Riverview introduces America to German exchange students

As part of the German American Partnership program offered in high school, 16 sophomores from Freiburg, Germany, traveled to Sarasota, where they stayed with host families of Riverview High School students and learned about American culture and enjoyed some time on the beach.

The students arrived April 28 and left May 13 to visit other parts of Florida, before returning to Germany. The students participating in the program joined the program for various reasons, including improving their English skills and learning about American culture.

One German student, 16-year-old Simon Berger, said he’s enjoyed comparing the two cultures.

“I had an image of America in my head before I came, and I wasn’t disappointed,” Berger said. “The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that everyone here drives a car, and they’re much bigger than the ones in Germany.”

Berger spends his summers traveling abroad to learn other languages, and he currently speaks German, English and French. He said he enjoyed staying with his host family and spending some time in the nice weather.

Another exchange student, Larissa Wallat, said she was pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of the American students.

“There are a lot of clichés, and I wanted to see if American high schools were like they are in the movies,” she said. “My first impressions were that everyone was so nice and friendly. Everyone is really open and interested.”

Wallat, like most of the students, said her favorite thing about the visit so far has been visiting the beaches, and she hopes to come back in the future.

Berger’s host mother, Nancy Kelly, said this is her first time participating in something like this, and that it’s been a great learning experience for the whole family.

“My son has always been really into German history,” Kelly said. “So, when I saw in Riverview’s newsletter that they were looking for host families, I thought it would be a good opportunity.”

Before the program, students wrote essays about themselves so that they could be placed with American students with similar personalities. Kelly said she was really impressed with the matching process, and that she enjoyed getting to know the students.

Program supervisor William Graves has been overseeing these trips for eight years. Graves is an American who studied abroad in Germany and then moved there with his wife. Now, he travels to the United States with German students to help facilitate the experience.

“We want to disperse some of the stereotypes that each culture has of the other,” Graves said. “It’s all about promoting intercultural understanding. When you see them out here on the beach together, you see that they’re essentially exactly the same.”