Cultural Exchange at BMS

By: Anna Harvey

Even though we don’t offer a German class, German has been spoken often at Belleville Mennonite School over the past three weeks. During this time twelve foreign exchange students from Germany have been attending school here as a part of a short term program. They come from near Cologne, Germany, and have experienced a bit of a culture shock over the past several weeks. They are accustomed living the big city life, and before they arrived in Pennsylvania, they spent a few days in New York City. Coming to Mifflin County has been a big adjustment to them. Even though they have experienced a shock, the change of pace has been welcomed into their lives. Since coming to the area, they have been able to enjoy many new experiences that they previously have not had the opportunity to do; simple things like stopping on top of a mountain to enjoy the view, taking a walk through the woods, or attending a football game.

While in America, they have also had the chance to do many other activities, and to see many sights. One girl was able to attend a wedding, a few others went to tour Penn’s Cave, and a few attended Penn State’s win over Iowa this past weekend. As a whole, they went to an Amish house for an authentic meal, visited an Amish school house, went shopping in Hagerstown, Maryland at the outlet malls, and took an overnight trip to Niagara Falls. They all enjoy shopping in America they said, because it is much less expensive here than it is in Germany. A popular item they have all sought after are Converse shoes. In Germany, they are very popular, but are priced at over a hundred American dollars. Due to the price here being around thirty dollars, they have purchased several pairs apiece. One ecstatic exchange student, Greta Giljan, emailed her mother back home to give a glowing report of all the clothing, shoes, and jewelry she bought on sale here. Her mother went online, and calculated that Greta saved over four hundred dollars, compared to what she would have paid for the same items back in Germany!

Other simple staples of our small town life that they have found intriguing is the fact that many do not lock their car doors, or even, their house doors. Several of the German students are being hosted by farm families, and the farms are a great wonder to them. One boy spent an hour one night soon after he arrived, simply watching the cows in the pasture. One girl is living on a pig farm in Ferguson Valley. Just a mere minute after being inside of the barn, she exclaimed “It stinks in here…can we go back out now?” Yet on Friday the 5th, when she had another friend in this exchange program sleep over, she eagerly asked if they could go see the pigs.

Now that the German student’s time in Pennsylvania is drawing to a swift close, they are feeling a little reluctant. On September 18th, when they first arrived, we were all complete strangers to one another. Now three weeks later, they are leaving, yet not very willingly. Just Saturday while shopping at the Logan Valley Mall, one girl sighed, “I wish that this was a three month program, not just this three weeks. I am not ready to leave here yet.” As they leave to fly back to Germany, they are sure to have many wonderful memories. Not only of New York City and Washington D.C, where they have also visited for a few days, but of their weeks spent in Mifflin County, and at Belleville Mennonite School. When asked what they will miss the most when they return home, they all promptly replied “The people- you are all so friendly here.” Not only have they created many amazing memories while staying in the states, but they have also made quite a few for their host families here, and for the entire school.