Celebrate International Education

Celebrate International Education! In the midst of classes, work, shuttling the kids, and preparing for the holiday season, consider how you can benefit from an international education experience. Immersing into a foreign culture and practicing skills to negotiate communication, travel, food, and lodging are experiences that build confidence and help one excel in the classroom and beyond. International education opportunities help us recognize the value of these experiences in a shrinking yet massive global world. Learn more about this shared vision of international education between the US Department of State and US Department of Education by clicking this link: http://iew.state.gov/ In addition, ask you faculty members about participating in an international education experience.

The Weekend Wrap Up

This was the last weekend for the German students being in Fond du Lac, WI. It’s been a lot of fun hanging out with them. I became closer with them and learned more things than the first time I met them in May 2011. We all became family because we all experience the typical life in both countries. The weather was not so good, but that did not prevent us enjoying every moment with them. I came to realize how twelve days can go so fast. At first I thought the German students would be here for a long time, but actually it flew past like a blur.

On September 30, the German students came to Moraine Park Technical College for one last time to finish off their presentation and take group pictures. Afterwards they went to their host house and waited for the weekend activities. For dinner some hosts made some home cooked meal, as for me I went with some people to an Italian restaurant in Fond du Lac, WI named La Sicilia. This restaurant had good foods which are freshly made every day, and was less crowded than Ala Roma. The German student’s enjoyed their pizza and pasta. Afterwards of course we went to Target to get more food and a little shopping. Then we all went to a friend’s house to hangout playing games and watch television. Since we had to wake up early the next morning we did not stay too long. So we had a good night of rest to get ready for our cave tour.
On Saturday October 1, we got up around 7:30 a.m. to get ready for our Cave tour at Ledge View Nature Center in Chilton, WI. The tour was held by an Aussie lady who had an awesome accent and was an excellent tour guide. As we entered the cave some people didn’t last, so they headed back to wait until the tour was done. The brave ones challenged themselves to continue to go through the cave. Some parts of the cave were difficult because of tight angles crawling through. This adventure tour is an amazing sight to see in person, it is amazing the things you see underground. The cave tour took about two hours due to the size of our group. We did not get as dirty as I expected since the cave was dry from the lack of rain throughout the summer. Afterwards we went home to shower to get cleaned up before going to the mall in Appleton, WI. I stayed back to work on my homework and do my guests and my laundry. Once the German students and host came back from Appleton they all came to my house to hangout, play cards, and play pool. We played for a long time, and didn’t get to sleep until late but it wasn’t a problem since we were able to sleep in the next day.

Sunday October 2, was the last day of events for the German students. As I woke up I was shocked to notice the weather outside was finally nice. Although I wish the weather was nicer all week, but I was not complaining. For lunch we went to Qdoba which was delicious, you can never go wrong with freshly made food. Then we drove to Green Lake, WI for our boat tour of Green Lake at the Heidel House. We couldn’t ask for a perfect day for a tour, the breeze was pleasant. We saw some unique houses on the lake, and to see the colors of the trees were remarkable. Afterwards we headed to Instructor James’ house for our Farewell dinner. Since it was so nice out we decided to play some American football in the yard along with some yard games. It was nice seeing everybody having a good time talking to one another and enjoying being outside. Shortly afterwards it was time to eat which was prepared by Instructors James and Bill. They did an excellent job making tenderloins on the grill served with mashed potatoes, roasted corn, and peppers. Then a bonfire was started, we all sat around the fire and started to sing, playing guitars and remembering the priceless moments we had these past twelve days. Towards the end before people started to leave, gifts were passed to the Germans students and instructors for taking part of the exchange program. It was a bitter sweet moment because we were all having a good time, but sad since they were leaving the next morning.

We already talked about our plans when we go to visit them again in May 2012. There is already a countdown starting because we miss them so much. I like to say “never goodbye but instead say I’ll see you later”. Now the next step for the German student is that they would be in Madison Wisconsin then fly off to New York City for four days before flying back to Germany. I’ll make sure to keep their status in my blogs for the upcoming days.Well that’s all for now but more to come!

