As Usher’s “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again” signaled the end of their going-away party, two German girls prepared to embark on a six-week vacation in America.
Juniors Sandra Leidig and Katharina Bulmaier decided to come to California to visit its many attractions and to experience an American school.
“We came to California because it is the Sunshine State, and it is the Golden Coast,” Leidig said. “There are many nice things to see, like L.A and San Francisco and national parks.”
The two girls came during their summer vacation as foreign-exchange students. They are currently residing with the Rieker family, who live in Clovis and also attend this school.
“We live with the Rieker family, who are friends of friends,” Leidig said. “We met with them once before when they have been in Germany. They have family there because the husband is from there. We think that our host family is so nice; we feel a part of it.”
In Germany they took the required six years of English, along with years of French, Latin and Spanish. Every German school week adds up to 38 hours. All classes begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. or 5 p.m., depending on the schedule for the day.
“We came to this school because the children of our host family go here [Fresno Christian] for primary school,” Bulmaier said. “Also, we wanted to know how the American high school life is and how it goes; how the students and teachers are.”
Over the course of their stay, Leidig and Bulmaier tried out several new activities and explored California’s tourist attractions.
“We love air soft, Fashion Fair (mall), Sierra Vista, River Park, Yosemite and Monterey,” Bulmaier said. “It is awesome. We love shopping so much and [it] is cheaper here [in America]. We both bought 10 pairs of shoes and lots of clothes, and we hope that it will fit in our suit case.”
In addition to the other activities, the girls experienced tubing on the lake for the first time.
“Tubing was so fun; we had never done that before,” Bulmaier said. “We lost our voices, and we had so much fun, and we screamed all the time.”
Though their time in California is coming to a close, they said they would like to return in the future.
“Of course we want to come back [to America] as soon as possible,” Leidig said. “[But] we would not want to go to school here because the systems are different, and we don’t want to repeat a year.”
When they return to Germany, they said their plans will include spending time with family and friends and eating German food. Their perspective on life changed after their sojourn in America, they said.
“We’ll feel like we are in a cage (in Germany) because everything is so small and tight. Time will be something else because here a half hour is nothing, and in Germany a far distance,” Leidig said. “We will visit our grandparents who live an hour and a half away more often because we have another feeling about time now. We used to never visit them, but now I would go there for one day.”
Although Germany will always be their home, they will miss the school and friends they made in the U.S.
“We are going to miss people and lunch time under the trees,” Bulmaier said. “We are going to miss chapel as well. We loved the weather and Mr. Fenton’s math videos and the ducks. We will miss this place.”
For more information about Bulmaier and Leidig, read their Aug. 27 guest column, German students reflect on two-week experience.
