Oberursel, Germany

Sunday, June 11: Last weekend with host families

Lasagna lunch

Hessenpark

Half timber construction

Hessenpark

Saalburg

St. Ursula church

inside St. Ursula church

Steps up St. Ursula tower

View from tower of St. Ursula

View of Brunnenfest from St. Ursula tower

The day started of very slow after waking up at 11:00AM. Everyone was very tired until we got some food into our systems. We had a delicious homemade lasagna and salad for lunch made by Luke’s mother. After lunch we drove to the Hessenpark. The Hessenpark is an outdoor museum where they reconstructed old houses from all around Germany in one location so you can see how they lived in the past. It was a very cool experience and I was able to see how the older houses where made with wood, hay and mud. We also how they lived their lives, like the schooling, living situation, how they made clothing, wheels/carts, charcoal, and also how they made energy through a water mill. All the buildings where normal but the doorways were too small. I probably hit my head ten times walking in and out of the houses and up and down the stairs. They also had a market and we got drinks and bread from the baker. After we left the Hessenpark we drove past an old Roman castle named Saalburg and I snapped a quick picture. We also stopped at an old church called the St. Ursula church. At the St. Ursula church we went up these very small stairs, and I mean very small (I had to turn my feet sideways because they didn’t fit), but it was worth it! When you get to the top there is a beautiful view of Oberursel and it was cool because there was a great view of Brunnenfest. Also it was cool because you could see the skyline of Frankfurt in the background. After that we came home and ate leftovers from lunch for dinner. ~Curt S.

Saturday, June 10: Last weekend with host families

Climbing park

Brunnenfest

This morning was a very relaxing one, thankfully. Last night was a late one with Brunnenfest and everyone simply wanted to sleep this morning. After waking up, slowly, Sara (my exchange partner) and I went to a climbing park. I really had no idea what to expect since I had never been to a climbing park and since I am in a whole new place. After a ten minute car ride, we arrived. It was nothing like I had expected. Once we walked closer, the sound of children’s laughter echoed through the trees. The park was a climbing wonderland built into the trees. It was every kid’s dream. We immediately collected all the appropriate equipment, watched a short tutorial video, and hopped into the trees. There were zip lines and obstacles and even one big jump. I learned very quickly that once you chose a course, there was no turning back. Everything was made of wood and would rock if the wind blew too hard: it made it all the more exciting. Two hours and three courses later, we were exhausted and hungry. We ate our packed lunches in the car as we ventured back to Oberursel. Once we arrived back at Sara’s house, we relaxed, because climbing takes a lot out of you, surprisingly enough. We sat outside in the garden and talked about everything from school to jet lag to what I want to do with my life. After soaking up all the lovely weather, we headed to a gathering of sorts. It was a party for a bride and groom the night before their wedding. It was definitely a new experience for me. It was very casual and calm. The best part was when everyone had plates and smashed them on the ground. I’m not quite sure why they broke all the pottery, but Sara informed me that it was a tradition to do the night before the wedding for good luck. After spending some time there, Sara and I made our way to Jan’s house for a group barbecue. We had a blast! Everyone talked and laughed and ate everything. Once everyone was full, we all made our way to Brunnenfest. Brunnenfest is basically a smaller version of the state fair except it is much more picturesque. We rode rides, took pictures, and ate crepes. I had to leave early because we have a long day tomorrow, but I still had fun. Overall it was a fantastic and beautiful day. Tschüss bis Morgen! ~Lacey M.

