Washington D.C.

On our last day in the USA, we went to Washington D.C. To see as many sights there as possible, we started at 5.30 am. Nearly all students slept until we stopped at McDonald’s to grab breakfast. During the remaining bus ride, we watched Transformers.

At about 11 am we arrived in Washington and started our tour with the Capitol that houses the Senate. Mr. Tower, our Knoch Security Officer, was the tour guide and showed us the National Gallery of Arts next. It is a huge, nice building with a beautiful fountain inside and that displays one of the world’s finest art collections.

Our next sight was the Washington Monument. As it was such a nice and sunny day we took the opportunity to make some nice group pictures in front of it. Then we went on to see the White House that was heavily guarded so we were not even allowed to advance to the huge fence surrounding it.

Afterwards we took a walk through one of the many parks of the U.S. capital and went to the Memorial of the Vietnam War, which is a huge, seemingly endless wall with thousands of names engraved in it. Each name stands for a dead soldier. It was very sad to see how many people died in this war.

The last stop before heading to the airport was Lincoln Memorial with his huge statue in it. It reminded us all of the Walhalla in Regensburg. Then we had to get on the bus again and to say goodbye to our American hosts. It was a very, very sad and tearful moment! But we are sure that we have formed many deep and long-lasting friendships. Before this trip, we would not have imagined how close you can get with people in such a short period of time!!

Your German GAPP students

We proudly present the US capital J:

Julia’s last day in Saxonburg

Yesterday was our last day in Saxonburg and we could choose what we wanted to do. I went to a High School volleyball game instead of wing night because I wanted to watch Summer, Mindy and Jessie (some of our host partners) play.

Unfortunately I was late because of rush hour traffic. When I finally arrived, the score was 15:11 with West Allegheny High School winning. All the matches were really close and the Knoch Knights played very well, but sadly Knoch High School only won the second match.

Although it was sad to see the Knoch Knights’ season coming to an end, it was very interesting and fun to watch the game!

Tanja’s last day in Saxonburg

Today was our last dinner with the Americans and their families at the Quaker Steak & Lube in Cranberry, PA. It took us about 40 minutes to get there.

As it was “wing night”, we went there at about 5 pm because later it would have been packed. The restaurant was decorated with old cars and CDs on the wall.

For just 12 $ you could eat at the “All you can eat” buffet. A bunch of different kind of wings and flavors like “Arizona Ranch” and “Barbecue” were offered.

Fabian ate the most wings, altogether 37 pieces!!! We had so much fun and talked about the past two weeks and our experiences.

Sadly tomorrow we are going to leave Saxonburg at 5:30 am.

Here you can see some pictures of the Quaker Steak & Lube:

Eva’s Halloween

Halloween! I was so excited about this day!

First we went to school with our host students, had classes, ate lunch at the school cafeteria …

On the bus ride home I had my first little Halloween experience. The bus driver was dressed up as a vampire and before we left the bus she gave us candy.

After eating something we looked for Halloween costumes. In the neighborhood where my host Erica lives Trick or Treat was from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, so we dressed up and left the house.

Erica told me before that I have to say “Trick or treat!” when somebody opens the door and then they will give us candy. At some houses the lights were off which means that nobody is at home or that they don’t want to be disturbed.

Even though it was raining there were many kids in the streets. We saw witches, ironmen, cheerleaders, fairies, football players and so on.

Of course, we got a lot of candy! When we came home we put all the stuff out of our bags and almost the whole table was covered!

I really loved my Halloween experience in America!

Theresa’s school day

Today we spent our day in school. My schedule for today was gym class, where we played volleyball, then International Food, where we cooked Mexican food, then Spanish and after that German, where we read short stories.

Next we went to the Study Hall, where you get the chance to do your homework. After lunch break I had another period in the Study Hall and then Economy. In the seventh period I had Arts and my last class for this day was English.

Between lessons – or periods how they call it here – students have four minutes to change classes. That is not much time as you often have to go to your locker to get books.

