1. Why did you decide to be an exchange student in the USA?
I always wanted to be an exchange student because I'm interested in different cultures, meeting new people. And it was supposed to be the USA, because I wanted to go to a high school and see what the American school spirit is like!!It also a good thing to improve my English, and I'm glad that I made the decision to come here.
2.How do you like it in America, and why??
I enjoy it here very much. My host family is a great family and they gave me a wonderful new home. And I really enjoy being a student of RHS, because I love the school very much. There are so many great people and almost everybody is nice to me, and helps me, when I need help for example with my English,... The teachers are very nice, and I enjoy my time, and everything in RHS.
3. What do/did you like best here in America?
Volleyball was the best thing, but there are so many other great things here!! I guess, I like everything!!
4. What do/did you like least?
I don't know, I really like everything!! Oh, okay, the food is very different here, and I guess, after one year, I would miss the German bread too much!!
5. Was is hard for you to settle in?
Yes!!!! The beginning was a little bit hard, because when I first came here, everything was so different than in Germany!!! I didn't speak English very good, and so I mostly didn't had any idea, what the people said to me. Maybe, it was too much at the same time, because I came one week after school ended in Germany, and 4 days after I came here I already started school here. Because of the time difference, of 7 hours I unfortunately was tired all the time and when I had to work on my homework for a few hours everyday after school because I first had to translate everything, it was sometimes a little bit frustrating! But the students and teachers here helped me a lot, and so my English was getting better and now I understand more and more, what's going on during class!!!
6. Is the American school different than the German school?
Yes, and a lot!! We have a very different school system and don't have high schools like you have here. After 4 grade, we decide to which school we want to go to. So we can decide between schools where you learn stuff you need, when you want to go to university, or we have schools where you learn the things you need, when you want to become something in business....!! There are many different schools, and we also have special schools for disabled people, or people with learning difficulties, or whatever.
In schools in Germany you are in classes of 25-30 students, who are together all the time from 8 o'clock to 1 o'clock. (that's how long our school lasts every day, till 11 grade)
The classes have their own classrooms, and the teachers have to walk to all the different classes. We also don't have the same schedule everyday, because we take 12-15 different subjects in the week. The tests are not as often as here and are very different. Not multiple choice questions like here, and they count more, because we don't have very many and if you fail them, it's hard to get better again. We don't get grades for our homework, but we get grades for the answers we say during class, and we get tested individual in front of the whole class!! I'm glad, that you don't have this in America, because it can sometimes be a little bit embarrassing, when you just didn't study this one day, but the teacher decides to ask you individual and don't know anything.
Another thing is, that we don't have all the sport stuff from school, but mostly only from communities,...We have some teams (we don't have football and baseball) but they aren't very important. Everybody who wants to play can play and it's not very bad if the team isn't very good. So in Germany, we don't have pep rallys or things like homecomingweek and that makes every school day the same.
7. Do you speak other languages than German and English?
I also speak French a little bit, and I took Spanish here in America, and the sign language for half a year in Germany!!! And I know a little little bit of Swedish, but unfortuantely not very much!! A dream is to speak all these languages fluently!! I know work on my English, and after America, I would like to do something like this exchange thing in all these other countries, because I really would like to speak the languages!!
8. How were you accepted by the American people??
This was a great thing!! Almost everybody welcomed me very friendly here. The teachers helped me with my English, and almost everybody was really nice to me. Especially the volleyball team was great to me, and they let me play in the team, even when I often didn't play very good!!! They always gave me a ride to the games and everything, and helped me with a lot of stuff!! I really appreciate this!! So almost everybody here accepted me!!
There are only some people who laugh about my English, but that is not too bad for me, because I know that my English isn't perfect yet and I have a different dialect!! There was only one thing that made me bit sad, and that was that somebody, I didn't even know, asked me on the hallway, if I'm a "Nazi", because I'm from Germany!! He laughed about this, and didn't say anything else!! I don't know, but I that made me mad, because I've nothing to do with anything what happened many years ago or what happens now in politics! But that was the only thing which wasn't nice!!
