What It Was Like Returning to Germany as a High School Student
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This post was written by CIEE Global Navigator alum Annabelle O. from Pennsylvania who participated in the Global Navigator Marketing Internship in spring of 2025.
Hi everyone! My name is Annabelle O. and I spent my sophomore year of high school abroad with CIEE in Berlin, Germany, as a heritage speaker.
I am German by nationality and was born in northern Germany; however, my parents and I moved to the U.S. when I was very young. Growing up in the U.S., while my parents tried their best to speak only German with my younger brother and I, English inevitably became our first language. Inspired by the stories my dad told of studying abroad in the U.S. when he was a teenager, I decided during my freshman year that I too wanted to go abroad, - that is, back home.
For me, studying abroad was not so much a question of language, as I spoke German almost perfectly, but rather one of discovering and adapting to my European culture.
In this regard, the aspect of studying abroad that had the largest impact were the relationships I built up in Berlin.
Daily Life
Since coming back to the U.S., I have too often been confronted by the question “how was Germany?” If only they knew how impossible it would be to answer that question truthfully, one whole year of my life in a mere sentence.
So I told them what they wanted to hear: how I enjoyed the independence of public transportation, immersed myself into the culture of the German capital, and cherished the taste of true bread.
Ok, maybe not the last one.
But although all of these points are completely true, these are the superficial details of my experience, and they don’t truly encapsulate what made coming back to Germany so special.
Host Family
What makes studying abroad during high school so unique is the placement in a host family.
Being integrated into the daily lives of a local family is incredibly crucial to language development and overall happiness abroad. The host family with which I stayed had four children, two of which were my age, with one girl even being in my class.
Sure, there’s a lot to get used to, from food, chores, and rules, but being part of a family dynamic teaches valuable lessons. Adapting to a host family, all while staying respectful of what makes their situation different from yours at home, teaches tolerance and compromising skills.
Also, it’s fun!
Having host siblings made my time abroad so much more enjoyable. Family excursions, movie nights, and evenings spent talking in the kitchen all transformed my stay into my home.
Being with them really helped me connect with German traditions, holidays, and culture, not to mention the family-specific traditions I learned from them too.
German School
Of course, the main component of student travel is the studying, attendance at a German school.
German schools follow a structure vastly different from those in America. I went from having the same eight classes everyday to having 16 total courses, with a different schedule each day. German teachers do not have their own classrooms, instead each class has its own room and teachers move around each period. PE, art, and music are not graded by participation or effort, but rather by skill and ability. Teachers are addressed using formal pronouns and have more distanced relationships with their students than in the U.S.
Pretty much everything is different, from the tests to the rules around what school supplies may be used. For me, all of these details are things you get used to.
Returning home to Germany, what really made my time at school different was the language gap. My written German, especially when I had just arrived at the school, was on a much lower level than that of my peers. With time I caught up enough to also receive top grades; however, my writing was never perfect.
It is important not to compare oneself to native-speakers when studying abroad, as you will never be able to master the language quite like they do, and that’s perfectly acceptable!
I will say, in terms of the school experience, it was interesting to sit in English classes. Due to my fluency, I was often asked to translate words the teacher did not know, explain certain grammatical concepts, and even present about American high school.
Reaching Out and Overcoming Loneliness
Making friends at school was a bit more difficult than elsewhere. This is largely due to the fact that until 11th grade, German students are organized into classes, one group of students which spends every class together, every day, for four years.
While there may have been some commotion about “the American girl” arriving, they quickly realized I was competent in German and therefore not much of a spectacle. Reaching out to classmates was a bit different than in the U.S., however, because friendships were already long-standing and social situations differed.
Conversation in school was more limited, as we sat in the same seats, in the same classroom, for virtually every class. There is also no lunch break, instead there are three Großepausen, 20 minute breaks, after every block (two class periods). During those breaks, students are required to leave the school building and stand in the Schulhof (schoolyard). With such time constraints, talking with peers was a bit harder than in America.
Additionally, the other teens in the country you visit will lead different lives. The hobbies they have, the emphasis on academics, the way they dress, act, and especially talk are all new.
For me, even though I grasped the language well, it took a while to become fully comfortable with understanding and using slang. Adjusting to the way people dress is also important, primarily in school, not only because of peers but also dress codes. The pajama pants and crocs of U.S. high schools do not make the cut for German schools, to say the least.
Being in a new situation is hard, and at first, I felt like I had no friends. But after talking with my grandmother (they always know best) about my homesickness and loneliness, I opened my eyes a bit further to really look at the situation I was in.
I may not have felt I had friends, but I soon realized that the girl I sat next to, the classmates I chatted with during our breaks, or even the ones I complained about PE with, were all on their way to becoming friends, if not already were ones. Along with my host sister, I was able to build up a circle of close friends, one that only grew as my time abroad approached its end.
Take-Aways
My story is by no means an indicator for study abroad in Germany being lonely, rather a piece of truth to break unrealistic expectations.
Even if you are an extrovert, you will have to adapt to a new society, culture, and norms once abroad. But it's also a consolation, for even if you’re a bit introverted, like I was, it is still very much possible to make meaningful, lasting friendships.
In the end, saying goodbye will feel so much harder than taking that first step to strike up conversation or meet up outside of school ever felt.
Overall, if you’re unsure of whether or not to go abroad, or even how to study abroad in high school, I can only recommend you check out the CIEE program sites. Every program is different, but any HSA program is bound to be an extraordinary experience!
Whether you are uncovering your culture, learning a language, or just exploring a country over the summer, high school study abroad programs are such an amazing opportunity to take advantage of.
If you are interested in studying abroad during high school, you can apply here or you can schedule a call with an Enrollment Coordinator to start planning.