Atlanta Blog 2025
Hello and greetings from Atlanta!
This year we’re having an exchange with Dunwoody High School again and yesterday were warmly welcomed at Hartsfield International Airport by the host families and Mr. Henderson. Everyone was in good spirits and excited to meet their hosts. On Monday there will be a welcoming breakfast at DHS where we will meet up with all hosting students and staff. I’ll make sure to post some pictures of that. Stay tuned!
Monday, October 6
Today we had our first meeting at DHS with the whole group. Mr. Henderson and Mrs. Gates (group photo on the left) organized breakfast from Chick-fil-A to introduce the German students to a southern classic. Coach Bass, Dunwoody High School’s principal (group photo right), also dropped by to welcome us and wish us a good time. Later, Mrs. Gates gave the students a short tour through the school showing them the auditorium where theater plays, concerts and other events take place, DHS‘ latest acquisition, some CAT simulators, and several other rooms. Just as the tour finished it was break time and some of us were picked up by students to accompany them for their classes. Everybody is looking forward to an eventful week!
On October 4th, our journey to Atlanta began. We met at 3am at the Düsseldorf airport, although a few of us arrived a bit late. This year, we are eight exchange students: three boys and five girls. Originally, we were ten students, but two couldn’t join the trip.
After checking in, we went through the security check, which was mostly easy, but a few of us, including me, were pulled aside for bag checks and drug tests in our bags. Once everyone was through, we waited at our gate, got something to drink and some had a small breakfast.
Our flight to Frankfurt left at 6am, and in Frankfurt we had a three hour layover, during which we needed to pass the emigration station, which was surprisingly no problem at all.
The flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta was ten hours long, and was quite boring, especially because my screen was broken, but i tried to pass the time reading, sleeping and watching a movie with Pauline, who sat next to me.
We landed in the afternoon, with a six hour time difference from Germany. The border control went smoothly, and then our host families picked us up. They’ve all made posters with our names on it and were really excited to meet us. I’m staying with Mia and Charvi at the Gates family’s house in Dunwoody. Our hosts, Chrystal and Greg, have three children, Maddy (11), Elliot (16), and Carson (18), who’s not living here anymore since he’s going to college. As well, they have two dogs, Max and Brody, and three cats named Bear, Sunny and Gizmo. There house is really big and in a gated community, which was completely new to me. We have the whole basement for ourselves, and they have a pool, a hot tub and a barbecue place in their backyard. In the evening, we went out for Mexican food and were quite surprised by the huge portion sizes and how oily everything was. We tried to stay awake as long as possible to fight the jet lag, but went to bed around 10pm.
October 5th, 2025
On our second day in Dunwoody, we tried to sleep in as long as possible, but at 7:30am we couldn’t sleep any longer. We went on a short morning walk with our host mom around the school and then had pancake breakfast with some of their neighbours, which tasted really good and we had a lot of different toppings. We even played “Halli Galli”, a German game, with some of the neighbours.
At noon, we went on another walk with our host brother Elliot and prepared our lunches for the next day. Later, while some of our friends were going to a theatre play at Dunwoody High School, we went shopping at Target with our host mum and sister. It was really shocking to see all the big packages and different flavours of coke and Oreo’s, for example. As well, we don’t really have stores in Germany where you can buy food, clothing and cosmetics, so it was a really new experience. Since we live really close to the high school, our friends came over after the play and we tried typical American treats like Pop Tarts, Rice Krispies and root beer floats. Most of them were surprisingly good, although we all agreed that root beer floats tasted just like our toothpaste. For dinner, we had mac and cheese, which was also better than we expected.
October 6th, 2025
On Monday, we had our first day at Dunwoody High School. We started our day by meeting near the auditorium, where all of the exchange students had Chick-fil-A as breakfast. That was a huge culture shock for us, as it is not typical to eat fast food for breakfast in Germany. After our breakfast, our host mom gave us a tour of the school, since she works there as a teacher. The school is way bigger than ours in Germany, with around 2,000 students, while we “only” have around 800. Because of that, the building is way bigger too, and it’s quite difficult to find everything. Also, there are metal detectors at the entrances, which are also something we didn’t know about. We also met a few students on our tour, who wanted to show us their classes.
One of them was Becca, with whom I went to class. Since the first period was already over, I went with her to AP Psychology, where we watched a TED Talk about false memories and learned how we can be tricked by our memory to remember things that never happened. They also needed to fill out an incident documentation form about an incident on Friday, and they took a short progress check quiz as preparation for their exam.
After that, we had “Roar”, which is similar to a study group. We didn’t do much homework and instead, chatted a lot and had fun together. Pauline, Charvi and Lasse were there too, and we got asked a lot of questions about Germany and our impressions of the U.S.
During lunch break, I sat with some of Becca’s friends. I ate a bagel with avocado, cream cheese and cucumber, which I had prepared on Sunday. Later, Becca showed me their vending machines at school, while Lasse bought cookies, which were really delicious.
In AP Calc, the topic was quite confusing at first because I hadn’t learned it yet. But the teacher explained an example, which helped me solve some of the exercises.
AP Physics, however, was completely confusing. I sat with Becca and her friends, and Lasse, Pauline and Charvi were also in the class. Since none of us understood much, we ended up talking mostly about differences between Germany and the U.S. instead, and I taught some of the students a few basic German words.
After school, Mia, Pauline, Theresa, Charvi and I went to the gym to watch cheer practice. It started later than expected, because some of the basketball players triggered a fire drill, so we all had to wait outside. It was really interesting and cool to watch, because they rehearsed their performances for the next football game, which will be on Friday! We’ll definitely go to the game, since it’ll be senior night and a home game for Dunwoody High School.
In the evening, our host mom drove Mia, Charvi, Pauline, Theresa and me to Hobby Lobby, a shop with seasonal decorations, general decorations and a lot of DIY equipment. It was, again, a huge culture shock for all of us, seeing all the different types of decorations and the huge amount of products.
I really liked my first day at Dunwoody High School and met a lot of kind people! Even though, the school system is completely different, it was quite interesting to see an American school and experience high school life. I hope I’ll be a bit more familiar with it in the next few days, because at some points it was difficult to find everything in the building.
I definitely look forward to all the things we’ll do in the next days and all the experiences I’ll have.
Emma Kreis
October 7th
First and foremost I would like to thank my teachers and parents who made my trip to the USA possible, I would also like to thank my host family who was kind enough to house me and my friend Lasse for the two weeks.
So, Lasse and I are staying with a family of four, our host parents, Andre and Marissa, and their two sons, Hugo and Monty. Hugo is a freshman who just started high school this year, while Monty attends a nearby middle school. Our days usually start around 7:00 a.m. with a bowl of cereal and a small chat with our host parents. Since I’m sharing the host family with Lasse, both of us leave the house with Hugo at around 7:25, hopping on the bus at 7:30, and arriving at school at around 7:45. School usually runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and consists of four classes often referred to as “periods.” Afterward, the school offers a wide range of activities, including (American) football and cross country which is really just a fancy word for running.
On first glance, school might seem a little bit boring, but since we were given the chance to try out as many classes as we wanted each day looked a little different and a lot more exciting. On our first day, we met up with some Dunwoody High School teachers, our hosts, and our supervisors, Mr. Teigelack and Ms. Demel, right in front of the auditorium for a welcoming breakfast from Chick-fil-A. After breakfast, Ms. Gates who is both a teacher and a host gave us a quick tour of the school, introducing us to the different classes, while briefly explaining how the education system in Georgia works. After completing the tour my host brother Hugo took me to his classes, introducing me to his friends, his teachers and his after-school activity Cross Country which I mentioned earlier. My first day in the USA ended with a Mexican Chipotle-inspired bowl prepared by my host mom.
My second day was a bit quieter and maybe a little bit boring. I was introduced to a girl who kindly took me along to her classes, which included business, physics, literature, and American history. After school, I met up with Hugo to join him and the cross-country team for practice. So far, my most interesting and probably most eventful day was the third one. It began with a three-hour cooking class where my friend Tadek and I baked cookies and later played UNO with a few students we met during cooking class. Afterward, the principal, Mr. Bass a very energetic and friendly man, invited all the German exchange students and their hosts to a Domino’s pizza lunch in his office rooms. Later, we joined an art class where we puzzled while getting offered freshly made waffles baked by the teacher.
After school, I went on a walk through Dunwoody back to my host family’s house, which turned into a spontaneous meetup with Tadek at the local shopping center. We went to a few stores and did some car spotting along the way, later we met up with my host family and Lasse for dinner at a local restaurant. That evening, the restaurant hosted a quiz night called “Trivia,” where we met a few people from the high school. We ended the day at an ice cream shop with a big group, half of which I had never met before.
All in all, my time here in the USA has been great so far, and I am looking forward to the upcoming second week where we will visit places in and around Atlanta.
Leo Harth
Our day on 8th October 2025 began with us, Emma, Mia, and I, waking up at 8:00 am in the morning, not to go to school though.
In spirit of Senior Skip day, we also decided to skip the first two classes of the day and went to Walmart instead. A small breakfast and a fifteen-minute drive later we arrived at the Walmart.
As soon as we entered, we were all mesmerised by the sheer size of the store. The ceilings were high and the area was large. It wasn’t only the store that was huge, but also the items in it. From chips to pickles, everything was supersized. The items were all five times as large as the versions of them in Germany. It was also interesting to see all the new products and flavours they had in store.
After shopping at Walmart, we all decided to visit the mall for a little bit, since we also had to reach school by 11:45 am to have lunch with our fellow exchange students, our German teachers, and the principal of Dunwoody. The shops in the mall opened at 11:00 am, though the mall itself opens a little earlier, so we all knew we couldn’t spend too much time there. We reached the mall at 10:50 am and decided to look around to decide which shops we want to enter. After looking around a little, we decided to go into the Sephora, since there is more variety in the US branches than the ones in Germany. As soon as we entered, we were greeted by a worker there, who then made small talk with us. It is always surprising to me how much more you have to socialise with a customer as a worker in the USA. In Germany, no worker greets you with anything more than a smile or, in some cases, a “hello”. Here, the workers ask you how your day has been, what exactly you want to buy, and how they can help you. Though this is rather thoughtful and also adds to the experience, it made me feel slightly overwhelmed since different workers would come over to ask me similar questions while I was simply looking around. It got annoying after a while to have to explain to them that I was just looking around and didn’t come to the shop with a specific plan in mind.
After shopping, we drove back to school. We went to the conference room together to have lunch. The room contained three boxes of large pizzas, water, energy drinks, and candy. The principal came to greet us and to eat with us. We all then ate our pizzas and talked to our teachers. We tried the energy drinks as well; not many people enjoyed those. The taste of everything is much different here. They use more sugar in their drinks and have different ingredients in them which makes it harder to get used to the taste. After lunch, we went to our classes. We decided to stay in Art class for the rest of the day and worked on a puzzle.
After school, we walked home along with Pauline, Theresa and Lasse. We had originally planned to go to a volleyball game afterwards but decided against it and went to the town near us to see the shops and maybe get a small treat. We chose to go to an ice cream shop, and since we were thirsty, some of us asked for a glass of water. When we asked how much we had to pay for the water, they said that it was completely free and that nobody ever has to pay for water. This was absolutely shocking. Though we knew that restaurants give water for free, we didn’t know that it was also the case for smaller shops. It felt weird being able to walk out of the shop not having bought anything but still walking out with a glass of water.
We had our drinks outside, walked around the town, and were picked up again. We talked a little with our guest family about the day and went to bed.
On Thursday, 9th October, 2025, I woke up late. I had forgotten to set my alarm and woke up much later than I had intended. Luckily, though rushed, I made it to school on time.
Our first class of the day was heavy equipment operation. In the class, we got to take a seat on heavy machinery simulators and learned how to maneuver an excavator. We first learned how to use the machine and then had to do a practical exam. None of the students ended up passing that exam, though some were quite close. The class was very interesting; such courses aren’t a possibility in a German school, because the focus of our school is to prepare us for university. This isn’t the case for Dunwoody High School. All kinds of students go to school here, some who want to go to university later, and some who are waiting to be old enough to drop out. The school has to cater to the needs of all these students.
Our next class was forensics. In class, we extracted our DNA through an experiment. The class was my first experience of science being applied to real world problems and creating solutions. We then played a Kahoot in class, as preparation for a quiz the class was going to have on Friday. Surprisingly, me and Lasse, another exchange student who had the same class, ended up being second and third place, respectively, on the game.
Our next class was Art, where we continued our puzzle from the day before. It was nice to have a class where you could actually relax and not have to worry about grades. The ambience was also very relaxed, and so were the students. They were either drawing while listening to music or just simply talking to one another without any reprimands from the teacher. We were also allowed to eat in the room, which is most definitely not allowed in Germany.
