German Exchange 2018

We had the whole group all together one last time for the Farewell Dinner. The families made a delicious dinner for us at the winery of the Currle family. We all sat together to eat in the picturesque setting of the vineyards. Aiden summarized the trip and said thank you's on behalf of the group. Then we sang a song for them ('Auf uns'). Later in the evening, the parents showed their appreciation by also singing a wonderful version of 'Ich war noch niemals in New York'. We are sad to be leaving Stuttgart and our host families, but exciting to be heading to see the sights of Munich!

Today was a bittersweet day for sure. The bitter part would be that it was the last day we went to school with our partners:( We all were happy to be done with school, but are realizing that our time is quickly coming to an end. The sweet part of today, would be our afternoon activity, and it's result. This afternoon we played a soccer game, Americans vs. Germans. Even with all the doubt, Americans pulled through with a 3-2 victory. This evening many of us will meet in one of the gardens outside the city for a barbecue. And sadly, tomorrow we will meet again for the farewell dinner.

Yesterday, the Americans and the Germans traveled to Tübingen. When we arrived we had a few minutes to kill, so we played frisbee in the park, of course (well, some of us). Our first adventure was punting on the Neckar river. We were in boats of 12 people with one guide. We went up and down the river, some of us even tried punting (which is like paddling with a stick). If you look carefully at the pictures, you will see some of us 'driving' the boats. After our boating adventure we were let loose on the streets of Tübingen. Many of us grabbed some lunch and then wandered around, gawking at the beautiful old buildings. Tübingen is a very old university town with many nice student houses, etc... A cool fact - every little German town has at least 10,000 places to get ice cream! We met back with each other at the park, and then took the train back to Stuttgart.

Wow, the past few days have gone by so fast!! Sorry for the late update... On Monday, WIGGY had a sport day due to older students testing. The boys headed out to play in a soccer tournament and the girls met in the gym for a volleyball tournament. Lexie played volleyball and her team came in 3rd place. Quite a few of the boys played in the soccer team and the team with mostly BBA students came in 2nd - losing in a PK tie-breaker. After the games were over everyone had free time. Many of us went to an indoor water park, some went shopping, and some spent quality time with their partners. Yesterday we all went to school in the morning and then headed to the Mercedes Benz Museum. I think we all enjoyed looking at all the cars from history... all the way up to our current masterpieces. The museum is really well designed and included historical events from each time period of the cars. Some of us even went on a race car stimulator. We all ended in the gift shop and then headed bac

Today was our first free day to spend time with our exchange partner and their family, so some of them planned a day trip to Strasbourg, France. We arrived early in the morning and had the whole day to explore and and experience the french culture. We met outside the Cathédrale Notre Dame before touring the beautiful city.  Some people went on a boat tour while others stayed back to walk along the streets and go shopping. Everyone enjoyed the bakeries and eating the fresh croissants, baguettes, and macaroons that France is so well known for. It was amazing to experience yet another new culture in only one day! Here are also a couple of pictures of the vineyards, which are directly on the edges of Stuttgart:

Yesterday we all attended school in the morning and then headed for the pool. Next to the school there is a big swimming complex where we all enjoyed a few hours in the sun. After the pool, our group took the train to the TV tower. We took the elevator up to the viewing platform and spent some time just taking in the view. At 150 meters, the platform was very, very windy, as you can see if you look at the hair in the attempted group photo! Once we finished our visit we all headed for ice cream. Fortunately, we found a place which also had a very beautiful view of the city! Then we headed back to the school and met our partners, saying goodbye for the evening. Today our group left early to visit Ludwigsburg Castle. We took a train from the school and then walked through Ludwigsburg to the castle. We had a lovely tour of the inside and then took a few hours to wander through the gardens. The castle grounds have a special garden which is called the Fairy tale garden. Here, there are man

Today we went to school in the morning, yet again. We met for a short homeroom after the first two blocks and then headed to the downtown. Our first stop was the city hall (Rathaus). Here, we met another group of American exchange students from Missouri and got a welcome from a staff member. The highlight was definitely the continuous, doorless elevator. Hopefully you can see from the pictures how it works! After our welcome we were lead on a tour of downtown Stuttgart. We heard the history of many old buildings and saw wonderful gardens/parks. When the tour was over we had time to walk around the shopping street that has been designated to pedestrians. That was the last of our planned activities for the day, but many students met up with their partners and went to the pool...as it is getting very hot here! A few others went to the RitterSport factory to make their own chocolate:)