Port and Cham: a U.S.-Germany alliance going strong 32 years

Two weeks is all it takes for teens living an ocean apart to become friends.

A couple of German exchange students visiting Port Washington wished it could have lasted a little longer.

Neither Karl Plötz or Lukas Lommer were ready to go home after their short stay.

“I think I could stay here another two or three weeks,” Lommer said. “Maybe I’ll come back.”

Several students from Cham, a city of about 17,000 people in the state of Bavaria in southeastern Germany, soaked up American culture over 14 days by staying with host families and attending Port High.

This is the 32nd year of the exchange program between Port Washington and Cham.

One German student’s mother participated in the exchange when she was in high school, and some of the    students have been pen pals since eighth grade.

“It was amazing for me to see some of the students already had connections,”  Port High German teacher Ingrid Pfeiffer said.

The goal of the program, she said, is to make “new friends and gain a better understanding that the world is a small place.

English and German teacher Philipp Heinrichsdobler, who came with the students from Cham, said, “That’s what (the exchange) is about. Mutual understanding.”

Lommer said he was surprised by the welcome he received.

“American people are really friendly to foreigners. I didn’t think that they were that friendly,” he said.

The visitors also cozied up to some of Americans’ favorite comfort foods. Germany, despite having a variety of cheeses, lacks one delicacy that’s famous across the pond.

“I love cheese curds,” Julia Hecht said.

Plötz said he loves buffalo wings with buffalo bleu sauce at a restaurant Germany doesn’t have, Buffalo Wild Wings.

Lommer enjoyed a cheeseburger at Kopp’s Frozen Custard in Milwaukee.

Germany has fast food chains, including McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC,  but not the one in Port that was a favorite of some of the visitors—Culver’s.

Heinrichsdobler said he loved Chicago-style hot dogs, deep-dish pizza and root beer floats.

Pfeiffer fostered the cultural exchange by bringing out a box of different board games and having the students play.

“It got them talking,” she said.

Pfeiffer also put her class into small groups with one German student in each and had them explain different slang words and phrases to each other, such as greetings, something good or bad and a good-looking boy or girl.

The American students then had to explain terms like an all-nighter, couch potato, to drive up a wall, spill the beans and 24/7.

The Germans know English well. They start learning the language in third or fifth grade and it improved while spending time in America. They even began thinking in English and sometimes talked in English to fellow Germans.

The group visited Chicago and the Capitol building in Madison. The Windy City brought some new sights, especially after visiting the observation deck of the John Hancock Building 1,030 feet into the air.

“The view up there is amazing,” Lommer said.

The skyline was also mesmerizing. “We don’t have that many skyscrapers in Germany or Europe,” Lommer said.

Their American counterparts got an education as well, including improving their German speaking.

“Listening to all the German students talk to each other, picking out parts of their sentences and what they’re saying,” Ava Arndt said.

Ammon Schmutzler said he learned “Was ist das?” meaning “What is that?” and a Bavarian greeting and goodbye, “servus.”

Ethan Driggers’ family hosted Lommer. The two would play each other in video games. Driggers had the edge in Super Smash Bros., but Lommer was better at Super Mario Kart.

The teens have different routines driven by their school schedules. In Cham, school starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m., except on one day per week when it goes until 5 p.m. School is year-round with a six-week break for summer and several other breaks for holidays.

Hecht said she was shocked by one element of American schools.

“That you can retake tests here,” she said. “We can’t do that.”

Schools in America have fewer students but larger facilities, the German teens said. Their schools don’t have welding or woodworking classes.

The German students gave presentations to multiple classes at Port High, and they will present to their home-country classmates on their time in America after they return. 

The group was introduced to American spectator sports by attending a Milwaukee Brewers game. Baseball is hard to watch because Germany is seven hours ahead in time. 

Lommer saw the Milwaukee Bucks play. “It’s not that popular and famous like here in America,” Lommer said of hoops.

Soccer, handball and tennis are the popular sports in Germany, the teens said.

The German students took in some high school athletic contests and practices as well. Sports in Germany are all clubs and not associated with schools.

When it comes to music, Plötz said he has come to like hip hop. Lommer said he has become a fan of Bryan Adams and AC/DC.

When shopping, items like hair care products are more expensive in the U.S. “We’ve talked a lot about the price differences,” Arndt said.

The students from both countries say they plan to stay in touch with their newfound families, and some of the Germans want to return to visit other parts of America.

Plötz wants to see New York City. Hecht wants to ski in Aspen, Colo., and Lommer wants to go to California and the Grand Canyon.

The exchange will continue. Port students are scheduled to visit Germany in 2026.