Velbert. The Tönisheid student Jonas Langkeit has been living in Martinsburg, USA, for six months. The SPD MP Kerstin Griese has taken over the sponsorship for Langkeit, which she had chosen for a grant from the Bundestag. Now the 16-year-old has reported his impressions.
“At Spring Mills High School I have rather unusual subjects by German standards”, Jonas Langkeit reports in a letter to Kerstin Griese regarding lessons in “Forensics” and “Marching Band”. With the brass band, in which Langkeit plays the saxophone, he appears on the sidelines of American football games. He is also active in sports on the soccer school team.
He also found time to get to know the country and its people, says the 16-year-old. “In the more rural West Virginia, you can take a three-hour drive for a day trip.” With his host parents, Timothy Hott and Justin Schooly, he was in Pittsburgh, Washington DC and New York City, among others. “I’ve already made it to eight different countries,” says Jonas Langkeit.
Europe and America are similar, but everything is bigger in the USA. “The supermarket, the food portions, the schools, the cars and much more. You get used to the American lifestyle pretty quickly. “
What seems strange in the long run is the open patriotism and dealing with political issues. “In a republican state like West Virginia it can happen that you pick up rather strange statements by German standards,” replied Jonas Langheit to Kerstin Griese’s question regarding the political situation. “Unfortunately, a year following the storm on the Capitol, the US is divided like never before,” says the member of the Bundestag. “Democracy in the USA is still being questioned by Trump supporters,” said Griese.
Langkeit is now looking forward to the second half of his stay abroad before he returns to Velbert and the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium. “I have already made acquaintances for life”, he thanks Griese for being able to participate as a “junior ambassador” in the Parliamentary Sponsorship Program (PPP). As part of the PPP carried out jointly with the US Congress, the Bundestag has been awarding scholarships for an exchange year to schoolchildren and young professionals since 1983.