Friday, June 9: Hessentag 2017 in Rüsselsheim

Gathering at Oberursel train station

Hessentag Festival

Hessentag festival

Beach basketball

“Oberursel Chargers” basketball team

Opel factory tour

Opel automobile factory

Opel factory tour

Rescue team demo

Brunnenfest in Oberursel

We began the day by traveling as a group to Hessentag, an annual celebration held in the German state of Hessen. We took a train to the nearby city of Rüsselsheim where it was being held. The festivities began with a beach basketball tournament, where members of the exchange group were able to compete with local German teams. After the tournament, we were given a couple of hours to eat, walk around, and enjoy the festival. Despite a little bit of rain, we had lunch at some of the food stands there at the festival. Many of us had fries, or Fritten, with various toppings on them. Many students also road the Ferris wheel that was there, giving us a view of the city. Towards the end of our stay there, some of the exchange group listened in on a brief lecture by a British professor about the functionality of our brains. We then went to an Opel factory, which produces Opel cars. We began the tour by looking at a warehouse of some of their old models. These models included everything from luxury cars from the 1950s to race cars with wings. After we got to see the cars on display, we went to a different part of the factory, where many firemen had set up some of their equipment. One of the firemen gave us a tour of a special rescue team truck, as well as letting us examine the equipment they use of a daily basis. Once we left the Opel factory, we prepared for Brunnenfest. Brunnenfest is a tradition in Oberusel, where the town gathers in the city’s historical center for a celebration. There, we had the opportunity to ride rides you might find at a fair, as well as try some traditional German food. Despite having a lot of activities, today was pretty alright. ~Matthew S.

Thursday, June 8: Oberursel and Frankfurt

gathering at the Oberursel Rathaus (city hall)

Mural of Oberursel

Welcome from the deputy mayor

Feldbergschule

group work in English class

Arrivial in Frankfurt

At the Frankfurt Hauptwache (historic police station)

Frankfurt Hauptwache

Stock exchange in Frankfurt

Bull market statue

Bear market statue

Goethe and the Frankfurt skyline

Commerzbank, tallest building in Germany

View from the Commerzbank men’s room

Frankfurt skyline

Frankfurt, aka Mainhattan (NYC on the Main)

Carmelite Museum

A unique statue in Frankfurt

Frankfurt old town

the Römerberg, Frankfurt’s main square

bookburning memorial

the Römer, Frankfurt’s City Hall

the Kaiserdom in Frankfurt

Frankfurt riverfront

Frankfurt riverfront with iron bridge

My exchange student and I got to school at eight o’clock this morning. Her first class was a political and economics class. In this class they had a discussion over a video the class had made. They talked about what they feel they should have done differently and the improvements they planned to make. Then we met with a member of the city council in Oberursel. This was very interesting because we got to ask questions which helped us to understand Oberursel better. We asked questions that ranged from Oberursel specific to the refugee crisis. Then we went back to school and I went to my exchange student’s last two classes. She had math and accounting. After school a group of Americans and Germans went to get ice cream before heading to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt the father of one of the German students gave us a tour of the city. We saw the stock exchange, learned about apple wine, talked about how and why Frankfurt became a large city, visited several churches, and much more. We also got to see Frankfurt from the Main river, which was beautiful. It was great to be able to spend more time in Frankfurt. After Frankfurt a group of us went back to Oberursel (some stayed behind to do more in Frankfurt) and we got dinner. Overall, it was a really fun day. ~Claudia Z.

Wednesday, June 7: Fieldtrip to Mainz

Arriving in Mainz

Mainz Cathedral

Gutenberg Museum

Gutenberg press

demonstration of Gutenberg press

Demonstration of Gutenberg press

demonstration of Gutenberg press

Gutenberg statue

Mainz Old Town

Rhine River in Mainz

Mainz

Ice cream in Mainz

Mainz

For the first half of the day, I attended class with my exchange partner. The school is quite different from Cary Academy. They way the school is set up, the setup of the classrooms, the furniture in the classroom, and the schedule are all different. Another interesting thing is that they have accounting classes, one of which I attended. Unfortunately, it was rather hard to understand everything that they spoke of during that class because I didn’t know the needed vocabulary relating to the subject. After the first two periods, we left for Mainz by train. Unfortunately, only two of the exchange partners were able to come with us. Once we got to Mainz, we had free time and all went out to eat at the same restaurant. After this we had a tour of the Gutenberg Museum where they talked about Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable type printing press. They showed us multiple books, some of which were ones that had been handwritten and others that were made using Gutenberg’s print press. They also showed us how they made colored inks and even demonstrated the use of a print press like Gutenberg’s. After touring the museum, we went around the city. We walked around in the old cathedral in Mainz, through the small Altstadt, and also went to see the Rhein/Rhine River. The cathedral was a beautiful large stone building with high ceilings and nice stained glass windows. The Aldstadt had older looking buildings which were painted a multitude of colors. The weather, thankfully, cleared up when we went to see the Rhein/Rhine River. After our hour-or-so walk around Mainz, we ended the day with a quick stop for some ice cream before taking a couple trains back home to Oberursel. ~Ceren

