German-US-American Youth Exchanges – USA-Special 2022
Forty years of youth exchanges with the US
Axel Wiese
The town-twinning agreement between Norfolk, Virginia, and the Wilhelmshaven-Friesland region in Lower Saxony has existed since 1976, and the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft Wilhelms haven-Friesland has been filling this partnership with life for 40 years. Its annual youth exchange program offers young people from the region the chance to breathe in some transatlantic air.
Mr. Doumar proudly shows the young visitors to his restaurant on Monticello Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia the original waffle cone machine that has been produc - ing ice-cream cones for over one hundred years. His great-uncle Abe Doumar exhibited the machine at the St. Louis World’s Fair for the first time in 1904, so the ice- cream cone has its roots not in Italy, but in the US!
normal everyday life in the US first-hand. The host fam - ilies also organize barbecues, pool parties, or soccer matches for their guests. The Hampton Roads Area, which includes Chesapeake Bay and the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hamp- ton, Chesapeake, Newport News, Williamsburg, and Portsmouth, offers numerous other attractions such
In Doumar’s restaurant, the young German guests learn what the American way of life is all about: pride in their inventive- ness, strong family bonds and, not least of all, their hospitality. The visitors receive a warm welcome
as the Nauticus Museum, the Adventure Park, the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Cen- ter, the Naval Station, and the Bush Gardens Theme Park. Some families even take their German guests
During the trip, the young participants stay with local host families where they can experience normal everyday life in the US first-hand.
at the traditional restaurant and can try the ice-cream, but also burgers, sandwiches, hotdogs, and other spe- cialties. First-hand experience of everyday US-American life It’s experiences like this that make the youth exchanges of the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft Wilhelmshaven- Friesland (DAG) and the Norfolk Sister Cities Association (NSCA) so special. During the trip, the young participants stay with local host families where they can experience
further afield to Shenandoah National Park or New York City. One of the highlights of the last exchange in Norfolk was an appearance on a live TV show at a regional TV station. The young visitors actively joined in the program and reported on the exchange program activities. A slice of European-US-American history The exchange program also includes a visit to Hampton University, one of the first universities to open its doors to African Americans after the abolition of slavery, and
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