Exchange student Margot returns to the USA: one year full of experiences

Exchange student Margot returns to the USA: one year full of experiences

With a heart full of memories and a little melancholy, 16-year-old Margot Hoffmann looks back on an exciting year in Germany. After her exchange, which she led from Schwerin to Baden-Württemberg to school in the Goethe-Gymnasium, the return to your family in Starkville, Mississippi, is pending. While she is looking forward to seeing you again, she also experienced some challenges that brought her stay with her.

One of the greatest hurdles for Margot was integration into its new environment. The exchange student found it difficult to make friendships and noticed that the Germans seem less open compared to the Americans. Nevertheless, she formed close friendships in Germany and was able to discover the beauties of the landscape in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. "I found the beaches on the Baltic Sea just great," she says. German dinner with bread and cheese was also a new experience for them.

political uncertainties in exchange

A thought that Margot employs when she returned is the future exchange programs in the United States. The political tensions - especially under President Donald Trump - worry. In a conversation, she expressed that the current protests and general uncertainty could have negative effects on exchange students. Many other young people are similar: According to the reports from [sueddeutsche.de] (https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/schueler exchanges-usa-trump-li.3236741), the number of trips from Germany to the USA has dropped 28 percent compared to the previous year. Some young people even decide to move their year abroad to Canada.

In addition, the international student exchange is faced with other challenges. Schools in Bonn report on canceled partnerships with US facilities, and funding for exchange programs were frozen. This development could severely impair the tradition of school exchange between Germany and the USA.

A look into the future

Despite all this adversity, the USA remains the preferred goal for German students. The managing director of "Weltweiser" explains that it is too early to estimate the long -term effects of the current political situation. The demand situation is still unbroken, reports Anne von Fircks from the working group of non -profit youth exchange (AJA). Many parents are looking for advice and have an increased interest in the exchange of their children, whereby they often ask questions about security and political conditions in the USA.

The Aja attentively observes the developments and states that as long as the Federal Foreign Office does not publish a serious travel warning, the exchange can be continued. Exchange students in the United States often report their positive experiences and avoid political issues, which indicates that the encounter of cultures and people is still in the foreground. It also shows that many families of exchange students place less emphasis on a specific political orientation of their host families, but rather are interested in the variety of opinions.

Margot Hoffmann hoped when she returned to planned positive changes in the situation of the exchange programs and, if possible, would be happy to make another year abroad. This ambivalence between exciting new experiences and the challenges of the political landscape does not remain hidden from other exchange students who travel to the USA. The fascination for the young Americans and their culture remains unbroken, and so the doors remain wide open for the student exchange - despite all adversities.