02 Broadcaster Press September 9, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com Vermillion students spend three weeks in Germany By Alan Dale alan.dale@plaintalk.net It is a country full of history, plenty of mystery, and enough in between to make visitors leave with so many more questions. Germany is that kind of place and for five bright Vermillion High School students and one motivated teacher, a three-week excursion to one of the pillars of Europe, it was a period of self-awareness. For students Hailey Freidel, Isaac Rosdail, Morgan Fuller, Noah Westergaard, and Anna Hackemer and VHS German/English teacher Kamden Dibley this trip, a part of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP), had plenty of food, bonding, and even some politics to offer. According to Dibley, the trip is partially funded by both the United States Congress and one of the German government bodies similar to this nation’s congress. Rotary Club, the Vermillion City Council, and some fundraisers by the students helped collect a majority of the remainder of the funds. Two weeks were spent in Ratingen, Vermillion’s sister city in Germany, and the final week saw the group traverse across the roads and vast hills of Deutschland. For Dibley, it was important that her students not only learn about Germany, but also get rewarded for it intrinsically and academically. “It is not necessary that if you are a part of the GAPP program you do this for credit, but that was important to me,” Dibley told the Vermillion City Council Tuesday as she and the students shared their experiences. “They will get half a credit from Vermillion High School which is basically one semester of High School German. By far if you think if they’ve learned enough just ask them. The intensity of experience, the language, the culture was absolutely worth it.” Freidel shared the memory of the trip near and through Berlin and the discussion about Cold War Germany. “We spoke about Berlin and how it functioned after the Soviets and the American sector,” she said. “It was very cool to see history come to life rather than just reading about it in textbooks.” Dibley let the students explain to the council what else they learned across the pond. Westergaard, an admitted history buff, would like to go back to Germany for a semester. “I think we all matured a lot while we were over there,” he said. “The stress of (not speaking with Englishspeaking students) and being dropped off somewhere to ask ‘where I’m at?’ Let’s try speaking German.” Westergaard also expanded on his love of German food. Native Ame Native American Day Day “Food is always important,” Dibley quipped. Politics were a main theme for the students on their travels and one particular hot American topic got the students and their teacher into a bit of warm water. “The topic of gun control came up and we were not very popular for a few minutes,” Dibley said. “They cannot believe that we actually have guns in our homes.” “I got the evil eye,” Westergaard added. Dibley said she did as well. “They didn’t expect civilized people like us to possibly ever own guns,” Dibley said. “That’s something I won’t ever forget.” Westegaard shared a brief story. “They were like, ‘What? You got a shotgun for Christmas?’” he said. “They were shocked.” “They thought we were barbaric,” Dibley said. Westergaard added that some of his German acquaintances explained an extensive process to acquire the simplest of hunting rifles. “I was like what? No thank you,” he said. They also spoke of some of their discussion with Germans and the horrible memory of World War II, specifically, the Nazi concentration camps. “Couple of my friends there were ashamed, but they embraced the history,” Tell them you saw it in the Broadcaster! Six Vermillion residents – five high school students and ateacher – spent three weeks in Germany. Hailey Freidel,Anna Hackemer, Issac Rosdail, Morgan Fuller, Mrs. KamdenDibley, and Noah Westergaard told the Vermillion City Coun-cil about their exploits on Tuesday. (Courtesy Photo) Westergaard said. “They know it’s bad and a Nazi joke there is just as bad as some here. They want to learn from it and don’t try to just ignore it.” “It’s kind of like how we talk about slavery,” Hackemer said. “It’s really awful, but it happened.” A quick perusal of the group’s photographs showed a vast array of travels to different types of agriculture and sights some would only see in a book or Google. “The windows are all full-length body windows that are tilted out,” Fuller said of one of the towers they visited. “So you can lean yourself over so you can feel like you are above the ground.” Freidel shared a quick thought with the council and other guests in attendance. “I refused,” she said of taking a closer look at the tilted windows. They visited the state legislature in Germany and spoke of how the five different political factions are divided. That was one thing that slowly drew the students’ attention to the thinking of BroadcasterOnline.com “Get Connected!” Pow-wow Pow-wow October 11, 2014 Anniversary Party + Grand Grand Entry ra 1:00pm & 7:00pm at the Vermillion Armory at Vermillion Armory e Frank & Gwen Orr Free Admission Craft booths Craft Saturday, September 13, 2014 5 – 8 pm at the Wakonda Legion Free meal at 5:00pm Free at Event made possible thanks to the donations from: Event made possible thanks to the donations from: First Bank & Trust • First Dakota National Bank First Trust First Dakota the younger Germans. “The younger generation is more politically minded and in Europe,” Dibley said. “Especially about American politics. That was very interesting.” Rosdail shared the experience of visiting Cologne and its vast architecture while they also shared a tale of visiting a German costume shop. “We also learned what we could handle,” Rosdail said. Fuller said that the Vermillion students were sad to leave their host families after “getting to know them for two weeks.” “It was a sad morning and all the families came to see us off,” Fuller said. “They pretty much went everywhere we went except when we went to the bathroom.” Ultimately they joined forces with a group of students from Sioux Falls O’Gorman High School and that would aid in saving money on travel as they commuted the last week with a larger group, Dibley said. One of the trips to Potsdam – the sister city of Sioux Falls – evoked an Music & Lunch years years years ear (No gifts or cards please) interesting tale. “While we were there (with the O’Gorman kids) the major of Sioux Falls was actually in Potsdam christening a new tram that they named Sioux Falls for their city subways,” Freidel said. “So the kids from Sioux Falls met their mayor for the first time in Potsdam, Germany.” Some of their other experiences involved teaching their mother language to a German class taking an English-speaking course, being presented with a cake made in the shape of an American flag, and getting ribbed by local kids about the National Security Agency’s dealings with its own. They also got to take trips to lakes and…fall into German waters. “We decided to go kayaking and none of us were prepared for it,” Fuller said. “And I flipped my kayak over and lost my glasses.” “We experienced the German optometrist and we got a new pair of glasses out of it,” Dibley added. Dibley said that she hopes to host the German students next spring. Please Recycle BE SMART. Scan our QR code with your smart phone and discover the Broadcaster Online!