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From Germany to Texas

By Emily Bergin, Saint Thomas' Episcopal School, School Buzz Reporter | September 30, 2015

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(From left) Rieke Heidkross and Emily Bergin outside of St. Thomas' Episcopal after basketball practice. (Photo: Martha Bergin)

Rieke Heidkross is a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Bremervorde, Germany. She attends 10th grade at St. Thomas’ Episcopal School. Many students have never left the country, let alone gone to a strange school with people from a different country. This is a glimpse of what it’s like to be a foreign exchange student in America, and the differences she finds.

Emily: Why did you decide to do the exchange program?

Rieke: I think it’s so exciting to live in a different culture and I just knew America from movies. Also I wanted to learn to speak English the best I can.

Emily: What are the biggest differences between St. Thomas’ and your school in Germany?

Rieke: In Germany, we don’t have to wear uniforms. We don’t have electives; everything is scheduled for us. We don’t have our classes every day. We have no lunch break, we can eat in the breaks between each period.

Emily: What do you like about St. Thomas’?

Rieke: I like the teachers. You really learn what they teach. In Germany, they just stand in front of you talking. The classes are much bigger, in Germany.

Emily: Were you nervous for the first day of school?

Rieke: I was a little bit nervous, but the fact that everything was new also made it exciting. My host family, the city and the language were all new. School was just a small part of everything new, so I was not focused just on the new school.

Emily: What are some of the cultural differences and differences in music and food?

Rieke: There is some German rap and pop on the radio, but most of the music is in English. Every maybe 10th song on the radio is German, the rest is in English. The food is very different in each place. I like the burgers, they are so much better here than in Germany, and I really like Texas BBQ. The main cultural difference I would say is the different holidays, for example, Thanksgiving, and you celebrate Christmas in a different way.