Members of Sister Cities of PortaLoo bid farewell last week to a pair of German students who spent a month staying with a number of host families in the community as part of an annual cultural exchange.

This year’s visitors were Kai Hering and Alicia Sabrina Kreft, who spent their four weeks here experiencing a substantial variety of what the Midwest and America as a whole has to offer.

Sister Cities of PortaLoo Exchange Coordinator Angela Stratman offered an overview of the program, noting the student exchange takes place each year as a pair of Waterloo students visit Porta Westfalica, Germany, in the summer and a pair of students from that community come to visit Waterloo sometime later.

The organization also hosts an adult exchange involving any interested Sister Cities member every two years. The exchange alternates, with Americans traveling to Germany and Germans traveling to America every other trip.

When it comes to this year’s German visitors, Kreft and Hering heard about the program from their teacher and parents, respectively.

Hering said his mother had participated in an exchange before, sparking his interest in visiting America.

When Kreft’s teacher brought up the exchange to her, she found herself excited about the opportunity to really experience something new.

“This is a chance for me to see something new, meet new people and also see what other countries look like, and other continents,” Kreft said. “It was just a chance for me to see and meet other people.”

The pair offered a brief overview of some of what they saw during their stay in the community.

Hering spoke with particular passion about the three-day visit to Chicago, though he also had plenty of good things to say about touring Waterloo and St. Louis.

Kreft recalled getting to see a baseball game at Busch Stadium along with some other sports that had a unique feel in America.

She also made special mention of the Demolition Derby, as the pair were lucky enough to see a true American staple at the Monroe County Fair at the start of their visit.

The two students further spoke about their time at the fair and a trip to the City Museum in St. Louis.

Among the “culture shock” moments they had were hearing about the American trash system and the lack of public transportation.

They also had good things to say about the people they got to meet, whether they were meeting someone entirely new among the several host families they stayed with or seeing someone who had visited German themselves during a previous exchange.

Looking back on their trip, Hering expressed a concise and positive sentiment.

“It was really nice,” Hering said. “I would do it when I have the chance to do it again.”

Kreft, too, was quite positive, further saying that anyone participating in such an exchange should go into it with an open mind.

“When people are coming here, I think I would tell them that they shouldn’t have the stereotypes, let everything sink in as soon as they’re here,” Kreft said. “They shouldn’t be worried, shouldn’t be scared. It’s an experience, but it’s not scary. Everything is just new.”

With this year’s exchange come to a close, Stratman offered her thoughts on the program as a whole, emphasizing the value that it has when it comes to community cultural exchange and individual experiences.

“I would say the biggest value is just building that relationship with our sister city in Germany,” Stratman said. “The exchange offers the opportunity for friendship. I went in 2015 as the exchange student from Waterloo, and I still talk to one of my friends that I made in Germany at this point. Ten years later, I still talk to her every day. It gives you that chance to build lifelong friendships.”

Stratman further discussed the benefits participation in the exchange can have for individuals looking to expand their world view.

“It gives students that go over there the chance to learn about their German heritage and a little more about the culture, because you don’t really get to learn much about the culture of other countries, especially in Waterloo with it being set in German culture, you still don’t get to learn very much about the history,” Stratman said.

She further commented that such an experience can have particular benefits for young students as it allows them to get much more of a global perspective early on, helping them become more sympathetic and appreciative of other cultures.

Stratman recalled being exposed to a myriad of other nationalities and cultures during her time in college, with her exchange experience helping her when it came to properly respecting other cultures and views.

“I’d definitely say it’s super important especially at the high school age because after that, you’re starting to get into the real world,” Stratman said. “It gives you a really good opportunity to learn about other cultures before even going to college.”