Hamburg: Rathaus -- City Hall

Jack Hadley and Kyle Shropshire at Hamburg Central Station

Lübeck: Lunch at the historic Kartoffelkeller

German Schools by Ali Gove

During our stay in Bargteheide we had the opportunity to go to school at the Kapernikus Gymnasium with our partner students. For the six days we visited the school we followed our students to their classes, attempted to understand their teachers, and sometimes participated.

The schedule at the Kapernikus Gymnasium is very different than our schedule which only changes once a year. Students at the Gymnasium take more classes at once, for shorter periods, and have them only a few times a week, not every day. These classes included Latin, French, English, biology, chemistry, geography, history, sport, music, art and more. Students also have the chance to practice their foreign languages by taking a major subject, like geography, in that language.

Food seemed to be everywhere in the school. Bread was sold in the morning in the school and everyone had a snack, which they had brought from home, which looked more like a lunch. Actual school lunch is prepared by volunteering mothers and sold at a similar price to our school lunches, although they were far tastier.

Aside from the academics, discipline and rules at the Gymnasium were also very different. The most obvious to us was the ability to leave the school during a break or a free period. Students use this freedom to walk outside during their breaks and visit the bakery during the longer periods. Other than the ability to leave, discipline for minor acts, like tardiness were also different. When a student comes in late (even 20 minutes late) teachers merely tap their watches to let the students know that they are late. In our school, unexcused tardiness is punished by serving a detention, something that does not exist in the Gymnasium. Compared to the Kapernikus Gymnasium, Beverly High School seems like a prison because of its strict policies.

Weltmeisterschaft by John Gallagher

Soccer of Fußball as it's called in German, is a sport that grips Germany like no other. in America we have other popular sports such as baseball, basketball, and American football so soccer isn't as popular as it is in the rest of the World. We left America for Germany in June and we were there through July 8th, which meant that the World Cup was taking place. I didn't anticipate the excitement that consumes the country until I experienced it for myself. In Germany they have a way to watch soccer called public viewing. Public viewing is when thousands of soccer fans go to either a stadium or a field and watch the soccer game on a giant screen together.
Our first public viewing experience was in Hamburg for the match between Germany and England. This was extremely exciting because Germany has a long soccer rivalry with England, and everyone knew this was a huge match. We were standing in a massive crowd, with fans blasting vuvuzelas, and many German flags flying. What made it even better was the fact that Germany dominated England and won four to one. It was a really neat experience to get to witness first hand the excitement that soccer brings to Europeans and everyone else in the world. The sport of soccer during the World Cup or Weltmeisterschaft unites the citizens of Germany like nothing else. It was great that we got to experience the excitement and intensity of European soccer.

Of Pianos and Prostitutes - by Nate Howard

Of Pianos and Prostitutes – The Steinway-Fabrik and Downtown Hamburg

by Nate Howard

On Tuesday the 22^nd of June, not long after we had become acquainted with our host families in Bargteheide, we took a day long trip into Hamburg to tour the Steinway piano factory and, afterwards, downtown Hamburg. After a comfortable ride into the city and a comparatively harrowing experience riding in the far-too-overcrowded city bus that would transport us to the Steinway factory, we arrived at our destination. Many of our host students traveled with us, thankful to have an excuse not to go to school. Upon arriving at the factory, we were allowed into the showroom and quickly dispersed as everybody ran to occupy one of the many pianos in the room. Needless to say, the entire showroom was quickly filled with the slightly discordant sounds of those who knew how to play and those who were trying their best. After five or ten symphonic minutes the group was herded out of the showroom and into the factory. The tour of the factory was interesting, filled with loud machinery, half finished pianos, and the asphyxiating scent of varnish, but after nearly two hours of touring the students were ready to head out. Back in the showroom we were presented with beverages to replenish our dwindling energy, and shortly moved on to the second part of our excursion.

What we experienced next couldn’t have been more different from our privileged, civilized tour of the Steinway factory. Traveling into central Hamburg, the students split up into groups and went off to see different parts of the city. I happened to travel with my group to the Reeperbahn, more affectionately known as Hamburg’s red light district. What at first was shock at the seediness of the area quickly turned into humor at the comical nature of it all. The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district lined with various “entertainment clubs” and erotica shops, and whose sidewalks come alive with women of the night after sunset (or, sometimes, before dinner). After walking around the Reeperbahn, viewing various places where the fledgling Beatles played, commenting on the ironic location of an old church, and generally scoffing at the sexual environment, we traveled back to the train station and headed home to take a rest. It was, all in all, a very interesting, while somewhat morally lopsided, day.

Bargteheide

Meeting the mayor at the Bargteheide Rathaus.

Entrance to our partner school, Kopernikus Gymnasium Bargteheide.