Where in the World is Ben? German exchange student details his experiences living in the United States

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY BEN MEYER • DESIGN BY RAJEEV DEVANATH

Everything began two years ago. My sister’s friend went to the U.S. and had a good experience making new friends, spending time with a new family and creating a second life. Ever since I heard about this idea, I’ve never wanted anything more. To start an exchange year, I had to do a lot of paperwork: obtaining the visa, deregistration of the school in Germany and also the gather ing of personal documents. Af ter the technicalities were fig ured out and my suitcase was packed, I finally flew off to my year abroad in California.

In Germa English les in school, because COVID-19, lan guage gaps formed, especially in my vo cabulary. In my first few days here in the U.S. the gaps in my English were al ready noticeable, due to the way I pronounce words and my vocabulary. But as time went on, understanding and speak ing English became easier for me. The most difficult thing for me is the pronunciation be cause it is very different from the German pronunciation. An example here would be the “th” in words like “thousand” or “the.” Since we were taught in school that we should pro nounce the “th” by putting our tongue between our teeth, the sound often comes out sound ing more like an “s” or “d.”

Another difference to my home country is the school system. Here in the U.S., you go to elementary school, then middle school and finally high school. In Germany, you also go to elementary school, but then you have a choice of three schools, which are divided into different levels of difficulty. They are called “Community school,” “Secondary school” and “Gymnasium.”

Graduation at the school with the highest level has the biggest value at the end. It de subjects, there are three to five subjects you can choose and the rest you have to take. At UPA, I take 6 classes, which are four core classes and two elective classes.

In the U.S., high school sports are abundant, with basketball, volleyball, football, cheerleading and more. In Germany, we do not have school sports because everything is privately regulated and costs rants, which are based on traditional German, Italian, Greek or Turkish food. But none of them are fast food restaurants except for one McDonalds. You can’t imagine that here.

The food portion sizes are much larger here in the U.S. compared to Germany. A good thing is that you have a more diverse choice. For this reason I got to know Mexican cuisine and it immediately captivated me. But at the same time, of course, I miss the food from my grandma, mom and dad: Swabian and Bavarian cuisine, which are regions in Germany. I especially miss the dish “Maultaschen,” which is a kind of large meat-filled dumpling a potato salad. While at school, I see dents my age driving cars. Here in the U.S., it is quite common to have a driver’s license very early and the price of getting one is lower compared to Germany. Back home, I have to complete up to 40 mandatory hours with a professional driving instructor. It is clear that this increases the price to $2000 on average. That’s why many German teenagers cannot afford to drive.

All in all, I don’t regret doing this exchange year because I got to know a different way of life. In addition, there are the new friendships and experiences that I won’t forget so quickly. If another student asked me if they should do a year abroad, I would definitely say yes over