Moin ! –A report about my time in Santee- I’m one of the German exchange students from Aurich. We’re from the Gymnasium Ulricianum Aurich. We’re staying here for three weeks from March 23. to April 10.. So why have I decided to come over here? I like to meet people and make new experiences and exchange programs are always interesting. Besides, I wanted to visit the United States and you don’t get this chance that often in your life. So how did the journey start? I had to get up Sunday at 2.00 am, because our flight’s departure was at 6.20 am. Our first school day was Monday. We attended the classes of our hosts. So my first class was theatre. We began to watch the musical "South Pacific". I kind of began to like Emile de Beque, who is a main character in the movie. The second period we had math. I was surprised, because it seemed different from what we do in Germany. At least you get the same answer, but the way is different. The third period was aerobics. I think it is really cool, because we don’t have that kind of P.E. in Germany. If you want to do aerobics, you will have to pay for it. The same with the weight room. Fourth period was German, which was relaxing for me. J The fifth period we never attended. And sixth period was history, which is pretty much the same like in our school. On Tuesday, we went to the play "Music Man" , which I really enjoyed. But I was pretty tired. Luckily, three nice students had explained the play’s plot to us. It helped me to understand the story. On Wednesday, we represented our school at the freshman orientation. On Thursday, we walked to the Mission Gorge Dam and enjoyed the environment. In the afternoon we watched the baseball game vs. Monte Vista. It was interesting. On Pack Day, we did presentations the whole day. We told the students and their parents some things about Aurich, our school and East Friesian traditions. In the afternoon, we went to San Diego by Trolley. Well, I missed the trolley, but San Diego was cool. We walked around and had a quick look at the little shops there, which was pretty interesting. In the evening, my host, some of her friends and I went to "Denny’s", because my host is a member of the technical crew of "Music Man". So we sat there and had some nice conversations with cast- and crewmembers. I really enjoyed the evening. On Saturday, we went to Borrego Springs. It was cool, because we went to Dudley’s Lunch, and after the desert, we drove to Julian and had some apple pie. In the evening, I went to the "Music Man" cast party with my "techie" (host). It was cool, because everybody was really friendly and tried to make me feel comfortable. I had a long interesting chat with a crewmember who is pretty nice. On Sunday, I could hardly stay awake… But I had a lot of fun on this day. My host family took me to brunch and after that to the movies. The following Monday, we continued our presentations about Germany, youth life in Germany and stuff. In the afternoon, we went to Mission San Diego, which was a bit boring, because our guide was just used to give tours to little children. The next day, we still continued with our presentations. But we cooked tea for the students and made them drink it traditionally with rock sugar and heavy cream (don’t stir!). Yesterday, we had an easter picnic, which was funny. They made us search eggs with little gifts inside. We played beach volleyball, which was cool, because we played with about ten people each team. And we played "chubby bunny" with marshmallows. I was out after three marshmallows (arrgg, embarrassing). Well, anyways. Now I’m sitting in the computer lab and writing this report. This exchange was really cool, so far. I bet the spring break will be great, too. From the 10th to the 13th, we will be in San Francisco. Hopefully this will be fun, too. I enjoyed my time here and met cool people. Hopefully, the exchange students will have as much fun as I did here, when they come over to Germany. ================= Annas Report GAPP-Exchange with Gymnasium Ulricianum Aurich After I heard of our new sister school West Hills and the exchange program I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to go over to the states. Unfortunately I got very ill three days before we were supposed to start. The night before I went to the doctor’s. The doctor had been to San Diego before and told me I had to go because it is such a beautiful city. So I went. At the airport it was very sad when I had to say goodbye to my boyfriend but I was also looking forward to the exchange. Then there where three flights that took us about 18 hours. Finally we arrived and I met my host family. From the beginning on I really liked them so there was nothing I had to worry about. I was so tired after the long flight and also still feeling a little sick that I first had to sleep. The next day in school I found out that school is organized in a different way than in Germany. Here teachers have their own room and students have the same classes every day. The activities that took place after school were most of the time interesting. We did for example on the first day a Santee Rally. We had to ask Americans historic questions and had to find out things. We also visited the Music