The last class of our day was cooking. We made pizza dough and, similarly to art, were allowed to do whatever we wanted from that point onwards. For the rest of the class, most students were on their phone or talking to classmates. We also spoke to students and answered any questions they had. After class was over, we walked home.
At 5:00 pm, we were picked up by Pauline and Theresa’s host mom to go to Michael’s, since we had to make a poster for the Spirit walk at the Highschool the day after. After buying the materials, we went to their house to make the poster. We also had Chipotle for dinner. Once finished, our host mother picked us up and took us home.
We woke up filled with energy on 10th October, 2025 because it was the day of the football game. As we made it to school, there were cheerleaders in front of the gates, passing out gold beaded necklaces to all passersby. The classes all felt extremely short that day; it was as if time flew by until ROAR, where we all gathered in the hallway to start the Spirit march. The Spirit March is a walk through the hallways of the school, with people from all sorts of clubs such as band and softball. The march lasted around 30 minutes, which is the complete duration of ROAR. It was amazing to have gotten to be part of something of that kind. After the march, I could feel the shift in mood of the school. People were most definitely more excited for the game now.
The football game started at 7:00 pm. We arrived to the stadium at 6:30 pm to also watch the cheering of the seniors, since it was also senior night, which only happens once per semester. The seniors were all dressed in togas, with posters in their hands and they were all filled with energy. I got to stand with them, since they called us over to talk to us and ask how we like Atlanta so far. While exchanging niceties, I noticed the stadium fill up visibly and the energy rise, since everyone was quite excited. The stadium was packed by the time the game started and when Dunwoody scored its first goal, the crowd went absolutely wild. All the seniors were screaming and high-fiving one another. The cheerleaders were also a big part of keeping the morale so high. Though we ended up losing, the game was so incredibly different from anything else I’ve seen before. During halftime, the band of both schools came out and played as entertainment. It was weird to see how different yet similar both schools are to one another. The game went on much longer than I had expected it to go. I was later told that these games usually are this long, if not longer, which was interesting to me since soccer is a game with a fixed amount of time, which isn’t the case for American Football, so the players try to drag the game on for as long as possible to have more time to score points. After the game, we all went to Waffle House, since we were told that everyone gathers there after the game to eat and that we couldn’t miss it. It looked very much like the diners you see in Hollywood movies, which took me by surprise, because I didn’t expect those to actually exist. We talked to many people at Waffle House who were curious to know how our experience of the USA has been thus far. After eating the waffles and talking to the people, we were picked up by our host mother and taken home.
Charvi Jain
Friday, October 10
I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and got ready for school. Our host mother drove us to school at
7:55 a.m.
The first class of the day was Audiovisuals, where we worked as part of Dunwoody
Highschool‘s Social Media Team and created a short video about unity and teamwork, which
got inspired by the song „We are the world“ . After I had Engineering class where we started
building our own small model airplane, which we unfortunately couldn’t finish.
Afterwards we joined the schools spirit walk through the school, which happened because of
the football game in the evening and to create a great atmosphere for it. We represented the
THG as the German exchange students.
Continuing I had art and US history class in which we did nothing particular except paint a small canvas and learn about the creation of the railway.
At the football game we got to experience a great atmosphere even though Dunwoody lost 13-37. At the end of the day we went to Waffle House and after home.
Saturday, October 11
I woke up early at 7 a.m. to call my family and get ready for our first day of holidays we spent
in Downtown, Atlanta. We left at 9 a.m. and drove to our first activity: the world of coke.
I had so much fun going through different stations of Coca Colas history as you could try out different practical games. We had a smell competition in which we had to guess different smells. Afterwards we could try nearly every flavour drink of the Coca Cola Company.
Next on we got lunch at a restaurant as the CNN headquarters were closed, which was the next stop on our list. Then we visited the biggest Aquarium in the USA which was luckily located next to Coca Cola world. We entered at around 3 p.m. and got to enjoy the aquarium for 2 hours even though it was really crowded. We experienced a large variety of different sea
creatures but the most spectacular were definitely the sharks, as the aquarium was habitat to a large whale shark measuring at about 11 meters long. The day came to an end with barbecue burgers and a pool party at another host family.
Lasse Schultenkämper
October 11th, 2025
Theresa and I live together with a very nice host family. Our host parents Daniella and William have one son Will, who is fifteen, and one daughter Alissa, who is ten, as well as a dog. They live in a nice, typically American house with wood frame construction, ceiling fans in every room, and sliding windows.
