Marcus Le- Wiesbaden, Germany 2019

First Day

After arriving in Frankfurt Airport, Alex, Luke, Mickey, and I sought our luggage in the baggage claim. Having been awake for more than twenty-four hours, we all were tired and wanted to get to our host families as quickly as possible. After grabbing my luggage, I met my host brother Amadeus and his mother. She drove us home to my family's house which is fifteen minutes away from the city.
There was an easy walk through a park to get to the city, which Amadeus and I walked frequently. When we arrived home, they offered me some food, and I gladly accepted and gave my thanks since I had only eaten a small dinner on the plane four hours previously. After eating, I took a nap because I was really exhausted. After I woke up, we had a light dinner consisting of meat, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and bread. German dinners were typically light while lunch was the heavy meal. Since I have not seen the Harry Potter movies, Amadeus suggested that we watch Harry Potter, in German of course. After the movie, we both said good night and went to sleep.

The School

Because the sophomores were on their last stretch of school and have already taken their exams, we did not have much class at the Humboldt Schule. We went to class but played various games or watched movies in German. One game which we played often was called werewolf. Despite not learning much about varying subjects, we still learned a lot of German words and varying phrases. Class is also different compared to American schools. First, the teacher comes to the classroom and not the students going to each classroom, and second, the grades are different. The students receive a number from one to fifteen, where a five and below is failing. Finally, they have twelve classes a year (some only being semester classes) and only half counting towards the abitur, the application for college. Despite learning much in class, we only went to six days of school, but one of those days was a sport, where I played in a soccer tournament. It was a group stage tournament where each team played each other once, and my team won. I enjoyed learning a different culture about a school in a foreign country and making many new friends.

The excursions

In the three days where we did not go to school, we went on excursions with the Harpeth Hall girls to different cities.

 Heidelberg

Large Wine Casket

After being dropped off at the main train station by Amadeus’ father, Mrs. Vest, Alex, Luke, Mickey, the Harpeth Hall girls, and I went to Heidelberg by train. On the train, I was able to see a lot of the countryside before reaching the beautiful small town. Many of the streets were made from stone. The first place we visited was Heidelberg University and it’s jail cell. In the university, we saw a room where many science related discoveries are discussed upon. Then we toured a little of the university and it’s very fine architecture. Finally, we saw the jail cell where students used to be kept. The purpose of it was to let the drunken students, who fought, sit the night out. The second place we visited was the Heidelberg Schloss. To get to the top of the mountain where the castle was located, we took a tram at a pretty steep angle. Once reaching the top, I took many photos because the view was so beautiful. One could see the entirety of wine fields and houses. Following that, we entered into the castle walls where people hundreds of years ago lived. Within the cellar, there was a massive wine casket which I believe to be the largest in the world. Concluding that excursion, we returned home via train and spent the rest of the day with our host families.

Rüdesheim

View from Germania Statue

Once again, after arriving at the train station, Mrs. Vest, the Harpeth Hall girls, Luke, Mickey, Alex, and I took the train to Rüdesheim. The train went through mountains, wine fields, and very beautiful countryside. However, that was not the most beautiful part of the trip. The view from the hill where the germanic statue was located was the most beautiful view I have ever seen. One could see multiple towns and plenty of green. It took me awhile to take all of it in because it was so beautiful. To get to that view, we took a lift over a winefield, and on that hill, there was the Germania statue which is basically Germany’s version of the Statue of Liberty. On that day, Alex, Luke, Mickey, and I walked through the town of Rudershime and ate some fine ice cream. After an eventful day, we returned home and enjoyed the rest of the day in the city of Wiesbaden.

Mainz

This excursion was a short excursion. It lasted from eight o’clock to two o’clock and not five o’clock like the other excursion. On this day, we took a thirty minute train ride to Mainz, a nearby city. This city is the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate as Wiesbaden is the capital of Hessen. I saw the local market that comes on Tuesdays and Saturdays and a massive church, which burned on the day it was completed and was then rebuilt. I also learned about the history of the revolutionary printing press in the Gutenburg museum. We saw a demonstration of the printing press and saw the printing press in different countries. The Chinese printing press contained so many pieces because of all its characters. That was a short but sweet excursion where I also learned that Mainz was the rival of Wiesbaden. The people of Wiesbaden say that the best part of Mainz is the train to Wiesbaden, and the people of Mainz say that the best thing about Wiesbaden is the train to Mainz.