Merci,Lee IV

The Days Are Fast

Wednesday, September 28, was a fun, long productive day. It started off with my baking class. We finished making our Danishes and croissants. They came out really tasty and had a nice brown color to them. Learning how to make these pastries from scratch is really cool because I was able to make my own design and flavor. These are one of baking’s most popular selling items. After we packaged them, we put them on the selling rack, and the pastries are disappearing by the moment. In my next food production class we made breakfast sandwiches from bagels to wraps using eggs as the main ingredient. Everyone in class had a unique way of making their sandwiches, and those turned out really good too.

After class we got organized to see what the plans were for the night. We decided we could do a little shopping before we headed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for dinner. The restaurant we picked was Red Robin “yumm.” I figured this was a good place for an excellent American burger. Some people had a difficult time trying to figure which burger they wanted to try, but when it was time to order they decided. Once the food came each person was satisfied with the food they picked. The burgers were warm, juicy and tasty. I have to say it hard to get a better than Red Robin. Later in the night we came back to my house, played pool, watched television and listened to music. It seemed like everybody was having a good time.

On Thursday, September 29, there was a tea party held for the German students. This event was prepared by Instructor Lois’ production class. They did an excellent job on prepping all the food and drinks. I missed this event because I had to work, but I heard nothing but good things about the tea party. At night we went paintballing at Do It All Sports in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin at night. Some people were a little nervous and chickened out for paintballing, but the brave ones came and played. Twelve of us played, and it turned out to be a good thrill. We split into teams to face one another. The anticipation of getting the first hit or getting hit by a paintball can be exhilarating. After playing five rounds of paintballing we finished early since it got dark outside. We headed inside to turn in our gear and talked about our bruises from the paintballs. We all agreed going paintballing was a good choice and hopefully we can go again.

Now it’s time to get ready for the weekend, which is sadly the last weekend for the German students already. Until then I’m going to enjoy every moment with them and hopefully you enjoy my future blogs.

Sayonara,
Lee IV

The Weekend Review

Welcome back! This past weekend was filled with fun events and a lot of fun with the Germans. It all started on Friday September 23, 2011, when the Germans students and instructors were invited to a “Meet and Greet” at Moraine Park Technical College with Dr. Sheila Ruhland. They enjoyed food made by students from the Culinary Arts program. Afterwards students went shopping to catch some deals on the latest fashions. That night a group of us drove down to Milwaukee for a Day/Glow concert. As we entered the city area the German students were in awe of the scenery. This concert included all types of techno/ electronic music which included paint. People were able to toss around paint and dance to the music playing on stage. We were there for about four hours, although it felt we were there all night, but it was a lot of fun so it was worth it! Our clothes looked like tie dyes from all the paint colors. The German students enjoyed themselves; they said this was their first time going to an event like this.

Saturday September 24, was another day of shopping. Some people headed down to sweet home Chicago; while others headed up north to Appleton to some of the stores they hadn’t seen yet. After I was done with work I took my guest Philip, and some other friends, to my job at Qdoba to have supper. They enjoyed the fresh Mexican cuisines that were offered; it was so good, they couldn’t stop eating their meal. After being full we went to Wal-Mart to walk off our meal, and to do some grocery shopping. We compared and contrasted what foods were offered in America and Germany. There were some things that they never heard or tried before, so I decided to buy them so they can try them.

Sunday September 25, was a big day for me because the Bears and Packers game was on. Me, being a huge Bears fan, and not liking the Packers as known as “cheese heads,” I was excited to show the Germans students a traditional American football rivalry game. I hosted a Bears/Packers game at my house. All of us chipped in on food such as chips, candy, fried chicken, and other side dishes for the typical tailgate food in America. The football game was a good intense game, although it almost looked like my Bears could’ve made a comeback to beat the Packers, but they fell short. Of course, all the cheese heads made fun of me and were cheering about their victory, but it was all fun and games.

The weekend concluded as we watched a little more football and started to get organized for the week ahead. This week school started for the German student so they can learn about different subjects in America compared to German culture. The German students must do a presentation about a particular subject title they were assigned to. These titles range from German sports to German foods and these presentations are held from September 28 to September 30.

