In October, Seattle Prep students were given the special opportunity to host exchange students from China and Germany. The exchange program is run through the two language classes, of Chinese and German, where students within these classes are able to host their own exchange student. The German exchange ran from October 9th to the 23rd and the Chinese exchange ran through October 22nd to November 2nd.

First, Prep welcomed exchange students from Kiel, Germany, the town where German teacher, Frau Khouri, grew up. While the German students were here, they got the opportunity to participate in several classes at Prep, and went on many tours as a class including visits famous sites around Seattle such as Pike Place Market and the Space Needle.

During the exchange, several German participants described their experiences of the exchange, what they liked best, and most importantly what was their favorite American food. One of the German exchange students, Tade said, “The exchange has been a great experience to discover American culture. One thing that I’ve really noticed about America is that everything is bigger here, the cars, building and especially the food! My favorite American food is by far the cheeseburger.”

Another German exchange participant, Leon, stated “I really liked our class tour to Boeing. Boeing is a place that I hope to work for so seeing it in person was really inspiring. The American food has been really good especially the cheeseburgers but I question its healthiness.”

The German exchange program occurs every other year where both students from Seattle Prep and Kiel are given the chance to travel to each other’s schools.

At the end of October Seattle Prep’s Chinese classes welcomed Chinese exchange students from Hong Kong. Similar to the German exchange program, the Chinese students were able to experience classes at Seattle Prep first hand and were also taken on several tours to help them fully experience Seattle culture.

Chinese exchange participant Wesley stated, “The tours were really great and I was able to get a good feel for the culture here in Seattle. I’m a huge fan of the pop culture here and the trends.”

Another Chinese exchange student, Max, claimed,” Seattle has amazing views and I really enjoy the clean air because in Hong Kong there is lots of smog. Since I’ve been here by far the cheeseburgers have been my favorite food.”
This is the first time that Seattle Prep has hosted Chinese students and they look forward to continuing this exchange program.

The foreign exchange program has been a great way for students from other countries to interact with student’s here at Seattle Prep and also to get a feel for American Culture.