After school I drove home for having dinner and later in the evening my host Jessi and I went to an ice-hockey game before going to bed after a beautiful day.

Here are some pictures:

Clarissa’s Sunday

Today after breakfast we went to church. It was in a gym of a school and it was really different from our church. During mass the people were talking to each other. Some of them also had something to drink with them.

Back at home again we searched the internet to find out how to carve in our pumpkins. The carving part was really easy although Summer carved the face of Michael Jackson in her pumpkin!

In the evening we all met for the Haunted Hay Ride. A tractor took us to a field. There we had to find our way out again while people with chainsaws and masks tried to scare us. We stayed in groups of four or five. There also was a haunted house! It was really spooky!

When I came home I saw how dirty my shoes were from all the mud on the field. So I had to clean them before I went to bed.

The Niagara Falls

Today was our trip to the Niagara Falls. We left school at 5:45 am! And it was snowing!!

Most students used the long bus ride to catch up on sleep. When we passed the Canadian border the police officers scanned our passports and asked many questions. But finally we arrived at the Niagara Falls, which are really beautiful and amazing. Everybody took many pictures and then we were allowed to walk around by ourselves. Some students went for lunch at the Rainforest Café, which was really expensive, but nice.

Some students also went up the Skyland Tower, where they had a wonderful view over the whole area. Furthermore there was the Clifton Hill "Street of Fun" with haunted houses and a wax museum.

On our way back to the Niagara Falls Center we got soaked, because of all the mist of the waterfalls. That was fun!

Afterwards we started our tour behind the falls. We all got really “fashionable” bright yellow rain ponchos and went down to the tunnel behind the waterfall. Everybody went to a platform that was right beside the Niagara Falls. That was a really cool experience although we all got wet from the bottom to the top. So we got back to the bus fast.

To sum it up it was a really funny and interesting day.

Your German GAPP students

Some impressions:

Dress Up Day at Knoch High

Today we spent the whole day in Knoch High School. It was Dress Up Day for the senior students and their German exchange partners were allowed to dress up, too. It was funny to see all the costumes such as Ironmen, Mexican guys, Catwomen, Gingerbread Men and so on. During the last period every student of Knoch had to come to the gym for fall’s first pep rally.

The principal’s speech prepared the pupils for tonight’s football game against their big rival Mars. After several cheerleader performances and marching band songs the fun part of the event started.

At first they played a game called “Egg on the Spoon”, in which also some of the Germans took part. At the end the different grades screamed against each other to win the “Magic Stick”. Our German teachers and the principal decided about the winner. It was a really close decision, but the seniors won.

In the evening everybody went to the football game Knoch vs Mars. The Knoch Knights won 28:3 and are still undefeated!!!

Your German GAPP students

Look how we dressed up!

Visiting Volant

Today we went together with our host students to school for two periods.

Afterwards we all met in front of the principal’s office to go to Volant. The ride took about an hour, which we all used to sleep a little because we were all still exhausted from yesterday’s trip to Pittsburgh.

Volant is halfway between Erie and Pittsburgh and some residents are Amish. The Amish live without electricity and only use horse carts for transportation. They obey strict religious rules so we were not allowed to take any pictures.

In Volant there are 30 unique shops and restaurants and a couple of different events during the year. Most students walked through the town to get an impression of what the Amish offer. We bought some tasty organic cookies and tea.

After that we headed to the Grove City Premium Outlets. This is a huge shopping mall which is divided into seven different buildings with more than 100 shops!

We had about 2 hours to look around and buy something, which was far to less time for most of us. All in all we had a great time and enjoyed ourselves.

Your German GAPP students

Pittsburgh College Football Game

The last event in Pittsburgh before we went back home to Saxonburg was visiting a College football game at Heinz Field.

We arrived there at about 6 pm, which was two hours before the game started. So we had enough time to take photos of the field and the nice view over the city of Pittsburgh at night.

At about 7:45 pm the performance of the Marching Band began and they played the American National Anthem. We’ve never seen something like this!

