On September 26, 2023, 11 Lodi High School students traveled to Germany. Last spring, Lodi’s sister school, Schwalm Gymnasium, came to Lodi, and this year Lodi went to Germany. 

The 11 students included senior Mac Chambers;  juniors Vivian Beld, Gracie Burkholder, Amelia Clark, Audrey Dallman, Adrianna Gonzalez, Ella Johnson, Laurence Wood, and Abigail Wagner; and sophomores Finnigan Berg and Hayden Struse-Clark. Three teachers also went: English teacher Maya Ashbeck, Spanish teacher Jim McKellar, and exchange coordinator Sarah Gleiss.

Junior Gracie Burkholder stayed with Finn Gümpel, a 17-year-old who attends Schwalm Gymnasium. Schwalm Gymnasium is the highest branch of high school in Germany, is located in the city of Treysa, and goes up to 13th grade. Asbeck stayed with Mrs. Sabine Sachs, the German coordinator of the exchange program, and her family. And junior Ella Johnson stayed with Sophie Heinrich.

In addition to visiting the school of Schwalm Gymnasium, the group also went on so many adventures. Their trip started in Treysa, then went to Kassel, Marburg, and Frankfurt, and ended in Berlin.

This trip was a great experience, learning about the geography, culture, and foods. Some of the favorite trips were exploring the German salt mines, and hiking and touring the cities.

“We did a lot of group trips. We hiked to the Hercules statue in Kassel, toured a salt mine, completed a ropes course, and did lots of shopping!” said Ashbeck.

Burkholder said, “My favorite food was schnitzel and it was homemade, but later we got it at the XXL restaurant where it was quadruple the size of a regular schnitzel.”

With the long seven-hour difference, it was difficult to stay awake for the first few days. And when they came back home, the time change was hard. 

“The time difference was bad the first couple days but isn’t too bad now,” Johnson said.

Overall the group had a great time in Germany, and most of them said they would love to go back. So until next year, “Wir sehen uns nächstes Jahr!”