For many students, spring break is a time to relax and spend time with family, but this year, some Shorians will be spending their time in a different country: Germany.
Since 2018, there have been no opportunities for Lake Shore students to explore new cultures and lifestyles, mainly because of the COVID shutdown that halted their previous trip. March 2025 is when that changes. Elaine Parenteau (Frau P), the German teacher along with a group of Shorians will be taking on this adventure traveling to Oldenburg Germany. Many students have mixed emotions about how their adventure in Germany will play out.
Parenteau has given her perspective on how she feels going forward with this trip, she exclaims, “I am looking forward to my students getting to see Germany for the first time in their eyes, as well as exploring new cities and building new relationships.”
Parenteau has been to Germany more times than she can count. She loves to see how her students will react and acclimatize. She has stayed in various locations and different groups of people throughout her travels, her favorite being her stay in Munich. This time around she says, “I am staying with the English teachers from Germany.”
When asked about what she is most nervous about traveling to Germany, Senior Alexis Gress said, “I am mostly nervous about not liking my host family along with my host family not liking me.”
Gress has been taking German throughout her entire high school career, currently in her fourth year. This trip will be her first time in Germany, let alone out of the country.
Gress is not the only student feeling nervous about the trip; fellow Senior Finn Caramagno-Mcneilly also shares this feeling. However, when asked about what he is looking forward to, Caramagno-Mcneilly revealed, “I am looking forward to seeing scenery and eating food. I’m expecting Germany to be very different from the US, whether that’s good or bad.”
Unlike Gress, Caramagno-Mcneilly has been out of the country before but has yet to travel to Germany, he does however feel somewhat confident when it comes to communicating with the German people.
The students traveling to Germany in late March have only two more months to prepare for this adventure. Hopefully, every student who is going on this trip is able to get a valuable experience and create new memories.