“I can’t even speak English. How do you expect I’m going to speak German.” Sentences like these were frequent waiting to board the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt from Boston’s Logan International Airport. The answer, “Don’t worry, when we get home you’ll understand German, and you’ll even speak it.”

The 19 Boothbay Region High School students left Boothbay on February 12 and did not return to the United States until March 5. For nearly every student and two parent chaperones, Tom Dewey and Micheal Leighton, it was the first time traveling out of the country. It was no matter though, by the end of the trip Mr. Leighton and Mr. Dewey had made many friends, driven the Autobahn, crossed Berlin from east to west, and even addressed the partner families in German on the final evening.

What the BRHS students accomplished was even more magnificent; they gave up their February break and went to school for 10 school days at the Deilich High School in Bad Harzburg. They shadowed their partner students, attended regular classes and even helped out with instruction in some of the English courses. They were continuing a tradition that has lasted over 20 years.

The GAPP progam between BRHS and the Deilich school was founded by Mrs. Ragnhild Baade. She led the program in partnership with Mr. Peter Kerlin of the Deilich school for many years. They created a program which is now led on the American side by Taras Schkrioba and on the German side by Mrs. Tanja Heldt and Mrs. Katrin Klaus. Although there are new faces leading GAPP, Mrs. Baade and Mr. Kerlin are still involved and beloved by everyone involved with the exchange on both sides of the Atlantic.

Some highlights of the trip included visits to the city of Braunschweig and Wolfsburg. The BRHS students then traveled to Goslar and Wernigerode. They were able to visit many places where scenes of the Hollywood film, ‘Monuments Men,’ had recently taken place. Some even traveled into the thousand year old mines of the Rammelsberg where George Clooney, Bill Murray, John Goodman and Matt Damon had filmed scenes just weeks before. Some host families even footed the bill to take their students all the way to Hamburg and even into the Ruhr region.

The final day at the school was concluded with an evening performance and a pot luck dinner. The school Principal, Mrs. Ulrike Eilers, welcomed the guests and gave a nice speech. The students sang their songs of departure, danced the cotton eyed joe with the Germans and as the tears began to flow, they could be sure that the adventure would continue the next day.

The final five days of the trip were spent in Berlin. On the first day, the students were invited into the Reichstag and made their way up the cupola to view the city skyline. They then made their way to the Soviet Monument and then on through the Brandenburg Gate. After that, they passed by the US Embassy and visited the Holocaust Memorial and Museum.

On the second day, the BRHS students were led on a tour by Mrs. Intissar Nassar, an incredible tour guide who took students on a tour of the most multicultural region of Berlin, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Students toured a museum on the German-Turkish guest worker program, then walked through the district, were taught about traditional Arabic wedding ceremonies, ate traditional snacks as they were taught the Turkish way to eat a sunflower seed at a Turkish boutique. Next, they entered a Mosque and were given a lesson there. After, they were cooked a traditional Turkish meal at a fine restaurant to finish the day. On the next day, students were led by Mr. Schkrioba on a tour through Sachsenhausen Concentration camp. Students then returned home after three very depressing hours at the camp and to lighten the mood, went out to a five star ‘dark restaurant.’ Students conversed, sang, and enjoyed each other for over three hours and were served four courses in absolute darkness by a visually impaired wait staff. The experience was unforgettable.

On Monday, students traveled to East Berlin to visit the largest former Soviet prison complex, Hohenschoenhausen. After seeing and learning of the absolute torture and human suffering that occurred there, students spent the afternoon on their own shopping and sightseeing.

On the last day, students visited the Charlottenburg Palace and were very impressed. As a final goodbye, some students attended a show at the Friedrichstadtpalast and others went dancing in the disco.

The next exchange is planned for 2015 when the next German group will be visiting the Boothbay Harbor Region. The BRHS students will be visiting Germany the following spring. The BRHS GAPP group would like to thank the Boothbay Harbor Rotary for their kind grant which helped make the trip possible, the Masons of the Seaside Lodge, the many local area businesses, the US Department of State for their support of our GAPP group, the Goethe Institut for their grant and support, Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines for providing wonderful flights, Meininger Hotels, and most importantly the parents and students in the USA and Germany involved in this two year exchange.