Erfahrungsberichte von Schülern zur USA-Reise

2013
Berichte der USA-Reise
Kansas City, Missouri
22.Juli- 7. August 2013
12 Sch€ler/ -innen und
2 Lehrer des Gymnasiums
Georgianum Vreden
besuchten 13 Gastfamilien
in Nordamerika
1
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Koffer voller Eindr€cke (Markus Lammers) ........................................................ 3
Stay in the USA (Christin Bengfort)..................................................................... 5
16 Tage USA - 22.07. bis 07.08.2013 (Gesa Teigelk•tter) ................................... 7
22.07- 06.08.2013 USA – Kansas, Missouri (Jana Kleingries) .............................. 8
USA Austausch – 22. Juli bis 6. August (June Heming) ...................................... 10
Mein Aufenthalt in meiner amerikanischen Gastfamilie (Laura Tielkes)........... 11
-A time we will never forget-(Laura Siehoff)..................................................... 13
Mein Sommer in den USA (Lea Depenbrock).................................................... 15
Bericht zur Amerikafahrt 22.7.2013-7.8.2013 (Leon Steinert) .......................... 17
Amerika 2013 Bericht (Roman van den Berg)................................................... 18
Time in America during the Summer Holidays (Theresa Kolks)......................... 19
America 2013 - An amazing time (Theresa Wesseler) ...................................... 21
My stay in Kansas City, Missouri (by Tim Robers) ............................................. 22
2
Koffer voller Eindr€cke (Markus Lammers)
Vredener Gymnasiasten haben zwei Wochen in Gastfamilien in Kansas City, Missouri (USA)
verbracht
Die ersten beiden Wochen ihrer Sommerferien haben 12 Sch€lerinnen und Sch€ler vom
Gymnasium Georgianum in Kansas City, Missouri, in den USA verbracht. Ziel war es dabei
zum einen, die englischen Sprachkenntnisse zu vertiefen, zum anderen aber auch, das Leben
in typischen amerikanischen Familien mitzuerleben (homestay).
Das „homestay-Projekt“ wird nun erstmalig angeboten vom Gymnasium Georgianum, initiiert
und koordiniert von Markus Lammers. Ein solches Angebot ist sicher nicht zu vergleichen
mit einer Reise in die USA als Tourist es ist vielmehr die einmalige Chance, den Alltag in
einer amerikanischen Familie mitzuerleben sowie Kontakte zu schlieƒen, die durchaus lange
halten k„nnen. Seit nunmehr mehr als 10 Jahren besuchen amerikanische Sch€lerinnen und
Sch€ler Vreden und leben in Vredener Gastfamilien, das Highlight auf ihrer Deutschlandreise
von M€nchen bis Berlin. Z.T. sind aus diesen Begegnungen Freundschaften entstanden, die
bis heute anhalten. Da wurde es h„chste Zeit, auch den Amerikanern einmal einen Besuch
abzustatten. Erm„glicht wurde das Projekt durch enge Kooperation von Markus Lammers mit
der Organisation ISE (Sophie Gardner) und Amie Littrell und Gretchen Koller, Lehrerinnen
aus Kansas City.
Am fr€hen Morgen des 22. Juli machten sich also insgesamt 12 Sch€lerinnen und Sch€ler der
Oberstufe des Gymnasiums Georgianum in Begleitung ihrer beiden Lehrer Sandra Lewe und
Markus Lammers auf den Weg, den US-Bundesstaat Missouri im Mittleren Westen der USA
zu erkunden. Kansas City im Mittleren Westen wurde als Ziel des Abenteuers „USA“
auserkoren; nicht die schlechteste Wahl, dar€ber waren sich alle Beteiligten einig. Die Stadt
am sch„nen Missouri River liegt in den „Great Plains“, die Vielen bereits aus dem bilingualen
und deutschen Erdkundeunterricht bekannt war. Neben zahlreichen Aktivit…ten der einzelnen
Sch€ler in ihren Gastfamilien und mit ihren Gastbr€dern bzw. -schwestern (Baseballspiele,
Orchesterproben, Sportaktivit…ten, Verwandtenbesuche, Besuch einer amerikanischen
Hochzeit etc.) bildeten auch gemeinsame Unternehmungen einen gelungenen Rahmen, der
alle Sch€ler wieder zusammenf€hrte (hawaiianische Luau-Party, Poolparty, Football-Show in
einer Highschool). Hervorzuheben ist die auƒergew„hnlich warmherzige Gastfreundschaft der
Amerikaner, die sich schon bei der Ankunft am Flughafen von Kansas City offenbarte: alle
Gastfamilien hieƒen ihre deutschen Gastsch€ler mit bunten „Welcome“-Plakaten etc. herzlich
willkommen. Abschied nehmen hieƒ es dann am 6. August mit einem Koffer voller neuer
Eindr€cke und Erfahrungen, von denen alle sicherlich noch lange profitieren werden.
3
Die Vredener Gymnasiasten am Flughafen Chicago kurz vor dem Weiterflug nach Kansas City, Missouri, mit Herrn Lammers. Obere Reihe
von links nach rechts: Christin Bengfort (fehlt auf dem Bild), Jana Kleingrieƒ, June Heming, Gesa Teigelk„tter, Theresa Kolks, Leon
Steinert, Roman van den Berg, Tim Robers, Untere Reihe von links nach rechts: Lea Depenbrock, Theresa Weƒeler, Laura Siehoff, Laura
Tielkes. Es fehlt die Fotografin: Frau Lewe.
Empfang der Vredener Sch€ler am Flughafen von Kansas City.
Die Vredener Sch€ler mit ihren Gastfamilien auf einer Grillparty.
4
Stay in the USA (Christin Bengfort)
The trip to Kearney/Kansas City in Missouri in the United States of America from the 22nd July to the
7th August was an impressing, interesting, funny and absolute great experience.
I went there without any expectations and when I came back I was so happy that I took this step.
My host family was a very nice, open and friendly family and I had lots of fun with them. They told
me a lot about their culture, let me take part in their life and explained everything to me. My family
loved to make fun of things and they talked a lot, what I liked very much. I think I was very lucky to
be able to stay with this family. I have a very good relationship to them and we’ll stay in contact.
What I liked the most about the US was that people
there always make compliments over anything. They
like your shoes, your bracelet, your shorts, your bag,
your dress, your t-shirt, your figure, your face and the
way you talk in English. It makes you feel very good,
because you feel accepted and you realize that
people like you.
All in all, the people I met were very open and
friendly.
Furthermore, I found interesting that the young
people have such a strong faith in God. The church there is not that strict, but is focused on everyday
life and they talk about very emotional aspects, which affect everyone. Let your lifesong sing to you…
One time, when the female pastor Cathy told the parish about experiences she and the youth group
had made in Mexico with poor people, Cathy had tears in her eyes. She is so convinced of everything
she says about God. It is fascinating. I liked the church and the youth group meeting a lot.
Differences between the USA and Germany I realized were that they never eat rolls with cold cuts in
the morning. They only have toasts with peanut butter and stuff like that.
Most of the time of a day, they drive their car, because they live so far away from everything on the
countryside. Besides, they are allowed to drive a car with 15 years, when they are accompanied by
their relatives and with 16 years on their own. The driving license is very cheap in Missouri in
comparison to Germany, because the parents are allowed to teach their children in driving. Another
interesting fact is that almost every student there has its own car.
Another thing was, that they always fill up your glass, your bred and your salad in a restaurant and it
is still the same price to pay.