Until next time, hasta luego!

Lee IV

The Germans Are Here!

After waiting three months for the Germans to come to America, the day finally came! On Thursday September 22, 2011, students from Germany landed in Madison, Wisconsin. I couldn’t wait much longer to see them because I made some good friends when I went to Germany in May 2011. Five carloads drove down to Madison to pick up the Germans at Dane County Regional Airport. As we got there the anticipation of seeing them was filled with joy. Once we entered the airport we all hugged one another, took pictures, and laughed about the good times in Germany.  After we left the airport we decided to get some grub at East Town Mall food court in Madison. Some of the Germans were tired, hungry and overwhelmed, but they were in good spirits to be in America.

Once we finished eating at various restaurants located in the food court, we walked the mall to check out some of the stores. It was a little funny to see some of their faces because some of the stores we have here they don’t have in Germany. They were oh my goodness ya have stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria Secret and so on here. I guess at times I take for granted of the stores we have here since I see them all the time, so to me it’s normal. Seeing their faces was priceless.  Shortly after, we talked about some of our plans for the week and departed home.

Our journey back to Fond du Lac was a smooth ride. As I took a look back in the van I saw majority of the Germans already sleeping; some of them had already been awake for a day so they were ready for bed. Once we reached home I introduced my hosts to my housemates and took a tour around to the house. I basically told them to make themselves at home because they are more than guests, and I wanted them to feel like this was their home away from home.  After unpacking, my hosts were off to bed waiting for the exciting days ahead.

Here goes Day 1 stay tuned for more to come!

Cheers,

Lee IV

Our German Friends Arrive

Well it looks like everyone is here. We welcomed our guests at the Dane County Regional Airport yesterday and it was a mix of reunions and new meetings. Some of our student hosts have not yet travelled to Germany while others greeted their former hosts from May 2011.

Tom Endejan (MPTC Culinary Arts Baking Instructor) and I have been planning for our guests' arrival for quite some time now. We have a number of activities planned including a cave crawl, a yacht excursion and an afternoon tea, as well as a number of other doings.

Today, the culinary students welcomed some of  their German friends to visit their classes. Bagels and Lavosh were prepared in Mr. Endejan's class as were a number of sauces in Mr. Libby's class. Let's be frank; no one went home hungry.

I will keep everyone updated as the visit progresses...

James

Follow our German Exchange at Moraine Park Technical College

Welcome back to the International Education blog!  Follow our blog to "travel with German students and instructors via the web" while they are at Moraine Park Technical College.

Since May 2006, Moraine Park Technical College has been hosting a 14-day exchange with students and faculty of Darmstadt, Germany.

Each year, our students and faculty in the Culinary Arts program travel to Darmstadt, Germany, in late May and early June. In return, our culinary instructors, James Simmers and Tom Endejan, host a group of nearly 20 German students with two German instructors in late September or early October each year. We welcomed Mr. Armin Meng and Ms. Daniela Butennandt and their students to Moraine Park today, September 23.



Left to right: James Simmers, Culinary Arts Instructor; Caron Daugherty, Dean of General Education and International Education; Christian Schmidt, German student; Dr. Sheila Ruhland, Moraine Park President and Armin Meng, German Instructor



The exchange has included Moraine Park Technical College students traveling in the spring and staying with German families in Darmstadt for one week and in Berlin for a second week. While in Berlin, students visit the German Parliament, take an architectural tour and visit areas of both East and West Berlin, ranging from concentration camp sites to art museums. The trip wraps up in Amsterdam.

In the fall, while the German guests visit Wisconsin, Moraine Park faculty, staff and students serve as host families to their German counterparts. In addition to attending classes at Moraine Park and interacting with students, the guests have participated in the Green Lake Harvest Days Festival, a Mecan River canoe trip, an overnight stay at Blue Harbor Water Resort, tours through Mercury Marine, visits to Fox Lake Correctional Facility, trips to Michels Corporation, and stays at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The German guests then venture to New York City before returning to Germany.  This year the German guests will tour Fox Lake Correctional Facility, Ledgeview Nature Center Caves and Green Lake via the Heidel House Escapade, just to name a few. 

