CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou High School student Victoria Leavitt recently had the opportunity to travel to Germany as part of the Rotary’s Youth Exchange program and spoke of her experiences abroad during an Aug. 21 Rotary meeting in Caribou.
The program, according to Caribou Rotary Youth Exchange Chairman Mark Draper, involves roughly a year of work before any travel occurs. It begins with an informational meeting at the local high school, after which students can apply to travel. Local rotarians look through all the candidates and ultimately come to a final decision.
“They look for students in other countries, primarily in Europe, who are interested in coming to the United States,” Draper said. “They try to match up personality traits, hobbies and things of that nature.”
Leavitt was matched with Pia Marie Broghrammer of Germany, where both spent roughly a month together. Both subsequently returned to the United States, and spoke of their experiences in other countries during the Rotary meeting.
Leavitt began by telling rotarians that her trip to germany was “one of the best experiences” she’s had in her life, adding that she was very lucky to stay with Broghrammer and her family in Germany.
“Pia was still in school when I arrived,” said Leavitt, “and I attended school with her for three weeks. It was a very different experience for me because their school day is much shorter than ours.”
She said that school in Germany goes from about 7:15 a.m. to 12:50 p.m Students have a “block schedule,” and the ability to change which classes they attend each day.
On the weekends, Leavitt and Broghrammer traveled throughout Europe, exploring “many different places,” including the Alsace region of France and Europa Park.
“We visited a place where they had restored farmhouses and barns,” Leavitt said. “It was all typical German-style houses and barns, with cattle areas. We got to explore that and see the cows; we probably spent half an hour talking to the cows.”
One Rotarian asked Leavitt if she had an opportunity to travel on the Autobahn, a German highway famous for having no federally mandated speed limit.
“Yes,” she said. “Most areas have restricted speed limits, but we were able to go on a part with no restrictions. Her uncle was driving, and I think we got up to 100 miles per hour.”
Broghrammer also spoke about how her experience in America so far — specifically rural Maine — differed from life in Germany.
Travel was among the first differences she noted upon arriving, as most Germans commute on bicycles.
“The school buses are different,” Broghrammer said. “We don’t have school buses. It’s like a tiny village here, where so many people all know each other.”
“We went to get a cheeseburger at McDonald’s,” Leavitt added, “and I told her I knew all the people at the drive-through window.”
“The other kids here drive everywhere,” Broghrammer continued. “That’s so cool. We have to take the bike and sweat all the time.”
In Germany, Leavitt said the earliest age one can obtain a driver’s license is 18.
On her experience in Germany, Leavitt said listening to the language every single day helped her comprehension tremendously.
“Sitting in class every day and hearing the language is actually a really effective way to help you start to understand it,” she said. “Maybe not to the point where you’ll be able to speak it fluently, but you understand more than you think you’d be able to.”
As far as recommending the program to others, Leavitt said she would “100 percent recommend that anyone do this.”
Broghrammer said she’s enjoyed her exchange with Leavitt so far, adding that she’s enjoying her time in the region.
“The people are really nice here,” Broghrammer said. “But I thought that before I came.”
