On December 6^th, 2017 (Santa Claus Day!) we, class 8a, visited the American Embassy. We were welcomed by Heike Mead and a very nice intern named David Lang. He patiently answered all our questions. He told us, for example, that at his school in Ohio it was not allowed to wear flip flops and the teachers were much stricter than ours, especially when short dresses or shorts were worn. He also remembered that he only once had to stay at school for detention. In his opinion, graduation in the US might have become a bit easier than in Germany after President Bush’s “No child left behind” act had come into effect.

Then we learned some facts about the embassy. The embassy building has been at Pariser Platz since 2008 and around 200 “locals” (= German people) work there. The American diplomats come only for 3-4 years and then change posts again. We also learned that the German police are not allowed to enter the embassy to arrest somebody because it is American territory.

David told us that he enjoys being in Germany very much, but that it is very hard for him to improve his German because when people find out that he is American, they immediately speak English with him.  

Soon our visit was over and we received small give-aways. After we had gotten back our cell phones, which had been collected by security before we entered the building (the security check was similar to the one at an airport) – we headed back to school.

In conclusion, this visit was very interesting and educational for us. It was a great experience to speak English to an American and to use our English in real life.

Emily and Niklas

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