Imagine walking into a foreign school. Unsure of the environment, you take a moment to observe the four buildings that stand before you. You are lost in your thoughts, but soon are brought back to a conscious state. You realize that becoming comfortable with your surroundings will soon be challenged because on the inside of this school, the language that you have spoken all of your life does not exist. Driving up to Walther-Lehmkuhl-Schule was one of the most nerve-racking, yet invigorating moments of my life. When Marina and Ingmar (my host sister and brother), pulled into the teachers parking lot and opened the locked gate with a credit card, I knew that I would be having a very interesting day. When I actually got to the front of the school I began to feel like being a lost puppy. Everything was different, the kids were standing outside of the school smoking, there were hardly any cars, and everyone looked at me as though they knew that I was a foreigner .
“Why is everyone starring at me?” I asked Marina. “You’re American and everyone loves Americans here!” she laughed. I’ve always been an outgoing person back home, but for some reason being in a foreign place evoked an unexplainable emotion, that made me act shy, and caused a little bit of anxiety.
When I entered the school it became apparent to me that simple tasks like finding a bathroom was difficult. I had learned a few phrases before attending the school, but I was not prepared for what was coming. All I could hear around me was a buzz of undistinguishable noises, the students would speak to each other, but I couldn’t understand anything that they were saying. I was relieved when we finally reached our class because I could just sit and journal about my past weekend. That’s when the German students came up to me. They asked me all kinds of questions like, “Where are you from?” “What’s America like?” “Can you drive?” “Do you guys really have that many McDonalds?” There were so many questions to answer and I didn’t know where to start. I thought that the funniest questions were about all of the fast food in America and what kind of big cars we drive. It was really surprising to see how many of the students could speak English and were interested about America, and even had the desire to go to America. When the class finally began it was incredibly confusing. The class was a building technique class, and was like nothing that I have ever participated in before. The instructors used machines, which would normally be used in a professional setting. This class was more fit for a college course than for high school students to be attending. When the class was finished I was relieved to go back into the main building. When I walked by the room where the principal would normally be, I was shocked to see all of the German exchange students that came to Scappoose the year before. I ran to them and hugged every one of them saying “Wi geht es dia?” which is how are you in Germany. It had been, what seemed like an eternity since the last time that I had even talked to them. We began talking about our experiences and what we had done and it was so effortless. It was like no time had elapsed since the last time we were all together, everything felt natural and it was nice to relive our past adventures. After, what seemed like two minutes, the bell rang and the students had to return to class. It was sad to say goodbye but we knew that we would meet with them again. When all of the students went back to class it was time to have the real adventure. The American students dropped our things off in the homeroom and immediately left for downtown Neumünster. We wanted to explore as much as we could in our allotted time period. We began by walking into the town. I felt like I was in another world, the streets were cobblestone and the buildings were all made out of brick it was gorgeous to look at. On the side of the town was a river that reflected all of the colors of the buildings and the sunny sky. We all decided to go to the local döner shop. It ended up being the best food imaginable and one of the most memorable parts of Germany. We ran through the streets of Neumünster like we weren’t afraid of anything. We felt free and wanted to do anything and everything possible. We shopped in the side shops and tried the German fashion, we ran the streets taking massive amounts of pictures of everything and creating attention to let everyone know that the Americans were here and we were ready to have fun. The beginning day was one of the memorable days of my life. When it came to an end it was sad, but we all knew that there was more to come and by the time we were done in Germany, we would have experienced everything there was to do. It was our time to experience something new, and we weren’t going to let anything stop us. The adventures that I was able to experience in Germany were unforgettable. I’ve always been a big traveler, but Germany was different. It brought me to a new light and made it possible for me to look at life in a new way and realize that Scappoose isn’t everything, that there is more out there and more to explore. As Frederic Franck said, “When I see --- suddenly, I am all eyes, I dive into the reality of what confronts me, become part of it, participate in it.” This quote has inspired me to start to embrace my inner-adventurer, and to live out my dreams. Life is short, and Germany was the best place to take my first plunge.