Their eating habits are also very American. We were surprised by how often they order food or go out to dinner. For breakfast, we usually have yogurt, berries, and granola. We try to eat healthy in the morning since we get junk food quite often throughout the day.
In the morning, we usually chat with our host mother, with whom we get along very well. She is very kind, caring, and attentive. During the last week, we met many of her friends, who like her are Brazilian. They were incredibly nice and open-minded. We played pickleball and went to a restaurant with them.
Daniella is a biologist, and William is an electrical engineer who works at TK Elevator, which is a business unit of Thyssenkrupp that became independent. He knows a lot about physics, science, and cars, and often shares interesting facts with us.
On Saturday morning at 9:15, Lasse’s and Leo’s host dad picked us up, since a group activity with all the exchange students was planned in downtown Atlanta. It was a 45-minute drive until we arrived at the World of Coca-Cola. Everyone was still tired because of the football game we had watched the night before.
We bought our tickets and went into the first room, which was decorated with Coca-Cola signs and labels. In this room, we got an introduction to the history of the drink’s invention. We also watched an emotional film that served as an introduction to the museum.
In the first section, we learned about the history of the beverage. It was invented in 1886 by a pharmacist named John Pemberton. In the beginning, it was sold in a pharmacy as a health tonic for 5 cents per glass. In 1892, Asa Candler acquired the rights and began expanding its reach outside of Atlanta. The secret formula of the drink is stored in a vault inside the museum. We got to see the vault and learned that only two people in the world know the entire formula.
The museum also offers many interactive activities, including screens where we could try fun activities. For example, we could write marketing slogans or take photos of ourselves that AI transformed into funny pictures, that made us look like 18th-century pharmacists.
In my opinion, the funniest part was the taste-testing. In this section, we could try over 100 beverages from Coca-Cola from around the world. There were several tasting stations that each represented a different continent. It was interesting to try Plum Cola from China, Fanta Melon Frosty from Thailand, or Sprite Tropical Mix from Japan.
After a lot of fun (and sugar), we went to the souvenir shop. There, you could personalize your own Coca-Cola can and buy all kinds of souvenirs, clothes, and items.
All in all, we had an exciting visit to the World of Coca-Cola and learned many new things.
We ate lunch at a typically American restaurant. It’s common to get huge glasses filled with ice and to receive free refills for non-alcoholic drinks. The menu included dishes like burgers, steak, BBQ ribs, and chicken tenders. It’s also typical to give a 15–20% tip because waiters have a very low hourly wage. Additionally, they are extremely friendly, try to have small talk, and interact a lot with guests.
After our delicious lunch, we headed to Atlanta’s aquarium, which is next to the World of Coca-Cola. We walked through Centennial Olympic Park, which was built for the Olympic Games in 1996. What makes it special is that the names of Olympic supporters and donors are engraved in the bricks on the ground.
When we arrived at the aquarium and saw the ticket prices, we hesitated because they were quite expensive. However, everyone from our exchange student group went in.
Even though it was crowded, we were fascinated by the sea life. We saw whale sharks, sea otters, dolphins, a beluga whale, and many other animals. Some of the aquariums were even decorated for Halloween. On top of that there was also a pool where we were allowed to touch the fishes.
All in all, it was an educational and fascinating experience. Even though it was pricey I think it was definitely worth it.
At 5:15, our host dad picked up Theresa, Lasse, Leo, and me. When we got home, we packed our bags with sleepover stuff and headed to the host family of Emma, Charvi, and Mia. They had invited all the exchange students, their host families, and the teachers for a barbecue dinner.
We had delicious burgers, American candy like cookies, and even made a bonfire and s’mores, which are grilled marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. We talked a lot about the differences between America and Germany and reflected on our time in Atlanta, which has been so nice and interesting so far. We even went swimming in their pool.
Theresa and I unpacked and settled in for the sleepover. Our girls group had bought typically American sweets, including Sour Patches, chocolate-covered pretzels, and peanut butter Oreos, which we tried out. We quickly fell asleep because we were so tired from the long day.
October 12th, 2025
We woke up at 9:30 and got ready for the day. Theresa and I both called our parents. It is often hard to find a good time to call because of the time difference. I always have so much to tell them and look forward to seeing them and giving them all the souvenirs and sweets that I baught for them.
At 10:30, our host dad picked us up and brought us home where our host mom had prepared a lovely breakfast with pancakes, eggs, fruit, and yogurt.
