On Wednesday, July 6, the tenth grade class of the German system went to Strasbourg to visit the EU Parliament. We left by bus at about 7am and arrived at the Parliament after a 3.5 hour drive. Due to the upcoming vote on whether gas and nuclear energy should temporarily get the EU's green seal, sympathizers and opponents of nuclear and gas energy had already gathered and protested peacefully.

After a short security check, we were able to meet Norbert Lins, the EU parliamentarian who had invited us there. He accompanied us into a large room, told us about himself and left room for questions. Of course, we also discussed the Ukraine war and asked for his opinion. After that he had to leave for the voting and one of his assistants answered our remaining questions, explained her tasks and how the parliament works. After that, we were led to the voting room with over 700 members of parliament. We sat relatively high up and had a very good overview of what was going on. After about 40 minutes we went on to the canteen of the EU Parliament, where Norbert Lins had kindly invited us.

In the afternoon we had the chance to enjoy one hour of free time in Strasbourg to discover the city before we went back to Salem by bus. Norbert Lins gave each of us small useful gifts such as pens, notebooks, wooden cutlery set etc..

The excursion was very enjoyable, where we not only had fun, but also could take something with us and learned more about the EU. A day that was more varied and exciting than regular classes; and still we learned something.