Moraine Park’s International Education program welcomes the German students to our college and the region as they continue a long-standing exchange. We hope this opportunity allows them to develop new friendships while building on existing ones. We look forward to seeing you in Germany in May 2012!

Guten Tag,

Caron Daugherty, Dean of General Education and International Education

Back Home

Hello once again.

This time, I am writing to you all from my room in the basement back at my house. I was thinking about posting yesterday, but truth be told, while thinking about what I would write I fell into a deep peaceful sleep. The only bad part was that this took place at about 7 at night (which would be 2 am in Europe. So, I woke up, totally refreshed here in Wisconsin at approximately 2:30 in the morning, and have I ever been bored!

Our trip home began in Imperia, Italy at around 9:30 in the morning. Our German escorts, Armin and Danella, who should be thanked very much for coming with us and being our drivers, got us up and moving for one last farewell at Laterna Blu, Massimo's restaurant. It was good to see him one last time, bid him a final farewell, and wish him the best in his endeavors. We made it to Nice, France with about a half an hour to get on our plane. The only problem is that we went to the wrong concourse, and so had to quick load everything back into the vans and drive across the airport, and try ot get on our plane. It felt like I was carrying out a drill in boot camp, honestly.

Unfortunately, only 8 of our 11people made it to the plane in Nice. Somehow, tickets got confused with Delta; so Haley, Amanda and Alyssa, along with James, were stuck in France for the first portion of my time in Amsterdam. We were able to find internet upon landing in Amsterdam, and found out that they would find us later on in the night, as they got onto a later flight from Nice.

And so for the first five or six hours in Amsterdam, we met up with a friend that Lee had that lives in Holland. She took us to the city, which was very beautiful. The architecture is very old and really awesome to behold. She took us out to lunch, where I found out that a hamburger in Holland is actually a bratwurst patty. Strange things all over the world, I tell you.

After lunch we went to the Anne Frank Museum. If you ask just about any person in the world if they know about Anne Frank, and they will say yes. She is the voice of so many people that lived during the horrific times preceding world war two. It was an amazing tour, as it has a modern museum section, where you see the diary itself, pages, notebooks, and other personal effects of the Frank family. Then they would show you a video, where you would find out things that were going on outside of the safe house. Then you would actually get to go inside. See the exact places where Anne and her family walked, and lived for nearly three years. It was harrowing, to say the least.

We then returned to the airport, where we met up with Haley, James, Alyssa, and Amanda. They were all in good spirits, for the most part. We returned to the city, while James held down the fort in the airport, and tried to deal with the Delta people, who apparently were trying not to claim any fault for overbooking the flights. I felt like that was very foolish of them, because we clearly had receipts for each and every ticket purchased, there and back again. I don't know what they were trying to do, but James figured it out.

After having some fun in the touristy (and expensive!) areas of Amsterdam, we met back at the airport at around 2 in the morning. At this point, I hadn't showered in 24 hours. I was tired and gross. So I took a nap. Thankfully, we stayed up so late in Amsterdam and the airport that I slept for six straight hours on the plane from there to Detroit. I was happy, because that pretty much eliminated my jet lag.

After Detroit's landing, there isn't much else to say. I am back home. I had an absolutely amazing experience all throughout Germany, Italy, and Amsterdam. Honestly, I am glad we didn't spend too much time in France. I know I am basing this on only the few airport members that I met in France, but they were pretty snobbish. I don't know why. Yes, we were late, but the inside scoop is that they are in the customer service industry, if you can't deal with problematic customers, find a new job, okay?

I may post more on this blog, maybe if I remember stories that might need to be shared, but overall I feel happy that I was able to keep the rest of you that maybe couldn't make this particular trip informed as to what we had done, were doing, etc. Honestly, I had fun with this project, and I hope that by my words you also had some entertainment. I hope that everyone reading this gets the chance to travel. It is the only way to really understand some of what I have and may talk about in the future.

Four days in Italy.

Hello all once again, this time from the city of Imperia, Italy.

