As part of an exchange program between Lancaster County and Kaiserslautern, Germany, 19 exchange students are staying with a host in Lititz this week.
When a national American soccer team played in Germany in 2006, former Lancaster County Commissioner Dick Shellenberger, among many others, was invited to attend. While there, Shellenberger made provisions with the local governmental leaders in Kaiserslautern to establish an exchange between youth groups in Lancaster County and the small German city.
The 19 youth – 12 boys and seven girls, ranging in age from 14-18, – and their three adult leaders, are part of an alliance of youth groups including boy scouts, sports teams, and a red cross group from around Kaiserslautern.
Having arrived on July 7th, they have already visited Lancaster City, Philadelphia, and Hershey Park. They also plan to visit Washington, D.C. and New York City before they leave on Friday, July 17.
They are all staying at the home of Michael Thompson of Lititz, whom they praised for his hospitality. Thompson’s children attend Manheim Township High School, which has been involved in arranging soccer matches for the visiting youth.
One girl, Julia, said the house is “so cozy and unique” and that she was overwhelmed.
Meggi Weichlar, one of the adults traveling with the group, explained that most German homes are smaller and the area much more densely developed.
But the landscape rings familiar to her and she thinks that’s why a lot of Germans settled in Pennsylvania.
“When we first came to Pennsylvania, we thought ‘it looks like home,'” she said.
The boys played a soccer game last Wednesday (July 9th) against a local soccer team called Pennsylvania Classics. Although they did not win that game, they put up a good fight in the first half and a good time was had by all, Thompson explained.
Asked how they got along with the American players, Thompson said, “They [the Americans] play hard, but if someone knocks someone down, they pick them up.”
They were also planning to play Manheim Township High School’s soccer team, Sunday evening (July 13th), but the game was postponed due to thunderstorms.
On Saturday night (July 12th), the girls of the group performed German folk dance at an event in Reading, Pa. One of their chaperones, Ludwig Welker, plays guitar.
The boys and girls, who seemed somewhat shy, murmured in agreement that one of their favorite parts of the trip so far was when they visited Hershey Park.
One of the girls was overheard to say that she enjoyed shopping.
Asked whether they speak very fluent English, Weichlar replied, “More or less – sometimes they are a little shy to talk, but they understand.”
She went on to explain that English is one of the primary languages that they learn in school and that most German students learn two other languages (often English and French) as part of their elementary school education.
Weichlar shared that the weather here is a bit warmer than in Germany, and that “the humidity here is much higher,” which took some getting used to.
The group also shared that they attended a church service at Bethel A.M.E Church on East Strawberry Street in Lancaster on Sunday morning, since Welker had an interest in learning about gospel music.
“We were in a church with black gospel. It’s really different than our church in Germany. Church in Germany is very conservative. In America, everything is totally cool,” said Anne Engel, one of the girls.
With a laugh, Welker said that the “preacher was very loud and had much passion, and all the people would say, ‘Yeah!'”
A group of youth from Lancaster County plans to visit Klaiserslautern, Germany, next year.
