German Students Visiting Rockville High School Compare Two Cultures

VERNON, CT — Rockville High School has been hosting a dozen students and two teachers from a partner school in Saxony, Eastern Germany.

The group has been in Vernon since Sept. 17 and the students and teachers are heading home on Saturday.

They were staying with host families. RHS students will be visiting Germany later in the school year.

Patch sat down with the students this week to ask them about their visit. Here's what they had to say.

The Town

The students said Vernon was "friendly," even more than they anticipated. They also said it also seemed bigger, espcially considering some of the roads at home go back 850 years when there were obviously no cars.

The Language

The students said they have a bi-lingual education, tri-lingual if one factors in they are taught in both "British" and "American" English.

Differentiating between the two has been fun, the students said.

The Food

The pizzas are bigger and better here, the students said, hinting they wanted to smuggle some home. Back home, they can only order one size, about 12-inches in diameter. The large ones have gone over well, the student said. The pizzas also have more oil here, they said.

One student said she can go without tacos, because she did not like the sour cream.

The consensus favorite was mac and cheese, especially since many of the hose families showed off their own recipes.

And yes, they went to the University of Connecticut to sample the famous Student Union mac and cheese. And yes, they have seen the "Mac and Cheese Boy" video.

The marveled at the size of the cones at the UConn Dairy Bar.

Academics

German teachers are stern and serious. Vernon teachers are talented but nice. That's how the students left it.

Field Trips

New York, particularly the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial, was tops on the list. The Statue of Liberty was smaller than they expected and the Empire State bigger, especially when they went to the top. Many of them were born in 2001 so the 9/11 memorial took on sopecial meaning.

Sports

Most of the students were into soccer, track and field and there was a kick-boxer. American football was tops because of the speed, the equipment and the hard-hitting. The kick-boxer said she does get to see some Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on TV in Europe.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel