THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512060123
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
The path to understanding between Norfolk and Germany recently became shorter with the visit of four Bavarian students as part of an international exchange program.
The German youths arrived Oct. 7 and stayed with Norfolk families that have teenagers about the same age, attending high school with their student hosts. After almost two months crammed full of school, sightseeing, shopping and sampling American culture - teenage-style - the group returned to Bavaria last Friday.
The roles will be reversed in June when the student hosts travel to Germany to spend two months with the families of their new-found friends. There they, too, will attend classes; in Bavaria the schools don't let out until Aug. 1.
Even then it may not be over.
``I consider the program a total success,'' said Ann Rolbin, supervisor of foreign languages for the Norfolk public schools and local coordinator for the program, ``because all want to come back - individually - in August.''
For Filine Birr, 16, a 10th-grader from Penzberg, Bavaria, it was her first trip overseas. Was she prepared for what she found when she got here?
``Yes, basically,'' Birr responded in perfect German-accented English, ``because we see lots of American movies. You see how Americans live.''
Birr stayed with Katie Howlett, 16, and attended Maury High School, where she took 11th-grade classes.
Jessica Seeley, 15, a 10th-grader from B.T. Washington High School, was host to Sabrina Gegenfurtner, 16, a 10th-grader from Munich. Did Gegenfurtner know what to expect?
``Basically not,'' she said, adding, ``I wanted to be surprised.'' Laughing, she continued, ``I knew about American life from soap operas!''
Wearing blue jeans, both Birr and Gegenfurtner looked like typical American teenagers. Had they bought their wardrobes here?
Both shook their heads no, but Gegenfurtner added, ``Clothes are much cheaper here, especially Levis.''
``Clothes,'' said Birr, ``and also CD's are cheaper, too.''
Corinna Wolf, 15, from Nordhalben, had stayed with Jeana Peterson, 15, a 10th-grader at Lake Taylor High School. At the airport, while others chatted and said goodbyes, Wolf wrote furiously. It was, she said, a letter to an American friend she had hoped would come to see her off but who didn't make it.
Peterson, who came with her mother to see Wolf off, had enjoyed her foreign guest.
``It was a nice experience,'' she said. ``It was different.''
Florian Rauscher, 16, of Gilching, was the only male in the group. He had stayed with Chauncey Henderson, 15, and attended Norview High School where he took 10th, 11th and 12th grade classes. The tall, lanky teenager played basketball very successfully according to Rolbin.
``I improved a lot,'' he observed. ``In Germany I only play with friends; not `organized' like here.''
Henderson was sorry to see Rauscher leave.
``It was nice,'' he said, ``real nice. It was like having a brother.''
What had they liked best about their stay?
``Visiting New York,'' answered Birr. ``It was great! It was only for a weekend but we stayed with a friend of Katie's and went everywhere: Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Union Station.''
As flight time approached, Gerhard Bottcher, administrator for the Bavarian youth council in Munich and the German coordinator for the program, anxiously shepherded his charges to the ticket counter to check in, reviewing luggage, passport, and connecting flight information with each. He had come over the week before to visit with school authorities and return to Germany with the students.
Bottcher had been to the U.S. many times, he said, but this was his first trip to Norfolk.
``Oh, I love it,'' he exclaimed. I very much like the sea because Bavaria has mountains and not the sea. I hope to come back.''
Chances are he will. The program is an on-going one that, in past years, has placed German students in Arlington and Fairfax County. This year, in addition to the four who came to Norfolk, two went to the governor's magnet school in Richmond and 14 went to Fairfax County.
Those comprising the little group assembled to see them off were pleased to learn they could accompany them to the gate where they would board their flight. There, after heartfelt hugs and tearful goodbyes, those departing disappeared onto the airplane. The small band of Americans slowly drifted back toward the terminal building.
It was over, at least until June, except for the wealth of memories shared by guests and hosts in this small step in international understanding and sharing of the ever-shrinking world in which we live. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
From left, Sabrina Gegenfurtner of Munich, Booker T. Washington High
School student Jessica Seeley, Corinna Wolf of Nordhalben, Lake
Taylor High School student Jeana Peterson, Filine Birr of Penzberg,
Maury High School student Katie Howlett, Norview High School student
Chauncey Henderson and Florian Rauscher of Gilching.
by CNB