Man which was very impressive. At the baseball game Padres vs. Giants we learnt about this typical American sport that is not very popular in Germany. At the freshman orientation we presented the German class of Mr. Davey and the GAPP exchange program. We also gave presentations for the American German students about our region, our school and German music. Live with my host family I really liked. My host Alison Sample was very nice. Even though she was two years younger we get along very well. When there was no program I spent time with my best friend Janna who also joined the exchange or chatted with my boyfriend. I miss him so badly! The best thing about California is the weather! In Germany there would never be so much sun in this time of the year. I guess the Americans may have wondered why the Germans always want to sit down and burn in the sun. But that’s just because we only have this kind of weather during summer time. Even though there are still a week and four days remaining I think it was really worth all the effort and money it took to come over. I made new friends and had a great experience I would not want to miss. My English also improved a lot. So if anybody things about participating in this GAPP program just do it! You will have a great time with nice people! ------------- Bericht über die letzten zwei Wochen in Kalifornien!!! Um 3:00 morgens hieß es aufstehen und den Rest in den Koffer packen und ab zum Flughafen! Der Flug war nicht sehr spannend, den 11 Std. Flug werden nach 2 Std. einfach nur noch langweilig!!! Als wir in San Diego am Flughafen ankamen, wurden wir mit einem riesigen Empfangskomitee, mit Blumen und Luftballons, empfangen, womit wir gar nicht gerechnet hatten! Die ersten Tage in der Schule waren etwas ungewohnt, da die Schüler im Unterricht meist ihre Hausaufgabe für den Nächsten Tag besprechen und dann den Rest der Stunde eine Stillarbeit haben, die meist aber nicht still verläuft! Die Stunden sind, nicht wie bei uns 45 min., sondern 1 Std. und der Schultag ist erst um halb drei zuende! Allerdings das Für mich am schlimmste war, dass die Schüler jeden Tag die selben Stunden haben! Wir wurden von allen Schülern sehr herzlich empfangen und neugierig befragt! Manche dachten, wir würden auf der linken Seite der Strasse fahren, was dafür spricht, das solche Austausche notwendig sind, um solche Missverständnisse aus der Welt zu raeumen! Wir bekamen zusammen mit den Eltern eine Privatvorstellung des Musicals, welches die Theatergruppe zur Zeit hier aufführt. Denn bei den anderen Vorstellungen hätte man Eintritt bezahlen müssen! Die Landschaft in Santee und der Umgebung ist sehr schön! Es ist bemerkenswert, wie Natur und die Stadt hier so gut nebeneinander existieren Können. Wir haben 2-3km von der Schule entfernt einen alten Damm besichtigt, der in den Bergen lag und noch sehr gut erhalten war! In der Schule wurden uns die vielen verschiedenen Sportarten nahe gebracht, vor allem das Baseball-Spiel! Zwei Schüler erklärten uns die Regeln und am Nachmittag schauten wir uns das Spiel der West Hills High gegen die Vista High an, was allerdings nicht ganz so spannend verlief, aber wir konnten den Regeln einigermaßen gut folgen! Mit der Trolley sind wir an einem Tag nach San Diego rein gefahren und haben dort die Architektur, den Hafen und das Horten Plaza besichtigt. Das Horten Plaza ist ein riesiges bunt gestaltetes Einkaufszentrum mit drei oder vier Stockwerken, auf denen man eine Vielfalt von Geschäften aller Art finden kann. Wir sind auch wieder in die Wüste Borrego Springs gefahren, wo wir diese Mal allerdings nur den Park besichtigt haben und nicht in die Wüste hinein gegangen sind, wie das letzte Mal wo ich in Kalifornien war. Damals sind haben wir eine Wanderung zu einer Oase gemacht und das war wirklich ein schöner Ausflug, denn die Umgebung mit den vielen Blumen und Sträuchern muss man einmal gesehen haben! Unsere Präsentationen Für die Schüler der Deutschklasse fanden ein reges Interesse und brachten den amerikanischen Schülern unsere Schule und unsere Stadt etwas näher! Vor allem unsere Teestunde gefiel den amerikanischen Schülern sehr gut (wegen dem Kluntje)!!! Als die anderen das Baseball-Spiel der Padres angesehen haben, bin ich mit meiner Austauschschuelerin, ihren beiden Schwestern und ihren Großeltern ins Kasino nach Barona gefahren, wo wir an einem riesigen Buffet gegessen haben. Dort gab es alle Arten von Essen, Chinesisch, Mexikanisch, Amerikanisch, Italienisch und viele mehr! Danach habe ich etwas am Einarmigen Banditen für einen Dollar gespielt, denn da ich 18 bin durfte ich mich in dem Kasino frei bewegen und spielen, meine Austauschpartnerin, Angie, durfte, da sie erst 17 ist noch nicht einmal zusehen während ich gespielt habe! Unser Osterpicknick, das wir in der Schule veranstaltet haben verlief wie folgt: wir haben riesige Pizzen verdrückt, Volleyball gespielt, haben ein Marshmallows-Spiel gespielt und Ostereier gesucht!!! Und nun sitzen wir hier und schreiben unsere Berichte! Dieser Ausflug finde ich ist nur zu empfehlen, denn die Leute hier sind alle so gastfreundlich und zuvorkommend, und das Wetter hier ist ein Traum, so das man sich Für einen Austausch keinen besseren Ort vorstellen könnte!!!