Just a fun fact, it is about 75 degrees, probably the most beautiful sun-shiny day in all of the history of the world, and soon I will be sitting on the white sandy beaches of the Mediterranian Sea.
Be jealous, I would be. :)

It has been a very great time in Italy thus far. We as a culinary group have had a tour of Imperia, which has a beautiful domed chapel that was built in the 1940's. It is absolutely beautiful. My favorite piece of art is the faceless crucifiers of Christ, I hope to be able to get a picture up on this blog, and I will label it to show you all as well. Internet is hard to come by here, we were lucky to find a nice lady, who basically let us run internet off her phone from her cafe. We also attended the city market, where I got some of the fresh fruits and vegatbles that are grown by local farmers. I don't know if it is the climate or what, but they have an amazingly fresh taste. I so far have had fresh cherries, olives, apricots, tangerines, and green beans. Just amazing.

One of the coolest things in Italy has been getting some cooking demonstrations/lessons from an Italian Chef named Massimo. He has been working in his family's restaurant most of his life, I think 45 years, and has taught us much about Italian cokery. His mantra is one that would rather use few, fresh and simple ingredients to make a dish that can be identified by the customer. James said that he so hertily believes the same thing about food, and was so pleased to have someone else say it, and he said it like it was poetry.The difference between French and Italian cooking, he said is that no French chef could ever send out a dish like the one he made for us, a raw spagetti sauce. French cooking is all about complicated procedures and about dazzling presentation. While this is very necessary, as the French set many standards in the culinary world, his pasta dish had 5 main ingredients, and it was absolutely the best thing I have ever eaten. He has been most hospitable, and I really do not think I could thank him enough for all of his time that he has given us. I will soon be able to post some pictures on this and some other blogs, once I am back home with my computer that I am able to utilize to do such things.

I have another meeting with Massimo, we all do rather, soon; and so I must say farwell for now. Having an absolutely wonderful time, I hope to be able to post from Holland before my flight leaves.

Ciao!
Ben

P.S. this computer has no spellchecking mechanism, so please forgive and misspellings and failures at grammar in general.

One Last Day

So I had a blog written up to go with the last post, which was an accidental one. However, prior to me being able to post it, I must have fallen asleep, and my computer did not have the opportunity to save what I had written.

My last day in Darmstadt was great, yet sad. I went to a class with my host, Christian, and then went up to Louisenplatz to do some shopping, mostly to kill a few hours. We went out for lunch afterwards, having a Döner. These things are just delicious, and I was so happy to find a place that made them, as we were looking for quite some time. After that, we met up with our hosts at the Peter Behrens Schule.

At the school, the culinary students worked together with the German hosts to prepare the final meal that we were going to enjoy together. I made some goulash, a pork and beef braised dish, I was pretty impressed with how it turned out, as I hadn't made it before. Other things on the menu included rouladen, white asparagus, potatoes, a green sauce, and some bread stuffing rolls, I would call them that anyway. There was some chocolate torte and some berries with creme fraiche (I think, I did not have enough room for this). It was a splendid time, and I was glad that we all made it there to enjoy each others company one more time.

I do not know much, I am a mere 21 years old. But I know that I will miss both the new and the old friends that I have made here in Darmstadt. They have been nothing but hospitable, gracious and kind to all of us, and I cannot ever repay that. I can not wait until September, when I will get the chance to reciprocate such hospitality. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for everything.

I must get going, I have like one half hour to pack up. Do not panic, I am like this all the time, ask any of my teachers...

German BBQ

Hello Everyone!! Today we are at Florians aka "go with the flows" house for a BBQ. He has hosted this BBQ for the past three exchange trips. Everyone brings there own meats and side dishes to share. We enjoy talking and sharing stories with one another. I am having a wonderful time in Germany, and I hope that our trips to Italy and France will be safe and I will post more soon!

Tstuss!

Haley

Bridging Gaps

Hello again,

This title may sound cryptic and stuff, but it is not. You may all now relax.

