are vendors trying to sell you stuff around every corner, we made it through the shops where parts of the army had been dug up and saw just how huge it was, the pictures speak for themselves, after the warriors we went to a museum which contained weapons and bronze-works found there as well. Once we were done seeing the warriors it was back to the train station and back to Beijing.

 

 

 

Day 6

We took the same night train back, which did not go down well, and checked back into the Tianfang hotel, once we’d rested a bit it was onto the Birds Nest stadium. Time had not been good to her, it was rusted and unused when we saw it, but it was sure big, after a look around we went into the Cube, where the swimming events took place, some of the lads even got to swim in the warm up pool while the rest of mooched around the gift shop and café. Once we left the Cube our journey took us to an incredible acrobatics show, which included motorcyclists, chair climbing, and dancing women.

Day 7

We started day 7 with the Ming tombs, which was the site of many burial grounds for Emperors and Empresses, but the real highlight was the Great Wall, what can I say, it was three miles of stairs, with a great view on top, even though we were absolutely shattered afterwards, it was completely worth it. We went to Kung-Fu class at the Temple of Heaven after the wall, but instead of learning kick-ass martial arts skills, we looked like bunch of fellas who’ve had too many drinks. We returned to the Pearl market after the Temple of Heaven, to give in to our inner consumer.

 

 

 

Day 8

Day 8 started with checking out of the Tianfang for the second and final time, we moved on to the Summer Palace, where the Emperors would spend their summers by the lake in a massive palace that was more of a town than anything, after that we went to a district of streets by another lake, where we bought souveniers and candy floss before moving on to the silk market. Now, the Silk market is like the Pearl market except it’s 10 TIMES BIGGER, 10 TIMES BADDER AND DIRT CHEAP, we spent 7 hours in there but I honestly don’t remember most of it. After we spent all our money in the Silk market, it was off to the airport and a final goodbye to Beijing

Day 9

If you were unlucky then you spent Day Nine on a plane back to Ireland, but if you were lucky then you spent in Paris, where we saw the Champs D’lysees, the Arc D’Triomph and had a breakfast in McDonalds,. Of course we  got up to a lot of shenanigans, like when Jack Crean got himself lost in the Parisian metro, not to mention all the people who shouted at us because they thought we were students who had decided to skip school for the day.

 

 

Space Camp Easter Trip 2013

Boker Lads in Flight of Fancy!!

April 2013

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Thirty students drawn from the 1st and 2nd years in Coláiste Éamonn Rís visited Brussels, Maastricht and Paris during their Easter Holidays from the 1st to the 5th of April. They were accompanied by their teachers: Mr David Byrne, Mrs Linda Scallan and Ms Niele Kavanagh.

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This exciting excursion to the European Space Centre. Brussels, saw the boys travel to Outer Space on simulated spacecraft. The intrepid Boker boys zoomed through the darkness, passing by all the Stars and Planets. Other activities included the building and launching of rockets.

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Outings during the trip included an exciting visit to the local Forest Adventure Centre, where the lads took part in outdoor pursuits, climbing rope bridges and whizzing across high wires. The chaps also visited the town of Maastricht in the Netherlands for a souvenir-buying trip. A visit to Disneyland, Paris, afforded the opportunity to parade with classic Disney characters and to fly high in the Star-Wars-themed flight simulator. Visits were made to Pocahontas’ Indian Village in Frontierland, with its ochre-coloured pueblos.

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Certificates of Participation were presented to the thirty lads by School Principal, Mr Michael McMahon, to acknowledge the hard work and good behavior of the students during the trip.

By Ibar Quirke

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School Tour 2012

Delphi Adventure Centre

A group on 34 First and Second Year students headed to Co. Mayo for a few days adventure activities organised by Mr. Doyle. Activities included canoeing, nightline,team challenges and climbing. A great time was had by all.