German and American educational system - PPP workshop with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

BONN – Germany or the United States? Theory or practice? Vocational or academic? Similarities and differences exist between both countries and when it comes to education, there is no exception.
Students of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a political foundation in Sankt Augustin, came to the AIB last Monday to meet with the 25 CBYX/PPP students and participate in a workshop comparing the German and American educational systems.



In order to get to know each other better, the students were divided into smaller groups and were given 10 different topics to discuss. The topics ranged from homeschooling in the United States to the three-school system in Germany and the role of testing in preparation for the future.
The groups of students then presented their findings to the rest. Some topics were received with strong agreement while others not so much and even stirred minor controversy.

   

Even though the themes of discussion were quite serious, the students got to learn more about them through each other's point of view and first hand experience.
After the discussion, all of the students teamed up with the AIB staff and divided the chores preparing dinner. Cheeseburgers along with currywurst ketchup were more than fitting for the occasion.
Written by Hecko Flores

PPP meeting their Area Reps at the AIB

© Lina Jakobs (Open Door International e.V.)

BONN – Sausages, beer, and a great atmosphere: a typical and borderline-stereotypical German party except for the guests, 25 American students.
The 25 Americans are all participants of the Congress Bundestag Exchange Program, a program supported, as well as funded, by the German Bundestag and United States Congress through a partnership between Open Door International (www.opendoorinternational.de) and the AIB.

The CBYX program provides the students an opportunity to live in Germany for a year to learn about culture, language and participate in internships in their field of interest, ranging from engineering and medicine to business and arts.
For the first seven weeks, the students partake in an intensive language course at the AIB while living with diverse host families all across Bonn. The AIB not only provides German classes but welcomes the students to Germany while easing the transition into everyday life.

On Friday, the AIB hosted a “Wurst Fest” or Bratwurst tasting party for the CBYX participants and their Area Reps with over 8 different types of meats along with the traditional sauerkraut and mustard.


© Lina Jakobs (Open Door International e.V.)

After their time in Bonn, the participants will live in different parts of Germany for the remaining months where they will be assisted by “Area Reps” who are in charge of finding host families and possible internships for the students.
Along with the opportunity to test from a large selection of bratwursts, the party gave the students and their respective Area Reps the first chance to personally interact with one another and talk face to face about their future expectations in their upcoming locations across Germany.

Out of the varied assortments of bratwurst, the students and Area Reps alike chose the Munich Weisswurst and the Rheinische Bratwurst among their favorites, consequently deeming the party at the AIB a great success.


Written by Hecko Flores

25 young Americans visiting

Mayor Reinhard Limbach welcomes exchange students in the old townhall.

“Minsk?”
You can see the question marks on the faces of the 25 American students—most had not heard of the Belarusian capital before.
“What do you love about your work particularly?” Alexandria Bassett asked of the recently elected mayor, Reinhard Limbach. “Things like today,” he answered and explained that he had previously had the pleasure to greet six students from Minsk in a similar appointment. With a short speech, Limbach had first greeted the students in the great hall of the old town hall, and afterwards, there was an opportunity for the students to ask questions. The teenagers are taking part in the CBYX program, which was established by the Congress of the United States and the German Bundestag in 1983 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the beginning of German immigration to the US, and has taken place every year since. All of the participants have graduated from high schools or vocational schools in the United States. They are all qualified for an internship in a field in which they want to gain further experience. The candidates had to undergo a rigorous selection process and are full of expectations. “I’ve always had fun learning languages. I started learning Spanish in school, and later started with German,” says 18-year old Alexandria Bassett, explaining her motivation. All participants are between 17 and 19 years old and are now partaking in an intensive, seven-week language and orientation seminar, which is organized by the Academy for International Education. During this time, they are staying with host families in Bonn.
At the end of this program, the students will visit a German school for up to four months and then will complete an internship with a company. Each of the participants is taken under the wing of a member of German parliament, for example, Ulrich Kelber in Bonn.

The Academy for International Education is always looking for openminded families in Bonn and the surrounding area to take in American students. Interested families can contact the housing coordinator Hilde Koch.

Translated from a "General Anzeiger" newspaper article published in Bonn on July 24th 2014.

BONN NIGHT RUN – Raising money for a good cause!

Every year, the Academy for International Education encourages students to participate in one of the numerous city runs in Bonn to raise money for charities through runner sponsorship.
The Bonn Marathon in April is a firmly established event in our semester long programs.

This summer AIB students participated in the BONN NIGHT RUN (10k) for the first time, and raised a total of € 137,00 (approx. $ 185,00) for our affiliated NGO, the Marol Academy in South Sudan.
What a fantastic night!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LMU SUMMER STUDENTS & PROFESSORS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR'S BONN NIGHT RUN!

AND A BIG THANKS TO THE DONORS!!!

Exploring German Society

The Students from Wesley Theological Seminary successfully completed an immersion trip throughout Germany. During their 2-week stay in Germany, the students and their professor, Scott Kisker, had the chance to explore German society, culture, and theology at various sites and places. Their excursions took them to Bonn, Worms, Mainz, Aachen, Maastricht, Cologne, the Eifel region, Heidelberg, Reutlingen, Tübingen, Munich, and many more places. One of the various highlights of the trip was to the Methodist Annual Conference in Heilbronn, where the students got the opportunity to join a church service with about 2000 German Methodists. The students additionally visited the School of Theology, a Methodist Seminary, in Reutlingen. During their visit, they spent two nights on campus, participated in a lecture by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Schuler, and had a chance to exchange their experiences with German theology students at a social get-together with traditional German food. The Wesley students also enjoyed touring the roof top of the Cologne Cathedral, seeing the tomb of the Three-Wise Men, and exploring the Cathedral of Charlemagne.

