First school day at the Freihof

Friday 6/29/12:

Last night, after a heartwarming welcome at the Goeppingen train station, many of us went to the end of school year music department concert at the Freihof Gymnasium. It was a great experience even though we were very exhausted from the long day of travel. The Euro cup soccer game, Germany against Italy, happened in the evening. Some of our students watched Germany lose their place for the final game to Italy…very disappointing for the GermansL

Today we were welcomed to the school by Herr Roos, the principal, Frau Wasnick and Frau Blennemann who are this years GAPP coordinators and Nick Walker, a Spokane student who is finishing this school year as an exchange student at the Freihof Gymnasium. He served as a translator and showed how this past year helped him to become fluent in German. Herr Roos emphasized the most important aspect of these exchange programs: to develop lasting friendships across the globe. Former GAPP students gave our Americans a tour of the school. We also got a fantastic, informative historic tour of Goeppingen by Herrn Foerschler, who is an incredible historian with a wealth of knowledge. He has published several books about the history of Stuttgart. The German students picked up their American partners for lunch. Tonight many of us will attend the Abi ball (something like the German version of a prom…which does include the parents). All students are off for an adventurous weekend with their host families, which we are sure to hear much about on Monday when we will meet first period for a regular German school day.

Happy weekend to you all!