In my opinion, many prejudices we have over Americans
are true. This is not meant in a mean way, but I saw more
fat people in the USA and I went almost every day
somewhere else to eat. Most of the time we went to eat
fast food or to a restaurant. In a restaurant, you always
get huge portions on our plate. But although I think that
Americans eat a lot more than many Germans, they also
do much more sport than most of us. My host sister Tess
had to get up every morning from Monday to Saturday at
six o’ clock to go to school and do cross country in the
holidays. She does this to prepare herself for the cross country team at high school.
5
On my stay in Missouri, we had lots of program prepared by my host family. We went to the County
Fair of Kearney, to the Independence Center, to the Trade Fair, to an Art Museum, to the Plaza, to
the church and the youth group meetings, to the cinema. to different grocery stores, to Zona Rosa
and Legends, to Skyzone, to a football training and to the Bull Riding.
The County Fair is like the ’Kirmes’ in a smaller version.
The Independence Center, the Plaza, Zona Rosa and Legends are shopping malls and places.
The Trade Fair is a shop, where Griffey (Tess boyfriend)
has a small area in the shop to place and sell old stuff,
he has bought before much cheaper.
Skyzone is an Indoor Trampoline Park, where different
trampoline possibilities could be done.
Sometimes I went to activities with Tess and her family,
but sometimes we also met some german students and
they went with us.
What I liked the most about the activities was the
shopping, the meetings with all American and German students, the church and especially the time
in the host family.
-> Alles in allem kann ich den Aufenthalt in den USA in den Gastfamilien jedem empfehlen, denn
ich bin daran gewachsen, habe tolle Leute, die Kultur, verschiedene Orte und das Leben dort
kennengelernt und kann viel f€r mich mitnehmen. Es war eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich nicht missen
m•chte und mir pers•nlich gefallen das Land und die Menschen dort sehr. Ich habe viel gelernt und
werde mich immer mit einem L‚cheln auf den Lippen daran zur€ckerinnern.
Program
22.07.2013 Arrival in Missouri
23.07.2013 County Fair
24.07.2013 Family time
25.07.2013 Independence Center
26.07.2013 Trade Fair
27.07.2013 Art Museum + Plaza + Hawaii party (Germans + Americans)
28.07.2013 Church + Bag and bracelet designing + Youth Group Meeting
29.07.2013 Cinema + Pool party (at Terra’s) (Germans + Americans)
30.07.2013 Coloring t-shirts + Board games
31.07.2013 Shopping Center Kansas City + Community Center
01.08.2013 Legends + Zona Rosa + Board games evening (At Sidney’s)
02.08.2013 Skyzone + High School + Football Training (Germans + Americans) + Church Lock in
03.08.2013 Bull Riding
04.08.2013 Church + Youth Group Meeting
05.08.2013 Elementary School + Coloring Nails + Bike Riding + Barbecue
06.08.2014 – 07.08.2013 Departure
6
16 Tage USA - 22.07. bis 07.08.2013
(Gesa Teigelk•tter)
Ich wollte schon immer einmal in die USA, und am
22.07.2013 war es dann endlich soweit! Ich habe
mich so gefreut, „The American Way of Life“ und vor
allem meine Gastfamilie kennen zu lernen. Als wir
nach einem anstrengendem Reisetag endlich in Kansas City, MO landeten, warteten
unsere Gastfamilien schon auf uns. Sie haben uns alle herzlich in Empfang
genommen, und ich hab mich sofort blendend mit meinen zwei Gastschwestern Mikayla und Stephanie - und meinen Gasteltern - Phil und Lisa - verstanden. Am
Ende fiel es mir sehr schwer mich von ihnen zu verabschieden, weil ich alle sehr in
mein Herz geschlossen habe und es bei dieser Entfernung fraglich ist ob und wann
wir uns wiedersehen werden.
Am Tag nach meiner Ankunft sind wir zu der Oma von
Mikayla gefahren, weil dort Verwandtschaft aus Texas
zu Besuch war. Auch sie haben mich alle herzlich
empfangen und fanden es sehr spannend eine
Deutsche zu treffen. Nach kurzer Zeit war ich schon
wie ein Teil der Familie! Wir haben viel zusammen
unternommen, zum Beispiel Mikaylas Geburtstag feiern und am „Tax-Free Weekend“
shoppen. Abends haben sie mir auch einige Amerikanische Kartenspiele gezeigt. Wir
hatten sehr viel Spa‚!
Zweimal bin ich mit Mikayla zum „Band Camp“
gegangen. Die „Marching Band“ ƒbt eine Woche in
den Ferien ihre Choreografie und ihre Lieder, welche
sie in den Pausen der Football-Spiele der High School
auffƒhrt. Dort habe ich einige von Mikaylas Freunden
kennengelernt.
An einem Tag haben Stephanie und ich auch eine
„Fountain Tour“ gemacht, weil Kansas City fƒr seine vielen
Font„nen berƒhmt ist.
Au‚erdem habe ich typisch amerikanisches Essen probiert,
wie zum Beispiel „Mac & Cheese“ oder „S’mores“. Wir sind
auch in Kansas City Downton gewesen und haben dort
den besten „Cheesecake“ meines Lebens gegessen! Aber im Gegensatz zu dem
Gerƒcht, dass Amerikaner nur Fast Food essen, hat meine Gastfamilie oft selbst
gekocht.
Ich werde diese wunderbare Zeit nie vergessen! ♥
7
22.07- 06.08.2013
USA – Kansas, Missouri (Jana Kleingries)
In den zwei Wochen, in denen wir in Amerika waren, habe ich in Lawson, einer
kleinen Stadt in der Umgebung von Kansas, gewohnt. Ich habe in den zwei Wochen,
die ich bei Familie Dines verbracht habe, sehr viel erlebt. Meine Gastschwester
Dakota Dines konnte mit ihren 17 Jahren schon alleine Auto fahren, sodass wir, auch
wenn ihre Eltern arbeiten waren, viel unterwegs waren.
Nachdem ich mich ein paar Tage eingelebt hatte, wurde ich vielen Verwandten und
Freunden vorgestellt.
Vier Abende habe ich auf dem Platte County Fair verbracht. Diese Veranstaltung ist
vergleichbar mit der Kirmes bei uns in Deutschland. Au€er den Karussels gab es
einen gro€en abgesperrten Bereich, in dem an jedem Abend die verschiedensten
Dinge mit Autos angestellt wurden (Tractorpulling, Carcrash o.•.).
Einen Tag war ich mit meiner Gastmutter, Gastschwester sowie meinem
Gastbruder und ein paar Freunden in dem Freizeitpark ''Worlds of Fun''.
Desweiteren durfte ich meine Familie auf eine amerikanische Hochzeit begleiten.
Zwei mal in der Woche gab es ein Treffen mit der Youthgroup in der Kirche.
Sonntags wurden erst einige Spiele gemacht und dann sind alle zusammen in der
Messe gewesen. Mittwochs wurden jedes Mal andere Dinge organisiert, zum Beispiel
wurde ein Picknicktisch gebaut, es wurde getanzt oder man konnte seine Kreativit•t
beim Gestalten von Kerzenbeh•ltern beweisen.
Mit dieser Jugendgruppe und allen am Austausch beteiligten Sch‚lern wurde
desweiteren eine ''Kirchen-Nacht'' veranstaltet. Dort hatten wir den ganzen Abend die
Mƒglichkeit Filme zu schauen, Spiele zu spielen oder einfach nur mit den anderen zu
reden.
Am besten ist mir allerdings die Nacht, die wir beim Campen verbracht haben, in
Erinnerung geblieben. Jeder, der wollte, konnte mitkommen, um an einem See mit
der Youthgroup zu campen. Am Lagerfeuer wurden Hotdogs gegrillt, es gab eine
n•chtliche Schwimm-Aktion, die ganze Nacht wurde am Lagerfeuer geredet, ''StillePost'' oder ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht'' gespielt und die Fr‚haufsteher haben morgens
bereits Frisbee gespielt.
