PORT ANGELES — They love the easy smiles and friendly American faces.
They still find themselves gawking at the wide streets and oversized cars.
And they are keen to the fact that Port Angeles High School students actually get to choose some of their classes.
It’s a long way from home for 12 exchange students from a small Bavarian town in Germany — one smaller, in fact, than Port Angeles.
But a week into their three-week scheduled stay as part of a student exchange program with Port Angeles High, everything they’ve encountered appears to be totally “cool” for them.
“[Americans] are very proud of their country and that’s unusual for us,” said Britta Schwirtz, 17, one of the dozen German exchange students that attends the Ludwig-Thoma-Gymnasium in Prien — a school in a town of about 10,000 people located between Munich and Salzburg.
“And everyone here looks at you when you are walking on the street.”
English spoken here
Such are only two of the many observations by German students who are living in Port Angeles for two more weeks before they have to fly back to Europe.
Each student was interviewed on Friday in English, a feat that was possible thanks to the fact that the group has been studying English in school for at least seven years.
The 12 students — almost all of whom had never been in the United States until now — are pairing up with a similar number of Port Angeles High German-language students in Carrie Christensen’s language class.
Last Monday night, each of the exchange students was introduced to the Port Angeles School Board just after flying in from Germany.
On Saturday, they headed to Victoria and will be visiting Port Townsend later in the week.
Lot’s of differences
One of the major differences the German students say they’ve seen between their hometown and Port Angeles is the fact that most of the Americans they’ve met so far are exceptionally friendly on first contact.
“They are really full of energy,” said Irmi Prankl, 17, describing most of the people she’s met since arriving last weekend.
“People here go up and talk to you and want to meet you.”
Another student, Veronika Rihl, 16, agreed.
“The first time they see you, they want to come and talk to you,” Rihl said.
“And another difference is that the streets here are so big.
“Our streets are little streets.”
Max Resch, 17, was impressed by the ability of Port Angeles High School students to be able to get up in the middle of class and walk to the restroom.
“We’re not allowed to do so many things in Germany,” Resch said.
“Like go to the toilet in the lesson or to eat in the lesson.”
Another major difference between Port Angeles High and Ludwig-Thoma-Gymnasium, according to Max Wimmer, 18, is the fact that here, students are allowed to take part in class-based discussions with teachers, while in Germany the class discussions are usually one-sided: Teachers lecture and students listen.
“The teacher talks more with the pupils,” Wimmer said.
“I also like that they have many sports in school.”
Visiting classrooms
This is the first of what Port Angeles High’s Christensen and her German counterpart, Martin Boeswald, hope become annual trips for the respective language classes.
In July, Christensen said, a dozen Port Angeles German-language students are scheduled to spend three weeks in Prien and stay with their newfound German counterparts.
The idea is for the students to immerse themselves in the language they are studying in school, and get a lot of cross-cultural experience.
“This has been so positive, really positive,” said Boeswald, who is hoping he can return in the future.
“The students are really learning a lot, and I have grown fond of the state and the people.”
