Heisenberg’s 8b welcomed Sarah from Pennsylvania

Karlsruhe (8b). What on earth is a “promposal”?
How come kids drive themselves to school in the U.S.?
How does a school day in the U.S. look like?

These are some typical questions 8th graders have as our textbook “Access 4” focusses solely on the United States of America. Of course, we couldn’t do a field trip to find out but thanks to the U.S. Embassy’s “Meet US” program, Heisenberg’s 8b got the chance to engage in a dialogue with Sarah Wagner from Pennsylvania. “Meet US” is part of the cultural outreach activities of the U.S. Embassy and funded by the Fulbright Commission. It helps clarify the picture about daily life in the U.S. by bringing Americans residing in Germany together with secondary school students in Germany.

Carla (8b): Sarah talked about life in the USA, including school life and daily life, about the differences between Germany and the USA, about cultural differences within the American states and about immigration (she herself has German and Irish roots). She explained all of this in English, and we had the chance to ask her questions so we could learn a lot about her homeland. It was very interesting and enlightening to learn from somebody who is from another country.

Maxim (8b): Sarah told us about where she has lived in the USA and made us aware of differences between Germany and the USA. For example, you get your drivers license at the age of 16 in the USA. In Germany you have to wait two years longer. Moreover, there are different time zones and different landscapes in the U.S. Sarah told us that she had to drive for two hours to reach the next supermarket when she was volunteering at the Yellowstone National Park. She also told us about her experience with a promposal. The teacher told her friend that he should come to his desk because he did a mistake but then she walked into the room with a big poster to ask him to go to the prom with her. The prom is a big thing in the USA.

We certainly had an interesting discussion, and it was a great pleasure talking to Sarah. Thank you for visiting us at Heisenberg Gymnasium!