According to Philipp Hofmann, compared to his home country of Germany, everything in Gresham, Ore., feels different.

“The parks, the supermarket, the houses, the cars,” Hofmann said. “It is all different.”

Hofmann is one of 12 students visiting Mt. Hood Community College and Oregon. The students, as well as two accompanying instructors, Sven Janssen and Sandra Kuehnast, are from Berufsbildene schule Stadthagen (BSS) in Stadthagen in Lower Saxony, Germany.

They arrived in Oregon Oct. 23 and will be staying until Nov. 11.

The students are here to perfect their English, tour different locations in Oregon and converse with students and the community about their country and world views.

Also, the students will be learning about business in the United States while job shadowing in various locations.

Students will be shadowing at Safeway, the Oregon State Credit Union, as well as MHCC, according to Kuehnast, as well as other locations.

While visiting, the students and instructors have noticed differences between life at MHCC and life back home.

In Germany, students sign with a company and get paid for training. As such, there is no tuition, because students are actually paid to go to school.

Keuhnast said that the fees MHCC tudents pay were quite a shock to her students.
Germany has been in the international news recently because of the chancellor elections held Sept. 18 that took three weeks to sort out, resulting finally in the country’s first female chancellor.

Student Elvira Radke said, “I think it is important. It is a good time for change for women in government.”

Asked about the outcome of the election, Christopher Babatz said, “It doesn’t matter, it’s very important to change the [unemployment] situation in Germany. The social system in Germany is [set up] so if you don’t really want to, you don’t have to work.”

Saskia Abel agreed with Babatz. “It doesn’t matter who is chancellor, we have to do something in Germany.” Abel, who already speaks French and is learning Spanish, said, “I don’t know when I finish my education what I’ll have to do. It’s pretty hard. So I’m here to speak English because it is good [to learn English].”