Seven students spend summer in Stuttgart

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Division 3

Seven students spend summer in Stuttgart

Emily Zaiac

Grade 11

E-Town ExPRESSion

Elizabethtown HS

Adviser: Michelle Cekovsky Henry

What are you doing this summer? How about visiting old, picturesque castles, hiking through mysterious, ancient forests, or going “out on the town” in some big European cities?

That’s what seven students will do this summer on Elizabethtown’s first-ever German exchange trip. Participants will spend three weeks, from Tuesday, June 12, to Tuesday, July 3, attending 10 days of school in Germany.

The travelers include seniors Miranda Brandt, Aaron Gordner and Jessica Richards; juniors Owen Bradley and Ned Thilo; sophomore John Murphy; and freshman Katya Rebman. German teacher Carl Shenk will accompany them.

The venture is part of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). The exchange program will allow the students to travel to Germany for three weeks, while German pupils will stay in Elizabethtown for two weeks in October. Our students will attend school at Stromberg Gymnasium.

“We will be going there at the end of their school year and they will come here at the beginning of ours,” Bradley said.

The tentative price of the trip is $1500. The travelers will fly into Frankfurt, Germany, and then to Stuttgart to meet their host families.

When visiting Stuttgart, students will stay with host families who have teens similar in age to Elizabethtown pupils. When the German trekkers come here, they will stay with the same student’s family. Shenk, along with his son and brother-in-law, will most likely stay at a hotel in Germany.

Although the students will spend a large amount of time with host families, Shenk also has some group activities planned. He said the group will visit Stuttgart and the Porsche factory, spend a night in Munich, travel to the Rhine Falls on the Rhine River, hike in the Black Forest and visit Linderhof Castle.

Shenk also said that German host families may take their student to neighboring countries such as France or Switzerland.

This is Shenk’s first trip to Germany since he has been teaching at Elizabethtown; however, he has traveled there many times before. As for the students, few have ever been outside of the United States.

“I got my passport four years ago in anticipation of a German trip so I’m ready to go,” Brandt said.

Brandt’s family is currently hosting a German student, Esther Haubold, so Brandy has become more fluent in the language.

“Sometimes I type in German to Esther’s friends [on the internet]. Some of the translations don’t come out right,” Brandy said.

Brandt has also participated in a German summer camp to supplement her knowledge of German culture.

As for communication in Germany, many of the students are not quite as fluent as Brandt. “I haven’t taken a German class for two years so I’m a little rusty,” Gordner said.

Thilo said that he feels fluent enough and is not afraid of being embarrassed by language barriers. However, some think that it will be beneficial to travel there without much experience.

“[Communication] will be hard but I will probably be fluent when I’m done,” Bradley said.

The students have their own opinions about the purpose of the trip.

“We will experience a different culture and learn the language. It seems like a good opportunity,” Bradley said.

Living in a completely different culture will be a new twist for the Elizabethtown students, especially if it is their first foreign trip.

“I’m not nervous yet; I’m more excited, but I will be nervous when the time comes,” Bradley said.

Brandt was also excited about the excursion.

“I love languages and [different] cultures, and I’ve never left the country before,” Brandt said.

Shenk said he looks forward to the venture because he will escort a small, focused group of students.