There And Back Again  Tobias H

A German's Tale

When I first heard of the exchange program I was not sure whether I should participate. The thought of being three weeks in a foreign country without my family and friends scared me a little. Fortunately, I eventually decided to participate - a decision I have never regretted. After an exhausting flight from Brussels to Atlanta and from Atlanta to Detroit I met my guest family for the first time. They gave me a warm welcome and I immediately felt I was part of the family, a feeling that even increased in the weeks to come. During our ride to Toledo I talked very much with my host family and so we got to know each other better.

During my stay in America I recognized that there are many differences between our countries, but there are also many similarities.

Before attending lessons at St Francis de Sales High School (SFS) for the first time, we spent two days exploring the city: We went to the UT (University Toledo), a huge area with more than 25.000 students, and we also went downtown, where we met Mayor Jack Ford and some of the members of the City Council. I was very surprised that they spent so much time with us and showed such a great interest in us.

Concerning the lessons at SFS I noticed many things to be different from our school. Clearly perceptible was the strong patriotism in America: Every morning the pupils have to stand up, follow a prayer and say the pledge of allegiance (I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible,

With Liberty and Justice for all. read more ….).

Furthermore the pupils have only six subjects and each lesson lasts 52 minutes... By contrast, I have twelve subjects with lessons lasting 45 minutes each. A (in my opinion) striking aspect is that the teachers in America talk much more than in Germany, obviously they focus more on the pupils' efforts in tests instead of the participation in the lessons (this is just an observation, not a criticism).

Apart from that, it was very interesting to see how our language is taught in a foreign country: One recognizes that the German language is much more difficult than the English language, especially concerning the grammar.

During spring time I spent much time with my guest parents and Frank (my host grandfather ;-)), for Mike (my exchange partner) had to go to Florida for Baseball practice. We went to Cleveland in order to visit the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, an impressive museum presenting everything about Rock 'n Roll one can imagine.

However, my personal highlights have been the little activities we did, like going bowling or playing Paintball (fun, but painful).

When finally the day of the farewell party had come, I began to recognize that the departure was going to be more difficult than I had first anticipated. While I spent so much time with my guest family and my guest parents' relatives, I learned to like them and became a part of the family (really everyone in the whole family integrated me as some kind of German relative of theirs, or at least I had the feeling they did).

So, when the last day finally had come, I travelled back with a second suitcase full of presents and souvenirs (perhaps I have to mention at this point that the prices in America are very pleasing;-)) and the remembrance of a unique and memorable time in a unique country.

At last I want to thank again the St. Francis de Sales High School for making this experience possible. Furthermore, of course, I cannot express how thankful I am that Mike, Mary, Dennis, Frank, the whole Urbaniak family and all the other American people I have become acquainted with gave me this unique, memorable and impressive experience of Toledo and its inhabitants.

My experiences in the USA - Gudrun V

First and foremost it's important to say that it was all in all a really great and interesting time for me.
All this began when I met my host family the first time at the reception and it ended with the leave-taking. They really involved me into their family giving me a feeling of security. With 'they all' I not only mean the people, living in the host family's house, but also the grandmother, the aunt and also the cousin. I went with them bowling, in the zoo and to a lot of other things. Another exceptional experience was the visit of Roger's work. He is a fire fighter and so I could have a look at normal day in this job.
One of the most impressive things was the trip to the Niagara Falls, Alyssa, Zach, Jennifer and I made. I could see a lot different landscape and the Falls, which I always wanted to see.
The other big field of the American Life was the school. There I went the first 3 days the SFS, because the girl's school, SUA, already had holidays. After spring break I went to St. Ursula.
One of the first things I recognized was that the school system is totally different in comparison to our here in Germany: They only have 4 subjects, but these every day. Also working in another way, is the lunch. They have a big cafeteria with an enormous variety.
In St. Ursula, the first to days I walked around with a girl called Jesica. But after a while, I really understood well with her friend Erica and so I didn't see Jesica the last days so often. Erica really cared about me and showed me the whole school. I went with her to her English lesson, where I met also a couple of girls I became friends with. With them the schooldays never became boring. Another friend of Jesica, called Alicia, took me with her to her Art class.
With the other German girls, we went maybe two times to a German and a Religion class. I had a lot of fun there, because the girls were so frank with us all the time.
At the end I just want to thank Jennifer, Jessica, Alyssa, Roger and Zach and of course the rest of the family for the really great time I had with them. Furthermore I only can hope that I will stay in contact with the girls of SUA.

The Toledo exchange 2005 was a very intense experience. Although the flight to the Detroit airport was long and kind of boring, I wasn't tired when we first met our host families. During the journey to Toledo we talked very Much about my family and life in Germany and we got to know each other very well. On the next day we went downtown with Mr Brodeck and explored a small part of the area around the Maumee river and the history of this city. We also went to the Major of the city, Jack Ford, who explained a part of the politics and his work for Toledo. Very interesting was the visit of the University of Toledo which also showed that sports are most important for the students (one big stadium and several sport courts on the campus). The following days we went to school (first week St. Francis, last week St. Ursula Academy) with our exchange partners and followed the lessons or checked our email accounts in the library. When school was out, Dan had to go to Lacrosse practice so I was at home with his parents. Because of that I often hang around with other exchange students from Overbach so that we could do some free time activities like going to the mall, visit the zoo of Toledo or go around by bike. This activities may seem boring, but there are so many differences between our countries that it was always very interesting. Finally I have to say that I made many friends and met many different people and I want to thank Mr. Brodeck for this great experience.

