by Anna Allgaier

On February 25th, 2021 our English class had an online meeting with an American representative to exchange German and American points of view. Therefore, Tim Bradley joined us in our video conference. Tim comes from New Hampshire and studied politics and economics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. At the moment he lives in Cologne and works as a language assistant at the Freiherr-vom-Stein Gymnasium in Rösrath.

To loosen up Tim introduced himself and then asked us about the first things that come to our minds if we think about America. Serious issues were addressed, e.g. the current election and the Black-Lives-Matter movement. It was really interesting to hear an American point of view on the topics and we also spent a lot of time on comparing these two countries. We talked a lot about the differences in digitalization in American and German schools. During the conversation, we found out how backward Germany is and what we have to improve to catch up with American schools. Another big discussion was the healthcare system. The progress of both countries is just switched around in this topic. It was really revealing to see which topics have priorities in each country and what each country could learn from the other one.

All in all it was a great experience to share different point of views. Students from our class described the exchange as enlightening and informative. We all agreed that we need more exchange with different countries. And while home schooling lasts, it is a great way to listen to other people’s opinions in our video conferences. Every student agreed that we are looking forward to the next conferences with other representatives from other countries.

Last but not least, we especially want to thank Tim for joining us and sharing his thoughts. Also we want to thank Ms. Sarah Wagner, Education Manager of the Atlantic Academy in Kaiserslautern, for making this opportunity possible. It was a big pleasure to discuss several topics with an American representative and we hope that this meeting is just the beginning of more cultural exchange.