Friday, October 30, 2015

Student Feature Friday - German Exchange Students Visit Nipmuc

Each year, Nipmuc has the good fortune to welcome a group of high school students from Germany to our campus as part of an exchange program. Throughout the month of October seven Nipmuc students hosted our international guests, introducing them to American life, schools, and culture. It was please to get to know these students and see how excited they were to learn about life in the United States. Upon arriving they shared their excitement to ride to school on a yellow school bus, see if high school in America was really how it seemed in the movies, and visit Boston & New York. 

It was a great visit that was beneficial to them, but also to all of our students. We're thankful for the chance to make new friends and learn about life in Germany.

For this week’s Feature Friday I had the chance to hear from our student-hosts about how this experience impacted them. Enjoy!

Megan Baumgarten
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. The most memorable and meaningful part of my experience in hosting a German exchange student would be making the connection with my German exchange student. Julia and I had grown very close over the three weeks she visited.  I was excited to learn about the differences of the German school that Julia regularly attends, and our American school.  As well, I enjoyed learning about how different my daily life was to hers, down to the different appliances in her home.  Learning so much about her life while she learned about mine is defiantly the most memorable, and our friendship is the most meaningful part. 

Alex Chu
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. The most meaningful part of having Lina shadow me for three weeks is hard to name. There isn't a single point that I could choose to show how the experience went, instead it's the adventure itself. Recalling upon our first day together we were both super shy and didn't find much to talk about. For the first week of our time together I always felt bad about how it went and I wanted to find a way I could make it memorable for both of us. The only thing that really came to my mind is to show her how great Nipmuc truly is.  Her time shouldn't really be defined by moments it should be how she remembers her entire time. This is why the best part of having Lina was her being able to see how different it is here and spending a great time making friends with everyone at Nipmuc.

Michelle Goddard
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. The most memorable part of my experience with Lena was going to events outside of school, such as the football game. I loved seeing her reactions to things such as football that are so normal in America, but a brand new experience for her and her friends.  Also, because Lena only shadowed me in school, doing things outside of a classroom environment allowed me to get to know her better. This was a great experience that allowed me to develop a long lasting friendship. 


Dallas O’Hagan
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. The most memorable part about hosting a German student was all the fun Sebastian and I had. Meeting someone your own age that lives half way across the Earth is an enduring thing to do, but it was so rewarding. I had some of the greatest time with the German exchange students. They were so much fun to meet and get to know. Over the course of three weeks I was able to go from awkward acquaintances, to best friends with Sebastian. I was able to learn so much about German culture and was able to teach him so much about ours. This was such a rewarding experience and I cannot wait to meet him again in the future.   

Noelle Ott
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. For me, the most amazing part of doing the host student program is watching your exchange student integrate themselves in your family and school. It's incredible how easily they fit themselves into our high school and how much they love being here, and even more incredible how a complete stranger can become as close as a sibling in less than four weeks. My family has done the exchange program three times now; each three-week interval has been special, educational on all parts, and simply a great experience.

Jillian Penfield
Q. What is the most memorable and meaningful part of your experience in hosting German exchange students?
A. My favorite part of this experience was making so many amazing friends and learning about the German language and culture. Because of the exchange last year, I would love to be able to speak German fluently. I love learning about how their daily lives are so different from ours. I also loved introducing them to the American culture. Not only did we introduce them to Boston and Providence, but also to classic American teenager spots like Skyzone and Chipotle; places that don't exist in Germany. Though this was an exchange of students, it really was an exchange of cultures and learning experiences. 

Sequoia Tracy-Stone
The most memorable and most meaningful part of my experience in hosting German Exchange students over the past five years has always been learning about all the differences between our normal lives, yet seeing how we're the same despite our differences. All the little things like laughing around the dinner table and walking around town to washing the dishes together and helping each other with math homework. Although going on the trips to Boston, Providence, and New York City with the exchange students was a lot of fun, it was the everyday experiences that meant the most to me. 





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