Neustadt

The pupil exchange at Kurfürst-Ruprecht-Gymnasium with Slovenia was actually planned for five years. In April, though, the partnership will be entering its eighth year. The Slovenian journalist Marjeta Kralj spoke with the responsible teacher Rainer Nosbüsch about the exchange programme.

Mr Nosbüsch, how did the exchange with such a small country become so successful?

Nosbüsch: The interest in Slovenia is reciprocal. Some parents ask me, ‘Why Slovenia, why not France or England?’ I reply, ‘The French and English don’t want to come to Germany; they prefer Italy or Spain.’ Every year I ask in the classes who would be interested in the exchange with Slovenia and as long as a class signs up, we will continue the exchange. Sometimes even a number of classes sign up. The class that is going to Slovenia this April came to me a year ago with the signatures of every pupil wanting to go to Slovenia.

Where does this desire originate?

The pupils hear about it from their siblings or in school.

But what does an exchange like this offer them? They’re not learning Slovenian...

Our pupils are always enthused by the openness, the cordiality and the hospitality of the Slovenians. The fact that a grandmother will move out of her bedroom so the guest pupil can have his or her own room – the certainly impresses the pupils. The beauty of the country also thrills them. The pupils are fascinated that within an hour they can drive to the country’s highest mountain or, in the same amount of time, to the Mediterranean Sea. The German pupils notice in Kamnik that the pupils there wear slippers at school, that they have a cafeteria with freshly cooked meals and that the school is better equipped than ours.


The other way round, what do the Slovenian pupils like about Neustadt?

I would say that we deal with one another rather openly. In our school, the teachers and pupils have relatively personal relationships with one another; the Slovenians are not used to that.

The Palatinate and Slovenia have a lot in common, from the vineyards to the forests...

I have actually had Slovenian pupils in the exchange put on their hiking shoes and walk in the forest.

Are teenage hikers unusual here?

In Slovenia they aren’t. But for 15 or 16-year-olds to go hiking in their leisure time is certainly uncommon in these parts.

Did they discover the Palatine forest cabins?

Sure. When they saw the Schoppengläser they asked why people here drink out of vases.

At the beginning of the exchange the focus was on the environment. Is that still the case?

No. Last autumn when our guests were here from Slovenia we focused on Palatine eating and drinking culture – the Hambel butchers in Wachenheim, candied fruits at Biffar in Deidesheim, the Bürklin-Wolf vineyard in Wachenheim and agriculture at the Lebenshilfe organization in Bad Dürkheim. A year before the theme was the media: visits to RPR radio, RNF television, Antenne Pfalz radio and the newspaper Rheinpfalz. But, not every topic is suitable for the age group. With some groups I had the feeling the evening programme was far more important than the daily programme. That’s gotten better, though, in the past two years.

Are the pupils allowed to do anything they like in the evening as long as the host parents permit it?

Exactly.

Has that led to problems?

There have been a few minor incidents, usually linked to alcohol use, both among the Slovenians and the Germans; but not so serious that someone had to go to hospital. It was quite embarrassing for those involved, however – and for the teachers even more so. Originally, the idea was to get to know new EU countries. The exchange simply brings one neighbour in the EU closer. The young people get to know the things we have in common and the differences. And they notice that there are no big differences.