Yesterday morning, I dropped Gamma off at the airport to catch a plane to Charlotte, then on to Munich, and finally to Hannover, Germany. From there, she took a train to the town of Stadthagen.
This afternoon, I found that the town has a webcam! Of course, they’re six hours ahead of us, so it’s the late at night there now (about suppertime). I have heard from Gamma via e-mail, so I know that she arrived safely this morning, and attended the end of the school day.
School in Germany follows a different calendar (more like year-round) and schedule (half-day) than we do. It will be interesting to hear Gamma’s take on "Gymnasium" (college-prep high school) as opposed to ours.
She’s promised to send pictures, which I will promptly post. Although Gamma is a quiet child, the house is noticeably emptier without her. And, I can’t read the text on the Stadthagen web page, since my translator is there, rather than here.
I was an exchange student for a summer myself at about her age, and I know that it will be a fantastic experience for her.
What a wonderful opportunity for your daughter! I think Ms. Tilson’s German classes at ORHS should be added to the list of extraordinary educational opportunities for Oak Ridge kids.
The town where she’s staying doesn’t look like Oak Ridge (for example, it has a !), but some things should be familiar. For example, there’s a weekly flea market — see .
Argh! My links got gummed up (or maybe they aren’t allowed here) and the post got garbled. In any event, their website has a page about their castle and another one about their flea market.
Ellen, for those of us who don’t speak German, what are the words for ‘castle’ and ‘flea market?’
Netmom,
According to Babel Fish:
castle=Schloss
flea market=Flohmarkt
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
The castle link is under “tourismus” in the menu along the top. Can’t find the flea market link.
I found the Flohmarkt (flea market) under “Freizeit und Sport” — literally translated as “free time and sports.” There’s not a lot to see on the flea market page.
You might also get a kick out of http://www.schuetzenfest-stadthagen.de — this is about their local shooting festival, which is coming up in late June. It apparently dates back to about 1520. The “Bester Schuß” (best shot) records on the website “only” go back to 1890.
Oops! My mistake. The shooting festival goes back to 1378. “About 1520” seems to be when they started using firearms. Before that, it was crossbows.