Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001 |
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German student says U.S. visit was an eye-opener
Some of the cultural stereotypes of the United States held by Europeans are false, some not so false, according to one recent visitor. "Some of the prejudices against Americans are definitely true," said Verena Bergemann, who recently stayed with a Fayette family as part of an exchange between Sandy Creek High School students and those in Lessing-Gymnasium, a college prep school in Braunschweig, Germany (see related story). "Like the one that most Americans use their car to get to a place that could be easily reached by bike or by foot, and that there's really a fast food restaurant at every corner." But she discovered that Americans are not all fat, apparently a widely held perception in Europe. Bergemann gave her impressions in an e-mail exchange with The Citizen. Here are some excerpts: "I think it's the people and the way they behave that I like best. The Southern hospitality is amazing! Everybody is so friendly and helpful, if you are a visitor (I don't know what its like when you live there). "Everything is so big! (even the milk bottles ...). It's really impressive to walk through Atlanta downtown between all those skyscrapers with the glittering windows and their modern style! It's just great, and sometimes so different that it almost feels like another world. "The most interesting thing I experienced was that people are proud of the country they live in. I didn't know this feeling from Germany, and at first it seemed strange to me to see the American flag in front of so many houses, but you get used to that after a while and if you think about it, it's great that people can be proud of what they have and where they live. "I learned what it's like to live in a totally strange family ... but I was lucky that I had a very nice family that made my "moving in" very easy. I stayed with the Niggley family, and they are very interested in different cultures and they are very openhearted, so I had a really great stay and a big part of that was determined by the family I stayed with. "The educational system is totally different from the one in Germany. ... Children in Germany attend the elementary school from first to fourth, sometimes to sixth grade; after that it separates into three different schools, the Hauptschule (lowest educational standard, could be translated into "main school," [which] means you just get a basic education). After the Hauptschule you have to attend the Berufsschule where you learn e.g. how to cook and you start learning for your later job. The other school is the Realschule where you get an average education, after that you can make an apprentice. "You have to make an apprentice for every job you want to do (or stay unemployed). "And there's the Gymnasium (which I attend), the school with the highest educational standard. Only if you pass the final test at the end of the 13th grade (called Abitur) you are allowed to go to a university. If you pass the university with good grades you can work in every job you want, all over Europe. So we have no high school where all students (the gifted and the ones who are not) are mixed together. German students are separated when they are about 11 or 12 years old. "... and school in Germany is much stricter than school in America. Guess what I like more."
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