Meine Gastfamilie hat mir au€erdem eine F‚hrung mit dem Direktor durch die
Highschool in Lawson ermƒglicht. Hierbei ist mir besonders aufgefallen, wie modern
die Schulen dort ausgestattet sind.
Am letzten Abend war ich mit meiner ganzen Familie auf einem Baseballspiel von
den Kansas Royals gegen die Minnesota Twins.
8
"Worldsof Fun"
Baseballspiel
Barbeque mit allen Sch€lern aus
Deutschland&Amerika
Haus meiner Gastfamilie
amerikanische Hochzeit in einem Park
Platte County Fair
9
USA Austausch – 22. Juli bis 6. August (June Heming)
Die 2 Wochen in den USA, die ich bei der Familie Gruber verbracht habe, waren eine gute
Erfahrung. Jedoch habe ich mehr erwartet, zum Beispiel mehr zu sehen und zu erleben.
Trotzdem konnte man die Zeit aushalten, obwohl meine Familie relativ unkreativ war und
wir so die meiste Zeit zuhause waren. Ich fand Recht schade, dass wir nicht mehr zur Schule
gegangen sind und uns somit uns erst in der zweiten Woche alle wiedergesehen haben. In
der ersten Woche waren wir ein Tag im Freizeitpark und waren Shoppen. In der zweiten
Woche waren wir noch auf einer Hochzeit. Besonders gut gefallen hat mir das campen, was
wirklich viel Spa… gemacht hat.
Alles in einem war die Zeit ganz gut!
10
Mein Aufenthalt in meiner amerikanischen Gastfamilie
(Laura Tielkes)
Der Austausch begann f€r mich nicht am Flughafen, sondern
schon beim Zuteilen der Gastfamilien hatte ich das Gef€hl Amerika
einen Schritt n•her zu treten. Anfangs war ich skeptisch, ob ich in
meine Gastfamilie passen w€rde, doch nachdem ich meine
Austauschsch€lerin n•her per E-Mail kennen gelernt hatte, wurde
sie mir immer sympathischer und meine Vorfreude auf Amerika
wuchs!! Schon 1 Woche vor der Abreise, fing ich aufgeregt meinen
Koffer an zu packen, was nicht einfach war, aufgrund der ganzen
Vorschriften des Flughafens. So ging es also montags morgens mit guter Laune und viel
zu wenig Schlaf auf zum Bus! Wie schon die vielen Wochen zuvor drehte sich auch um
halb 6 morgens im Bus schon alles um die Gastfamilien! Nach nervenzerrenden
Befragungen am Flughafen, falschen Tickets und merkw€rdigen Sitznachbarn im
Flugzeug und 9 Stunden Flug schnupperten wir zum ersten Mal
amerikanische Luft bei unserem Stopp in Chicago. Von da an stieg die
Aufregung nat€rlich enorm, da wir
realisierten, dass wir schon unseren
Gastfamilien unglaublich nah sind und es
nicht mehr lange dauern w€rde bis zum
ersten Treffen. Nach einem kurzen Flug sind wir am Flughafen
von Kansas City super lieb von unseren Gastfamilien empfangen
worden. Ich habe mich sofort bei der ersten Umarmung
willkommen in der Familie gef€hlt!
Da Amerika eine Zeitverschiebung von 7 Stunden hat, hatten viele mit einem Jet-Lag zu
k•mpfen, aber der war nach den ersten Tagen schnell bek•mpft! W•hrend meines
Aufenthaltes haben ich vieles mit meiner Gastfamilie unternommen und besonders mit
meiner Austauschsch€lerin. Zum Beispiel waren wir bei einem Baseball-Match der Royals.
Nicht nur die Sportart war komplett neu f€r mich, sondern allein
der Umgang zwischen den Menschen im Baseballstadion war
ganz anders. Wir waren auf einer County Fair, am Missouri-River,
im Kino, in einer Art Gallery, einem
Freizeitpark und nat€rlich ganz viel
Shoppen. Besonders hat mich gefreut,
die Cheerleadermannschaft meiner
Austauschsch€lerin kennen zu lernen und selbst beim
Cheerleadingtraining mitzumachen!! Es hat mir super viel Spa‚
gemacht einem „richtigen“, amerikanischen Cheerleaderteam
beim Vorbereiten auf Footballspiele und Wettk•mpfe zuzugucken, da es dies so in
Deutschland nicht gibt! Generell habe ich viele Dinge kennengelernt, die es hier nicht gibt!
11
Wie zum Beispiel die verschiedenen Eissorten, Sportarten und Schulformen. Ich habe zum
ersten Mal mexikanisch in meinem Leben gegessen und war €berrascht, dass so viele
Menschen in Amerika Spanisch lernen und sprechen. Aber egal wo hin ich meine
Gastfamilie begleitet habe, oder wo ich hingegangen bin, ich wurde immer freundlich
behandelt und die Menschen haben sich sichtlich f€r mich und meine Herkunft
interessiert. W•hrend meines Aufenthaltes habe ich viele warmherzige Menschen und
deren Kulturen kennengelernt.
Obwohl ich kein Heimweh bekommen habe, tat es gut ab und zu,
wie auf der „Pool-Party“, der „Hawaii-Party“ oder auf dem
Sleepover, mal wieder
bekannte Gesichter zu sehen
und deren Austauschsch€ler
kennenzulernen.
Wir haben so viel in den 2 Wochen erlebt, dass es nicht
einfach ist, diese auf ein paar Bl•tter zu schreiben. Ich
hatte wundersch…ne 2 † Wochen in meiner
amerikanischen Gastfamilie, die ich niemals vergessen
werde! Meine Gastfamilie hat sich nicht nur super um
mich gek€mmert, mir viel von Kansas City gezeigt und
gut auf mich aufgepasst hat, sie wird mir auch immer in
meinem Ged•chtnis bleiben, da sie mir das Gef€hl gegeben haben, f€r die 2 Wochen ein
Teil ihrer Familie zu sein! Ich bin sehr froh, immer noch Kontakt mit meiner Gastfamilie zu
haben und ich bin mir sicher, dass ich diesen Kontakt niemals freiwillig abbrechen
werde!!♥
12
-A time we will never forget-(Laura Siehoff)
We started our trip to the USA on 22nd July 2013 with 12
students at the Gymnasium Georgianum in Vreden early in
the morning. From D€sseldorf, we took our flight to America.
After more than 16 hours of travelling we arrived at the
airport of Kansas City, Missouri. There we met our host families for
the first time in person.
And the time flew…
In the next 2 and a half weeks I saw as much of the American culture as
possible.
On the first evening we had dinner in a “sports restaurant” where all walls and
even the ceiling were covered with pictures and jerseys of famous American
sportspersons. After that we watched “The Little Mermaid” as musical in the
open-air theatre Starlight.
On other days we had a lot of fun at laser tag, roller skating, walking around the
zoo, going to the movies and eating popcorn with salt and hot
butter, bowling with friends …
All people I met were really open-minded and friendly. That’s why I
also liked going to church there because it’s
different to our church, less strict and also
more personal. I even made new friends at the youth
group at church while having a pyjama party, an orchestra
practice or just playing Frisbee. The church even planed a
“Hawaii Party” for all German students.
