March 12, 2004

Back to the Table of Contents Page

Back to the Weekly Home Page

Classifieds

Publication Date: Friday, March 12, 2004

From hello to 'guten tag'

"Hello."

"Guten tag."

Two dozen high school students from Pleasanton and from Germany take part in an exchange for about six weeks every other year that is an opportunity to experience life in a foreign country.

The purpose of the German American Partnership Program is to foster the culture of the partnering countries, said Cindy Jackson, a German language teacher at Foothill High School.

Under Jackson's guidance, Foothill families recently hosted 12 German students through GAPP, finishing up the second half of this year's exchange, which began last summer.

Foothill students were hosted by exchange student families in Halle an der Saale, Germany, for three weeks in June and July last year, and from Feb. 14-March 6, Foothill families reciprocated.

This was the best group, Jackson said last week after joining the students on a scavenger hunt that took them throughout downtown Pleasanton ending at Coldstone Creamery. After arriving in Pleasanton, the 12 German students - from partner school Torgymnasium - were on a whirlwind tour.

The students attended class at Foothill as well as visiting other schools in the city. They went sightseeing at tourist draws such as Alcatraz, Chinatown in San Francisco, UC Berkeley and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Linda Klaus, 17, said she loved Chinatown and bought a paper lantern to bring home as a souvenir. She also enjoyed all of the fast-food restaurant choices. What food did she enjoy eating the most while she was in the States? Pizza, she answered quickly, because it has a lot more cheese on it here.

Jackson has been overseeing the national program at Foothill for more than 10 years. GAPP was founded in 1972 and since that time, more than 180,000 students have participated in the exchange.

"I've learned so much," Jackson said. "I can't describe a more generous group." She recalled that in 1992, the first Foothill group went to Germany following the downfall of the wall separating East and West Berlin. "One set of parents gave up their bed so students would have a place to stay."

Jackson still remains in contact with some of the German students from that exchange year. She remembered visiting a shopping area in Germany and she heard someone call out "Frau Jackson!" To her delight, it was a student from a past exchange.

While the Foothill students were in Germany, they visited former World War II concentration camps, which have been converted to museums with the purpose of not letting it happen again.

"The students got to see the oven and the rooms where teeth were taken out and the cellar where mass hangings were held," Jackson said. "Kids come out of there awestruck. It's a very sobering thing."

While the students are visiting the partner school, they follow a schedule. For two days, they are paired with a host student and they shadow that student to his or her classes. Then visiting students are paired up with other students, depending on the interests of the visitor. For example, if another host student is studying art, a visiting student can follow that person to class.

High schools are different in Germany, Jackson said. "They are smaller, about 800 kids."

While visiting the partner school, students must give presentations about life in their country. They can choose whatever topic they would like about everyday life. The fall of the Berlin wall, youth in Germany and their leisure activities, Nazi Germany under Hitler, and soccer are some of the topics covered by the German visitors.

Even Jackson participates, noting that once she gave a presentation on the tragic expedition of Donner party, who in 1846 resorted to cannibalism when the group, traveling from Illinois to California, became trapped in the Sierra Nevada for the winter.

The presentations are shared with many classes on campus. "Students may give several presentations on the same subject throughout the day," Jackson said. Teachers receive a list of the presentations and sign up for any topics they are interested in and the students will give that presentation in the class, Jackson said.

Food can an interesting topic, from the Oreo cookie to root beer to the history of potato chips. "Many of (the German students) did not like root beer," Jackson said, adding that some said it tasted like cough syrup. "It's an acquired taste."

Most of the students do like American ice cream though. As Klaus was sampling her mint ice cream with strawberries, she described it as creamier tasting than what is found in Germany.

Through the six weeks, the program accomplishes its goal. The students come away with a better understanding of life in another culture, thousands of miles away and separated by an ocean.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.