9. Are you in any sport teams or clubs??
I played volleyball, which was a great thing, and than I tried out for basketball, but I was too bad and they didn't want me in the team!!! I'm unfortunately only in the Book Club and in nothing else yet, but I'm trying to find some clubs, because I really like to be involved in school and everything!! Out of school, I play volleyball from church, and I start to play in a soccer team at the weekends!! So I'm glad that I do that now, after Volleyball was over in Rossview!!
10. How was your preparation for your stay in the USA??
Almost one year before this year, when I really thought about going to the USA, I sent an application to an exchange organisation in Germany. After an interview, which lasted more than 3 hours, and where they tested me, if I was suitable for an exchange year, I had to fill out a lot of stuff!! We then had a lot of orientations in Germany and one in Chicago, and we talked a lot about all the stuff we need to know when we come here!! So my preparation for this year was also a great time, because I had much contact with so many other exchange students from all over Germany, who have host families everywhere in America!! So, I enjoyed all the preparation stuff almost as much, as this time here, and it helped me a lot!!
11. Do you miss Germany a lot??? How much contact do you have with your family and friends?
That's a hard question!! Of course I miss my family and my friends very much, but it isn't like I want to go home right now, because I like it here so much, and I know, that everybody is doing fine in Germany,...!! But there were some days I really missed my friends in Germany very much!! I don't know if I was homesick, maybe!! I just missed talking to my friends, and even when we are not really allowed to call our friends, I called my two best friends at the weekend, and we talked together for a long time, and after that, I felt so much better!! Besides that, I'm in e-mail contact with all my parents and my friends and a long e-mail which I send to everybody maybe every week. And I sometimes write e-mails to my friends but I often don't have time for that!! Then I call my parents every second or third week!! I'm glad that I have so much contact to all my family and friends and I don't think, I miss all my people in Germany too much!!
12. How do your friends in Germany think about your exchange year?
Many support me very much, and stay in contact with me even if I don't have much time to write very often but there are also some few who are jealous, but I guess, maybe these are not really friends!!
13. Besides volleyball, what else are you interested in??
Okay, volleyball is my favorite hobby!! Then I also like playing soccer, playing the piano and the didgeridoo a little bit, meeting friends, talking to them on the phone for hours, going shopping, reading, sleeping,.. !! In Germany I enjoyed going out with my dog, going snowboarding with friends, having a child group from church,...
14.What would you like to do, after you graduate??
I'm not really sure what I want to do after school, but it is supposed to be something with children, dogs or languages and where I can live all over the world!! I didn't find a job yet, which has all this, but I'm sure one day, I'll find it, what I want to do!!
15. Would you like to live in the USA?
Honestly, no!!! Nothing against the USA, but I don't know. I think, it's maybe too different for me and I would miss Europe too much!! I like it here very much, but I think, maybe one year is enough!! But I also think I don't want to live in Germany after I finished school!! I maybe would like to live in Sweden, or Norway, or somewhere else in northern Europe, because I love these countries very much!!
16. What would you like to say to students, who think about being an exchange student?
If you have the chance to do it, just do it, and enjoy it!! It can be a great experience, and you'll learn a lot of stuff!!
17. Anything else, you would like to say?
Thank you!!! I want to say a big big thanks, to everybody who makes this year possible for me, like my family in Germany who supports me so much, and all my friends, who don't forget me, and keep in touch with me!! Of course also a big big thanks to my great host family here in America and RHS, who give me a great new home!! A big thanks also to the volleyball team, that they were so nice to me, and to Mrs. Houston!!
And of course to all the other student and my teachers here in America, who help me a lot, and make the best time of my life possible for me!!! Ein ganz grosses Dankeschoen an alle!!!
Page created by Ellen Taylor
11/22/02