13
I also had a lot of fun at getting to know parts of the American culture. We
visited High Schools, a football practice and a baseball game. I was surprised
when suddenly the announcer of the baseball game said:
“And we welcome Laura and Theresa, exchange students from Germany. They’re
exploring the American culture with their host families and visiting their first baseball
game tonight. We wish them a lot of fun!”
Moreover, we did a lot of shopping, but not only clothes. Also going to the
grocery store was interesting. I was surprised of the size of those stores and the
variety of products. And I also tried some typical American food, of course. I
really liked the bagles with cream cheese for breakfast, PopTarts, rice crispy
treats...
At the end of our stay, it felt like just arriving the day before. In these 2 weeks I
grew quite close to my host family and especially to my exchange student
Mallery. It was a great experience and one of the best times in my life. I did not
only improve my English but also had the chance to life with a
family and see their all day life in America.
I would do it all over again…
14
Mein Sommer in den USA (Lea Depenbrock)
Diesen Sommer war ich mit zehn anderen Sch‚lern und Sch‚lerinnen aus meinem Jahrgang in
Kansas City, Missouri. Meine Gastfamilie: Gastvater Thad, Gastmutter Lorrie, Gastschwester Tara
und Gastbruder Aidan waren sehr freundlich. Sie wohnen in einem blauen Holzhaus in Kansas City.
Dort ist es normal in einem Holzhaus zu wohnen. Au€erdem bauen die Bewohner das Haus nicht
selber, sondern lassen es bauen. Des Weiteren hat fast jedes Haus eine amerikanische Flagge vor
der Haust‚r h•ngen. Die Amerikaner sind sehr stolz auf ihr Land. Die Flagge ist Ihnen sehr wichtig
und darf zum Beispiel nicht den Boden ber‚hren, sonst wird sie verbrannt. Ein weiterer Unterschied
ist, dass der Eintritt in Zoos oder Museen kostenlos ist. Auch Wasser kann man ‚berall kostenlos
bekommen (au€er man kauft es in Flaschen).
Meine Gastfamilie hat jeden Tag was mit mir unternommen. Morgens konnte ich bis 11 Uhr schlafen,
weil meine Gastschwester Tara morgens immer reiten war.
Ich
durfte
auch
einmal
mit und
habe
„Western
style“
geritten.
Meistens habe ich die Zeit genutzt und bin mit dem Hund spazieren gegangen oder habe meine
Freunde besucht. Danach sind wir immer in ein Restaurant gefahren um etwas zu essen. Die
Amerikaner gehen sehr oft in Restaurants essen. Meine Gastfamilie und ich haben nur viermal
Zuhause gegessen. Nach dem Mittagessen war immer was geplant. Einmal haben Tara und Lorrie mir
Kansas City Downtown gezeigt, ein anderes Mal waren wir im Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art oder in
der Union Station. Au€erdem waren wir in der Skyzone, Superm•rkten, World War I Tower etc. Alles
war sehr interessant. Abends haben wir wieder ausw•rts gegessen.
Nat‚rlich habe ich auch die deutschen Sch‚ler getroffen. Wir waren bei einer Kirchparty, einem
Sleepover, einem Football Training oder haben einen amerikanischen Abend gemacht. Dort habe ich
auch die Gastfamilien der anderen kennengelernt. Ich habe mich auch noch privat mit deutschen
Sch‚lern getroffen. Dann sind wir zum Beispiel zur County Fair gefahren oder haben Leinw•nde
bemalt. Es war interessant die Familien und die H•user der anderen zu sehen. Am besten hat mir die
Fahrt
mit
einem
kleinen
Boot
‚ber
den
Missouri
River
gefallen!
Der Onkel von meiner Gastschwester hat uns mit seinem Boot mitgenommen. Zuerst sind wir in ein
Gebiet gefahren, wo die Fische aus dem Wasser gesprungen sind. Die Fische sind ‚ber unseren
Kƒpfen gesprungen und manche sind sogar in unserem Boot gelandet. Dann haben wir auf einer
kleinen „Stein-Insel“ eine Pause gemacht. Der Missouri River ist noch grƒ€er als ich ihn mir vorgestellt
habe und das Wasser ist angenehm warm. Zum Schluss haben wir noch mal an einem Sandstrand
angehalten. Ich habe mir nichts dabei gedacht und habe einfach weiter Fotos gemacht, bis Adam
(also Tara’s Onkel) mich gefragt hat, ob ich schon mal eine richtige Waffe gesehen habe. Ich habe
verneint und er hat behauptete, dass er sogar einen Revolver im Boot hat. Erst war ich etwas
schockiert, aber nach einer kleinen Weile war ich schon beruhigter. Adam hat uns dann Ohrenstƒpsel
15
gegeben und eine Dose in f‚nf Meter Entfernung aufgestellt. Danach durften Tara und Luc (Adam’s
Sohn ca 9 Jahre) mit der Waffe schie€en. Ich wollte zwar nicht, habe mich aber ‚berreden lassen.
Leider hatte ich die Augen zu und wei€ nicht ob ich die Dose getroffen habe.
Nach dem Boot-Trip hat Adam uns nach Hause gebracht. Als ich Lorrie, meiner Gastmutter, erz•hlt
habe, dass ich mit einer Waffe geschossen habe, war sie ‚bergl‚cklich und hat in die H•nde
geklatscht. Meine Gastfamilie hatte mich n•mlich schon die ganze Woche ‚ber gefragt, ob ich nicht
mal mit zu einem Waffentraining wolle.
Auch den Mississippi River habe ich ber‚hrt, da ich f‚r zwei Tage nach St. Louis gefahren bin. Dort
habe ich mich mit meiner Austauschsch‚lerin Ilennah getroffen und durfte bei ihr ‚bernachten. St.
Louis ist aucheine sehr gro€e Stadt. Ilennah hat mir vieles in St. Louis gezeigt zum Bespiel: den
Mississppi River, einen amerikanischen Zoo & die Gateway Arch, welche 200m hoch ist. Nat‚rlich
sind wir auch bis nach oben gefahren. Von oben hatte man einen wunderbaren Ausblick auf die
Gateway
Arch
und
anderen
Sehensw‚rdigkeiten.
Am letzten Tag habe ich eine typisch deutsche Mahlzeit f‚r meine Gastfamilie gekocht und meine
Gastmutter hat ein Thanksgiving Essen zubereitet. Wir haben die ganze Verwandtschaft eingeladen.
Manche von ihnen haben mir sogar kleine Geschenke mitgebracht. Das Thanksgving Essen mochte
ich zwar nicht, daf‚r mochten alle das deutsche Essen, besonders die Nachspeise: Herrencreme.
