By Lynndi Lockenour
Three German teachers got a taste of life in St. Charles on their recent trip to the area. Their visit was part of the first teachers exchange, sponsored by the Sister Cities Program and Lindenwood University. St. Charles has a sister city in Ludwigusburg, Germany and for the past several years the Sister Cities Program has been facilitating student exchange programs. However, this time President Joe Daues said he thought it would be great to have a teacher exchange.
Three teachers, Alexander Folk, Anne Deetz and Melanie Katjaroth, all made the journey from Germany to America in July. Their classes were geared toward history, politics and government organization in Germany. After holding office as President for the Sister Cities for 11 years, Daues said he realized it would be a shame to miss out on the first teachers exchange. “To be frank, their election process in Germany has always left me in a state of confusion,” he said. “So I was interested to learn more about that.”
The hope originally was to market the classes to professors at Lindenwood and high school teachers in the area. Even though Daues and others taking the classes found them quit interesting, Folk and Katjaroth agreed that more planning by Lindenwood would have made the program better and more effective. “Things weren’t as organized as they could have been,” Katjaroth said. “I personally would have enjoyed having more students than we did.”
Folk and Katjaroth had planned on having at least 20 students in their classes, but were disappointed to find only three or four chairs filled. “It wasn’t due to lack of interest,” Katjaroth said, “because I’ve talked to many people who would have been interested in the classes if they’d only known about them.” The problem, she said, is that Lindenwood waited until the last moment to inform people about the upcoming classes. “We aren’t complaining by any means,” she said. “I just hope next time people will get more involved earlier so our class rooms will be full and not empty,” she said.
One positive aspect Katjaroth said to having few students in the classroom was the intense relationships they were able to develop. “We talked more one on one and the students were able to ask more questions than if there were 30 people in the room,” she said. The classes offered focused on different modules of German history and politics and the process by which they came to develop the current system. Daues said his biggest regret was that the class he took didn’t last long. “It was so interesting because of the teachers’ dedication,” he said, “and extensive work they did in preparing for these classes both in their presentations and in the handouts we were given to provide us with background reference materials.”
Katjaroth said her favorite thing about the St. Charles area was the people. “Though I’ve been to America many times, this was my first experience with what you call the Midwest,” she said. “People here live a slower paced lifestyle than Americans on the east coast.” Katjaroth came to the U.S. for the first time at the age of 15 to visit her aunt. “I loved the U.S. from the very beginning and I’ve been back several times since then.”
Folk is also no stranger to the states and has spent a lot of time in the St. Charles area. “I love the people here,” he said. “It’s like coming home and the hospitality is absolutely amazing.” Katjaroth said it’s more socially acceptable here for people to talk to someone they don’t know than in Germany. “Making friends here is so much easier than at home,” she said.
Katjaroth was surprised at the “campus” idea of universities in The States. “We don’t have campuses in Germany,” she said. “Universities are just a group of buildings that you go to for classes and then you go home.” Katjaroth said school identity in general is something Germans’ are missing. “You would never see someone in Germany wearing a shirt with their school logo on it,” she said. “I really think it’s something we could benefit from, so that’s why I find campuses so interesting.” Regretting that she didn’t get to see Lindenwood in full swing because of summer vacation, Katjaroth hopes to come back during the school year sometime.
Katjaroth was also impressed with how Americans embrace their heritage. She said when she told many people she was from Germany they responded by saying, “our family is from Ireland, France, Germany, etc.” “Even though it was a long time ago, Americans are still proud of their heritage.” She said you would never hear a German say those things. “We lack that patriotism for our heritage and our country that Americans have,” she said. “We have so much to be proud of and I wish we would embrace that.”
Both Katjaroth and Folk complimented on how busy the Sister Cities Program has kept them. “They’ve had us out doing something fun every night,” Katjaroth said. The three visited historical landmarks in the area, Busch Stadium and the Arch as part of their trip to St. Charles, along with many local restaurants.
Though the number of students was lower than expected, Katjaroth and Folk both said they are really hoping the program continues again next year. “Everything they’ve done for us was wonderful,” Folk said. “It’s just a matter of selling the entire idea again, but Dr. Spellman at Lindenwood likes the idea, so hopefully the program will continue.”
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