Tuesday, June 6: First day at the Feldbergschule

Feldbergschule Oberursel

Welcome

School tour

School lake and park

Main stairwell

School tour

Memories of Cary

School cafe

Break time

Presentation in English class

As my alarm went off at six this morning, I yearned for the few extra hours of sleep I had been used to so far on this trip. Drearily I was able to drag myself out of bed and was greeted with my first familiar breakfast this trip, Cornflakes. This was the first and only familiar thing I encountered this morning of our first day of school. Moritz, my exchange partner, lives just around an hour commute away from the Feldbergschule–something totally different than the ten-minute drive I’m used to for CA. After a few different forms of public transportation (bus and S-Bahn), I was greeted by his classmates and met the head of their school. With the group, we toured the school and were given a small reception. Afterwards we all broke off into different classes and I, accompanied by some fellow Americans, went to their English class. This was a haven of sorts because for the first time we were encouraged to speak English. During this class we presented different things ranging from sports to politics. From here, Raiden, Dunning, and I were all off to Sport (PE). This was very interesting because it is much more of a serious class in Germany, and they aren’t graded on participation, but instead graded on skill. After this class Moritz was done for the day, along with a few of the exchange students. To take advantage of this time, we hopped on the S-Bahn and went to a shopping center in Frankfurt. There, we ate a late lunch and also bought ice cream. We shopped for a little and then walked around Frankfurt. On the way back to Moritz’s house, we decided to go and watch his little brother Max play soccer. Out of no where it began to storm and Max raced us to the car. Even though everything that happened today was new, it perfectly encompasses an average exchange day: action packed and full of surprises. ~Cole

Monday, June 5: Holiday weekend with host families

Let’s just say that Arne and I’s Monday started a bit earlier than most. At 1:50 am, my alarm went off. As excited as I had been to watch the NBA finals the night before, I could barely keep my eyes open now. I briefly considered going back to sleep, but decided basketball was more important. In fact, the NBA was one of the first things Arne and I bonded over in America, so to watch North Carolina’s own Steph Curry battle in Finals was a good start to the day. Except that immediately after said game, I fell back asleep in my bed, but not for long before the real morning started. After breakfast, Arne and I traveled the long distance of approximately half a mile, before walking inside the ruins of a medieval castle, with stunning views of the Frankfurt skyline. Next, we traveled to Hessenpark, a preserved village dating back almost five hundred years. At this historical park, we were able to walk through German houses, into two windmills, and pet goats, donkeys, and sheep. At the park, we dined on sausages (naturally). Returning to Arne’s house in the late afternoon, after our long day and short night’s sleep, we both fell in our beds and slept until dinner. Though we were tired, it was a good day overall. ~Raiden

Sunday, June 4: Holiday weekend with host families

Since today is Sunday, we were able to sleep in a little bit longer. Today breakfast was light because we decided we desperately needed to go to the gym — too many German sweets. On the walk to the gym we had an interesting conversation about how Germans don’t understand why we sometimes say the weather is “cool”. They only understand that to be something that is popular instead of weather related. The gym was the same as any one in America, just a little bit bigger and with some machines that I’d never seen before in my life. The first thing I noticed was that they keep their gyms extremely hot, as well as the fact that it seemed like most people really disliked cardio and focused more on muscle building. About halfway through our workout, your typical gigantic muscle builder came over and started giving me advice. At first I was a little bit terrified and only understood half of what he was saying, but eventually I understood his advice. It seemed that here in the gym everyone was as friendly as they are back home; every time you see someone you are greeted with “Morgen!” But outside of the gym, it seemed that you didn’t normally speak to people walking by. The view outside the gym was beautiful and inside the gym they had a little bar with drinks and protein for the people working out. On the way home we stopped and had a chocolate croissant — amazing as always. After showering and a quick nap (Mittagsschläfchen) we went to the flat downstairs where her grandmother lives and had lunch; it was cream of asparagus soup, salmon, and potatoes. I was shocked to see that they had white asparagus (maybe my parents didn’t give it to me because it was already hard enough to make me eat green asparagus). They kept saying that I was not eating enough because everyone here thinks Americans eat SO much food. A couple hours and a couple naps and Youtube watching sessions later, Olivia and Mara came over. We met Janina’s cousin and drove into the city of Frankfurt. We had dinner at a restaurant named Helium. Then we went back home and watched the American movie Wild Child. Hope everything is well in America. Ciao! ~Lindsay

