On Thursday, Oct. 2, students from Germany arrived in Loudoun County as part of a student exchange program, during which they stayed in Ashburn for a week. Through this exchange program, several German students shadowed their host students at Rock Ridge and explored American culture and history by traveling to Washington D.C. and visiting historic sites and areas of the city, like Georgetown.

An important part of the exchange program was the host students getting to build relationships and learn about German culture with the German students they housed. Freshman Maysum Jafary, a Rock Ridge student enrolled in German III, saw hosting an exchange student as an interesting opportunity. “I remember visiting Europe and finding it a very interesting area,” Jafary said. “And just while visiting, I noticed that the quality of life and the way life is over there is very different, so I figured this would be a great way to learn more about that.”

Apart from just visiting monuments and tourist attractions in DC, German students immersed themselves in American culture by following their host families during everyday activities such as grocery shopping at Costco. “I remember the first day he came here [and] we had that Thursday off, so we blew his mind by taking him to Costco,” Jafary said. “I think that threw him off a little, because the pizza was bigger than he was, and the ice cream cup was bigger than his head, which I just think is a foreign concept to people from Europe.” 

For many of the visiting German students, there was a pervasive sense of shock and awe. “There’s so much fast food, [and] it’s pretty much [just] fast food around here,” junior exchange student Felix Hildibaandt said. He also noticed how fast-paced life in the United States seems as a foreigner. “We did go to a football game,” Hildibaandt said. “I can’t remember it all; it was so much [action].” 

Junior Henrietta Goodkin, another German exchange student, experienced the same sense of culture shock and excitement. “I like the subjects we learn, especially culinary class,” Goodkin said. “We don’t have that class in Germany. I see the difference between the American [television] series and real life.”

School life was especially fascinating to Goodkin because of the difference in hours. “Because in Germany, school ends earlier, many people have hobbies and sports and free time after school,” Goodkin said. “I guess here, the people don’t.” Goodkin also noticed many differences between German and US cuisine when trying new foods. “We went to a Thai restaurant, and the size of the fruit was huge,” Goodkin said. “In Germany, it’s half of that.” Despite all these differences, Goodkin feels a strong connection to her host family already. “If she wants to visit Germany too, I would like to stay in contact with them.”

For the teachers who led the program, that lasting connection is precisely what they strive for. Ralf Kaecks, an English teacher from Germany who organized the exchange, saw this experience as a valuable example of multicultural interaction. “It helps students to see more than just their school life and their home,” Kaecks said. “It broadens their horizons. It enables them to communicate in a foreign language, and it helps them get to know people from your area and from your school and stay in contact with them.” 

His colleague, English teacher Carsten Ruhnau, who also accompanied the exchange group during their trip, considers international interactions like the exchange to be important. “Contact with students from different countries benefits them on several levels, like, of course, learning the language and using [it],” Ruhnau said.

Programs like this exchange aim to strengthen global ties and help students explore cultures and societies outside of their own in order to achieve the bigger goal of increasing young people’s cultural awareness. “There’s so much in the media and all these Hollywood films, and I think they all have their stereotypes of what American high school is and how people in the U.S. are,” Ruhnau said. “But I think actually getting to know them is always a bonus, and that always makes the relationship between the countries better.”