Wednesday, April 14, 2004

German students get a taste of the South

By LINDSAY BIANCHI
lbianchi@thecitizennews.com

One of the biggest moments in a teenager’s life is getting a driver’s license. Soon, they are experiencing the freedom and frustration of rush hour and Sunday drives.

In Germany, the young motorists are introduced to the Autobahn, a superhighway with no speed limit. In Georgia, there’s I-285, another highway experience entirely.

The difference between students here and there may not be much more than speed zones. A Saturday afternoon barbecue hosted by Carol Waters at her home in Tyrone demonstrated just how similar teens are no matter which side of the globe they call home.

Waters hosted two students from Braunschweig in northern Germany as part of a German American Partnership Program at Sandy Creek High School. The three-week tour of life as a young American comes to a close this week leaving those involved a little sad, but richer for the experience.

Started 10 years ago by the chance curiosity of a German student, the cultural exchange began with 21 students and one teacher. The biennial program remerged this spring with 21 more eager teens and three teachers. Gunter Hoppenworth, Gaby Niederstrasser and Sabine Hambruch accompanied the seven boys and 14 girls on a jam-packed tour of Georgia classrooms and culture.

Gunter Hoppenworth, who teaches math and physics, has been with the program since it began in 1994. He has been on nearly every exchange trip and taught physics in College Park 20 years ago.

Gaby Niederstrasser, an English and geography teacher, has also been with the program before and said the one thing that she liked about teaching in the U.S. was that every teacher had their own room. In Germany, the teachers go from room to room while the students remain.

Sabine Hambruch, an English and Spanish teacher, who is visiting America for the first time, pointed out that all German teachers have to be able to teach two different subjects. This versatility comes in handy when substitutes are needed she said.

The partnership program does an equal exchange of American students and German students trading one culture for another. Exchange candidates send bios via e-mail listing their likes, dislikes, hopes and expectations. The kids are matched up with their new families using the criteria.

Student Alexander Baars really enjoyed his stay. Like most of the students, he liked the weather and said it was really cool here, except for the traffic. When asked if he’d ever driven over 100 miles per hour on the Autobahn, he just smiled slyly.

Each group has to prepare presentations about their home country to give at different classes and schools. In addition, the students attend regular classes. Heinreke Schaper-Rinkel took psychology, chorus, Spanish, German, anatomy and government during her 10 school days in Georgia.

Field trips were also a big part of the learning experience. CNN, the Capital, the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives, Coca-Cola, Atlanta Underground and the M.L. King Center all received visits in one day starting at 8:45 a.m. and stretching till 7 p.m. Stone Mountain and The Jewish Museum in Atlanta were visited as well.

Carol Waters’ two students, Jan Wyrich and Jona Rammler experienced their share of pizza, spaghetti, grits, cornbread and their favorite, Krispy Kreme. Waters, who they refer to as “the best momma,” cooked nonstop and treated Jan and Jona to deep fried turkey. She plans to visit Germany very soon and drop in on her new boys.

There were a lot of bonds created during the three-week program, and thanks to e-mail, it will be easy to keep in touch for both sides. Bill Bryan, the German teacher at Sandy Creek who spearheaded the project said several other high schools in the area are following suit with their own German/English exchange programs..

“The families get a lot out of it.” Bryan said. “It’s not just the students who benefit. The effects are global.”