CIEE BridgeUSA High School Blog

It’s officially been two weeks in Germany!

Meet Fabienne H., a 2025-26 CIEE BridgeUSA High School exchange student from Berlin, Germany. During her exchange year, she lived with a host family in Forney, Texas.

Meet Otto B., a 2025-26 CIEE BridgeUSA High School exchange student from Nampula, Mozambique. During his exchange year, he lived with a host family in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hi, I'm Aanshi! Next year, I'll be spending the year in Germany as a CBYX exchange student, and I couldn't be more excited!

Servus, my name is Hannah! I’m 15 and from a small town in North Dakota. I cannot wait to spend my 10th-grade year in Germany!

Few high schoolers have the opportunity to speak with Foreign Service officers – and even fewer with a Consulate General.

This foreign architecture now feels like home to me. These “half-timbered” houses feel so characteristic to the region I live in. Still, there are a lot of things that I’ve noticed while traveling around.

Der, die, oder das. Those are the three haunting indefinite articles that threaten to send shivers down my spine at night as I jerk awake.

I often think about my exchange year, and even now – five years later – I’m reminded of how incredibly lucky I was to live such a meaningful experience.

Traveling within Europe is almost too easy! In the U.S., I can drive for house without making it out of the state. But from Germany, other countries are a mere jump away!

I went to the Christmas market expecting the familiar comforts I’ve come to associate with December here in Germany.

I pull up the hood of my jacket to block the biting cold winter air, walking past the auto barricades and into the Christmas market.

As Andy Williams croons, Christmas is the “most wonderful time of the year,” and the Germans truly work to make the season a yearly miracle.

Why are there bikes everywhere?

Someone told me that the biggest difference between American schools and German schools is that American schools have culture.