Blogs from Haigerloch, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Europe

On the train from Stuttgart to Paris, a few students took the time share their initial thoughts on this exchange. I asked them to share any experiences, feelings and any way that these past few weeks will leave a lasting impact on their lives. What they had to say is below, unedited and genuine. Enjoy! Hello, I'm Chloe Brady. So, we just left our German friends at the train station and I'm currently a mess. Leaving their parents at the school was heartbreaking, I wished I could've hugged them one more time. Leaving our exchange partners who we've been through so much with, was terrible. There were many tears and tons of hugs. This trip has been absolutely amazing, the adventures we went on were extravagant, and the sites we saw were beautiful. The best part ... read more

David versus Goliath, U.S. Hockey versus Russia in 1980, Seabiscuit versus War Admiral, Rocky versus Ivan Drago, the Imperial System versus Metric. None of these underdogs, these dark horses, given no chance to even compete, can hold a candle to the position of Team American Exchange today at Haigerloch School's Sport Day. We, the rag tag group of American's, inexperienced in the obscure sports of Baden Wurttemberg, thousands of miles from home, exhausted from travel and countless activities these past two weeks which were specially designed to create even more of a home field advantage for the hosts. We were vastly outnumbered on this day, 50-1 really. And the odds, much, much longer than that. We assembled this morning on the steps with the rest of the school for mandatory warm ups. Then, we moved on ... read more

We are here in Germany enjoying the wonderful fellowship of our hosts, the incredible landscape and architecture of the region, and also the great weather. This experience is meant to broaden perspectives, help our students step out of their comfort zones in order to grow as a person, and also most certainly to educate. We want our students to learn from this experience simply by living here, but also by providing them with specifically engineered opportunities to learn. As such, we have a very clear and obvious theme on this trip. The central theme of this exchange is "Culture". Culture includes the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a group or society. One of the major manifestations of culture in a society are the artistic and oral traditions of story telling and mask making. During the ... read more

As an ASB adviser, I feel that I understand the pressures that those involved in planning events for large groups are under. We want things to go perfectly in order to maximize the enjoyment for those who are taking part. So, when I awoke to the sound of thunderous rain pounding against the windows this morning, my heart sank. I could imagine our fellow exchange teacher Jutta, stressed and depressed as the rain washed away months of hard work and effort put forth by her class to plan the all school color run. I hoped beyond all hope that this would blow over and we could at least have a wet and muddy event as opposed to cancelling. There was no plan B, no window for a makeup. It simply had to happen today, there was ... read more

The excitement just keeps on rolling here in sleepy Haigerloch! Like any lingering jet lag, the skies are continuing to clear here and the heat has been turned on outside. We completed our third day at school today. If I could use one word to describe Haigerloch School thus far, it would have to be "Genuine". From top to bottom, everyone at this school honestly loves being a part of it. The Principal, Bernd, is joyous in every encounter, be it with students, staff, or parents. He exudes positivity, enthusiasm and professionalism that rubs off on everyone. The teachers love the school, love their subjects and genuinely love their students. Conversely, the students really seem to enjoy being at school, and respect it and each other. Our students fit right in to this mold. They are ... read more