Today was the very last Saturday of the 2019 exchange trip to Germany that we will ever have for the rest of our lives. That being said, it was quite the fulfilling one. It all started out with me waking up today at around 8:47 AM. I proceeded to get ready for the day in great anticipation of the absolutely splendid breakfast that awaited me upstairs. After finishing getting ready, I raced up the stairs and immediately helped out in the setting of the table. This is quite a necessary step in eating breakfast, as one cannot thoroughly consume one’s food without first making sure the place where one will be consuming the food is properly prepared for food consumption. This is also a step that I have aided with whenever I have gotten the opportunity, as it is quite respectful to do and also interesting to see each individual family’s customs with respect to how they set their table. Once the table was fully set, I indulged in quite the delicious breakfast of absolutely fantastic bread with my choice of multiple varieties of jam and jelly, in addition to Nutella, one of my favorite spreads for a sumptuous morning breakfast. This was a common breakfast that I had on quite a few occasions during my time here and thoroughly enjoyed at every single experience. Once breakfast was finished, we entered into the vehicular transport form known as the automobile or colloquially “the car,” and then drove on the Autobahn to Frankfurt. Driving on the Autobahn is a very different and interesting experience, because there is no set velocity limit on many sections of this exciting option of travel, but almost all of the cars still maintain a sensible speed at almost all times. Upon arriving in the city of Frankfurt am Main, I converged with a small multitude of people made up of other Cary Academy students, their respective exchange partners, and some of their respective exchange partners’ respective families. We had quite the entertaining and enjoyable time strolling around the streets of Frankfurt and were able to climb over 300 steps in the Frankfurt Dom to see a truly spectacular view of the city. This was quite the unforgettable experience because of the history behind the building in addition to just how magnificent the cityscape is. Our group then ventured into a small sweet treats shop and café, where I indulged in a delicious drink of high in temperature liquid that is derived from the cacao plant, which was subsequently sweetened with a variety of quite fascinating types of sugar. We then journeyed on to the famous Kleinmarkt, where I savoured and enjoyed a magnificent panini with the rest of the group. Sadly, my day in Frankfurt with the group had come to an end, but there was one more stop before I finally left the city. The final destination in Frankfurt of the day was the grandiose MyZeil shopping center, in which I got to visit an outlet of one of Germany’s biggest technology store brands, Saturn. Although I had previously presumed my day of seeing other people I knew from the United States of America was over, I saw both a familiar figure from my residence of education walking with his parkour-loving host student, in addition to the familial members of another colleague of mine from the place I attend to develop my own knowledge who is well known for his second place finish in the NCISAA Division I State Championship Boys Mile. This truly brings to mind the German phrase that “Frankfurt ist ein Dorf,” which can be roughly translated to “Frankfurt is a village,” which means that you will run into a lot more familiar people than you might expect. After quite the hard and yet rewarding day of locomoting throughout Frankfurt, I got to quickly experience the beauty of the architecture of the Commerzbank building from the inside, and then sought out the family’s transportation device. We once again utilized the vehicular transport form of the automobile or “car” to return home to the Beyerle household. Slightly later that evening, I enjoyed a thoroughly delectable dinner of sausage and Dorade fish from the Mediterranean, which is a brand new food I was introduced to on this very day. Throughout the day I had been conscientiously working on my usage and skill level of German, whether it was just with small talk or ordering food. However, one technique I have found supremely conducive to my German education is that of consuming German visual media in the format of TV or movies, as one is able to be exposed to multiple hours of non-stop German in an engaging and lively manner. That technique was once again put to good use as I chose to view a German film of the “Krimi” variety, which was a murder mystery film. Although I wasn’t able to exactly guess who the killer was, the visual media experience was quite the entertaining one and was a fantastic end to a fantastic day. In summation, today was quite the amazing one and a great last Saturday ever of the 2019 Cary Academy Exchange Trip to Germany. ~Kyle M.