Then the game finally started. The Pittsburgh Panthers played against the Connecticut Huskies. A few minutes after the beginning, a bad accident happened. One of the best Pitt quarterbacks injured his leg and had to leave the field. Nevertheless the Panthers had some homeruns and scored many points. It took us some time to figure out the rules of football but with the help of some Americans we finally got it! After the second quarter we bought something to eat. It was quite expensive there. A hot dog costs about 6 dollars!

Because we were all tired and it was quite cold we left the game after the third quarter. It was a great new experience!

The following day we found out that our team, the Pittsburgh Panthers, won the game!

Your German GAPP students

The amazing Heinz Football Stadium:

Field Trip to Pittsburgh (part 2): Heinz History Center and Strip District

In the museum we were split in three groups for the tour through the Heinz History Center, which was named after the famous manufacturer of Heinz Ketchup.

We heard all about the history of Pittsburgh and saw how people had lived many years ago. You could have a look at old rooms, guns etc.

After the tour we were allowed to visit the Strip District. We had two hours there to check out the stores that sell chocolates, fan articles of the Pittsburgh Steelers and costumes for Halloween. Unfortunately, most of the shops closed at 5 pm so we went to McDonald’s to eat a burger before heading to the football stadium.

Your German GAPP students

Some pictures:

Field Trip to Pittsburgh: Monongahela Incline and Just Ducky City Tour

Our day started at 7:40 am with different lessons in the High School. We went with our exchange partners to their classes and enjoyed arts, physics, P.E., history, etc …

At 10 am we met in the hall to leave school for an exciting trip to Pittsburgh. It was a one hour drive in one of the famous yellow school buses.

The first sightseeing we did in Pittsburgh was the Monongahela Incline, which is a small kind of train that drives uphill. On top, we had a wonderful view over Pittsburgh, so we took a lot of amazing pictures.

Back down in the city, we went to the Hard Rock Café where we had lunch (delicious burgers!).

Then the “Just Ducky” vehicle arrived. It looks like a little bus but it can also drive in the streets or on the water. The tour guide drove us through the city and explained some interesting facts about Pittsburgh and its past as a steel town. The funniest thing was that we had to “Quack, Quack, Quack” like a duck during the trip.

On the water some students were allowed to drive the vehicle. It was a really funny, unforgettable adventure!

Your German GAPP students

And now have a look at our pictures!

The Vocational-Technical School

After we visited the courthouse and the prison, we drove to the vocational-technical school in Butler County, which offers courses to prepare students to enter jobs in various occupations after High School graduation.

At first we got some food that was prepared by students of the cooking class. It was really delicious! We then visited many different classes and were informed about all the kinds of programs offered at this school such as nursing, photography, commercial arts, cosmetology, carpentry, heavy equipment repair, and welding.

It was nice to see such a variety and each teacher told us what the students were currently doing in their lessons. We had a nice guide there.

Then we went back to Knoch High School where our hosts were waiting for us.

Your German GAPP students

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what the Vocational-Technical School looks like:

Butler County

The security searched us when we arrived at the Butler County Court House. It’s important because some people want to smuggle something inside.

At first we went into one of the courtrooms. It was built in 1807. This room was very beautiful. On the walls you could see pictures of the 6 judges.

Then we went to the Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff showed us handcuffs, tasers, and a gun. He is also responsible for safely getting prisoners in and out of the courtroom. Christopher was the volunteer for the handcuffs. Everybody was able to touch the sheriff’s gun, which was really heavy.

Afterwards we were officially welcomed by the 3 commissioners of Butler County.

Last but not least we went into the Butler County Prison. We saw the inmates’ cells. They were very small!!! The cells are closed from 10 pm to 7 am every day. During day time inmates are allowed to use the area in front of their cells, too, where they can walk, sit, shower or play chess. 63 inmates share such an area. Everywhere you could see CCTVs.

Your German GAPP students

Here are our pictures: