After hosting a young woman from
Germany for a month, Weyburn's Marie Barber flew to Germany on
July 27 as part of a Rotary Club exchange program.By MITZY MOLBERG of the Weyburn Review
After hosting a young woman from
Germany for a month, Weyburn's Marie Barber flew to Germany on
July 27 as part of a Rotary Club exchange program.
The daughter of Mal and Delaine Barber, Marie is a Grade 12 student at Weyburn Comprehensive School. She enjoys drama, band, and debate among many other things.
Daniela Hahn, Barber's exchange partner, arrived in Weyburn on June 30, 1999. Hahn spent the month of July with Barber and the two flew back to Germany together at the end of July.
Barber says it took Hahn a while to get adjusted to life in Weyburn. She was amazed at the abundance of space in town that allowed people to have front lawns. Barber says there isn't room for a lawn in the town of Eppelsheim where Hahn lives, an hour's drive from Frankfurt, Germany. Barber also said that Hahn was shocked at how kids in Weyburn just drove around if they were bored.
While Hahn was staying with the Barber family, they went to the Black Hills for a week. She was thrilled to be able to see a bit of the United States on her trip as well.
Barber admits she doesn't know how many other students applied for the trip, but says her base knowledge of German probably impressed the selection committee.
"I take German classes Saturday mornings in Regina. I'm in Grade 12 credit classes right now," she explains.
Barber travelled to Germany with
a group of other Rotary-sponsored students from southern Saskatchewan.
She says most of the group was split up on arrival at the Frankfurt
airport, but one girl from Saskatoon ended up in the same village
as she did.
One of the first things she noticed on arrival in Germany was how busy it was. Her host family - the Hahn's - consisted of 17-year-old Daniela, her 15-year-old sister, their grandmother and her friend, and the girls' parents.
Barber observed that towns in Germany were more compact that those in Saskatchewan. She says that almost all families owned tiny vehicles and had no room for a front lawn. The houses were all very close together and Barber says the Hahn home was more than 200 years old - although it was considered comparatively new.
The cuisine in Germany wasn't too outrageous for Barber's palate, but she says she flatly refused her host father when he offered her one food:
"He wanted to make me eat horse meat but I wouldn't. They're for pets," she states firmly.
Barber also commented that German people "ate a lot of sausage and really heavy brown bread." She says her host family didn't drink tap water, but bought carbonated water instead. One of her favourite foods was a salad dressing that Mrs. Hahn made.
Because Barber was in Germany for
a whole month, she says she got the opportunity to do some 
fun local things that average tourists
might not have known about.
"There's a once-a-year fireworks show on the River Rhine. It was amazing because they had all these huge ships and they were all decorated with lights like a parade."
She says the fireworks themselves were also spectacular and lasted for nearly an hour. Barber says that they also went to movies and parties like typical North American teenagers.
"One night we walked to the next city for a party," she said with a laugh, noting that the city was only five kilometres away.
Alternately, Barber concedes that she and her host family did a lot of sightseeing as well.
"We toured a lot," she said. "They liked the touring, too, because they got to see things that they wouldn't normally get to see."
Barber says they travelled around Germany and also spent 10 days in France where they climbed 330 steps to the top of the Munster Cathedral. They had planned to go to Austria as well, but they ran short of time.
Barber's favourite stop was the medieval castle at Ehrenburg, Germany where people dressed in period costumes and staged mock sword fights.
"We had a medieval-style meal. It was really cool. It felt like you were there because they all acted out the parts," she said.
"We also took ship rides on the Rhine River and I saw the biggest wine barrel in the world," Barber says of the tourist attraction at Bad Durkheim. A restaurant is housed inside the enormous structure.
"We went down to the Black Forest and I got to try real Black Forest cake and Black Forest ham." But Barber admits the cake was a little too potent for her liking.
"It had a lot of Schnapps in it," she said with a smile. The family also visited the world's largest cuckoo clock and Barber bought a clock from the souvenir shop inside.
Barber tells that strangers in Germany were generally unfriendly and she never saw a smiling face. Once when she and her friend from Saskatoon were riding the train, a young man from Texas came over and introduced himself. She says she remembers the first thing he said to her.
'"I knew you weren't German because you were smiling,'" she recalls with a laugh.
Coming back to Weyburn, Barber says she appreciated the laid-back driving style of most Canadians.
"I got carsick almost every time I was in the car," she groans - noting that people swerved a lot while they were driving. Barber says that she also experienced the Autoban - the highway with no speed limit - but that her host father didn't drive nearly as fast as some other drivers. Barber's host mother tried to convince her to take a turn behind the wheel, but Barber says she was too afraid.
Marie will graduate from WCS this June and says she plans to take her first two years of general studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
"I want to go into law," she says, and notes that she'd like to finish her degree at Dalhousie in Halifax.
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