Our trip to Malta was very special. During the trip we had the opportunity to explore a new country, get closer with the people not only in my class but in the other class as well and most importantly use our English to communicate with local people. In daily activities we did such as Stand-up paddling, swimming in the Blue Lagoon or sightseeing in Valetta we got to see the landscape and learn a little bit about the history. We had a guide who was showing us many beautiful places in Valetta. At every stop she told us about the meaning of the buildings and its history. I learned that Valetta is the capital of Malta and that the city is named after the founder Jean Parisot de La Valette after he deceased. A wall which surrounds the capital of Malta was build to protect the city and its citizen after the old capital was easy to be destroyed by other countries.

Not only the incredible architecture but the history is very interesting. In 1814 Malta became a British colony. During World War I and World War II Malta was attacked and damaged because it was a British colony at that time. On the 21st of September 1964 Malta became independent and was not a British colony anymore. Until today I would say that there are many similarities to the United Kingdom. Not only Maltese but English is the official language of Malta as well. Even though I have met a few people who were not able to speak fluently in English there were many people who were speaking English very well and some even had a British accent.

In our free time I walked around with my friends and explored our area in which we were staying a little bit more. We realized that there were many people from different cultures. In class we talked a lot about cultural diversity and from what I have learned in class I would say Malta is diverse. For an example we met a German Bus driver on the bus, the women from the shop around the corner was British and the Taxi Driver from the Middle East. It seemed that the Integration works well and I didn’t experienced that there is tension between the different cultures. They all live peacefully together.