Insgesamt hat mit die Fahrt nach Amerika super gefallen. Ich habe viele neue Erfahrungen und
Eindr‚cke sammeln kƒnnen. Auf jeden Fall mƒchte ich zur‚ck, vielleicht sogar f‚r mehr als zwei
Wochen. Mit meiner Gastfamilie habe ich immernoch guten Kontakt, besonders mit meiner Gastmutter
Lorrie.Ich habe meiner Gastfamilie zum Beispiel eine Karte aus Mallorca geschickt. Bald schicke ich
ihnen auch noch ein P•ckchen. Dort mƒchte ich auch verschiedene deutsche Sachen mit einpacken
wie
Vanillezucker..llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
16
Bericht zur Amerikafahrt 22.7.2013-7.8.2013
(Leon Steinert)
Als wir nach einer relativ reibungslosen aber sehr langen Reise
schlieÄlich in Kansas City ankamen und unsere Gastfamilien,
die schon dort auf uns warteten, uns stÅrmisch begrÅÄten, war
ich erst einmal sehr verwirrt. Dieser Umstand wurde noch
davon verstÇrkt, dass ich bis dahin nur meine Gastschwester
auf einem Foto gesehen hatte. Sobald ich sie gefunden hatte,
wurden mir auch schon die ersten Fragen zu meiner Heimat
gestellt. Diese Fragen zogen sich noch Åber die nÇchsten Tage
hin. Am meisten Åberraschte meine Gastfamilie, dass
Erdnussbutter hier nicht besonders populÇr ist. Noch am ersten
Abend bestellten wir uns also Erdnussbuttermilchshakes, die
Åberraschend gut schmeckten. Generell kamen wir direkt gut
miteinander aus und auch das Gastgeschenk, ein Buch Åber das
MÅnsterland in Deutsch, Englisch und FranzÉsisch. Da es in
Amerika nur sehr wenige GebÇude gibt, die Çlter sind als
hundert Jahre, waren sie fasziniert von GebÇuden wie Kirchen,
die wir uninteressant finden. Am nÇchsten Tag gingen wir auf
ein Volksfest, das wie unsere Kirmes mit FahrgeschÇften
auftrumpfte. Dort sah ich, wie meine Gastfamilie, zum ersten
Mal einen Monstertruck. Da die Amerikaner sehr religiÉs sind,
musste ich mit ihnen zweimal pro Woche zur Kirche, die aber
anders war als hier: Mittwochs war Bibelunterricht und
sonntags standen Jugendgruppe und Gottesdienst auf dem
Plan. Der Gottesdienst war weniger ein Gottesdienst als ein
Konzert und war deshalb nicht so schlimm wie ich gedacht
hatte. In den nÇchsten beiden Wochen lernte ich immer weiter
das Leben meiner Gastfamilie kennen und probierte viele
Speisen aus, die in Deutschland ziemlich unkonventionell sind,
zum Beispiel mexikanisch. Wir unternahmen auch immer mal
wieder etwas, zum Beispiel gingen wir zum SchieÄstand, bei
dem mein Çlterer Gastbruder arbeitet oder wir gingen mit der
ganzen Kirchengemeinde campen. Besonders der letzte Tag ist
mir im GedÇchtnis geblieben: ich und mein jÅngerer Gastbruder
gingen in den Freizeitpark und probierten alle Achterbahnen
aus, bis uns schlecht war. Als der Tag der Abreise gekommen
war, verabschiedeten wir uns herzlich und versprachen uns in
Kontakt zu bleiben, was wir auch bis heute sind.
17
Amerika 2013 Bericht (Roman van den Berg)
Am ersten Montag der diesj‰hrigen Sommerferien ging es los nach Amerika, genauer,
in den Gro…raum Kansas City in Missouri. Als wir in Kansas City am Flughafen
ankamen wurden wir sehr herzlich mit Plakaten empfangen. Unsere Reisegruppe
teilte sich schnell auf und alle fuhren mit den Gastfamilien nach Hause. Als wir zu
Hause ankamen wurde mir das gesamte Haus und der riesige Garten gezeigt. Danach
durfte ich meine Sachen auspacken und wir fingen an Videospiele zu spielen, was wir
h‰ufig taten wenn nichts besonderes gemacht wurde. Am Dienstag waren wir am
Smithville Lake, das ist ein gro…er See, an dem wir auch mit einigen anderen gezeltet
haben, das aber erst in der zweiten Woche. schwimmen und Volleyball spielen. Am
darauffolgendem Tag waren wir in einer riesigen Trampolin Halle, in der man
Dodgeball und Basketball auf Trampolinen spielen konnte, und am Abend gingen wir
zur youthgroup in der Kirche, wo wir auch einige andere unserer Reisegruppe trafen.
Insgesamt gingen wir drei Mal in der Woche zur Kirche zwei Mal davon war es die
youthgroup zu der wir hingingen. Diese fanden Mittwochs und Sonntags statt.
Donnerstag haben wir den ganzen Tag zu Hause verbracht und haben Videospiele
gespielt. Am Freitag waren wir im Jesse James Park und haben Frisbee Golf gespielt,
da es dort einen Platz daf€r gibt. Am Samstag waren wir viel im Garten, haben
Fu…ball und Baseball gespielt und als es dunkel wurde haben wir einen Film gesehen.
Sonntags waren wir in der Kirche und zu Hause da wir abends wieder in der Kirche
waren. Am Montag waren wir in Kansas City um einige Autos anzuschauen, da das
Auto meines Gastbruders kaputt war. Am zweiten Dienstag waren wir in einem
gro…en Einkaufszentrum in Kansas City. Am n‰chsten Tag waren wir den ganzen Tag
zu Hause und haben uns auf das Zelten vorbereitet. Nach der youthgroup in der
Kirche fuhren wir zu Smithville Lake um dort zu Zelten. Dabei sind wir schwimmen
gewesen und haben ein paar lustige spiele gespielt. Da wir die ganze Nacht wach
waren schliefen wir zu Hause. Danach sind wir im Garten mit einem Quad gefahren
und haben Bogen geschossen. Am Freitag haben wir wieder viele Videospiele gespielt
bevor wir zur Kearny High School gegangen sind um uns dort ein nicht sehr
interessantes Footballspiel anzusehen. Nachdem das beendet war fuhren wir zur
Kirche um an einem Lock In teil zu nehmen. Dabei €bernachteten wir in der Kirche
und spielt ein paar Spiele. Auch dort schliefen wir nicht sodass wir wieder zu Hause
schliefen. Nachdem ich aufgestanden war haben wir einer Familie geholfen
umzuziehen. Am Sonntag waren wir wieder in der Kirche und zu Hause. Am Montag
waren wir in einem riesigen Wasserpark mit vielen Wasserrutschen. Da waren wir
den ganzen Tag. Am Dienstag hie… es dann schon wieder Abschied nehmen von den
Gastfamilien und wir flogen zur€ck nach Deutschland.
18
Time in America during the Summer Holidays
(Theresa Kolks)
I went to America in the summer holidays from 22nd
July to 6th August 2013 with 11 students in my grade.
Each student had their own host family with a host
brother or sister in the same age. We passed most of
the time with our families and saw the German group
not as much, so we had to speak just English most of
the time.
My host family was great. They treated me as their own daughter. My host
parents were divorced and I lived at my host mum's with my host sister Amber
and her 19 year old sister Lindsey. Sometimes Amber's dad picked us up to go
somewhere. He took free from work to spend some time with us.
First I want to tell something about our flight. We were so excited. I hadn't
flown for that long before. They told us it would take 10 hours. The first flight
to Chicago took nearly 8 hours. We got lunch and dinner and they showed 2
movies during the flight. It was a big airplane with 6 seats in every line. Then
we planned on staying at the airport for one hour in Chicago, but the plane was
late so we had to wait 3 hours instead. On our second flight to Kansas City we
had a smaller plane. It just took one hour. We arrived at the airport and we
were so tired but also excited about our families. They just waited there and
took pictures and I think they were really excited too.
With my host family I did so many interesting
and funny things. The thing I did most there
was shopping. There were so many places to go
shopping with many shops and nice clothes.
There were shops I had never heard about, but I liked most of the American
19
shops. During the time there we mostly ate at
restaurants like Panera or things like that. We
didn't eat at home much because we weren't
there that often. We also went to a theatre
called “Starlight Theatre”. It was right under
the sky with no roof. That was so nice,
because it is so warm there even in the
evenings.
We watched “The Little Mermaid” with Laura Siehoff's host family. Her
exchange student was the best friend of mine. We spent much time in church
with Laura and her host student Mallery. In church we met many people,
because everybody knows each other there. There were also many young guys.
