| How does your host town compare to your hometown? | My hometown, Bielefeld in Western Germany, is a few times bigger than Redding, with about 330,000 residents. |
| Your favorite pastime? | I love snowboarding. (Nice having Mt. Shasta so close here.) |
| What were the highlights of your exchange experience? | It happened during my first month here; I was invited to a party. There, a guy cracked a few jokes about Adolf Hitler and Nazi-Germany. I kind of ignored it and after a while I even forgot it. In the meantime, a friend of mine heard about what happened and together with a few other Americans, came to me and apologized (3X) for what occurred, and arranged that the guy come back and apologize to me. I was very impressed by their courage, and I'll definitely make sure that people back at my German school will hear about this story. |
| More or less classwork/homework this school year than at home? | I think I had more here than at home. Homework in the U.S. is more important for your final grade than in Germany. |
| The main differences between classes, exams, and the way students here study compared to your school? | The main differences is that here you take multiple choice tests. In Germany we never use them, we always have to answer questions with our own paragraph. Also American students earn the biggest part of their grades through daily/weekly classwork/homework assignments. In Germany we have the same type of assignments, but the largest part of our final grade comes from @ main exams we have every semester. They alone count for 50-60% of our grade, while the rest is based on class participation. |
| Any classes/teachers you enjoyed and would recommend? | I enjoy all of them, but I would definitely recommend Mrs. H's drama class; it's a lot of fun and Mrs. H is a great teacher. |
| Any specific goals during your stay here? If so, what were they? | I wanted to confront my European preconceptions of America with the reality, and I must say I've liked what I seen. |
| Was your stay here very different from what you expected? | I found out that Americans like to joke about themselves and their government; something that I did not expect. |
| What might be hard for FHS students to adjust to in the culture of your country? Any behaviors here that would be rude, not proper, or odd in your country? | In Germany, it's extremely rude to eat during class - here in California I saw many teachers allow their students to eat or drink in their class. If you come to my school back in Germany, you'd definitely have to give that up. |
| What effects will your exchange experience have on your future? | I'd like to that FHS for their great support and for making this experience happen. This is a great school and I hope that many other exchange students after me will have the opportunity to spend time abroad at FHS. |
| Miscellaneous comments. |
Country: Germany
State: Westphalia Town Bielefeld Age: 17 |