Afterwards, our host mom took us to a park where we went running. When we got back, we prepared lunch, took a shower, and got ready to go to church. The service took place in a gym since the church is currently being renovated. We arrived a little late, but no one seemed to care.
We noticed some differences and similarities between American and German church services. Regarding the similarities, the structure and content were quite the same. It was all about praising and thanking God and experiencing community with Him and between humans. However, the American service felt much more emotional and interactive. Also, instead of an organ like in Germany, there was a keyboard and four singers who performed beautiful and modern music.
In summary, I found it really interesting and like how engaging and interactive it was.
After the service, we bought some pumpkins from the church and then went to a Mexican restaurant. We had tacos and nachos with guacamole. I personally really enjoy Mexican food and love how common it is in America.
The restaurant also had a table tennis setup, and while we waited for our food, we taught our host brother and sister how to play „Rundlauf.“ We had so much fun and talked a lot with our host family.
I’ve also noticed that speaking English is becoming easier for me, and I’ve been able to improve and expand my vocabulary.
All in all, I can say that we’re having a great time here and are learning so many valuable things, and getting to know the country really well. I’m already looking forward to the following days, since we have many exciting activities planned!
Pauline Unger
Hi, my name is Mia and I’m staying with the Gates family.
On October 12th, Charvi and I woke up at around 9:30 am while Emma, Theresa and Pauline had already been awake for a while. Theresa and Pauline had stayed at our home for the night, because we had a sleepover with all of the girls.
An hour later, after they left; Charvi, Emma and I had breakfast. We ate some granola with fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries which is our favourite at the moment.
Afterwards, all three of us headed downstairs again. We are very lucky because we have the whole basement to ourselves. This includes one bedroom, two living rooms with couches and TVs as well as one bathroom. We all showered and got ready for the day. I also called my parents and talked to them for a while. Sometimes it is a bit difficult to call people in Germany due to the six hours time difference. However, it worked out and I updated them about the latest news and the activities that we did in the last few days.
After Charvi, Emma and I had eaten lunch, I went for a little walk with Emma. We strolled through the neighbourhoods and looked at all the pretty, typical, American houses with the low roofs and simple, open layouts.
When we got back home, we started to pack some essential things for the following night, since we were about to spend it in a cabin that our host parents own. Altogether, we were seven people in the cabin: our host mom Chrystal, our host sister Maddy with her bestfriend Libby, our teacher Ms. Demel, who also joined us, and of course Charvi, Emma and I, as the German exchange students.
The ride to the cabin was more than 1 hour long, so most of us had been sleeping or listening to music during it. In addition, we stopped at a supermarket and bought food and drinks for our stay in the cabin.
When we arrived there, I was amazed by the huge, old but very cute cabin, which stood on stilts on top of a mountain, in the middle of the forest.
As we made our way to the cabin, a big spider was waiting for us by the frontdoor. Chrystal told us that this species could make enormous webs with which they were even able to catch birds.
After this little shock, we went inside the cabin and our host mom gave us a quick overview of everything.
Thereupon, Chrystal started to prepare dinner for everyone, while all the others were listening to music together or kneading comical figures with airdry clay.
For dinner we had potatoes with beans, onions, tomatoes, green onions and sour cream, which tasted very good.
After we finished eating, Charvi, Emma and I went upstairs to play foosball with Maddy and Libby. I was in a team with Maddy, and Emma was in a team with Libby. Charvi was the referee. In total, we played three rounds and my team lost unfortunately, due to two losses and only one win.
Furthermore, we puzzled together for a few hours and ate freshly baked cookies.
We also talked a lot until we went to bed at around 1 am.
On the following day, October 13th, Charvi, Emma and I got up quite early to get ready and to pack our stuff again. We were still in the cabin when, suddenly, I saw a big spider crossing the floor of our room. We were all startled for a moment, but then we just removed it.
Afterwards, we had breakfast together, which involved blueberry, as well as apple muffins, and some bananas. We also ate Lucky Charms because we had never had them before.
Next, the seven of us went on a morning hike. We first drove to the top of the hill and then got out of the car to walk to different viewpoints.
While we were walking through the forest, our host mom informed us about poison ivy and snakes that could cross our way. She also warned us about about black bears who are living in this area.
Nevertheless, everyone returned to the cabin safely and we began our ride home.