Weekends

On the first weekend there, my host family took me to a museum of science. It was called the Technik Museum. There I saw old cars and airplanes that were real and not models. One of the cars looked like the car in Back to the Future. Outside of that museum, that weekend was not that eventful because I was still recovering from jetlag. However, the second weekend was very eventful. On Friday and Saturday, Amadeus and I went to the Wilhelm Strasse Fest, the biggest street festival in all of Germany. There, we saw many of Amadeus’ friends. There was loud music, fresh food, and a lot of fun. On the final weekend in Wiesbaden, I went with my host parents and Alex to Cologne. The main thing we did there was the Cologne Cathedral. We climbed five hundred and thirty-three steps. After climbing those stairs, I had a headache. However, it was worth it. Not only did we see the beautiful architecture, we saw a view of the entire city.

Last week

After saying sad good-byes to all of the friends I made in Wiesbaden, it was time to tour Munich and Vienna with Herr Dougherty. 

Munich

Neuschwanstein Schloss

This city was a beautiful city. The people were nice and the architecture was beautiful. However, because it was a long train ride and all of us were tired, the first day in Munich was relaxed. We went sightseeing in the streets, viewed a local church, saw a market, and ate at a massive restaurant with a massive hall. However, on the following days, the days became more intensive. On average, we walked at least fourteen miles a day, sightseeing and touring the city. One day consisted of going to a very cool BMW museum. There were old cars and idea for new cars, while also showing advance of technology. On another day, we went to the famous german science museum with six floors of old and new technology. That museum was the most interesting science museum that I have ever been too. There was so much information, that that museum required more than one day to be at. However, we only went there one day. On the second to last day in Munich, we went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was a beautiful castle. It was on a hill overviewing beautiful countryside and a lake. Some other sites we went to were the 1972 Munich Olympic arenas, the Munich soccer stadium, and plenty of good restaurants. On the last day, we woke up early and took a train to Vienna, where we would spend the rest of the trip.

Karlskirche

Vienna

Upon arriving after another long train ride, the entire group was tired, but we fought through the tiredness with excitement for seeing the entirety of Vienna. We arrived at our hostel, put our belongings in our rooms, and used the rest of the day to tour Vienna. This city had very many historical buildings and beautiful architecture. We learned some of this history in the Sisi Museum where we learned about the life of Princess Elizabeth and some other royal members. We also went to Dachau, a labor camp during World War II. That museum left us with sympathy for what those people endured. However, that museum was there to remind us of a mistake which we must not repeat. Following those sites, we visited the Karlskirche where we climbed yet another set of spiral stairs to the top of the church that would leave me with a headache but yet another beautiful view of Vienna. Despite receiving a headache, the view would be worth it, and I would recover in a quick five minutes. Towards the end of the week, we ate at a local market where there were a variety of cuisine around the world. Since we have eaten mostly European food the entire trip, we decided to eat some Asian cuisine, which was delicious. On the last day of touring, we all became sad to go, but acknowledged the fun we had and the memories that we had mad. However, we had the chance to make some last memories. We went to the oldest zoo in the world, where we saw plenty of animals including wolves, and we finished the day at Prater amusement park. Alex and I raced in some go-karts, and the entire grouped enjoyed the ferris-wheel, in which we saw the entirety of Vienna. On the last day in Vienna, we said took a plane ride home without Mickey because he stayed in Europe with his parents to view colleges. However, we missed our plane from Toronto to Nashville, so we waited six hours for the next plane ride. Upon arriving home, my entire family met me at the airport where they waited to hear about my experiences.

Danke Schon

Thank you the Wilson Family for allowing me to go on this wonderful trip. Without your help, I would not have been able to make new friends, see a new culture, and enhance my German abilities. I am very thankful for your help, and very gratefully enjoyed the trip. Thank you! I also want to give thanks to my German teacher Herr Dougherty for touring us the last week and teaching me for the past two years. I also want to give thanks to Sr. Paolicchi for running this program and making things run as smoothly as possible. Thank you!