I think that in order to get where I want to go, I need to tell you a little bit about me. I recently graduated from the culinary arts program at Moraine Park Technical College. It was in fact on Saturday, one day before I left for Germany. I wont lie to you, I was graduating, I didn't listen to my commencement speech. I think however, I did tune in for where he was saying that we should go out into our specific areas and carry with us our abilities that have been attained at MPTC. My next area, however is psychology. And so, I was thinking about how I might be able to utilize those skills that I have learned about food production. Obviously, one can see how it is useful to themselves, but beyond that?

Already, here on this very trip I have attended two barbecues. While a barbecue may not be considered a real culinary experience by some, I acted as 'chef' for both of them The first was a party at my host's girlfriend's house. It was very cool, because her father had just purchased a really nice new grill, and I got to play with it :). I cooked everything, from chicken to pork to sausages, potatoes and vegetables. It was really cool to be able to jump right into a situation involving cooking over here, 4,000 miles away, and provide some hungry people something to eat. Cooking times, temperatures, and the like, all just are in my head.

The second was also very cool. Chris plays on a community soccer league called FC Offenthal. They had won a match during the day while I was visiting Heidelberg, and were in the mood to celebrate. This was also really cool, because I used an old stone barbecue. Made entirely out of stone, and let me tell you, this thing could pump out some heat. Again, I made food for the entire team and staff. The head coach, Robert, asked me to do it, and I said I would cook for a German beer. He laughed and said that he might be able to accommodate such a request. He speaks English very well, and I think he is a businessman of a company, I hope to find out more details and will edit them in. He is a really cool person, and is terribly funny.

The coolest part of this is that at both of those places, I was the only American. Yet, I made many friends on both occasions. I think that I would have made friends either way, but by utilizing my skills, I was able to provide people a service, and feed them. Fed people are happy people, and it was really awesome to be able to provide that little bit of happiness for others.

As far as today goes, I had some Schnitzel with and onion sauce that Chris' grandmother made. Very, very yum. I will soon be leaving for another barbecue (who doesn't LOVE a barbecue?!) at Florian's home. He was involved in the exchange for I think the past three years, and is a very good friend of it.

Ciao!

Finally on the Blog

Hello All,

Well I am finally connected and able to post to the blog. Of course we still don´t know what happened to Haley...

Today we visited the castle of Heidelburg, about 60 kilometers south of Darmstadt. The castle is about 400 years old and built into the side of a mountain. Although some parts are in ruins, many parts of the building still stand. It´s pretty amazing to realize that this monsterous building was made to house two people and their family.

After visiting the castle and grounds, we toured the old part of town, including a church built in 1698. Amazing.

I ended the day with a meal of lamb and pommes frittes accompanied by a locally brewed wheat beer. I followed this with an ice cream sundae drizzled with chocolate liquor and sour cherries. After all, I´m not here to diet and Germany has the BEST ice cream ever.

Till next time

James

This Just In:

Hello everyone, James just got a hold of me on e-mail, he has difficulties accessing the website from his host's internet. And so, as I am so very kind, I will post for him.

Hi, this is James. I am sorry that no one has heard from me yet but I am having trouble accessing our blog from my host´s home. So I have asked Ben to post this for me.

So far it has been a wonderful trip, touring the city of Darmstadt, visiting local restaurants and generally just doing a lot of sightseeing. The only low point so far was the plane ride. It was about eight hours long and I couldn´t sleep because Ben, who was sitting behind me, kept trying to start the leaf blower he had snuck on board.

Today we are planning to go tree climbing. I know that sounds odd but it is basically a chance to go through obstacle courses set through the trees at 10 - 30 feet above the ground. Here is a link to better explain it http://www.climbup.de/, although it is in German. The students think the old teacher won´t be able to keep up, but I know better than that. Iam particularly looking forward to beating Ben and Haley.

Until next time...

James

Ah, and as we have already done the Parkour I would like to announce that James did not succeed in beating Haley and I, we both accomplished the black level (hardest one there, it was insane!), however I was very pleased to see James finish several courses and I think he is still able to walk,although I have not seen him today.... (dramatic cliffhanger music)

Ciao!

Wednesday, Pfungstadter Brewery

Hello once again, fellow internet travelers.

I cannot truly express at this time how much fun I had this day.

