Category Archives: German Exchange

Day 164 May 5, 2023 Brenna or Brunnen?

When learning a language people find helpful ways to remember words. Patrice who was our German teacher was very good at finding those connections. Another key factor is the repetition of words and language. Patrice understood this and was always reminding kids of words and phrases and their connections.…

Day 163 May 4, 2023 French Monkeys

I promised stories about French Monkeys all the way back on day 131 of the blog. Here goes…     In Germany, we travel around the region for fun and history. One of the lesser-known attractions is a Monkey Park called La Montagne des Singes.…

Day 162 May 3, 2023 Panhandling

Panhandling seems to be a problem everywhere. While we were in Strasbourg, France we saw the in the tourist areas. Along with people walking around selling junk for exorbitant prices. You just had to pay attention. The teachers were having a cup of coffee while students explored the La Petit France area of town.…

Day 161 May 2, 2023 Problems Abroad

Our goal of the German Exchange was to explore history as well as modern life in Germany. It was to support our German language program at Rangeview.  We always spent time traveling the region and extended into France. Our trips to Strasbourg were always an education of history and modern times.…

Day 160 May 1, 2023 Hike On The Beach

This is a story that I haven’t told often. It is in keeping with my goal to not appear on the six o’clock news as a teacher. The exchange that my daughter was a part of had many different adventures. You have already heard a couple but now the one that could get me fired.…

Day 159 April 28, 2023 Berlin

I had a post about our first trip to Berlin earlier but I want to add a couple of details I didn’t include in the first post. The unexploded bomb that delayed the train was just the beginning. We got to see the era of capitalism that has exploded worldwide.…

Day 132 March 21, 2023 – Exchange Relationships

This will be my last post about the German Exchange for a while. This one I am writing this one now instead of using a previously published story.

Relationships are the most cherished memories from the exchange.  The friends I have made make me long for a return visit.…

Day 130 Spring Break Extra – March 17, 2023 Farewell Dinner

This is the post after visiting the Graduation Ceremony for the Heimschule Lender.

June 28, 2009

Last night we had the chance to see the ceremony for the students that have successfully completed the Arbitur. It is the test for school completion in Germany.…

Day 129 Spring Break Extra – March 16, 2023 Europa Park

June 24, 2009

Did I mention that I am afraid of heights? Yesterday we went to Europa Park. I had a chance to ride three of the 5 roller coasters. The other two had very long lines and we were in one for a while but it was over an hour wait for them.…

Day 128 Spring Break Extra March 15, 2023 Travel & Leipzig

Another post from our trip in 2009. Leipzig was a great adventure and our time there was memorable beyond belief. To walk in the steps of history was humbling.

July 03, 2009 

Our next adventure was to get from Achern to Leipzig and to our next destination.…

Day 126 March 13, 2023 – Spring Break Bonus Berlin

Berlin – 2009

I am doing some blogs from our German Exchange. Here is our first trip to Berlin.

The next day we tried again with the train and it worked perfectly. Well almost! The trip there was perfect but on the way back the next adventure began.…

Day 125 March 10, 2023 – Spring Break Bonus Bodensee

Bodensee 

I am adding blog posts from my trips to Germany for the exchange. This story is about our trip to the Bodensee 2014

Thursday morning we left for the Bodensee with all of our students and our hosts. It was an experience in public transportation.…

Day 124 March 9, 2023 Struthof Camp

Of the trips I have taken, this was the hardest day. We went to the Struthof Concentration camp. Prisoners here worked at a quarry about a kilometer away. The post was short but the pictures were more powerful. I have added a link to the website for further information.…

Day 123 March 8, 2023 A German Walk

I love to walk and enjoy nature and sites. I was to learn that a walk in Germany means something completely different. Here is a post I did in 2009:

June 22, 2009, By: Randy Mills  I was informed this morning of what is considered a short German walk.…

Day 122 March 7, 2023 Viva La France!

This is a post from the 2009 trip. It was a day in Strasbourg France. It hit all the right spots: food, international politics, and my fear of heights!

June 17, 2009 By: Randy Mills 

Monday, June 15th found us in Strasbourg, France.…

Day 121 March 6, 2023 Prague

Another blog post from the 2009 Exchange. This was a visit to Prague in the Czech Republic.

July 06, 2009, By: Randy Mills 

Prague is an ancient and historic city. We roamed buildings that had their origin in the 880s. A couple of hundred years before the Vikings traveled toward North America.…

Day 120 March 3, 2023 Bodensee

Another post from the 2009 German Exchange about our trip to the Bodensee:

June 16, 2009 By: Randy Mills: Thursday morning we left for the Bodensee with all of our students and our hosts. It was an experience in public transportation. We first caught a train to Friedrichshofen to stay at a Jungendherberge.…

Day 119 March 2, 2023 School Days

We are getting to the end of the quarter and like the students, I am going to recycle some stuff. This is a post from our first German exchange talking about the school.

Our next big adventure was to attend school with the students.…

Day 118 March 1, 2023 Lunch Time

There is nothing that compares to a school lunch. I remember back to the pizza day or even better the cinnamon roll day. Those were our favorites. I still long for corn with my pizza because that was how it was paired in school.…

Day 117 February 28, 2023 My Overseas Office

As an American teacher, I am used to having an office for my job. I loved my desk in the business office and it was a place to relax and not be stressed for a short time. It was very important until it was taken from us a couple of years ago.…

Day 116 February 27, 2023 My Best Friend

The relationships you develop over the course of an exchange are lasting. Dawn and I have developed a relationship with our German counterparts over fifteen years. It is a bond that goes beyond just partners for academic activity. We have spent a great deal of time with many teachers over the years but we have a family that we are especially close to and have contact with until this day.…

115 February 24, 2023 Exchange Hosting

The Greman Exchange program has been a highlight of my teaching career. Your first question might be if I know the language. The simple answer is no. It is much more complicated than a simple answer. I could survive but not for too long.…

Day 114 February 23, 2023 Kazakhstan

I am going to start doing some stories from our part of exchanges at Rangeview. Bud Blauer & Patrice Dovas-Hudson had very strong programs. Bud had a school in Kazakhstan to support the Russian language program. I loved having the students in my classroom every year and as a result, I received one of the most prized souvenirs of my teaching career.…

Day 103 February 6, 2023 – Bad Fish

I have been lucky in my career to travel to Washington DC several times with students. I started the stories last week of the 2009 Inauguration trip. Today I tell the story of what can go wrong on a trip. From the title you can probably guess where this is headed, We are still not sure if it was the fish but I am a believer.…

Day 34 – September 28, 2022 Bob Villa

On day 33 I spoke of a poor role model. I want to now speak of a wonderful role model from the very same conference in Las Vegas. One of the speakers was Bob Villa who was on the show This Old House at the time.…

German Exchange – June 17, 2009

Monday June 15th found us in Strasbourg, France. It is a unique town on the Rhine River and has alternated between France and Germany for centuries. Again we had the chance to ride the trains into France. It was a short hop and didn’t take much time at all.…