On our way, we stopped at a cornfield which was designed like a labyrinth. Every one of us got a map with a mystery on it. Our task was it to walk through the labyrinth and find the marked spots on the map in order to solve the quiz. This took a while but we made it anyways.
Later, we grabbed some burgers, chicken tenders and fries for lunch and then moved on to a place near the cornfield where we had the opportunity to shoot with corn. This was a lot of fun.
After that, we continued our ride home. Almost everybody was sleeping again because we were so tired from walking so much throughout the day.
Back home, Charvi, Emma and I freshened ourselves up a bit and got picked up by Theresa, Pauline and their host family at around 4 pm to go to the train station. When we arrived there, we also met Lasse and Leo along with their host family.
As a big group of 15 people, we took the train to the State Farm Arena to watch the NBA game of the Atlanta Hawks against Miami Heat.
Before the game started, we bought some drinks and food and went to the fan shop to take a look at some of the jerseys of the NBA-players.
After we had taken some photos and had found our seats, the game finally started.
The atmosphere was relaxed but it wasn’t very crowded because it was only a pre-season game.
First, the Atlanta Hawks led in the game, but then Miami Heat surprisingly caught up so that both teams were only a few points apart. This stayed that way throughout the game. At the end, the game was even extended due to a draw. However, the Atlanta Hawks won the game very narrowly with 119 to 118 points.
Excited and happy about our win, everyone went back home. Charvi, Emma and I ate some noodles for dinner and then went to bed because we were all very exhausted from the day.
– Mia Bank
October 15th
The first thing I did on Tuesday was move families. I packed my bag and all my stuff in the evening before so I ate a breakfast muffin like every other day before and Ms. Dike drove me to my new host family.
When I arrived the parents welcomed me but all of the kids were asleep. I played some videogames on their ps5 and after Pauline and Theresa woke up we went to see the Mercedes offices. The girls were doing something else at the time I got home and I met my host brother Will. We played soccer in his backyard and talked about various things. We got hungry and after dinner we played on his PlayStation together.
The next day we visited the Mercedes stadium and it was quite exciting. I liked the stadium but the tour guide led us into the recycling room and the smell was horrendous. After the tour we went shopping but the mall was small and I visited every shop in no time so I played on my phone till my host mom picked me up. In the evening I swam with Lasse at Mrs. Gates’ house.
On Thursday we went shopping again to an outlet Center so I was walking with Lasse and Leo but Leo kept wandering off so Lasse and I just went our separate ways with him. We went to almost every shop and got picked up early back to Dunwoody where we guys ate at Village Burger.
In the evening, we had the game night at our house which wasn’t as much fun as I had hoped for. Will Jr. never came to any of the events and the entire family always ate separately. It seems that the Americans don’t share the same values and have great independence.
I didn’t notice any significant language usage differences from my expectations, except that some of the black people had an own accent which was quite mumbly and I had trouble hearing what they say because I have bad ears. I’m surprised by that nobody had a gun or was even interested in them.
The American food is quite dangerous to my stomach and every meal I didn’t eat super healthy my stomach was hurting a little. I cannot attach any images to this since I don’t have any on my iPad, airdrop isn’t an option and all the other ways of importing images were banned by the school administrators.
Tadeusz Foltyn
October 16th/ 17th, 2025
Here in Atlanta, Pauline and I live together in one host family. The Lada Family is really nice and welcoming. Our host parents Daniella and William have two children, Will and Alissa. Our host brother is fifteen, and our host sister is ten years old. They also have a dog called Teddy, who welcomes us every time we walk into the house. For the two weeks of exchange, we live in their beautiful and typical American house, which also has a nice backyard to play soccer together or with the dog, Teddy. We get along pretty well with them and like to chat with them about sports, cars and differences between America and Germany. In the last few days we also played board games with our host siblings and even played hide and seek in the dark house with them, which was really fun. Daniella and the two of us like to go running and went for a run in the Brook Run Park on Sunday.
