Coming all the way from the northern state of Mecklenburg in Germany, 21 visiting foreign exchange students have been in the classes at FHS. The hope is that through being a student in the school rather than just a tourist, they will have a better experience with the society and the students. They have discovered new things here that most would have easily looked over.
In comparison with schools in Germany, FHS is huge. Having a total amount of 3,000 students at FHS and 300 students at their school, the surprise of the size was definitely a factor.
“Everything here is much bigger than Germany. It’s so amazing,” Juliane Richter said. “One day I was at a shopping center, and its so much bigger than our shopping center.”
There also was a contrast in the way lessons are taught. Being in the system and experiencing everything has been an “interesting” involvement for the students.
“You have the same lessons everyday due to what you’ve chosen before,” Jurgen Tulde, their teacher, said. “In Germany we’ve got several lessons a day, and the next day is a completely different times table so there are definitely more subjects that you have.”
The students also had the chance to participate and watch events foreign to their country. For example, events like pumpkin festivals is unknown to them. Halloween is celebrated in their country, but the idea of carving pumpkins, pumpkin patches and holding festivals is and unknown prospect.
“I was at a marching band competition, and it was amazing,” Lisa Weng said. “The marching band was so big, and they also had choreography.”
Being an exchange student is no easy task according to Tulde. To become one, the students had to do certain tests to see who is a good “ambassador”, according to Tulde, to come over. Not everyone can handle to stress and homesickness from being across the ocean for a long time. If the students are capable, they have the option of filling out the applications and attending the meetings to be an exchange student.
The students will stay until fall break, then next week they will be visiting Chicago to do some sight-seeing.
Some of exchange students will miss the families and friends that they met, and the students would agree that coming back would be great so they can see their new friends again.