Overall, the program was a great success!

Visiting IBIT

On Tuesday 27th, 2014, a group of AIB students of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, visited the IBIT (International Training Centre for Crowd Safety Management). The students are studying "Recreation, Sport Leadership and Tourism Management" at the AiB at the moment.

The IBIT (based in Bonn, Germany) aims to provide standards, education and professional training to all involved in planning, organizing and managing crowd safety. An interdisciplinary team of experts develops the practical content of the IBIT education program and is available for consulting services covering all challenges concerning crowd management.

IBIT is involved in various national research projects and member of various associations related to crowd safety management.

The students had a great time learning about the basics of crowd and safety management, and the IBIT GmbH enjoyed their visit.

Attention! AIB Charity Weekend VIDEO!

Dear AIB friends,
faculty, students and colleagues,

as you have heard, the AIB charity weekend was a great success.
You can now see what more than 80 AIB students were able to accomplish that weekend by watching a short video (4.38 min.)
(Posted on our Youtube-channel: http://youtu.be/NPOs36hhZtA)

Here is an article on it from Texas A&M University's website:
http://one.arch.tamu.edu/news/2014/4/15/big-event-tradition-europe

Many thanks again to everyone for supporting the AIB charity weekend!

The AIB Team

Bonn Marathon 2014

Dear Runners & Supporters,

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR'S BONN MARATHON!!!

What a fantastic day! Especially since we were able to raise a total of over 650.00€ (approx $ 900,00) for our affiliated NGO, the Marol Academy in South Sudan.

A big thanks to all the donors!

Pictures of the event are available at: www.sportonline-foto.de (Select "Bonn Marathon" as event and enter your starting number) and will also soon be available at our AIB website.



Again, thanks to everyone for making this such a successful and fun day!

Best Wishes,
Viktoria.

American students engaged themselves in social projects

More than 80 American students of the Academy for International Education (AIB) engaged themselves in social projects for the Bonn community.
Bonn, 04/07/2014: The Academy for International Education (AIB) and more than 80 American students, spending a semester abroad from January to mid-May, organized the „AIB Charity Weekend“ in order to show their appreciation for Bonn's hospitality.
The idea originates from Texas A&M University, USA, where students participate in the Big Event, every year. Following their slogan: „One Big Day, One Big Thanks, One Big Event“ 20,000 students set out to engage in charitable projects in their local community. AIB and its American partner universities, Texas A&M University, Penn State University and Loyola Marymount University, decided to follow their example and implement the charity day here in Bonn too. A wonderful addition were the two alumni students from Texas A&M University who came all the way from the military base in Ramstein to support their fellow Aggies with the International Big Event. On Saturday, April 5th these young Americans assisted in 13 different projects in Bonn and its surrounding area. Most of the projects aimed at brigthening up and improving various parks and gardens for organizations who lacked the time and resources to do it themselves.



In the guest house of the Beethoven Haus in Rolandseck, called „Villa Wasmuth“, one team set to work to prepare the green spaces for the upcoming spring together with Malte Boecker, the director of the Beethoven Haus.The British artist Mark Alexander, who lives there at the moment, worked alongside them. Mr. Boecker, who had invited all AIB students to a concert in the chamber music hall earlier, explains how the collaboration with AIB was established: „The city of Bonn volunteering center called our attention to AIB's offer and I thought that it would be a great idea to invite the students over to put our gardening project into practice. The six students did a fabulous job. It was a fantastic day for us!“
Another team spent their day in a retirement home, the „Haus am Redoutenpark“, where the students were invited to a barbecue after their work was done. Detlef Spoetter, the director, was pleased with their work uttering: „I admire the students' hard work. Now, our senior citizens can actually enjoy our newly planted garden. We hope that we will be able to cooperate with AIB in a similar project next year.“



Most importantly, the students themselves enjoyed the experience. Erin Zebrowski (participant in the Biosciences Study Abroad Program from Texas A&M University, age 20) states: „We have been doing this in College Station for 28 years and it is great to be part of the first International Big Event“.



In line with the theme of the Big Event, to take action together and do good, students and AIB staff took part in the Bonn Marathon one day later, to run for donations. While participating in the Bonn Marathon, 41 AIB-runners have raised more than 1000 € to support the Marol Academy, a NGO in South Sudan that supports educational projects for underprivileged children and is affiliated with the AIB ever since its founding in 2008.



Due to its great success, the AIB hopes to continue with the AIB Charity Weekend in future years.

US-Students say Thank You

Today in the Bonn General Anzeiger (local newspaper) regarding the AIB Charity Day:

US-Students say Thank You

Bonn. More than 80 American students, currently participating in a study abroad semester at the Akademie für Internationale Bildung (AIB), are organizing a charity day on April 5th to say thanks to the citizens of Bonn for their warm hospitality. Most of the projects are recreation and maintenance in and around buildings which can not be done by the residenting institutions due to a lack of money or time of the employees. One group, for example, will recreate the garden at „Haus Wasmuth“ in Rolandseck under the supervision of Beethoven Haus director Malte Boecker. Due to suggestions from the organization „Rückenwind“, another group will renovate and paint the apartment of a Bonn family in need.