Gymnasium Nord goes Maastricht
Gymnasium Nord goes Maastricht
Nach dem digitalen Austausch konnten wir unseren Schülerinnen und Schülern im Mai 2022 erstmalig auch einen physischen Austausch mit dem Porta Mosana College in Maastricht anbieten.
Es war eine wertvolle Erfahrung für alle Beteiligten und wir freuen uns auf viele weitere Austauschfahrten.
Mehr dazu im Artikel von Kobé (9a):
Students often have different opinions about exchange programs. Some say they are lots of fun and others might disagree. Since I have participated in a student exchange program to Maastricht with my bilingual class, I can state that they are not only fun but also have various other benefits.
Our exchange took place with students from the Porta Mosana College in Maastricht. Maastricht is a city in the Netherlands. It is much smaller than Frankfurt but it still has a lot of sights and attractions. We spent around two and a half days in Maastricht and then came back to spend the rest of the week in Frankfurt. Each of us had an exchange partner whose family took us in and vice versa.
In Maastricht, we went on a city rally to become familiar with our new environment and to get to know the students from the Netherlands. Furthermore, we visited sights like the Provinciehuis and the University of Maastricht. This gave us an idea about Maastricht’s history and culture. At the university, we experienced what it would be like to study in a city like Maastricht. In the evenings, we played team-building games in order to get to know our exchange partners better. That was a lot of fun!
On our return to Frankfurt, we also did some sightseeing with our exchange partners, which included the Main Tower, the EZB Gedenkstätte, the Dialogmuseum and the Uni Campus Westend. In addition, we organized a city rally to help the students from Maastricht gain insights about Frankfurt. Doing that, we learned a bit more about Frankfurt ourselves.
There is a lot of experience and knowledge you can gain from a student exchange like this one, for example learning about the other city’s culture, getting familiar with its residents and experiencing another way of life. Moreso improving your English skills and strengthening your communication skills.
However, I think the main intent of the exchange was to gain life experience that helps form your personality. Some students may be afraid of not fitting into the group, leaving their own comfort zone, becoming homesick or maybe just not knowing what to say around their host family.
From my experience, I can say that you overcome your feelings of fear and insecurity quickly and it mainly happens automatically throughout the activities you do. When the exchange is finished, you will realize that it was a positive and welcome experience. You just have to be yourself and go with the flow.
To conclude, I can say that I am happy I participated in the Maastricht/Frankfurt exchange. It helped broaden my horizon and it is definitely an important and fulfilling life experience you can make as a student. I would really like to repeat the exchange!
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