Well after 21 days, a LOT of public transportation, some school lessons, and a lot of fun and interesting experiences, our group has finally returned to Hamilton! I know everyone is very excited to be home, and was very excited to see the families waiting at the high school yesterday, but we certainly can't and won't forget the hospitality and events that we experienced in Germany. Personally, the transformation in the group / students from day one to day 21 is the absolute best part of the experience and completely worth every minute of travel (which can be exhausting in general, and especially with 25 people!). At first, the students are completely tentative and scared to even MOVE on their own, waiting for me to tell them how to do EVERYTHING. It's cute for a day or two (haha), but then my hope is that they catch-on, because answering the same questions over and over can take it's toll, and because I also want them to feel autonomous. At the end of the trip I was often able to just stand back and watch as the students got on the right trains (sitting next to perfect strangers wherever they can find an open seat too), navigated the city without me giving explicit directions, asked for things IN GERMAN without me having to say, "come on... you can do that in GERMAN!", and ordered German food IN GERMAN without me having to go down the table explaining what each food item was.
Since they all had different host families, they also now all have slightly different views of what being a "German" means, and therefore bring something new to the group as well. They understand that people don't have exactly the same views on everything as we do, and that just because they do things differently, that doesn't make it bad. In-fact, I love it when they say things like, "it's so cool how they do (insert any relevant topic here) in Germany. It really makes sense, and I think we should do things like this!" Or on the other hand, "I see why they do this now, but I still like (____) done in the American way." THIS is one of the major points of the exchange... to be able to see a different perspective of all of the little things in life, as well as some of the bigger things too. THESE little comments, though seemingly small to the students, make me so incredibly proud as a teacher, and as an American. I can see, in these 21 days alone, a group of students from small-town America that learned how to be more open to other people / cultures, are more self-sufficient and self-confident, that love their country and way of life but also love OTHER countries and respect their ways of doing things, and people that (for the most part) have now caught the travel bug. Hopefully this won't be their only international experience... just the tip of the iceberg!
Overall, I'm just impressed at this point (a little tired too, haha!) at what these students have done / accomplished / learned over the past 21 days. Of course not every moment was amazing at the time... it's challenging at times as well... but the lessons learned, the sights seen, and the opportunity to be a part of a different culture for three weeks is something that these students might never again have in their lives. They were in a circumstance that sometimes made them feel isolated, sometimes made them feel inferior, and sometimes made them feel confused, but they looked at themselves, examined the situation, and found meaning in it, all the while understanding that it was temporary and a product of the situation. One student commented at school last week (in Germany) that he felt stupid interacting with the Germans at times, not because he was stupid, but because he wasn't fully able to express himself in the language, didn't use "smart language," and didn't pick up on what those around him were saying. I can't help but feel incredibly thankful that I had a part in exposing my student to that challenging experience, because as a teacher I want to support my students while also challenging them along the way. I see people all the time in my home-town in America who probably feel the same way that my student felt, but for them it isn't a feeling that quickly goes away. Many of my neighbors didn't grow up here, they aren't native speakers of English, and they might have even have held prestigious jobs back in their home-country, only to come to America and feel dumb, insufficient, and confused. Many people come to our country to be with family, to better their lives or the lives of their children, and to escape situations in their home country, and many of them have essentially left their education, language abilities, and entire way of life back there as well. I hope and pray that at this point that by experiencing what life is like in a foreign language, not merely a foreign country, my students will now be changed; I hope they will now be more understanding and accepting, will pass less judgement, and that they will use their experience abroad to really be able to empathize with the people they encounter in their lives in America.