I think we became friends with them. But church wasn't like church here. We
also had youth group there, practicing instruments or just met to talk and eat
together. One evening they threw kind of a party. Another day was a vacation
school for kids. We tie-dyed t-shirts and things like that. That was fun. We
watched many American movies. That
helped to get into the language. One day
I went with Amber to her viola lesson. It
was interesting to hear a teacher
explaining the things in English. On the
weekend we drove to Amber's
grandparent's house that took 4 hours
by car. The roads there go up and down,
so I got a little motion sickness. It was
raining but warm so we went tubing. We made a water ring behind her
grandpaŠs boat, we were lying on the ring and he pulled it with his boat. That
was so funny. We stayed there for 3 days. Another big thing we did was the
amusement park called “Worlds of Fun” and “Oceans of Fun”. Those are two
parks in one. “Worlds of Fun” has many roller coasters like our “Movie Park”.
After that we changed our clothes and went to “Oceans of Fun”. There were
many water pipes and two big pools. That was a great day. Also we went rollerskating, saw a baseball game, did gymnastics, and I saw the big school Amber
goes to.
20
America 2013 - An amazing time (Theresa Wesseler)
Die Zeit in Amerika war wirklich eine tolle Erfahrung. Die Menschen die wir
dort kennengelernt haben, haben uns einen ganz anderen Blick auf die Welt
vermittelt. Man konnte merken , dass unsere Gastfamilien eine andere
Mentalit•t haben als wir Deutschen, mit anderen Meinungen, Einstellungen
und einer anderen Lebensweise.
Nicht nur, dass alles in Amerika grƒ€er ist, wurde uns bewiesen, sondern uns
wurde au€erdem klar gemacht, dass Vorurteile nicht immer stimmen und man
als Deutscher oft ein vƒllig falsches Bild von Amerika hat. Nat‚rlich kommt es
immer darauf an in welche Region man kommt aber unsere Gastfamilien
waren nicht dick und faul, wie oft angenommen, sondern sportlich, aktiv,
aufgeschlossen, lustig und hilfsbereit.
Das Land und unsere Familien waren immer f‚r eine ‡berraschung gut, zum
Beispiel, dass an jeder Ecke eine Kirche steht denn die Menschen sind sehr
gl•ubig und dass es kein Wasser mit Kohlens•ure gibt.
Die Familien waren interessiert, wie es in Deutschland "so ist" und es gab
viele Momente in denen Unterschiede der L•nder festgestellt wurden.
Zu den Sachen die ich mit meiner Gastfamilie gemacht habe gehƒrten zum
Beispiel Freizeitparks besuchen, shoppen und ins Kino gehen, und den Alltag
der Familie erleben.
Es war eine gro€artige Zeit und ich denke, dass jeder ein St‚ck seines
Herzens in Amerika gelassen hat.
Vielleicht kƒnnen wir unsere Gastfamilien ja eines Tages wieder besuchen
kommen oder sie kommen uns besuchen. Bis dahin aber bleiben wir in
Kontakt durch Facebook, Scype und E-Mail.
21
My stay in Kansas City, Missouri (by Tim Robers)
Having arrived in Kansas City there was not much time to recover from the long flight and the time change
because my host family let me directly participate in their everyday-life.
My 16-year-old host brother Quinn and his stepfather Norman picked me up at the airport. When I left the
terminal it was like a shock for me as temperature was roughly 35‹C respectively 100‹F. In Germany, it had
been approximately 15‹C resp. 60‹F at the time of our departure.
During the 20-minute ride to my host family’s home I got the first very exciting facts about my host family.
According to Quinn he and his mother are descendants of William Wallace, a Scottish freedom fighter played
by Mel Gibson in the movie “Braveheart”, which had been concluded from an old family register. If this is
actually true that would be really awesome! Although I cannot check whether this thesis is absolutely true I will
definitely always associate “Braveheart” with my host family and my stay in Kansas City in general from now
on.
At my host family’s home I also met Quinn’s mother Sandra and the dog Bandit who looked very cute with his
tall and excited eyes and with his long ears. I quickly put my suitcase into my own bedroom before Quinn made
a fast tour round the house for me. I noticed that the house was structured in a different way than German
houses are. When entering the house through the main door you faced two quite small stairs. One of them
went up, the other one down, so that the front door was somewhere between the basement and the first floor.
Later, when talking to some other German guys and when entering other houses I found out that this is not
unusual in the region and that most houses there exclusively consist of the basement and the first floor.
Quinn, his girlfriend Ashley, my host father Norman with two of his four dogs (Bandit is the one on the right)
and me
Another thing I noticed concerning the American houses is that the majority of them is wooden which was
quite surprising for me as western Missouri is relatively often threatened by tornadoes. One of Quinn’s
classmates told me that tornadoes mainly occurred between April and July in Missouri and that three to four
tornadoes became a danger to Kansas City annually although the city hadn’t been hit directly by one of these
dangerous storms for several years. Additionally, the properties were all quite large due to the low population
density. In front of most apartments you could furthermore discover a basketball hoop whereas American flags
were to my surprise quite rare. Sandra explained to me that most people exclusively hung out their flags on
feast days. Moreover, she said that there were many immigrants living in Kansas City as well who of course
didn’t all hang out American flags.
Following my fast guided tour through the house my whole host family and I went to the local high school
where an information evening for parents took place. Quinn used that chance to introduce me to some of his
classmates as well as to the head teacher and to guide me through the school building which had been opened
only 5 years ago and therefore looked very modern. But honestly, this wasn’t my first impression of Staley High
22
School. When entering the school building I first of all noticed the coolness resulting from the work of an
airconditioner. The entire building was cooled off by that machine! Remembering the heat in our school’s
classrooms in summer I was jealous of Staley High School’s pupils from the very beginning on.
Staley High School really looked like a typical high school from inside. In the entrance hall, there were all the
lockers where students can put their staff before the lessons begin and which are well known from numerous
American movies.Adjacent to the foyer, there were many corridors leading to the different classrooms. In
contrast to our school, every teacher had their own classroom and the classrooms themselves were located in
the building in accordance to the subject taught inside.
Every classroom was equipped with a projector and an American flag, of course. And every student had a single
desk while the teacher even had two ones – one in the front and one in the back.
When we entered the corridor where the Spanish, French and German classrooms are located it became
obvious that interest in the German language is not that high in the U.S. While there were three Spanish and
two French classrooms there was only a single German one.
Quinn explained to me that at middle school, every pupil had to learn each of these three languages for a few
weeks and then had to choose as soon as they entered high school. So, a foreign language is effectively just
learned for two to three years by American students. Learning foreign languages therefore doesn’t seem to be
that important for the Americans. This is probably the case because English is already the global language, but
in the course of my stay in Kansas City I found out about another reason too. Most of the youths and even
many adults have never left the U.S. They have already travelled round the whole of the United States, but
have never been to Mexico, Canada, Africa, Europe, Asia or Australia yet. Anyway, many of them had the wish
to leave their home country one day. Some of them aimed to go to South America, others wanted to go to
Africa or to Europe.
However, it sometimes really became obvious that most American youths had never really occupied
themselves with other countries like Germany which you could conclude from the following questions I was
asked: Is Chernobyl in Germany? Who is Angela Merkel? Is Germany a democratic country? Are German
students taught in history that all the Nazis did was fine? Do you even talk about World War II in Germany?
Generally, the majority of the Americans had no idea how Germans get along with the Third Reich and always
seemed very prudent to me when asking questions about Germans’ attitudes towards the Nazis.
When thematizing the Americans’ attitude towards the German language it is furthermore necessary to
mention that our mother tongue sounds a bit crazy to the Americans. Having performed a German crackjaw I
was even told by Quinn that I had sounded like a Chinese person.
