A thick layer of fog settles onto the Hudson River. The rain batters your umbrella as you stare out onto the bay. A sliver of sun falls upon a figure in the distance. The profile is familiar. It is the Statue of Liberty. Beautiful.

The Statue is especially important to the fourteen German students who came to North Kingstown High School this April. They came to America through the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). The NKHS German program takes part in GAPP biannually. The last program took place during the 2012-2013 school year.

NKHS has a partner school in Düren, Germany, The Burgau Gymnasium. Dozens of students at the Gymnasium applied to the GAPP Program, however not everyone could come over to NKHS. The students at NK select a partner from the applications and the lucky few who were selected for the program get to come over to America.

The German students arrived on April 2 and immediately went to live with their partners. “I was nervous to have an exchange student living in my house, but it wasn’t as bad as I had initially thought. Moritz is great,” said junior Jake Cotter. Cotter’s partner was Moritz Müller, a tall and happy guy.

Cotter showed Moritz what it was like to live in Rhode Island. Moritz especially liked the Awful Awful from Newport Creamery. Cotter also took him to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.

Senior Tommy Cross had a similar experience with his exchange student, Julian Lorenz. “It was awkward and nerve wracking at first, but then we got to know each other,” said Cross. He and Julian spent a lot of time getting to know each other. “We played a lot of chess, and he would always beat me!” They watched Jurassic Park together and played video games. They went bowling, ate at Newport Creamery, and visited the Providence Place Mall.

Besides what the exchange partners did together individually, the students took many trips together as a group. They went to Boston, Providence, and New York. There was high energy among the group. Mrs. Ruthann Baker, whom her students refer to as “Frau Baker,” was especially energetic as she led the group outings.

The most anticipated trip was the New York trip. The students had to arrive at the school at 4 am on April 20th. They took a charter bus down to New York, which was a long bus ride. Although it was raining heavily, they had a fantastic time. They glimpsed the Statue of Liberty in the distance and it was beautiful.

Cross said that although the group was a little bit disorganized when it came to eating lunch, it was a lot of fun. He ended up eating a scoop of Coconut Sorbet for lunch.

The group went from place to place around Manhattan from the Metropolitan Museum to an armory to Times Square. “We went to the Top of the Rock and it was so foggy that we couldn’t see the street. It was really cool!” said Cross.

They took numerous group pictures around the city, always sure to smile big for the camera. The group returned home at 1 a.m. the next day. In the GAPP Program, everyone gets to know each other extremely well. Cotter said that the group was extremely inclusive. Sadly, the German students had to leave April 22. But there is a silver lining – the students in the GAPP program at NKHS will leave on June 10 to reunite with their partners in Düren, Germany. They will study at the Burgau Gymnasium and live with their partners’ families for three weeks.

Cross said that he most looks forward to seeing actual castles in Germany, as there are many. However, he says that he is a little nervous to speak German constantly for three weeks. “The Germans all speak English better than I speak German,” said Cross.

This spring has been an exciting time for the school with everything going on, especially with NKHS’s most recent guests. The students in the GAPP Program are in for an experience of a lifetime.