I loved seeing my students get off the plane yesterday saying things like, "Yay! We're back home!" when only hours before were saying, "I don't want to leave!" and shed many tears when leaving their host families a few days ago as well. I love that they feel so comfortable in their own country, and yet find so much value now in other countries / cultures too, and I think that is one thing America and the world need more of. As I look around to all of the destruction and terror happening in our world on a daily basis, mostly because people want to preserve and further their own way of life, I feel so blessed that over the course of the past three weeks I was able to see the complete opposite of that with students who were trying to open their minds rather than close them. A huge thank you to all of the students on this trip, the parents that helped make this happen for them, the Hamilton Community Schools Board of Education, the German American Partnership Program, and the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation for helping this exchange be possible, and all of those people on the German side that showed us around their beautiful country and granted us extreme hospitality. These three weeks have really helped to restore my faith in humanity, and at this point I am feeling very blessed! Thanks, everyone, for an amazing three weeks!
Frau Robinson
Since they all had different host families, they also now all have slightly different views of what being a "German" means, and therefore bring something new to the group as well. They understand that people don't have exactly the same views on everything as we do, and that just because they do things differently, that doesn't make it bad. In-fact, I love it when they say things like, "it's so cool how they do (insert any relevant topic here) in Germany. It really makes sense, and I think we should do things like this!" Or on the other hand, "I see why they do this now, but I still like (____) done in the American way." THIS is one of the major points of the exchange... to be able to see a different perspective of all of the little things in life, as well as some of the bigger things too. THESE little comments, though seemingly small to the students, make me so incredibly proud as a teacher, and as an American. I can see, in these 21 days alone, a group of students from small-town America that learned how to be more open to other people / cultures, are more self-sufficient and self-confident, that love their country and way of life but also love OTHER countries and respect their ways of doing things, and people that (for the most part) have now caught the travel bug. Hopefully this won't be their only international experience... just the tip of the iceberg!
Overall, I'm just impressed at this point (a little tired too, haha!) at what these students have done / accomplished / learned over the past 21 days. Of course not every moment was amazing at the time... it's challenging at times as well... but the lessons learned, the sights seen, and the opportunity to be a part of a different culture for three weeks is something that these students might never again have in their lives. They were in a circumstance that sometimes made them feel isolated, sometimes made them feel inferior, and sometimes made them feel confused, but they looked at themselves, examined the situation, and found meaning in it, all the while understanding that it was temporary and a product of the situation. One student commented at school last week (in Germany) that he felt stupid interacting with the Germans at times, not because he was stupid, but because he wasn't fully able to express himself in the language, didn't use "smart language," and didn't pick up on what those around him were saying. I can't help but feel incredibly thankful that I had a part in exposing my student to that challenging experience, because as a teacher I want to support my students while also challenging them along the way. I see people all the time in my home-town in America who probably feel the same way that my student felt, but for them it isn't a feeling that quickly goes away. Many of my neighbors didn't grow up here, they aren't native speakers of English, and they might have even have held prestigious jobs back in their home-country, only to come to America and feel dumb, insufficient, and confused. Many people come to our country to be with family, to better their lives or the lives of their children, and to escape situations in their home country, and many of them have essentially left their education, language abilities, and entire way of life back there as well. I hope and pray that at this point that by experiencing what life is like in a foreign language, not merely a foreign country, my students will now be changed; I hope they will now be more understanding and accepting, will pass less judgement, and that they will use their experience abroad to really be able to empathize with the people they encounter in their lives in America.
I loved seeing my students get off the plane yesterday saying things like, "Yay! We're back home!" when only hours before were saying, "I don't want to leave!" and shed many tears when leaving their host families a few days ago as well. I love that they feel so comfortable in their own country, and yet find so much value now in other countries / cultures too, and I think that is one thing America and the world need more of. As I look around to all of the destruction and terror happening in our world on a daily basis, mostly because people want to preserve and further their own way of life, I feel so blessed that over the course of the past three weeks I was able to see the complete opposite of that with students who were trying to open their minds rather than close them. A huge thank you to all of the students on this trip, the parents that helped make this happen for them, the Hamilton Community Schools Board of Education, the German American Partnership Program, and the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation for helping this exchange be possible, and all of those people on the German side that showed us around their beautiful country and granted us extreme hospitality. These three weeks have really helped to restore my faith in humanity, and at this point I am feeling very blessed! Thanks, everyone, for an amazing three weeks!
Frau Robinson