TOWAMENCIN – Coming all the way from Salzgitter, Germany, Tabea Seeβelberg has successfully managed seven months with her family, friends, and home miles away across the Atlantic in which she still has several months left in the halls of North Penn High School.
Tabea arrived here back in August where she was once again reunited with her host sister Hanna Andrussier whom had spent the year abroad in Tabea’s family the previous school year.
“When I left my mom was really sad and I mean I didn’t even really realize that I was leaving until I actually got here,” Tabea said. “Then I was like ‘oh, I’m in America.’ It was just so weird. And then I started school right away and that was probably the scariest part,” she admitted. “Thankfully the IFC (international friendship club) gave us buddies to show us around at first, but eventually I was fine trying to find my way around and it all became normal.”
Being a foreigner it could not have been easy, especially in the beginning. I mean, imagine: everyone’s speaking a language you are desperately trying to decipher, everyone is a stranger to you, and all that you have previously come to know and are familiar with is nowhere to be found. Shockingly, Tabea claimed not to have endured too much culture shock when she first arrived, but she did confirm common belief that:
“In the beginning it was kind of hard,” she openly admitted. “I had to tell people to speak slowly because it was definitely difficult to understand, and I only knew so many words so I found myself constantly searching for the right words. Now though I can pretty much say and express anything. I think my English has improved a lot.”
“Plus,” she added, “my host sister Hanna was my host sister last year, so I already knew her which was really good, and I think that helped a lot. She always helped me with anything such as school and stuff. I was so happy to have her.”
In recollection of her former host family she added: “They were awesome. I miss them, I really do.”
It was preplanned before she arrived that Tabea wouldn’t spend the whole year with the Andrussier’s in order to get a different experience since her and Hanna have been together since the fall of 2011. So consequently, halfway through the exchange she had to pack up all her belongings once again and move; saying goodbye to her host beloved host family who have ultimately been there for her in support since the beginning.
“It was weird because at first I had a host sister, but now I’m the only kid in the house,” Tabea explained. “Then again, it’s really cool because I’ve never been an only child before in my life. My two host families are so different so it’s cool seeing the difference. I like them both.”
Now she is currently living with a couple who Tabea claims are “super nice” and the move has opened her perspective even more as she immerses herself further in the American culture. Not only do customs change from culture to culture, but from family to family and now she has the opportunity to get an even greater depth of understanding American way of life. Not to mention, her new family has so kindly spoiled her through travel.
“It was so cool, they took me to Disney!” she excitedly exclaimed. “It was my first time, and I got to see Universal Studios and everything. We did a lot in Florida, and I mean we have amusement parks in Germany but not nearly as big as the ones in Orlando.”
Not only has she traveled to Florida but Tabea has also made her way to various states visiting New York on several occasions, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and Maryland. She also shared that her new host family has booked a trip to Puerto Rico next month in which Tabea anxiously counts down the days.
“My favorite place would be New York,” she ultimately decided. “I like New York a lot. It’s really cool. But the best part of the exchange is definitely just meeting all the new people.”
Through it all though there are moments Tabea realizes that she does miss life back home.
“Of course I miss my family and friends,” she implored, “and I also miss just being independent transportation wise because there I don’t need a car to get everywhere.” She paused. “Oh! And I miss the German bread.”
She continued by comparing her native country to her new home: “Everything in America is just bigger!” she blatantly concluded. The portion sizes, the cars, North Penn – the list can go on and on.
“In school, I think the education system is just plain different,” she started to explain, “plus the size of the school is huge. And here they offer different subjects; in Germany I can’t take classes like Astronomy. Also, you can’t leave the school during the school day but you guys have everything you need on the campus. In Germany the school doesn’t have sports. Also there’s a different attitude here; for example, here, you don’t have to talk to people and yet people will come up and start talking to you even if they don’t really know you while in Germany, I wouldn’t say that they are rude, but I find that people keep more to themselves and their friends.”
Speaking of school, Tabea has involved herself and developed her own Knight Pride by joining various clubs such as the International Friendship Club, the German Club, and the Philosophy Club. She also can be found warming up with the spring track team and expends her musical talents in North Penn’s own chorus and orchestra.
“I really like the orchestra because it’s much bigger than my school orchestra in Germany,” Tabea said, “and also I feel that it’s better because you have more time to practice during lessons as compared to how we rehearsed after school in Germany.”
“I’ve been playing the violin since fourth grade,” she quickly added.
In her free time Tabea is just like the rest of us – regardless of our nationalities – and she enjoys hanging out with friends, reading, and music. She mentioned her love for singing, but keeps her talents confined to the comfort of her home and close friends. Back in Germany she admitted to having ridden her bike a lot: a combination of pure pleasure and a means of transportation.
Back home she could spend hours devouring a book, one of her favorites being The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Conveniently enough, a little wardrobe full of books is located on Tabea’s street where people can leave take or leave books, almost like a community chest. Even though there’s no obligation to bring the book back or replace it, people always do anyways.
Of course, in the past few months, though, Tabea has read a lot more books in English rather than German. In fact, she’s only read one German book as of this year, all the rest being English authors. She did say though; “In the beginning I started with reading easy English books, but probably when I go back to Germany I’ll end up reading more books in German than in English.”
“It was hard in the beginning,” Tabea said reflecting back to August, “but I had an awesome host family who were kind and made me feel welcome. Plus, I mean with Skype I could always talk to my family back home and I never really felt all that far away. I do miss my friends a lot, though.”
Overall though Tabea would never regret the experience abroad and is positive that the year was completely beneficial.
“I think I’ve become more confident in just simply talking to people,” she stated. “I find I don’t get that nervous anymore and plus, being in a new culture, I think that I’ve become more open towards new things.”
When Tabea returns to Germany she’ll still have to complete two years of high school before she can continue on to university education; however, Tabea, like many of us, is still unsure of what she aspires to be in life.
“All I know is that I want to do something with people. Maybe something in the social work area, but I have no idea,” she said.
Like the rest of the exchange students, Tabea will participate in the senior graduation this June, yet unfortunately she will be saying goodbye two days later where she will hop on a plane heading further away from her homeland. Destination: Denver, Colorado.
“Yea, I’m so happy and lucky, I’ve really have had a lot of opportunities to travel this year,” Tabea smiled.
In Colorado she will be once again reunited with her father where they will go on a road trip exploring the mid-west of our very own United States.
“I’m going to miss everyone when I leave, and I’m actually going to miss some of the food, too,” she shamelessly admitted. “I think it’s so good. My favorite is the little peanut butter cups. We don’t have them in Germany… oh, and cookies too! I mean, we have cookies, but not like the ones you have here.”
Another favorite of Tabea’s is frozen yogurt, most specifically at the Frozen Cow in Chalfont. With knowledge of this, and Tabea’s birthday being this week, the IFC club and exchange students surprised Tabea with a birthday outing complete with whipped cream and sprinkles. It may not have been the best birthday ever, but a memorable one all the same.
“If anyone has the chance to do something like study abroad and they are unsure about, which I mean I was too at first, I think they should just do it,” Tabea advised. “I am so happy I did. If I could do it all over again I would still come to America. I will definitely have to come back again just to see all my friends and family here.”
For all those going abroad, currently abroad, or even those of us finding ourselves dealing with new stresses and situations in our life as we get ready for the future, Tabea left us with this final word of advice coming from her own personal experience:
“You have to be open to everything, no matter how weird it seems. It was so funny, because, for example, at first I found it so weird that here would people cook potatoes in the microwave because in Germany we would never do that. But life is different everywhere you go; you can’t judge you just have to be open to new things.”