MANCHESTER, NH – The exchange between the Käthe-Kollwitz Gymnasium in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany and the High Schools in Manchester, New Hampshire was established in 1990 and is supposed to let the participants experience “world culture.” This year our group of 16 German students arrived on September 30 in Manchester and I will give you some insight of our experiences in the U.S. and the activities we did so far.
On the first day after our arrival we had a day we were able to spend with our host families to get to know each other better. My host family took me to the seacoast in Maine and showed me how to eat lobsters which I was really excited to do since I have never had any before. When we got there I expected a usual restaurant but it was more of a snack bar with self-service. I thought that was really cool since in Germany eating lobster, especially local lobster, is not so widespread and even more expensive than here.
During the ride to Maine and the trips we have done so far me and my German friends immediately noticed some things that are very foreign and unusual to us. The biggest difference is probably the fact that everything in the U.S. seems so huge. On the streets you can see mostly big cars like SUVs and pick-up trucks that are way less common in Germany, where more value is placed on a sporty-looking car. Also these so-called “value sizes” impressed us since in Germany we don’t usually have these.
Many of us became fans of the big Stanley Cups and Yeti bottles which we found super practical because of the size and variety of colors. Of course, we have thermos bottles at home but they are usually smaller so you are forced to fill them up more often, which already brings us to our next point: the many water dispensers, which you can find everywhere here. I personally think it’s great that everyone has access to drinking water, especially when you forgot to bring your own bottle or didn’t bring money with you. Back in Germany water dispensers in public are not the standard which especially in summer should be the case.
Something I really love here in the U.S., which to locals might seem funny, are Target and Walmart. I know it’s a natural thing for the people living here, but to someone from Germany or Europe in general it’s really exciting to go shopping in those big supermarkets that have literally everything. The snack and sweets aisle is my personal favorite because there is such cool stuff that we in Germany don’t have. I mean we do have things like Oreos, Doritos and Reeses but not in these different variants and sizes. I remember one of my friends sending a video of the cereal section of Walmart to me and telling me how her host parents told her to choose whatever she likes and her being so overwhelmed because of the large selection.
Our first day in High School was really interesting. Most of our group went to Memorial High School and some to Central High School. Since many of us don’t have host sibling of the same age or host sibling at all we were assigned to students who were supposed to show us around a little bit and took us into their daily school life. Through the many American films most already had some idea of what to expect, but there were still a few things that amazed me.
For example, the students’ schedule, which remains the same every day. For European students this seems quite unusual because we have different school subjects every day of the week. I personally couldn’t imagine having only six subjects for the entire school year. Also when my school host told me that she doesn’t have PE this year I was surprised, because in Germany it is compulsory to take PE, the only exception is in case of long-term injuries or illnesses, because then you have to choose another compensatory subject.
Another thing that threw me off a bit were the police officers, who walked around the school and looked after the right. For us German students this was really weird because it’s not usual for police officers to wander around schools in Germany.
But my favorite experience here so far will definitely remain the bonfire, which a Memorial student organized at her house. It was so cool to hang out with American students of the same age and get to talk with them. We taught the Americans typical German expressions and jokes and they showed us dances like Cotton Eye Joe which was a lot of fun. I had so much fun here already and I am more than excited about what I will experience here.
An exchange program is always a great opportunity to get to know different cultures and meet new people. All of us hope that this year enough students from Manchester will apply to visit us in Germany, since last year it had to be cancelled due to lack of interest from the American students. Hopefully, we will be able to host some high school students in spring next year and show them all the things we told them about.
The Inkubator program is aimed at nurturing and growing New Hampshire’s local journalism ecosystem – support for educators, opportunities for students and pathways for future journalists, artists and creators. And beyond that, we want to engage our community in this process because together, we rise. Contributions in support of the growth of our Inkubator program are tax-deductible and can be made here.