Firstly, I attended Friedrich-List Schule, where I followed my host, an Information Technology student to his programming class. It was remarkably similar to any Moraine Park classroom. Relatively informal, except for when the teacher gives his lessons or grades. In Germany, schools are quite a bit different, overall. The I.T. session that I attended, I cannot say if it was the same or not, really, as I am not an I.T. student. However, the classrooms are equipped with the technology necessary to properly instruct the students. Smart-boards are in most of the classrooms, I was told, and I really enjoyed seeing them. Honestly, it was the first time I had seen one used in person

Mostly, the teachers gave out marks, or grades for projects on this day. I think that final tests are similar to major projects in the USA. It was a little bit slower than I think a normal school day would go, I will see about that later on today.

After school, we ate a late breakfast/lunch at McDonald's. They are quite better in Germany than in the states, in my personal opinion. They do cost a little but more but it a lot better than the American McDonald's. It just tastes better, so deal with it.

After McDonald's, my host, Chris, and I (the coolest people, in other words), met up with the rest of the group, and we visited Pfungstadter Brewhouse, in Pfungstadt, Hessen. This Brewhouse was originated in 1831 by the Hildebrant family. In past times, the brewery was supplied hops, barley, water, (which in 1516, a law was passed, saying that a true German beer can only consist of water, barley, and hops.) by the local citizens, and in return, the brewery used steam power to provide the town and surrounding area with electricity.

Today, the brewery produces about 1.3 million bottles a month. They are very ecological friendly, and try to reuse as many empty bottle as possible. Even still, they produce around 30 kilograms of waste a day. Most of this waste comes from patrons putting debris in the bottles, which are very hard to remove by a standard washing process. Each process end with 7 cameras that are angled in order to show any impurities in the glass. Every thousand bottles, there is a control bottle. If that bottle fails the tests that are performed on it, all of the bottles beforehand must be rewashed.

Bottles with cracks in them will explode, as they are filled under very high pressure, and capped immediately. They also produce non-alcoholic beer, which can be formed in two ways: firstly, by stopping the fermentation process, or secondly, by taking the alcohol out of the product after it is already fermented. Pfungstadter does the latter, and then uses the resulting alcohol for other purposes. In order to be classified as a non-alcoholic drink, there must be by law less that .5 percent alcohol per unit volume. The average non-alcoholic beer from this brewery contains less than .1.

The we got a complimentary meal from the brewhouse. We all had a great time, and learned a lot about the process of making beer. It also made for a very entertaining ride in the car after the tour, because we were given food and beverage to our liking.

I am tied now, so Gute Nacht everyone.

Takeoffs and Landings

Hello once again,

We have just commenced our second day with our German friends here in Darmstadt. It has already been a great amount of fun. The flight was long, as is expected. Detroit's new airport is quite something. Very new, modern looking, with an elevated train that can take you the whole distance of the airport, in the event your gate is far away. They also have moving sidewalks.

These things are amazing! If you walk on them, I think you literally walk at like 7-8 miles per hour.

8 hours, 4,000 miles later, We landed in Frankfurt, Germany. We then retrieved our luggage, and met up with our hosts, who had a nice breakfast waiting for us. It was very tasty, and necessary, as airplane food is "like a box of chocolates... You never know what you are gonna get."

No, Thank you, Mr. Gump

We then went to a beer garden (biergarten) and we had some of the delicious products that Germany is known for. I personally was thrilled to see an old friend from the last exchange there. After that we went home and unpacked, then returned to go to a local fair, finishing with some fireworks.

36 hours for me without sleep, I sat in the car on the way home from the fair/carnival, and my host began to talk to me. Apparently I answered about halfway and then he heard 'ZZZZZzzzzZZZZ' coming from my passenger seat. I literally fell asleep mid-sentence.

Then today, we took a tour of Corinna's school. She is a teacher there, and she had us meet her class, and we got a tour of their new and old kitchen areas. The school is being rebuilt, pretty much totally renovated for the past five years.

We then had a great presentation by the mayor of Darmstadt. We learned some pretty cool facts about the city. It has around 140,000 inhabitants. During the second world war, it was pretty much leveled to the ground with nearly 300,000 bombs. Coincidentally, this air bombing took place on September 11. It left 13,000 dead, and approximately 70,000 people homeless.

