Potluck

 After we sold stuff and figured out how we were putting up our German students, April rolled around and the German students arrived. The first evening, LaFollette High's cafeteria hosted a welcome potluck. I can't recall very much about it. I'm not a fan of potlucks, generally. I know from photos that both my parents attended. I don't think we performed skits or anything of that nature. I remember the German students receiving American Family hats and t-shirts. Here are a few photos from that evening:

 

The top photo shows all Germans, including (from far left): Susanna, Kerstin, Funda, Birgit, Nicole, Claus and Andrea

The bottom photo shows mostly Americans, except Michael (far left), Peter, Clint and Chris. Over Peter's shoulder you can see Nicole looking at her Am Fam winter hat.

After the potluck, a few of us went first to Bridgeman's Ice Cream. 

From left: Ann, Funda and Rudiger, my exchange partner.

In addition to the above, Peter and his exchange partner Michael came along. I know that because after Bridgeman's we went to Peter's house to hang out in his finished basement and listen to Pink Floyd, which is what is happening here:

From left: Funda looking at the album cover for Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, Rudiger and Michael.

Most of the time with the Germans in the States is a blur of pizza-based gatherings (always Little Caesar pizza, because it was relatively cheap), a few day trips and a lot of time spent away from home. 

I remember Rudiger unpacked and set up an entire dresser drawer filled with candy. From what I recall, he took one shower in four weeks. He also devoured everything in sight, which was a thrill for my mother. She was not the best cook, so seeing someone so enthusiastic for her food was relief, I think. 

There were a few communication problems. For one, it was unclear the extent to which my exchange partner was interested in religion. He noted Catholic on his information sheet. I was not at all interested in going to mass, but I brought it up to him to be respectful. Since it was April, we attended Palm Sunday service together. Before Easter arrived, however, we figured out that neither of us were very passionate about attending mass.

Early on during their stay there was a spring dance at school. All the Germans attended and, I'm pretty sure, all or most of the American students. I remember at one point one of the basketball players, Steve Amundson, trying to talk to Funda. I offered to help. Steve said he wanted to dance with her. Funda explained that she only wanted to dance with me. That began months of rushing teenage emotions, longing, letter-writing and a few overseas phone calls. 

 

Introductions

 After a parents' meeting at school with our teacher, Herr Bergren, we began by selling Haribo gummi bears. Those were still somewhat obscure back in 1981-82. They sold pretty well to students who arrived at class and dreaded the prospect of 50 minutes without candy. We also sold German chocolate advent calendars in November. I can't imagine we raised a whole lot of money, although I do recall the dollar was much stronger against the German Mark back then. 

One afternoon in German class that year, we got letters from our soon-to-be exchange partners. We opened them and read about the students to whom we had been matched by our teacher. My exchange partner, Rudiger Besch, is in the striped sweatshirt above. Not exactly a smiley family, judging from the photo.

Although it was a pleasant surprise to see I had some things in common with Rudiger, I wouldn't be telling the truth if I claimed that his letter was the I one I was most interested in. The profile that intrigued me most was that of Ann Buller's exchange match, Funda Ince. 

Between the early 60s and early 70s, Germany welcomed a lot of Turkish guest workers. Ten years after the official end of the program, Germany's population of Turkish residents and citizens had made a substantial impact across the country. Funda's father, who I understood was some type of bureaucrat connected to cultural diplomacy raised their family in Mainz. There was a space for religion on our exchange student form and she listed "Mohammadan." I had never heard of that. Altogether, there were two Turkish students among the class of fifteen and sixteen year-olds. 

Anyway, the students from Germany were to arrive at the beginning of April, while we sold candy and calendars. At home, we figured out where students would stay and, eventually, we were given a calendar of events for the month outlining potlucks, day trips and dances. To prepare all of this, nobody worked harder than our teacher, Dennis Bergren. Here's a photo to end the post:

And one of the first potluck in April of 1982:

Left to Right: Michael (German student), Peter Reinhardt, Clint Miller and Chris Bradle in the foreground.

Anfang (Beginning)

In preparation for the 40th anniversary of our German/American exchange with students at a high school in Mainz, Germany, I thought it would a good opportunity to reflect on what I can recall, what I can't, and what I hope to see and do when I visit again in 2022. 

In the spring of 1982, our junior year of German class at LaFollette High in Madison, Wisconsin, the people above (mostly) hosted a class (mostly) of German sixteen year-olds for about a month. By far, it was the most fun many of us had during high school. Once school was out in June, we flew to Germany and became their guests for a month. 

About 13 years ago, I organized a gathering to commemorate the 25th anniversary of our exchange. We had a good turnout. At that time, our teacher, Dennis Bergren, was still with us, and he attended along with the other teacher who chaperoned our trip, who taught at East High. Since then, I have been keeping my eye on the calendar in hopes of returning to both Mainz and Berlin for the 40th. It might even be fun to rendezvous with both American friends and German students, too. It's with that hope that I intend to share what I write with those who were also there. I also hope that their memories for events and sights are better than mine. 

I do recall taking the photo above. That's from a photo taken with my camera, my dad's Pentax K-1000, of the American students, plus an older student from LaFollette who tagged along on our Berlin excursion. She's at the far right. I notice that it was cool that day as we visited a section of the Berlin Wall, judging from the jackets. The Wall wasn't just a tourist curiosity back then. To either side of the frame, there were stairs you could climb on the West side of the wall (West Berlin side) and view the East German guard towers, soldiers and no-man's land. Between the West Berlin wall and the wall that bordered the East Berlin side, that area also known as the 'death strip', was many meters wide. I recall when I showed younger people the photo above, they would say, "That's not high! I could jump over that." They didn't know what existed between the two edges of the wall, as shown below:

You can also see it in a photo I took back then:

Anyway, if you are reading this, feel free to share any memories you have as I go along. That's true if you went in '82 or another year. I'll talk more Berlin later on, so worry not!

Welcome, nearly 40 years later.