We finally got a chance to sit down with three of the German exchange students who are taking classes at Loyola Blakefield and staying with Loyola host families during their nine-day visit to the United States. Henrik Derra [left], Emilia Schramm [middle] and Max Auer [right] are high school sophomores from Dientzenhofer Gymnasium, a school in Bamberg, Germany.
How did you get involved in the exchange program?
Henrik: Last June, our teacher, Mr. Auer, asked our 9th grade class who wanted to make an exchange to America and he ended up selecting 23 students out of about 53 who applied. We were selected based on our grades, our fluency in English and our behavior in school.
What was your first impression of Loyola Blakefield?
Max: We couldn't believe this was a school. It looks much more like a palace or a church. There is no school in Germany that looks like Loyola.
Henrik: The first time I saw it was down from Charles Street and Wheeler Hall looked like Hogwarts to me. It's so cool and so much bigger than our entire school.
Emilia: Knott Hall is about the size of our school and we have about 500 more students than Loyola.
What has been your favorite class during your time at Loyola?
Henrik: Definitely Web Design because it's so cool to experience the programs that students are working with here like Photoshop and NetBeans. We don't have programs like that at our school because we don't have money for them. It's been very cool to work with these programs here and the teacher is even cool too.
Emilia: Our school in Bamberg only has two small computer labs, so experiencing all the equipment here has been really great. I had a photography class the other day and we were developing pictures in the dark room and I was just standing there amazed that the school has a dark room. We would never have something like that in Bamberg. Having 13 Macs in one room is also very impressive.
Do you have afterschool activities at your school in Bamberg?
Max: We usually go to school until either 1:00 p.m. or 3:15 p.m., then we go home and then go to our clubs. They are private clubs sponsored by our town, like different basketball teams and soccer teams. We do have some activities in school but they are usually during the summer. Basketball is a big sport in Bamberg because we were national champions last year.
Emilia: I have track and field two times a week and besides that I usually just hang with friends and study because we have exams around this time of year.
How has it been living with your host families during your visit here?
Emilia: It's been so much fun. They are so polite. It's amazing. The students have done a great job showing us around the school and the area as well.
Max: All Americans are so friendly and the houses are like palaces too.
Henrik: Yeah, it must be great to live here. The only thing I don't like is that we have to drive 45 minutes just to get to school in the morning, but the house is great!
How were your trips to Washington, D.C. and Downtown Baltimore?
Max: I didn't expect D.C. to have that many interesting buildings so close to each other. It was like one great building after the next.
Henrik: I didn't get a chance to see Downtown Baltimore because I slept in from being so exhausted, but D.C. was very impressive and I'm glad we got to see the White House.
Emilia: I love Baltimore. I've never been here before and I just think it's a very beautiful city from the harbor to the stadiums, and all the shopping of course.
Did you enjoy going to the Towson/Hopkins lacrosse game on Saturday night?
Henrik: It was a fun atmosphere. I think lacrosse is actually a very interesting sport. I don't know why we don't play it in Germany. I really like it, but it was very, very cold. That's why we left after the first half.
How was your first mall shopping experience?
Henrik: Well there's a very funny story about that. On Sunday, my host student, Ben, and I went to meet two other German girls, Katrin and Ann-Catrin, at the Towson mall to hang out. They had already shopped for quite a while before we got there, but decided then they weren't finished. We're pretty sure they were there until the mall closed at 6:00 p.m. and their host, Chris, had to stay with them the whole time. Man, I felt sorry for him.
Emilia: We don't have many malls at all in Germany. In Germany, if you go shopping you go to places like Bamberg Dowtown and there's just a bunch of stores there.
Max: We only have malls in the very big cities like Berlin. There we have the biggest shopping center in Germany called KaDeWe und Europacenter.
What is like being at an All-Boys' school?
Max: It's a bit strange to us. If I was in a school with only guys I wouldn't want to be as dressed up as they are here. I would want to be in much more relaxed clothes. Also, during our first day here we had a tour of the school and as we were passing by the classrooms everyone kind of looked up and stopped what they were doing in their classes. It was a funny sight.
Henrik: I'm in two all-boys' classes back in Bamberg so I'm kind of used to it.
Max: He's only in those all-boys' classes because he chose the wrong subjects. German girls don't like Latin or Chemistry.
Emilia: It's been weird here especially as a girl because when I walk through the hall every head starts turning as if I'm an alien or something.
Are there any All-Boys' schools or private schools in Bamberg?
Henrik: Well no, but I think there are two schools that only have girls. We only have 300 girls out of 1,500 students at our school though.
Emilia: That's because our school used to be an all-boys' school about 40 or 50 years ago. That's why we still have so many more guys than girls.
Max: Students usually only go to private schools in Germany if their behavior isn't good enough for public school.
What is it like applying for college in Germany?
Emilia: So in 12th grade we take a huge exam similar to the SATs and then we receive one final grade for our whole time in school and with that we apply to universities. If you have a good grade, you will most likely be able to study at any university in Germany. If you want to be something like a doctor then you need to have an 'A' and if you don't you either have no chance of becoming a doctor, or if you're lucky you might be put on a waiting list for like three years.
What professions are each of you interested in?
Henrik: I want study mechanical engineering.
Max: I want to become a pilot for Lufthansa German Airlines.
Emilia: I'm still deciding.
When you go back to Bamberg, will you have to report on what you experienced here?
Max: What are you talking about going back? I don't think any of us want to leave! My English teacher just wants us to report about the exchange because she is very interested in private schools and if student behavior is better here. In my opinion, it definitely is.
Henrik: My teacher wants a few of us to create a 45-minute presentation about all that we've done here, so that's why we are taking so many pictures.