Town Twinnings
a tour of one of Virginia Beach’s biggest employers, the German company Stihl , which shows young visitors the various career opportunities it offers. Virginia Beach is home to the First Landing State Park, where the coloniza- tion of the North American continent first began. James - town on the Elizabeth River was the first permanent European settlement. Colonial Williamsburg, the largest living history museum in the US, and the American Revo- lution Museum offer visitors an immersive north Ameri - can history experience. Lifelong friendship But it is contact with peers from the other country that makes this exchange so special for the young partic- ipants. “My daughter Meret met Maggie through the exchange. It was a meeting of soulmates. Since they met five years ago, barely a day has gone by when they hav - en’t been in touch,” reports one mother enthusiastical-
ly. “The two young women, now both college students, recently met halfway in Iceland,” adds Axel Wiese, who has been organizing and supporting the German side of the exchange program for DAG for several years. “Any student over 15 who has a sufficient command of English can participate. Students stay with host families, so they’re supposed to communicate a lot. It’s a concept that benefits everyone,” explains DAG President Imke Oltmanns. Give and take for the transatlantic exchange Organizing the youth exchange involves a lot of vol- untary work. This is why the organization expects par- ticipants to be members of the DAG for at least two years and also to host US students, since it is a recipro- cal exchange that takes place on an annually rotating basis. Alongside the youth exchange, the young mem-
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