Knoch High Schoolers and students of Muhlhausen, Germany, break bread
SAXONBURG — The sister cities of Saxonburg and Muhlhausen, Germany, are more than 4,000 miles apart. But Thursday, Sept. 10, two opposite sides of the world united inside a Knoch High School classroom.
A cultural exchange between Ed Kasper’s German class and three Muhlhausen high school-aged students — Wilhelm Konnenberg, Lennart Hesse and Anna Zimmerman — was held over buffalo chicken dip, Mountain Dew Baja Blast and other American snacks shared by the Knoch students.
Traditionally, the two cities have had an exchange that included adults. But this year, the cities had the opportunity for students to come, Kasper said. Muhlhausen is in central Germany, in the state of Thuringia, and has a population of just over 36,000 people.
“I’ve always wanted to visit America. I’ve always wanted to see what the school was like, what’s different here, all of the cultural differences. It’s always interested me,” Lennart said. “I was very happy I could come here and visit. We’re also going to New York later, and New York is one of my favorite cities. We’ll get to see different parts of the country.”
While spending the day at Knoch, the three German students fielded questions from Kasper’s German class about what life is like in Germany, their studies, recreation and sports, music, food and more.
“When did you learn to speak English?” “Have you ever heard of March Madness?” were among the questions the Germans were peppered with.
The German students shared tidbits about the differences between Germans and Americans. Did you know that instead of calling someone “dumb as rocks,” they say “dumb as bread?”
Testing the Americans, the German students asked what they thought of Germans and Germany. The immediate responses included cleanliness, diligence, churches everywhere and Oktoberfest.
The Americans and Germans learned similarities and differences in school life with each others. These included no school sports in Germany — all teams are run through independent clubs — and college education is much cheaper.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to be able to live in another country, to have an opportunity like this,” Wilhelm said.
“I wanted to come just to see what life is like here. It’s interesting,” Anna added.