Saturday, June 3: Holiday weekend with host families

Breakfast

On the train to Leipzig

View from train

View of Leipzig from Panorama Tower

Walking around Leipzig

Our first morning with our exchange students started out with cool and cloudy weather in Oberusel. After a short and very relaxing German breakfast in my exchange partner’s front yard, we piled in the car and headed off to the train station to see his grandparents in Leipzig. Of course we experienced some German traffic entering Frankfurt, but once we got through it all we were on our way to the train station at great speed and across a bridge giving us a wonderful view of the Frankfurt skyline. When we got to the train station, we quickly jogged to the rails and hopped on an ICE (Intercity Express) train, where we sat in our seats and watched the countryside whiz by on our 3-hour ride. Upon arrival we met with my exchange partner’s grandparents, with whom we had a wonderful time walking around the center of Leipzig where people where walking around, music was playing, and smells of good food filled the streets. We topped it all off with a view from Leipzig’s panoramic tower and a bowl of ice cream in spaghetti form. Tonight I sleep in Naunhof, a tiny classic German town with only 8,000 residents, and it is very beautiful. Overall another fun day in Germany, and as they say in German: auf Wiedersehen! ~Dunning H.

Friday, June 2: From Berlin to Oberursel

Stasi prison at Hohenschönhausen

Outside the prison

Entering the Stasi prison

Prison courtyard

Learning about the prison

a prison cell and uniform

On the bus to the airport

Waiting game at airport

Approaching Frankfurt

Host families at airport

Dinner at Soylu Esspress

Haley with her host family

As any normal day in Berlin, our day started off strong with each member of the group receiving a high five from Dunning H. Everything from this point forward was sure to be our best day yet, since by the night we would be reunited with our exchange students! In addition, with a late meeting time this morning at 10:00, our day was already off to a great start! Once everybody gathered around with their packed luggage in storage, we set off for our last walk and sightseeing destination in Berlin, the Hohenschönhausen Memorial. It was sad to think that this would be our last time in Berlin; however, we were all so excited to see our exchange students that our last walk in Berlin was bittersweet. With a mere seven-minute walk, our last stroll through Berlin barely got us 2,000 steps–much different from the 20,000 steps I got on Wednesday and Thursday! The Hohenschönhausen Memorial is a prison that was built at the end of World War II and first served as the main Soviet prison for Germany. In the 1950s, the Stasi (East German secret police) took over the prison and used it to detain and interrogate opponents to the communist dictatorship. As we toured the rather large building and its surrounding area, we learned about the extremely harsh conditions and the inhumane treatment of the prisoners, who were often forced to confess to crimes they hadn’t committed. As we walked around the multiple rooms of the prison, we learned that most of the furniture including the beds and even the paint on the wall is completely original and hasn’t been changed since the prison closed with the fall of the East German dictatorship in 1989. This not only made the Hohenschönhausen Memorial engaging and informative but also extremely interesting. After our tour of the Hohenschönhausen Memorial, our next destination was FRANKFURT! We hopped on a very nice Mercedes van with all our luggage and a packed lunch and took our last ride through Berlin. Once at the airport, we had to play the waiting game for a while, but nonetheless we soon boarded the plane to Frankfurt. With the plane ride being only 45 minutes, we safely landed in Frankfurt, where we met our exchange students at the gate. Everyone in our group then went their separate ways, only to be reunited later at Soylu Esspress, where we all indulged in a Döner with the whole exchange group. We couldn’t wait to see our partners’ school, so we all decided to walk to the Feldbergschule to get a glimpse of what it looked like before the long weekend. The day ended quite sweetly as we all tried German ice cream for the first time. After saying our goodbyes to our fellow classmates, we parted for our first night with our host families. It has been such a fun and exciting day, and I can’t wait to explore more of Oberursel! ~Haley H.