On the other hand, especially youths asked several questions about my impression of the English language too.
Among other things, they wanted to know whether or not English was a difficult language in my opinion
(answer: not as hard as French) and whether or not the Missourians had a strong accent, from my point of
view. Actually, I was surprised concerning that point as their accent wasn’t as hard to understand as I had
expected it to be. At the same time, I was told that Germans usually sounded quite British when speaking
English and were therefore sometimes hard to understand for Americans.
In the course of our tour round Staley High School Quinn also showed me the adjacent District Sports Center
which was composed of football, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts and a large football stadium where
Northern Kansas City’s high school teams usually trained and played. At least, single sports clubs do rarely exist
in the USA. Free-time activities in general are rather organised by school.
Another thing I must mention at this point is that there was a “Wall of Honor” in the school’s foyer pointing out
Staley High School’s former students who went to the armed forces. I was very surprised that becoming a
23
soldier turns you into such an admitted and honorable person in the U.S. At least, in contrast to that, soldiers
aren’t really appreciated in Germany.
At the end of my arrival day I was incredibly happy when I could go to bed. In total, I would need three full days
to get over my jet lack, but really adapting to the eastern American timewould even take another week.
The following day, together with Quinn, I went to a band camp that took place at Staley High School during the
summer holidays. This camp lasted one and a half weeks and it was compulsory for the students who came
there as it was some kind of preparation for a music and marching competition (yes, the campers had to march
and play music at the same time!) in September. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take part in the music rehearsals for
two reasons. First, I cannot play any instrument very well, and the only one I can play a bit, the guitar, wasn’t
designated for the band. Second, every camper had their individual marching route and as I wouldn’t be able to
take part in the competition anyway, I would have been an interference particle during the training sessions.
But at least, I was allowed to take part in the daily warm ups and in the basic marching activities. In contrast to
German students, American pupils really learn marching in a military style at school which was to my surprise
quite fun. And there is another cause why I went to the band camp nearly every day: during the (luckily quite
long) breaks I could really get in touch with some American youths, e.g. Skyte, Caitlin, David, Amanda, Luke,
Jake and Adam, and therefore had the opportunity to improve my English skills and to extend my knowledge
about the American culture.
The campers marching and playing their instruments on the turf in the football stadium
After the band camp, at about 3 pm, Quinn and I usually included a short siesta into our daily routine before we
did some more activities from roughly 6 pm on. For example, we went golfing, watched some movies, played
American Football on Xbox or just went to a restaurant.
A “real” trip to the USA of course includes “visiting” numerous fast food restaurants. And there were plenty of
them! Taco Bell (my personal favourite), Wendy’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway,
Dunkin Donuts, Applebee’s … I think more than half of all these companies do not even exist in Germany. And it
was obvious that there were always some kind of fast food oases where some of the restaurants mentioned
above were concentrated. In Germany, on the other hand, they are in my view rather spread all over a certain
city.
Of course there were also many pizzerias in Kansas City and due to the relatively high amount of Latinos living
in central Northern America plenty of Mexican restaurants could be found too.
What would the USA be without hot dogs? At nearly every corner you could buy this American speciality. It
seems to be that important for the U.S. citizens that they have called a whole day after the hot dog: the
National Hot Dog which was on April 23. On this day, you could get hot dogs for free at many places. In my
opinion, that is quite a crazy but funny idea!
24
Another nice idea concerning food: waiters usually served so-called advertisers before stewarding the main and
ordered meal, for example potatoes gratinatedunder cheese and bacon. Very delicious!
In general, one can say that the American food was spicier and a lot bigger than German food. When I ordered
a medium sized chocolate milk shake in a cafŒ, for example, I expected quite a small mug. But actually, I
received a mug which was larger than a large sized chocolate milk shake in Germany would have been. Same
price, of course!
Concerning the drinks one can say that the water was always without gas, that Fanta was offered in only very
few restaurants to my surprise and that ice was always added in order to keep the drinks cool.
Actually, the ice wouldn’t have been necessary during our stay in the U.S. After approximately three days of
heat it cooled off rapidly, so that there were only 20‹C on average. The Americans were quite surprised as June
and July are usually the hottest months in Missouri. Two years ago, it even became that hot that the soles of
several students’ shoes melt while they were marching on the turf in the football stadium.
In Germany, it was up to 35‹C at the same time meaning that the typical weather conditions in Missouri and
Germany had somehow swapped.
On the days Quinn didn’t have to go to band camp (on the first weekend and from the second Thursday on) my
host family really tried to give me some more impressions of the American and Missourian culture and did
some sightseeing together with me.
On the first Sunday, we went to a minor league baseball match together with Quinn’s girlfriend Ashley who
often joined us anyway: Kansas City T-Bones vs. El Paso Devils. The home team clearly lost and unfortunately,
we didn’t see a home run, but however, I was extremely excited! I had never seen a baseball match before, but
I have always wanted to do so!The majority of the audience, on the other hand, didn’t really share my
excitement. In general, I had the impression that the match was running in the background and that people
rather focused on talking to friends they met in the stadium, on buying food and on participating in gambles.
Norman, Sandra, Ashley and me at the baseball match
After the match Ashley, Quinn and me watched the latest “Wolverine” movie in a close cinema and finally
broiled some marshmallows over a campfire on a meadow behind Ashley’s house. What a day!
At that point of time, I had experienced one of the typical American sports live: baseball. But the second sport
the U.S. is famous for was still missing: football (by the way, I always had to make sure that I did not say
football if I actually meant soccer). On our second Friday, all the host families met in order to watch a football
training session but honestly, I rather exchanged some news with the other guys than watching the happenings
on the field. However, I watched long enough to say that football is quite a hard and brutal sport, in my
opinion.
Following that all the youths and children from the host families and of course all German exchange students
met in a nearby church to spend the night there. If I say “church” I do not mean a huge and cross-shaped
building with a tower (of course there were a few of these “typical” churches in the U.S. too). In this case, I’m
25
rather talking about a normal looking house where services take place. But in between, the house is used as a
rumpus and leisure room. There was even a mixer console for a DJ in there.
That’s why I wasn’t surprised at all when I was told that the churches were usually used as meeting points by
adults after the service on Sunday morning and by youths throughout the week. Besides the school it is
especially the church which organises the free-time activities in the USA.
Generally, you really noticed that the Americans are much more religious than many Europeans. They were
also much more open-minded when talking about their understanding of God and of faith. For example, Taylor
(Roman’s host brother) told me that his primary aim when doing his future job was to serve God. This objective
impressed me a lot!
In Kansas City, most people seemed to be Protestants.
The meeting in the church was the last of only three times all host families and all exchange students came
together which was in my opinion excellent as you were surrounded by English speaking people all the time like
this and were therefore really forced to speak English throughout the days.
The first meeting took place in a church as well while the second one was at Lea’s host family’s home where we
had a barbecue together – an activity Kansas City is famous for. At least, Missouri’s second largest city is
claimed the capital of barbecues.
Kansas City itself is widely spread. When you cross it you even pass forests as most boroughs are quite rural
and do not lie close together. Of course, there is a downtown area where you’ll find several high-rise buildings
too, but it is that small that you’re nearly in the country again as soon as you’ve passed five to six blocks.
A few hundred meters away from the office towers there was a huge shopping mall. Just like all other malls I
saw during my stay in Missouri this one was apart from most urban bustle. And instead of a single building with
all the different shops inside you had several bungalows.
Adjacent to the shopping center there was Kansas City’s noble neighbourhood making up the border between
downtown and the rural belt. I really would have liked to enter the expensive looking mansions there.
