Exchange students from Krefeld, Germany look back on their memories from their two weeks spent with Palatine High School students, comparing the American lifestyle to the German lifestyle.

“I wanted to find out about the differences between Germany and the United States,” exchange student Julian Schimpe said.

14 students from Marienschule, a school in Krefeld, Germany were chosen to spend two weeks in Palatine to practice their English skills and travel around Chicago. They came to Palatine High School and shadowed their hosts and went to the city to see famous Chicago landmarks such as the Shedd Aquarium and the Sky Deck.

“In my school, we have no IDs or school buses.” Exchange student Lilli Krüger said. “We have breaks every two periods and I feel like it’s less stricter than Palatine High School.”

When talking to some of them, they said that their school life is very different. They don’t get their own iPads, most of the time they need to write everything down in their notebooks. Our gyms are also  very different, at Marienschule the gym is only about the size of our north shelf.

“(I want) to remember this exchange for the rest of my life in the best way possible,” Schimpe said.

Both the exchange students and the hosts have close bonds with each other. The hosts do everything they can to make sure that everyone has a good experience as well as learn more about their exchange student’s life. Some of the families host parties and plan activities so everyone gets to know everyone.

“[In my family] we don’t spend much time together but my host family [the Richardson’s] we do a lot together and they’re very spontaneous,” Krüger said.

During the weekends, the hosts planned different things for the exchange students. A lot of the activities consisted of going to Navy Pier, shopping, The Bean, the riverfront, and lakefront. They also took them to a lot of restaurants that have classic American food like Taco Bell and Chipotle.