Because of this raid, there are no inhabitable buildings in Darmstadt that are more than 70 years old. Help came on March 25th, 1945, when American soldiers arrived. They shared provisions with the people. As a matter of fact, they adopted Peter Schmitz as their home away from home baseball team. Baseball, it turned out also was a great help to the German refugees. Inside a baseball is about 941 feet of yarn. When baseballs came in, the refugees would take the covers off of the baseballs, and make clothing for themselves by knitting it together. They also built up the buildings in the post-war era, often times using the same bricks that were smashed apart during the war.

(photo of Peter Schmitz, who got it from one of the American soldiers that made him their mascot.)

Some more interesting things about Darmstadt in 1952, the first 'American House' opened up. These were basically places to show off Hollywood films and other American things, as the public were not satisfied with the films and media that was being produced in Europe. One such movie is 12 UHR, which literally means 12th Hour, and you may know it as High Noon, starring Grace Kelly and Gary Cooper. Also, in the late 50's Bufallo Bill was in the city of Darmstadt, on a world tour, demonstrating Western games and culture. It was apparently very successful, especially in Darmstadt.

After the meeting with the mayor, we then took a tour of all the buildings. I took first place, and received a nice book about Darmstadt, written in both English and German. Hopefully, this could help me in my upcoming semesters of school, where I hope to study the German language. We then went out for dinner, and then I returned to my host house. My bed is calling me over, and I am losing the ability to resist.

Until next time,

Benjamin

One more day!

I can't believe in less than 24 hours I will be on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany! This trip has really snuck up on me. Looking forward to reuniting with all my German friends and making new ones! Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands here we come!!
-Haley Gammon

Pre-Trip

Hello All!

It is great to have any and all of you with James, Haley and myself, as we are about to embark on a trip to Europe.

To say that I can NOT wait for Sunday would be an understatement. It is so close, yet so far, for me, as I have a very, very busy weekend separating me from the flight out of Appleton. Particularly Saturday, as I will be graduating, working, and trying to get home at a decent time in order to make sure I have everything along.

This is my second visit to Germany, especially Darmstadt, where quite a few of my friends are living. It will be so good to see everyone once again; I am super excited about that.

As far as the rest of the trip goes, I hope that the new countries I will be visiting will be both educational and fun. Working with the Italian chef is particularly thrilling to think about. It, in a way, confirms my idea; that getting both a degree and some years of work experience in the Culinary field enables me to work anywhere. Literally. That is pretty cool to think about.

I look forward to this blog experience. To those of you who cannot physically be there with us, I hope that through our posts that you can find some entertainment, and hopefully we can inspire more students to take part in some international travels!

I may post again before we leave, perhaps before takeoff, while I am waiting in line. Hopefully there will not be too many issues. I did find out that I will just have to leave my leaf blower at home. It is not apparently an approved carry-on. I feel that this fact alone will put a severe damper on my overall trip experience (as I would hopefully be sitting behind James over the mid-Atlantic), but I will have to just become more inventive, I guess.

Until next time,

Benjamin Christian

Germany Exchange

Welcome to the International Education...Travel with us via the web blog.  Moraine Park Technical college students will be leaving for Germany this weekend.  Travel with us via the web to learn about their experience. 

The Germany exchange has continued for a few years now. While a group from Moraine Park travels to Germany in the spring (usually May), the exchange is reciprocated in the fall when the German group travels to Wisconsin. The Culinary Arts program has supported this exchange for the last several years, with James Simmers and Tom Endejan alternately leading the group. James is serving as the travel guide this year for 10 culinary students, and the group plans to spend a week in Darmstadt, where they are paired with host families for their stay. After that, their travels lead them to widely renowned culinary destinations: Nice, France, and Genoa, Italy. Departing Sunday, they will return June 6. This exchange allows the culinary students to experience international cuisine and gain first-hand knowledge of a variety of European flavors, spices and influences. While the students have this exposure to international cuisine, the true value comes in the relationships sustained between these two programs.

Guten Tag,

Caron Daugherty