German-US-American Youth Exchanges – USA-Special 2022
Stepping outside their comfort zone can shake up routines and give them fresh perspectives.
counter US-American culture from an early age through movies, TV shows, and music. This inspires teenage dre- ams about the US, for example about spending a year at a US high school. Another factor is that US-German student exchanges have been run by various programs in both countries for many years. One example is the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange , which has offered scholarships for US-German exchanges since 1983.
Rüdiger Muermann: I agree, the main motivation for many host families is their interest in intercultural ex- change and a chance to look beyond their horizons. Some of the families have German roots and welcome the opportunity to find out more about their heritage by taking in German students.
Many US-American families have welcomed German students into their homes. Why do they do it?
Bettina Wiedmann: First of all, I think that US-Ame- ricans are generally very open and enjoy welcoming people into their homes. They also want to share their culture with other people. Something that’s rather alien to us Germans but very strong in the US is patriotism. US-Americans are incredibly proud of their country and culture, and because of this they want to share it with others. But US-American families are also interested in learning about cultures different to their own. The US is a big country, and not all US-Americans have the chance to
Why should German families choose to host students from the US?
Rüdiger Muermann: Many of our host families report that bringing students from other cultures into their ho- mes for a longer period can enrich family life. It makes them think about their own family structures in a diffe - rent way. Stepping outside their comfort zone can shake up routines and give them fresh perspectives. For host families, taking in a guest student builds intercultural understanding, eliminates prejudices, and paves the way for an open global community. Bettina Wiedmann: Having hosted myself, I can defi - nitely confirm this. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s interesting to host a guest from the US for a while preci- sely because we think we know the US so well from the media. But it is so much more than McDonalds and bas- ketball, or Trump and Obama. The US is a very diverse country. We often have a certain impression of it that is influenced by the media, and we form our own opinion based on this. I think it would be beneficial for us all to host an exchange student from the US. It can help us un- derstand the country better, or when opinions differ, at least help us respect different points of view even if we don’t share them.
travel internationally. They vacation in their own country, and unless they live near an external border, they often have little contact to cultures outside the US. Hosting an exchange student is a relatively easy way to broaden one’s cultural horizons.
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