Today, the 16th of October 2025, Pauline and I woke up at 9 am and had breakfast together. We made ourselves a bowl consisting of yogurt, fruits like: bananas, strawberries and grapes, and some granola. This was the breakfast we ate everyday during our stay in Dunwoody. We wanted to eat something healthier compared to the food we eat at lunch and dinner. Moreover, we often saw some deer running through the backyard during our breakfast, which was surprising to us because there wasn‘t much nature near our home. After we finished our breakfast and got ready, Pauline, Tadek and I walked to the house of the Gates Family where our friends Mia, Emma and Charvi live in for these 2 weeks. Our host mother also offered us to drive us but we wanted to move a bit because of the fewer movement and steps we take here. Compared to Germany, American people use different ways of transportation. They drive everywhere by car and don‘t go by foot or take the bus or train, even if walking would take 10 minutes. At the house of the Gates Family we met up with all exchange students and started our way to the North Georgia Premium Outlet, where we planned to go to on this day. Another difference between America and Germany I noticed is the traffic, which is also caused by the minimum age for getting your driver license. In America, you can get your drivers license at an age of fifteen years where as in Germany you can start to practice for your test at sixteen and a half and do your driving test at the age of seventeen. Many kids are not really responsible at such a young age and will not see the seriousness of their behaviour in the traffic. In addition, it is possible for Americans to turn right when the traffic allows it, even if the traffic light is red, which is a big difference to German traffic rules. We got to the Outlet at 11 am and now had enough time to see every store we had in mind and the big sales they had. They had stores like Adidas, Nike, Levi‘s and Sephora, which we also have in Germany but also some American stores like American Eagle, Aeropostale or Bath and Bodyworks. All of us found some pretty clothes for good prices and even bought a souvenir in a small local shop. Mia, Pauline and I bought the same hoodies in different colours from American Eagle. After being at the outlet for about four hours and spending some money, we drove back home and had fun singing our favourite songs in the car. On our way back home we stopped at Chipotle, a well-known fast food restaurant in America. Some of us had a burrito and some took a salad or a bowl. For all meals you could choose which toppings and sauce you wanted to have and, like in most of the American restaurants, could always refill your drink. When we arrived at home, we helped our host mother prepare the game night she had planned for all the exchange students and the teachers. We prepared some snacks like grapes, strawberries and chocolate, and different soft drinks like Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke and even Coke Zero. Most Americans prefer Diet Coke over Coke Zero whereas in Germany it is the other way around. At 7 pm everybody arrived at our place and we started to play the game “What do you Meme“. The game was really fun and we laughed a lot. During the game, we all ate the pizza Daniella had ordered and continued with the game “Hedbenz“. After a fun evening and cleaning the living room and kitchen, Pauline and I went to sleep at 10:30 pm.
The next day, the 17th of October, we could sleep in a bit so we woke up at 09:30 am. We got ready and made our breakfast, which was similar to the other days. At 11 am we decided to go to another grocery store to get some snacks we could bring back home to our families in Germany. Firstly, we went to the Kroger Pharmacy and got typical American snacks like the Reese‘s biscuits, Sourpatches or some Cookies. These were Paulines and my favourite snacks here in Atlanta, so we wanted to share them with our families. We couldn‘t find the well-known ”Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning“ so our host mother offered us to go to another store and get it there. The Trader Joe‘s store was really different from other American grocery stores we‘ve seen. They had way more organic products, not those huge bags of chips or other candy and some selfmade products. In this store, they had everything we were looking for and the workers were really nice and friendly. When we paid for our groceries, the cashier asked us where we are from and was so nice that she even handed us some cute tote bags and wished us a safe travel back home. Back at home, Pauline and I had to pack our suitcases for the flight on Saturday and cleaned our room. After that, we went to the house of the Gates Family to help them prepare the dinner, because they planned to have a Pre Thanksgiving dinner at their house. When we arrived at their house, most of the food was already prepared, so we helped with the final touches and setting the table. At 5 pm, everybody else arrived and we started the Thanksgiving dinner. There were various food options to choose from. From turkey and ham to deviled eggs, cranberry sauce and even sweet potato casserole. It was really delicious to not only eat everything separately but mix some things together. For the dessert we had multiple pies to choose from. We shared the pieces so we could try out everything. There was chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate pretzels and some pumpkin bread, but my favourite was the peanut butter pie. During the dinner, we chatted a lot and had so much fun laughing at anyone‘s jokes. It was such a great experience to try out typical American Thanksgiving food and just be a part of this wonderful tradition. Additionally, we hung out till 10 pm and enjoyed our last evening all together.
Theresa Schott
In the following you can find some group pictures taken on various occasions that were mentioned in the students‘ blog entries (Mercedes Benz HQ; State Farm Arena, Mercedes Benz Stadium, World of Coke (Downtown), Pizza Lunch at Dunwoody HS, Thanksgiving dinner).
