KOCHI: Thirteen students – seven girls and six boys – from the Ringeisen High School in the Bavarian city of Unsberg in Germany are taking in the sights of a whole new world. The Class IX students are on a week-long visit to Kerala.
The things that they got to experience have left such a lasting impression on the youngsters that many of them are planning to come back during the vacations along with their parents. The visit, as part of a student exchange programme, was a first-of-its-kind initiative undertaken by the Visitation Congregation of Alappuzha.
Sr Dominika, in charge of the programme on the German side, said, “This programme presented the students with a unique experience. None of them had been to India until now, and when the programme was announced in the school, they were excited to be a part of it.”
The norm for the students from this German school was to visit fellow European countries like France and Italy. “But this time around we wanted to do something different,” said Sr Dominika, for whom this is the second visit to Kerala.
Explaining how the exchange programme came to be, Sr Tresa Charles, the provincial superior of Visitation Congregation in Alappuzha, said, “Sr Dominika approached us requesting permission to bring students from the school which is being run by the St Joseph Congregation, to which she belongs.”
The programme aims to give German students an avenue to study and understand the culture and traditions of Kerala. And the food especially poori masala, rice with traditional Kerala curries, appam-stew, porotta-beef, and kappa-fish curry has got them hooked.
“Besides the food, the classical dance forms and the traditional arts of Kerala have mesmerised the students. They have been so awed by the state that many of them don’t want to go back. They say the trip got over very soon and want to extend their stay,” Sr Dominika said. Taking into consideration the success of the programme, she said they will think of conducting more such exchanges in the coming years.
“We will also have talks with the officials of the school in Kerala regarding providing the students here with an opportunity to visit our school in Germany,” she said. The visitors were hosted by the St John’s Visitation Public School at Muppathadam in Aluva.
Sr Rosemi Antony, the principal of St John’s Visitation Public School, said the visit provided the students of her school with an opportunity to interact with students from outside the country.
“Going abroad for studies and jobs has become a trend in our state. And Germany is one country which has become a very attractive option,” she said.
Pointing out the mushrooming of German language teaching institutions in the state, she said, “We too have begun teaching basic German in our school. The interaction with the German students has worked towards increasing our children’s curiosity about that country and its language.”