This June, German language students will reunite with their German exchange partners in Hamburg, continuing a transatlantic program that blends friendship, cultural immersion, and independence.

Students from Germany who attend the Heisenberg Gymnasium came to Minnesota on September 29 and stayed for two weeks while they explored Minnesota. Host families took their exchange students to sporting events, restaurants and a variety of other activities. Now, students from SPA will visit Hamburg, Germany, at the beginning of June to experience the culture in Germany.

Sophomore Elliot Pierach had Samuel Becker as his exchange student. Becker is 17 and stayed with Pierach during the fall. Additionally, Pierach hopes to find out more about Germany, despite having family there: “I’m definitely excited. I’m definitely looking forward to eating a lot and meeting even more people,” Pierach said.

Pierach has been to Germany three times because his extended family lives there, but is still excited: “It’s a very beautiful country … the whole experience should be really good,” he said.

Besides the excitement, leaving the country without parents is a big deal: “I mean [I’m] a little bit nervous because, like, there’s definitely a lot of like unknowns and stuff like that, but not like, that’s just natural,” Pierach said.

Pierach and Becker have been texting recently and have planned activities and gone over the schedule for their stay together.

Sophomore Aldegundo Brenneman will also be attending Germany during the exchange. Brenneman’s exchange student was Max, a junior at Heisenberg Gymnasium. Brenneman has stayed in contact with Max throughout the year and has planned a variety of activities: “I am really excited to go to Miniature Wonderland. It’s this, […] giant set in this old warehouse in Hamburg that we’re gonna go to.”

Brenneman wants the full German experience: “I’m most looking forward to having, like, an immersive, non-touristy German experience, and spending time with the exchange students,” he said.

Even though Brenneman has not been out of the country without his parents before, he is not nervous. Brenneman is semi-fluent in German and aims to be more fluent when the trip is over.

Brenneman is looking forward to the trip as a whole: “I’m hoping to learn about Germany as a country and a culture, and really just get better at speaking the language too, and also make connections,” he said.

Rachel Ruddick will be organizing the trip and is actively texting the two English teachers at the Heisenberg Gymnasium to work on planning for the trip. This is Ruddick’s first time going on the German exchange since it is the first German exchange since COVID, but she feels confident due to her German roots and her experience living there.
Ruddick is very excited for the experience her students will get: “I’m really excited for the students to live in their host families [houses] and just experience that everyday life and be immersed in German, but also to look out for the tiny things that you notice throughout the day.”

Ruddick has many activities planned for the students and herself to look forward to: “There’s one particular museum that I’m really looking forward to. … There are these tiny miniatures, a model Disney World, or model Eiffel Tower, model airport, and it’s all moving, and you can really watch the planes land on the runway. … I also love the outdoor stuff. We’re going on a canoe trip in the canals in Hamburg, and then we’re taking a trip to the North Sea,” Ruddick said.

Ruddick understands what it takes to plan the German exchange. She takes on the stress, but it is worth it because of the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that students will obtain. The cultural life in Germany and the experience of living in Germany will be one to remember.