Meet US – a Fulbright student at our school
John Kershner, is a US scholarship student from Reading, Pennsylvania, who currently studies at BTU Cottbus for his PHD in aero acoustics. But how did we get the chance to meet each other?
One of the English teachers in secondary level, Susann Pattoka, keeps steady contact to the US embassy in Germany. This opens up opportunities to meet staff members as well as young people studying here. That´s why John was invited to speak about prevailing topics like climate change and modern media. At the beginning he talked about where he was from, his home state and the USA in general.
Some years ago he had already been participating in a GAP program in Munich and had spent a certain time in Regensburg. There he learned about the different varieties of our German language which he partly adapted. Our questions concerning the topics were answered both, in English but also sometimes in German. John Kershner talked very openly, detailed and without covering up problems in his home country. Most striking for all of us was learning and comparing about several issues like environmental awareness, the recycling system, fees for media broadcasting and the use of social media.
We all enjoyed having the possibility to experience the US from the point of view of a native speaker. Not only did we learn something new, but also John Kirshner maybe got different point of views of German youth.
I would say the whole course had a good time and so did John.
Oskar Kliemann, class 12
