Seit nunmehr 10 Jahren verbindet unsere Schule eine enge Schulpartnerschaft mit der Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.
Eine Schülergruppe ist derzeit zum Austausch in den USA. Hier einige Impressionen und Berichte der Reise.
Eating out
In the evenings with my host family, we often ate at different restaurants, such as The Cheesecake Factory. I was particularly surprised by the huge portion sizes. Since restaurant visits are usually quite short, many people simply ask for the rest of their meal to be packed up to take home.
Besides the different dishes, the tipping culture is also very different. After giving your card to the waiters to pay, you have to add the tip on the bill afterwards. Moreover, I also learned that a tip of less than 15% is considered stingy and even seen as criticism of the staff.
Magdalena
Marching band
One of the most exciting experiences for me was getting a closer look at the marching band. My exchange student had this class every morning as her first period, and I got to see how varied and demanding it really is. The students not only play their instruments, but sometimes also have to dance during performances and march across the football field in perfect rhythm.
We GAPP students even got the chance to try marching ourselves and it quickly became clear that it’s not as easy as it looks. There are very specific rules behind it:
• The head has to stay up.
• The shoulders should be pulled back.
• You always start with your left foot.
• Every five yards must be covered with exactly eight steps.
• Each step begins with the heel and then rolls smoothly across the foot.
And those are just the rules for marching forward! Marching sideways or backwards comes with a completely different – and much more complicated – set of rules. Once all of this is combined with playing an instrument, it reaches a whole new level.
Despite all these strict rules, the students take part with incredible enthusiasm.
It was impressive to see how much fun and motivation they have, and for me it was a real highlight to try marching myself.
Elina
Homecoming Spirit Week
It was my first time experiencing Homecoming Spirit Week in America. I was so excited to see how many students got dressed. Each day had a different theme, and it was fun to plan the outfits and go shopping with friends. At first, I wondered whether many students would take part, but when I saw nearly everyone wearing a costume, I was really surprised. Even the teachers participated. My favorite day was Adam Sandler Day. Everyone came to school wearing oversized, funny-looking clothes, and during the breaks they played music in the hallways. The atmosphere was amazing. Overall, I really enjoyed the week because it made me feel much more connected to the school, the students, and the teachers.
Annica
Driving
Driving in the US was a completely new experience for me. Most families own more than two cars, and each of them is huge. The roads are also much wider than in Europe. Somehow everything seems to be built for cars – even the pharmacy had a drive-thru. A “quick” drive taking 30 minutes or not being able to go anywhere on my own is something I am not used to in Germany. Americans can get their license at 16, but it felt both exciting and unsettling at the same time to be driven by a 16-year-old.
Lilly
Life after school
I have to say that I was extremely impressed by the everyday life of all the students at Roncalli because it seems as if they live their entire lives at school. Almost none of the students go straight home directly after school, instead almost every student stays at school for hobbies or leisure activities because the school provides literally everything for the students, such as football, soccer, theatre and much more. So for the majority of the students the school day probably finishes at 6 pm and sometimes it is also possible that students have even more individual hobbies So in fact, most students are very productive beyond academic achievements. Yet, they don‘t seem to be bothered at all; on the contrary, they take everything seriously and you can see the effort they‘re investing in their passions.
Leonardo
Fowling
At the end of the first week, we went to a "Fowling" warehouse. Fowling is a game I had never heard of. It is a mix between American football and bowling. We were in a big room with a few flat platforms lined up next to each other. On them, there were ten bowling pins with a red one in the center, and there was a second row of platforms across the room. We had teams of two or three on each platform, and the goal for each team was to knock over the pins of the team opposite them with a football. The footballs thrown by the direct opponents could not be blocked, but if another team's stray football happened to fly towards our platform, we were allowed to block it. So it was a mix of offense and defense at the same time. If a team managed to knock over only the red pin without hitting any of the nine pins around it, that team would instantly win and get a reward – but none of us could do that. There were no other rules, but even hitting the pins in the first place was difficult. It was a lot harder than it looked, but I did get some good hits. However, the warehouse lost power in the middle of our session, and all the lights and music suddenly went out. Despite that, the whole experience was new and super fun! I would definitely play it again!
Leni
Volleyball
On September 20th, I traveled to Michigan with my host family to watch my first American live college volleyball game. I was amazed by how big and organized everything was. Before the match even started, the players were introduced and the American pledge was recited, something completely new to me.
During the game I noticed some differences compared to volleyball in Germany: if the ball touches the ceiling on your side, the rally continues and even the libero is allowed to serve. The atmosphere with the music, the food, and the huge crowd made it an unforgettable experience!
Helene
