This webpage documents the results of our project “Work and leisure time activities in Florida and the Ruhr Region” that that the participating German and American students have worked on during the 2012 exchange in Bartow/Florida.
The students have researched different aspects of the working- and living-conditions as well as free time activities in Central Florida and compared these to the conditions in the Ruhr Region. Working with their American host students, the German students gained a deeper insight into the living conditions in the Bartow Region and Polk County. At the same time the students had the chance to discuss this topic with their host families and many people at Bartow High School. The IB German class at BHS was another focal point for discussion and cultural exchange between German and American students and helped the German students to gain a deeper insight into the American students’ view of Germany while also helping the American students to improve their language skills and reflect upon (and sometimes rectify) their view of Germany and the life of German teenagers.
We are all very much looking forward to continuing our project during the next exchange round in March 2013. This will deepen the intercultural understanding of our different cultures, living conditions and free time activities in Bartow and Bochum.
The language for our school exchange is English – This is the reason why the documentation of our German-American project was written in English only. The articles reflect the language use of German and American students and have only been slightly (if at all) revised. We understand that the intercultural experience – and not language learning – is at the heart of our exchange. The content also reflects the students’ perspective and thus show in what way students of both schools perceive and reflect upon their own and their partners’ living conditions.
The GAPP Project contest 2012 – which we are taking part in with this blog – was an additional source of motivation for our common work.
The project results are documented on the following pages: