Every other school year, Parkway South’s German program participates in an exchange program with Hegel-Gymansium in Stuttgart, Germany. During the fall, somewhere around 10 German students come to South for two weeks and take part in many field trips around St. Louis. For two weeks in the spring, the same Parkway South students those Germans stayed with in St. Louis go across the pond to Germany and visit different places over there, such as the Alps, the Mercedes-Benz Museum, and Strasbourg in France.

Mrs. Peterson, South’s only German teacher, is a huge advocate for traveling abroad, whether it be with her exchange or by yourself.  She is also very vocal about the differences between going on a vacation to another country and participating in an exchange program, “You really experience how people live first hand and you have the opportunity to develop relationships that can last a lifetime when you go on an exchange.” Many students who participated in the exchange have seen the effects of going on an exchange rather than a vacation.

After going on the exchange, Nick Eldridge, a Parkway South senior said “It really helps you get better with the language,going on the exchange really helped me to learn more about the culture, and let me see parts of Europe I thought were pretty cool.”

When asked how they were going to keep in contact with their exchange partners, all of the students said they used Whatsapp to contact the Germans as well as Snapchat.

Thomas Godsil, senior, has had the experience of going on the exchange two times now. He stayed with the same family both times. He has become a very strong student in his German class after these trips and has even decided to pursue being a German teacher in the future. It really can be great to go multiple times, because when your language skills have increased since the first time, you could experience and understand much more each time you go.

Almost every student recommended traveling to another country. It can be more than just a vacation with your family, and it can be more than just a school trip if you go on an exchange.

One of the big shockers for many of the exchange students was the food. After coming back to the States, almost every student was disappointed with the food here.Many comments along the lines of“Is this even real” was heard by the students and it seemed to be a saddening experience.

All in all, the students along with Mrs. Peterson think it is a great experience overall where you don’t only have a great time, you also can expand your knowledge in a language and as well as culture.