On my second weekend Norman, Sandra, Quinn, Ashley and I went to the family’s small farm in central
Missouri. I would talk about the countryside we passed during our two and a half-hour trip now if I had been
awake. But the night before,I had only slept two hours on the hard floor in the church where our third meeting
with the other host families had taken place and that’s why I was extremely tired (I hadn’t known that we
would also sleep in the church and therefore hadn’t taken a bedroll with me).
Having arrived on the farm I was first of all captured by the white and wooden house which looked as if it had
been the setting for an old western. Norman even had a photo showing some cowboys standing on the house’s
deck. Inside, everything looked very old as well – the floorboards, the furniture and the telephone. My host
father told me that his family had owned that farm for a hundred years and that he produced hay and kept
cattle (amount of livestock: three) there now.
The farm was located in a hilly area. Large fields and forests dominated the surrounding area, the only
connection to the closest settlement was a dusty country road and there wasn’t any other house or person to
see from the farm house. In a nutshell, you really had the impression that you were in the middle of a huge
unpopulated and wild area. Having woken up on Sunday morning I made a little tour round the house on my
own, breathed in the fresh air, listened to the sounds of the nature and enjoyed the view. What a feeling!
Unfortunately, we didn’t spend much time on the farm. We rather went to Missouri’s nearby capital St
Jefferson (which was named after Thomas Jefferson) soon and did some shopping there. The highlight was
definitely the visit of the Bose store where a very modern TV with an incredible sound system was presented to
26
us. The whole product was called the “Bose Video Wave Entertainment System” and it offered the best sound
I’ve ever heard – without having any boxes outside the TV itself. It was like magic! And my host family really
thought of putting such a TV into their basement they are renovating at the moment!
Especially during our shopping tours I realized that the Americans always tried to compliment others as often
as they could. Even if they didn’t want to buy a product at all, for example, they praised it and sometimes also
said that they were thinking of buying it although it was obvious that they wouldn’t.
We additionally used the trip to St Jefferson to visit some of Norman’s relatives and friends. For example, we
had dinner with Norman’s best friend and we visited Norman’s step mother. That was when I found out that
most German immigrants came to the area around St Jefferson at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of
th
the 20 century. And that’s what you can still conclude from many people’s family names. My host family (and
many of Norman’s relatives) are called Buescher, for example, and some of their ancestors were called
Lutjenhuis. However, nobody I met was still able to speak German apart from a few basic phrases like “Das ist
gut.” (Norman’s favourite phrase). But everybody wanted me to pronounce their family names in a German
way. Norman and Sandra found the German pronunciation of their name “Buescher” very funny and tried to
imitate me, but they weren’t really able to produce the “€” sound (“€”,”‰”, “•” and “…” didn’t even exist on the
keyboards and the “z” and the “y” were swapped). Anyway, they trained hard .
Later, when we would be in Kansas City again, Norman would showed me a short book that summarizes his
family’s history and that indicates that his family came from a small town close to Osnabruck.
But before we left St Jefferson again we still went to the history museum in the Missourian capitol which
showed the state’s history from colonization up to today. Norman and Sandra were a bit disappointed because
the special exhibition about German immigrants which had been there a few months ago and which they
wanted to show me had been replaced. Anyway, it was quite an interesting visit as original cannons from the
Civil War and impressive models were exhibited there, among other things. In the course of that visit Sandra
also told me that her brother had found a mammoth bone randomly in his childhood which was now exhibited
in another museum too. My host family definitely had an exciting story to tell – the connection to
“Braveheart”, their German origin, the find of a mammoth bone …
Me standing in front of the Missouri State Capitol and next to a statue showing Thomas Jefferson
This weekend on the farm and in St Jefferson was somehow like a very exciting history lesson for me: the
feeling to be back in time which I had during our stay on the farm, all the information I got about German
immigrants including my host family and Missouri’s state history.
During my second week in Kansas City I did something typical American: I went to a Walmart store. I had
absolutely not been able to imagine a shop where you can buy everything (apart from houses and bikes, as
Norman said) before I entered the store (by the way, all Americans I told about that were bewildered). I was
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stunned: food, drinks, electronic devices, clothes, sports gear, glasses, school things, gardening tools, medicines
and even jewellery were offered in the giant hall. I couldn’t believe my eyes! And I was even more surprised
when looking at the prices! They were in same cases (e.g. smart phones) really low! The company’s cynical
slogan “Pay less, live better”, on the other hand, made me laugh ironically. I just asked myself: Are only the
people buying things from Walmart supposed to live better?
Following that trip to Walmart, Quinn and Ashley drove me to Kansas City Downtown again in order to show
me an exhibition called Science City. Sounds unusual? Was unusual! In contrast to most museums where you
pass dozens of long corridors the exhibits in Science City were all shown in a single giant hall.However, the it
was split up into several compartments making up a small maze. A space station, an old helicopter and a villa
equipped with dazing optical illusions belonged to my personal highlights there. The special thing was that you
could do all the experiments yourself and that movies and computer simulations had been preferred to texts
when establishing the museum.
An activity Ashley, Quinn and me even did twice (due to the huge crowd in the park on the first day we went
there and due to the fact that we could enter for free as Ashley worked in the park as a photographer) was
visiting the theme park “Worlds of Fun” which was dedicated to the different countries on the globe. The part
of the park representing Germany was equipped with a bumper car, of course, called “Autobahn”. In general,
the Americans really seem to admire the German car companies. One of the first things Skyte told me at the
band camp, for example, was “You Germans build very good cars. Bugatti, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, …” He
wasn’t the only one who talked about that topic to me. Nevertheless, the Missourian streets were mainly
dominated by Chevrolet and Ford. The probably most popular car version in the heart of the North American
continent was the pick-up which is of course not very surprising in such a rural area.
Before finishing this report by describing the end of my stay in Missouri: here are some more interesting facts I
found out about during these amazing two weeks in Kansas City:
1) The American bancomats are sometimes quite different from the German ones as they really conform
a Drive In at McDonald’s. You stop close to a pillar with your car, enter some information on a monitor
(e.g. concerning the amount of money you want to get), have a conversation with a person whose
voice you can hear through a speaker and then receive your money in a capsule.
2) In the USA, there is no civil marriage. So, the whole discussion about homosexual marriages in the U.S.
was about the question whether or not homosexual people should be allowed to marry in church. I
was quite surprised about that because I had expected more secularisation in the U.S.
3) Fruit juices do not seem to be very popular in Missouri. Because I especially drank apple juice during
my stay in Kansas City my host family came to the conclusion that I was “addicted to apple juice”.
4) Punctuality which is in colloquial speech a typical German characteristic doesn’t seem to be that
important for the Americans. It wasn’t an exception if people came half an hour too late. Even when
we wanted to go to the airport on the day of my departure Norman was 15 minutes late to pick me
up.
Thus we finally are with my last day in Kansas City. Having packed my suitcase and having had a bagel with
cream cheese (typical American!) for breakfast it was already time to go to the nearby airport where we
met the other Germans as well as their host families. I took us nearly 2 hours to finally say goodbye. After
two and a half weeks my host family, the English language and the American way of life somehow felt like
a part of my everyday life. Then we passed the security control and started our trip back to Germany.
So, what remains from these exciting and awesome 16 days in Kansas City, Missouri (apart from several
souvenirs)?Improved English skills for sure, but especially the flood wave of new experiences and the
contact to numerous great people including my host family, of course! I hope that we will see each other
again one day. Possibly, I’ll visit the Bueschers again, maybe Quinn will visit me here in Germany! But in
between, we will definitely keep in touch via e-mail and Skype! What a trip!
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