McLean students took off on April. 6 towards Germany, anxiously awaiting the life-changing experience ahead of them after students from Germany spent time within the foster homes at McLean previously.

The trip lasted for two weeks during which McLean students visited a variety of different tourist destinations such as the Mercedes museum, the Audi factory and other regions within Western Germany.

“We went all around Western Germany. Basically, we went to Heidelberg and different parts of the area. And in those different places, we saw a lot of the monuments, the different castles and such,” sophomore Mark Rindone said.

During the trip, the individuals that the German students encountered and the interactions that they had provided them with an experience that they would never be able to have using the tradition teaching style in the classroom.

“Our biggest problem is that we don’t have practical type [conversations] in class. We speak and do partner work and all that, but we don’t have just regular conversation,” Rindone said.

Additionally, many benefitted from the experience of emerging themselves into a new language through taking classes in German schools that were taught in German.

“Going to school, I had to go to a chemistry class in German. I actually understood what was going on in that chemistry class better than here,” sophomore Miranda Bomersheim said

Additionally, between the activities that the students participated in, they received the opportunity to spend time in the heart of German cities and explore the German language through interacting with different people. 

“You had a lot of free time, because you go to a city and visit one site and then just be able to walk around and do whatever you want,” Bomersheim said.

Regardless of the language barriers that were existent during the trip, most Germans within the region were able to understand some German as Germany is a diverse region with different language-speaking communities.

“If you can’t find a specific word, or you’re having a really hard time speaking German for some reason, almost anyone in commercial businesses or other jobs can speak some English,” Bomersheim said.

Regardless of the small barriers that, McLean students encountered during their trip to Germany, the trip was able to expose them to a different society populated with individuals living in a culture.

“I guess you don’t really learn a lot about how different societies like today act compared to yourself. How the different people, talk with each other and how it’s similar, but also different,” Rindone said.

Click here to check out how the German exchange students in McLean had the opportunity to correlate with McLean orchestra

Orchestra celebrates 25 years of German exchange program