JORDAN HITCHCOCK EARNS SUMMER SCHOOL IN GERMANY: "SEHR INSPIRIEREND"

Jordan Hitchcock, class of 2010, writes: "Dear Generous Donors: Thank you so much for the opportunity to visit Germany and the Salem International Summer School (Schule Schloss Salem). I had a wonderful time at the school and in the surrounding towns."

Uwe Goodall-Heising, HHS's German teacher, adds: "Jordan, who was a German 2 student last year, received the Salem scholarship awarded by the American Association of Teachers of German for his excellent performance in the National German Exam. Thanks to Salem's travel stipend I was also able to visit the Schule in Uberlingen/Spetzgart this summer." The photo shows, left to right, Herr Goodall-Heising, a guard and Jordan at the Castle Meersburg.

Jordan continues: "I was placed in the advanced German group along with fifteen other students. The classes were three hours long, ending a half hour before lunch. The first two hours consisted of cultural lessons in which we read part of a book Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer by the German author Patrick Suskind, talked about cultural stereotypes, and discussed different types of literature. The third hour was devoted to grammar, and we covered such topics as the genitive and relative clauses.


"In the mornings I was awakened for a daily morning run or swim. The first week I chose to run. The course was a two kilometer path through a wheat field, a wooded area, and an orchard behind the school. It turns out that running is very hard at seven o'clock in the morning, although I did manage to consistently be one of the first finishers. Breakfast was at eight, and classes started at nine. After lunch, I had Outdoor for the first week. We went mountain biking, canoeing, sailing, and on the last day water skiing. On Wednesday we got to spend another hour in Uberlingen, and in the evening the Clubhaus opened up for dancing.
 On Saturday morning we broke up into groups for our weekend trips. I had sightseeing in Freiburg which was an hour and a half drive from Spetzgart."

Complete reports by Jordan and Mr. Goodall-Heising can be found at (http://dresden.us/~Uwe_Goodall-Heising/Jordan_SSSalem01.html). Jordan concludes: "My stay in Germany was very inspiring(Sehr inspirierend), and it encouraged me to continue taking German for my last two years of high school. Although I do not know what the future holds, I intend continue my German education into college, and perhaps even enter a career where knowledge of the German language is necessary. I had a great seventeen days in Germany, and I hope the students next year and in the years to follow will enjoy their time at Salem International Summer School as much as I did. Once again thank you so much."