The exchange to the USA was a very big success for me because I could see a lot of things.

The first days all German exchange students did something together. We visited the "University of Toledo" and we went downtown, where we were in the "Government Center". The highlight of this day was the meeting with the mayor, Mr. Ford.

The other days we had the chance to attend St. Francis de Sales high school for boys and St Ursula Academy, a high school for girls. There I realized that there are many differences between German and American schools. On the first Thursday the American exchange students had prepared a "Welcome Party" in a sport center for us. There I had a lot of fun and I could meet all the other families.

Beside the events we all did together, my host family took me on a lot of trips. So I was in the "Art Museum of Toledo", the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in Cleveland. On another aoccasion we went to Canada and visited Detroit and a lot of other cities on the way. One day I also visited Chicago with Amelie's host family. This was a very big event for me.

I didn't only get an insight into American culture but I also had a lot of fun with my host family. For example we watched a lot of DVDs and I had a lot of fun with my partner's friends. Nearly every day I went shopping in very big malls and one day I went bowling.

Another big highlight was the celebration of Easter. In the morning we went to church and at lunch we were at the house of my host family's relations. This is much the same like in Germany. Everyone was very friendly and I felt as if I belonged to the family.

But the best event was as my host father took me with him to his job. He is a lawyer and this is why I could follow a murder trial and I could talk to some other lawyers. I must say I was really a little bit afraid!

When we prepared to fly back to Germany, I was very sad because the time passed quickly and I thought it had been in Toledo for just some days. This I owe to my host family because they arranged such a lot of activities for me. To me this was the best exchange and I will never forget it.

We arrived at Detroit-Airport on Sunday evening. There we met our host families.

Early the next morning the German group visited the University of Toledo. On Tuesday we made a trip to Downtown where we saw the Maumee River and met the mayor Mr Ford. We had an interesting conversation with him. He told us that he was the first black mayor in Toledo. Later we had lunch in the Spaghetti Warehouse. We were really surprised by the huge drinks.

On the following days we had to go to the boys' school, Saint Francis. We enjoyed the lessons very much and furthermore the very polite behavior of the pupils. On Thursday our American hosts organized a "German-welcome-party" in a sports center.

On Easter Sunday I met my host-brother's grandparents. We celebrated a wonderful  Easter with a traditional American dinner. We also went to church and made a sight-seeing tour. During the next week I had the opportunity to go over to Canada with Christina and her host mother. We even visited the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. The following weekend Christina and I visited family members of my host family in Chicago. There we visited some interesting things for example the Hard Rock Cafe.

The first three days of the next week we attended the girls' school Saint Ursula. The last few days of the week we were allowed to accompany Christina's host father to court to watch a murder trial.

Very soon the last day and the farewell arrived. I was taken back to the airport by all the family members after we had our last breakfast in a restaurant. It was a really great time.

Liebe Gastgeberfamilien,

früher als zunächst angegeben wollen wir uns am Montag um 7 Uhr am Flughafen Düsseldorf treffen (Flugschalter der Lufthansa –Gate A 72). [Nicht früh aufstehen brauchen die Familien Ryzinski, Hock und Lieven, deren Gäste noch eine Zeit in Europa bleiben.]

Rückblickend sei an dieser Stelle Dank gesagt allen Familien, die durch ihre Gastfreundschaft den Teilnehmern ein Stück Heimat in der Fremde geschaffen haben.

Besonderer Dank geht an die Familien, die durch Fahrdienste und Gruppeneinladungen dem offiziellen Programm ein Gesicht verliehen haben. Hierzu gehört u. a. das Treffen in der Dackweiler Siedlung bei Familie Hampel und – zum Schluss – der Besuch bei der Deutschen Welle vermittelt durch Frau Herzig.

Eine besondere Erwähnung gilt Herrn Dr. Bergmann und seiner Frau, die den Gästen mit der Dachbesteigung des Kölner Domes nicht nur ein Erlebnis der besonderen Art beschert haben, sondern durch ihr tätiges Mitdenken an einer Reihe von Schnittpunkten das Sommerprogramm mitgetragen haben.

Dass pädagogische Interaktion nicht immer gelingt ist zu akzeptieren, wenn die Waage auch auf der positiven Seite Gewicht hat, wie zum Beispiel abzulesen an diesem Teilnehmerkommentar:

Vielen Dank für das abwechslungsreiche Programm, ich genieße den Austausch sehr und bin sehr froh, dass ich daran teilgenommen hab!!!

Ähnlich positive Kommentare sind in den 6 (von 14 erwarteten) Berichten zu finden, die inzwischen online sind unter:

http://gho-englisch.de/Exchange/2005/Berichte.htm

[Es wäre schön, wenn diejenigen, die (digitale) Fotos haben, diese der Gruppe zur Verfügung stellen – und mir davon Mitteilung machen würden.]

An dieser Stelle noch ein Dankeschön an die Overbacher Schüler, die mir in Bonn ein Taschenmesser geschenkt haben (als sinnigen Ersatz mein Reiseutensil, dass der Zoll in Frankfurt einbehalten hat).

Nach vorn schauend habe ich die Hoffnung, dass die eine oder andere Freundschaft in der Begegnung soweit gereift ist, dass sie in die Zukunft reicht und dort Vertiefung erfährt.

Ich wünsche allen Reisenden einen Schutzengel und den Erholung Suchenden eine erquickende Sommerfrische.