On Oct. 15,  students from Schönborn Gymnasium in Bruchsal, Germany visited Niles West and Niles North as part of a German-exchange program and stayed with the families of District 219 students. German-exchange students were paired with students taking German this year to live with during their stay.

“It’s so great that we are able teach beyond the classroom walls and offer students a truly authentic language and cultural learning experience. And often the friendships formed last a lifetime,” said German teacher Josef Neumayer.

I asked German-exchange students Eva Wagner, Sefan Liebold, Florian Puehl, and Selina Ruhnke about their thoughts on America and our school. These exchange students lived with sophomores Alex Wood and Morgan Gstalter and juniors Will Lefler and Tiffany Steffen during their stay in America.

NWN: What do you think of our school and is it any different from your school in Germany?

• Eva: “I like [your school]. It is very different from our German school. It’s very big and you have more people. I like your classes. In our school, there is less people and we don’t have the same subjects every day. [The people] are very friendly and nice. The teachers are nice too.”
• Sefan: “The people that I met were friendly. [The school] is very big in comparison with our [school] because we have only about 800 students total. We also have classes in which we have every subject, so [the classroom] doesn’t change. We also have more subjects.”
• Florian: “It was big. Very big. The teachers are nice and it was fun. [Your school] is bigger [than ours] and it’s built differently. The classes are different and teachers are a little stricter. We don’t learn by looking at things, we learn stuff more by mind and more theoretically.”
• Selina: “It’s a nice school and it’s completely different from [my] school in Germany because you have a lot of sports, activities, and homecoming, [which] we don’t have in Germany. [The students] are like the kids in Germany and they’re really cool, especially my exchange partner.”

NWN: Have you made any new friends here?

• Eva: “Yes, I like them and I think it’s great to have friends from another country, and I hope I can keep in touch with them.”
• Sefan: “Yes, there are some people that I have met that I could talk very openly to.”
• Florian: “Yeah, lots of them. I’ve met lots of Alex’s, [my exchange partner’s], friends.”
• Selina: “Yes, like my exchange partner and her neighbors.”

NWN: Let’s pretend you weren’t going back home. Do you think you would enjoy living here in America?

• Eva: “Yes, of course, because [this has been] an important experience and I had a lot of fun.”
• Sefan: “Yes, because there are some things I will miss, like the friendly people and the very high buildings.”
• Florian: “I think so, yeah. I’d like just to hang out or stuff like that. I’d think it’d be fun.”
• Selina: “I would enjoy it here and I’m going to be staying here for a year next year in the summer.”

NWN: What is your favorite part about America?

• Eva: “Umm, I guess [I like that] it’s very big and we did a lot of things [here].”
• Sefan: “The things I saw here are much bigger than in Germany and I will miss that.”
• Florian: “[I like] the way you live. You [do] things the easy way and Americans aren’t really strict. All the people are really nice.”
• Selina: “I like homecoming, because we don’t have anything like it in Germany. I like the music. It’s something special and we don’t have anything like a ball you can go to with friends in Germany.”

NWN: Is the food and culture here different from things in Germany?

• Eva: “No, I don’t think it’s so different. Some things are of course different, but all in all, most things are the same. I guess you have more choices and you have more people from different countries.”
• Sefan: “[Here], there is a very mixed culture and in Germany it is more Christian and Jewish. Here, it is a cultural mix. The food is very different from ours in Germany. You get bigger portions here, and in Germany, the portions are smaller, and we don’t make big meals at home.”
• Florian: “It’s very different. The Germans barely eat fast food and here you eat a lot. In Germany, we eat more as a family and here you eat more separately. Other than that, it’s about the same.”
• Selina: “Yes, it is. In Germany we don’t eat with plastic ware and we don’t eat any fast food because we eat very healthy. Here you have McDonalds and stuff that we don’t have in Germany.”

NWN: What do you think this experience of coming to America has taught you?

• Eva: “Umm, I suppose I’ve learned another language and I want to get better at it. I’ve learned about your culture more, [too].”
• Sefan: “I learned that many different cultures can live together. In Germany, there is a very big discussion about Islam, and here many different cultures can live very good together and can come from one area and live in one country.”
• Florian: “[I’ve learned] there are lots of different cultures and that it’s possible for lots of different cultures to be together and how different families live.
• Selina: “It’s a great experience because you’re here without parents, so you have to take care of yourself. I learned a lot of things in the English language.”

NWN: Would you ever want to come back to America after you leave?

• Eva: “Yes, the cities and the new friends I’ve made would make me want to come back.”
• Sefan: “Yes, because I learned a lot about [the] people and things here.”
• Florian: “Yeah, I would, because I’ve lived here for a while.”
• Selina: “Yes, I’m coming back next year for a year.”

NWN: Are there any American celebrities that you like or heard about?

• Eva: “Yes, umm, the people from the Vampire Diaries and Grey’s Anatomy. I like Izzie and Stefan.”
• Sefan: “In Germany, I’ve heard about the Disney stars, like Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, but I don’t have a favorite.”
• Florian: “No, not really.”
• Selina: “I like Avril Lavigne, Sum 41, and Green Day.”

NWN: Is there anything here that you will miss when you go back home?

• Eva: “The people here.”
• Sefan: “I will miss the big buildings.”
• Florian: “I’ll miss the weather because it’s really rainy in Germany around this time, so I’ll miss the good weather the most.”
• Selina: “I will miss my exchange family, and I will miss the school system and activities and the buildings in Chicago.”

NWN: What is the most exciting thing you’ve done in your life?

• Eva: “Coming here.”
• Sefan: “I was in Rome and I met the Pope there.”
• Florian: “I’ve been in Brazil, visiting poor people. We were just seeing how they lived and played music with them.”
• Selina: “I love traveling and I’ve gone to Florida and all over the U.S. The only place I’ve never been is Australia.”

NWN: What are you going to do as soon as you get back home?

• Eva: “I’ll tell everybody about my experience here.”
• Sefan: “I think I’ll have to tell my family everything [about my trip] and back at school; I’ll tell my mates everything as well.”
• Florian: “I’m going to sleep and I’m probably going to see my friends again.”
• Selina: “I’m going to sleep in my bed.”

The Schönborn students departed for Boston on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and will return home to Germany on Saturday, Oct. 30. As part of this exchange program, District 219 students will also travel to Germany in the summer of 2011 to live with their German exchange partners for two weeks and travel through southern Germany and Austria with their German teachers.  More information on the Schönborn exchange program, including itineraries, can be found at: http://www2.niles-hs.k12.il.us/josneu/Exchange/index.html.