STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) – Downtown Stroudsburg was packed Thursday. Take a close look and you’ll see backpacks and hear accents. These visitors are from Germany.
“It’s not my first time in the U.S. But it’s my first time I can experience the real living in the U.S.,” says Tobias Kreuziger, German student.
Thirteen students from Speyer, Germany are spending three weeks in Stroudsburg. It’s called the German American Partnership Program.
“It really fun. I’m getting to know a lot of new people,” says Ingrid Kaub, German student.
Each German student is matched with a Stroudsburg High School student. The pairs go to classes and afterschool activities together, even live together.
“And we’ve really kind of created, I’d say it’s kind of like a large family,” smiles Matthew Sobrinski, Stroudsburg High School English teacher.
Tobias Kreuziger and Doug Cilli were surprised they live so far apart, yet have a lot in common.
“We play soccer, video games. I was surprised that he likes the basketball video games, because I thought soccer was the big thing in Germany,” says Cilli.
Thursday was a special day for the students. They took a historical walking tour through downtown Stroudsburg.
They stopped to meet the mayor and learned about the Sherman Theater.
“It’s very interesting, I think it’s a lovely town,” says Kaub.
The exchange students tell us things are a lot different, and bigger, in America. They’re used to riding bicycles, don’t have dress codes, and say technology here’s more advanced than back home.
Next June, the Stroudsburg High School students currently hosting exchange students have an opportunity to study abroad themselves in Germany.
