TOWAMENCIN – You may have noticed the halls aflutter with talk about the addition to the North Penn student body.  Well you’ve heard right; 40 German exchange students have been walking those halls and staying in the homes of many of its students.

The 40 students hail from two towns in Germany, Aalen and Salzgitter, located about four and a half hours away from each other. Half of the students are from the school Schubart-Gymnasium Aalen, and the other half of students from Kranich-Gymnasium Salzgitter-Lebenstedt.

Unfortunately for the North Penn student hosts, goodbyes are on the horizon. However, the past few days have been jam-packed with both school-sanctioned activities planned for the exchange students as well as spontaneous trips with their host families.

The students arrived at Penndale Middle School on the night of the Homecoming football game, and were picked up by their host families for the next two weeks and driven to the game to enjoy the night’s festivities and one of the hallmarks of the American high school experience. After a long weekend off with their host families, the students got a glimpse of American education and made myriad new friends when they shadowed their host siblings throughout the school day of Tuesday, October 14th.

The next day, they toured the North Montco Technical Career Center, and looked forward to a night of merriment and mischief at the Merrymead corn maze, but their fun was halted when the maze event was canceled due to rain.

Alas, rain could prevent them from completing a corn maze, but nothing could stop them from travelling on their first of many bus trips organized by the school. On the morning of Thursday, October 16th, the students got an early start and left for the nation’s capital at 5:45 in the morning. Not arriving back until 11:00 at night, they surely had an eventful introduction to the patriotic culture America is so well known for.

That Friday, the students departed on a bus again, this time to the national capital that almost was, and surely the cultural capital of Pennsylvania – at least east Pennsylvania, that is – Philadelphia. They visited the Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, and the ever-vibrant and bustling Reading Terminal Market.

Just yesterday, October 20th, they traveled to Lancaster to see the exact opposite of what they had seen previously in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia – green, rolling hills, lazily grazing cows, and buggies leisurely pulled by horses. Their view into Amish lifestyle was perhaps interrupted by a stop at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Limerick, many of the students returning toting Nike bags.

The students will shadow their host siblings for a few more periods and also travel to the King Of Prussia Mall on Tuesday. After their second full day of shadowing at NPHS on Wednesday, they will attend a farewell dinner with their host families in the senior café at 6:00 p.m. Twelve hours later, the Aalen students head back to Germany, with the Salzgitter students following suit the next day.

The two week German exchange students have had a very eventful time these past few days, going with their host families to various college visits and family gatherings as well as going on their bus trips. Many, if not most of the students have never been to the United States, and this brief visit provided them a window into a vast variety of American cultures, as well as giving them somewhat of a crash course on English in practice.

Wednesday’s farewell dinner will surely be a bittersweet one for the students; the excitement of returning home will probably clash with the sadness of saying goodbyes to their host families and new friends. However, the fun doesn’t have to stop here for either party; today’s social media apps can keep people connected internationally for free.

For the forty students, they took the chance of a lifetime. Now they can bring back to Germany a better understanding of American culture, language, and way of life, not to mention strong, lasting friendships. Oh, and also – a new pair of shoes!