A GAPP in the Summer

A GAPP in Summer

A closer look into the German Exchange Program students took part in this summer.

BY EMILY AYARS ’24

In sixth grade, the six weeks of German classes required by the school were meant to draw students to the language, but it had a lasting impact on the 24 students who took learning the language to another level this summer. The German American Partnership Program, otherwise known as GAPP, started up again this summer after a delay brought on by COVID-19. “It’s a cultural exchange between [UAHS] students and students at our partner school and it involves a homestay and a school experience,” German teacher and American co-coordinator of GAPP Emily Alaudini said.

On June 22, UAHS students boarded a plane for Frankfurt, Germany, suitcases in hand as they chatted amongst themselves. In the midst of everyone was junior Harrison Carlisle.

“To start off… I didn’t want to go because I didn’t like the idea of doing an exchange and staying in somebody’s house,” Carlisle said.

Christy Charlton, a German teacher at Jones and the other American co-coordinator of GAPP, added to this sentiment.

“You do need to have the type of personality that is willing to take some chances, that’s willing to communicate with other people,” Charlton said. “But for some kids, even the shyer kids, it helps them come out of their shell a little bit...”

The trip lasted about three weeks, including a trip to the city of Heidelberg. The three days students spent there were without their exchange students. Alaudini noted that the intention of this was to bring UAHS students closer together. “One thing we always notice is that the Americans also build friendships within the Upper Arlington group so you connect with friends,” she said. “You meet new people that maybe you otherwise wouldn’t have met because maybe they’re not in the same extracurricular activities as you, or maybe they’re not in the same classes as you, or maybe they’re not in the same grade level.” In addition to separate grade levels, this year’s trip included seniors from last year whose 2020 exchange was canceled.

“Some of the American students that went, I got to know them and it was really cool because I’ve known some of these people for a while but we’ve never talked,” junior Elizabeth Saint-Jacques said. “But we’ve become friends and we hang out a lot since we’ve gotten back.”

UAHS students were also taken to a handful of surrounding cities with their host families.

“I visited I would say within the realm of probably 10 different cities other than the town that we were in,” Carlisle said.

The exchange community of Bad Bergzabern is located near the border of France, allowing access to multiple different areas.

“My exchange student took me to Switzerland, and a bunch of different cities in France and a couple of different places in Germany, which was really cool,” Saint-Jacques said. “So we had a mixture of supervised time and then freedom throughout the city.”

Throughout the trip, students gained the privilege to explore independently and experience Germany in a new light. Charlton views it as an opportunity to expand students’ freedom and teach them responsibility.

“There are times where we’re not with [the students] and so you learn to be a little more self-sufficient. You learn to do things that you’re not comfortable with and that can just help in the long run,” Charlton said.

Junior Natalie Yurkiw agreed with this, explaining how that freedom could prove useful in her future.

“It kind of was a college expe-

GRAPHIC BY CHLOE HARRIS ’24

rience per se,” Yurkiw said. “I really enjoyed being able to walk around the city with my friends and kind of have the freedom to see the city and to interact with Germans.”

The majority of the trip was spent shadowing the German exchange students in their community. UAHS students spent 10 days following their students’ school schedule each day to grasp an idea of how their education system works. Occasionally, students would present slideshows on different topics in classes and serve as a native translator in English classes.

Attending school was also a beneficial way for the students to practice the German language.

“I think it’s really interesting: these students have been in German, some of them for several years, and they learned about the culture and they learned about the everyday [life]. This is their opportunity to experience that, to live that first hand, things that they’ve learned about in class,” Alaudini said. “It’s a very authentic learning experience.”

Yurkiw had a similar observation with her exchange student and the lifestyle in Germany.

“I think it was an eye-opening experience,” Yurkiw said. “I got to experience everyday life in Germany.”

The German education system runs very differently from what UAHS provides. The school year lasts year round, with shorter and more frequent breaks rather than one large break.

“It’s a lot more split up, and I feel like people enjoy going to school there a lot more because it’s less strict,” Saint-Jacques said.

Along with this, schedules are more personalized with subjects students pick and choose to take. School days also vary in length depending on these classes.

“So sometimes they’ll be done at 11 a.m. or they’ll be done at 3 p.m. … and there are periods that are… an hour instead of 45 minutes,” Saint-Jacques said. “So it’s a little more involved because you’re not going through the same seven classes over and over and over again.”

But school wasn’t the only part of the trip these students got to experience. Allowing UAHS students to build a relationship with the exchange students was an objective for Alaudini.

“That is probably one of the main goals, to build bridges of intercultural understanding,” she said.

Each of the 24 UAHS students was paired off with a student from the German exchange school, Gymnasium im Alfred-Grosser-Schulzentrum. Students lived with their exchange families and built connections throughout the community. SaintJacques bonded admirably with her student before they met and even more so after.

“[My exchange student] used to describe us as being like sisters and best friends forever because we did everything together and we like the same music and the same TV shows and it was just, like, a perfect match to find someone like that,” Saint-Jacques said.

Charlton can relate to this, along with understanding the students’ experiences, as she found herself in the same position 40 years ago and still to this day stays in touch with her exchange student whenever they visit.

“I was an exchange student at this same exact school when I was 16 for three weeks, and obviously it made an impact because I’m a German teacher,” Charlton said. “More than that, it just opened me up to [that], ‘Oh wow, there’s a whole world out there that I know nothing about and I want to find out about it.’”

The influence this program had on her clearly struck the current students in a similar way. Despite his reservations in the beginning, Carlisle said with confidence that he would recommend this program to future students.

“Absolutely,” he said. “It was definitely life-changing.”

Arlingtonian staff member recounts a memorable learning moment from the German exchange program. BY KATY TROMBOLD ’24

For me, the German exchange program was one big learning experience. So going into the trip, I was expecting there to be a heavy learning curve, but my first big lesson was one I was not expecting. It all started in the City of Heidelberg, where the German exchange group spent the first few nights before meeting up with our exchange partners. This was a time to adjust to German culture and bond as a group. On our first night, a group of us went to dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. Honestly, except for our questionable German skills, the meal went surprisingly smoothly. Until the waiter presented us with the check. Now you might not know this, but water in Germany is not free like at restaurants in the United States, and there are no free refills. This was something our whole group was warned about, but honestly, I didn’t fully appreciate or realize what it meant. Throughout our dinner we all ordered water after water (which came with no ice I might add. This might have been my least favorite part of Germany). So when the bill came, we were shocked to see that our refreshing cups of lukewarm water cost more than all the food we had ordered! We all stared at the check in shock, not realizing why the bill was so high until we saw the price of the drinks — which to this day is the most I have and will ever spend on room temperature water. It was the quickest lesson I learned in Germany. So, the advice I have for all of the students reading this is to never assume water is inexpensive or that there are free refills in other countries! Overall, though, I loved the Germany trip and have a ton of advice for people traveling abroad for the first time with a school group. It can feel nerve-racking but it will be an amazing experience you never forget.