SFHS GAPP 2025: #10 - Leipzig (Zeitgeschichtliches Forum & Zoo)

April 1, 2025

Today was a busy day all around. Several of our kids gave presentations, many of the German kids had a four-hour long exam, some of us went to the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum (a truly fascinating contemporary history museum that hits the spot because that history happened right around the corner from the museum), and then most of us went to the zoo.

Genna writes:

Hi from Germany! This trip so far has been incredible; there have been so many amazing activities, and countless memories have been made.

Today, I didn’t really attend school with my partner. In the morning, I hung out with a few other Americans in the school's café, we went to Netto for some snacks, and shared stories from our trip. Then, Isaac, Kelvin, Holden, and I went into the city (alone!!!). We explored the Lindt store (surprisingly I left empty-handed), and then decided to travel with the Straßenbahn. We only traveled one stop over to the Hauptbahnhof, but it was really exciting! Being on our own in Germany (even if only for 2 hours) just made us feel really independent, and we had a lot of fun together. We then met up with Ida and Mariana and made our way back to the school in time for lunch.

This lunch was really good! Our school lunch is really nothing compared to what they get here, so getting to enjoy these meals has been really amazing. I then went with Isaac and his partner to her English class in order to see some friends' presentations and experience what their English class is like.

The Zoo. This was the best part of the day and probably the week. I explored the zoo for 2 hours and got to see so many amazing animals. I love getting to watch the wildlife just live like normal, and I find them all so fascinating. My favorite part was the elephants. The way they use their trunks to eat and drink is so interesting, and it was so fun to watch.

Although I could talk about the zoo for MUCH longer, I’ll move on to go-carting. Even though I didn’t go too fast, I had a great time driving around! Isaac only hit me once! Truly a blessing. We drove for about 30 mins, and after the first lap or so, I realized these go-carts could go much faster than the ones back home. That is when it REALLY became fun.

After go-carting, we all went out to eat some typical German Schnitzel, and then called it a night.

Today was full of new and excited experiences, and has easily become one of my favorites from the trip so far! I can’t wait to see Wittenberg tomorrow!

Kelvin writes:

Today I woke up early because Julia had a big German exam. She was stressed about it, but it went well! While she took the exam, I went into the city with Genna, Holden, and Isaac. We explored the city and got some really delicious fries.

Afterwards I went to art class with Annabel, Holden‘s exchange partner. It was interesting for me because I haven’t taken an art class since elementary school, and it was nice to be creative again. I drew a couple pictures relating to our assignment and Google translated a description at the bottom in German (Herr Strecker and Frau Legall, you didn’t see this). It was only a rough outline, but I think it turned out well!

The majority of my time today was spent at the Leipzig Zoo. It was so crazy, I was there for three and a half hours and I still barely got through everything. There were so many places to learn or read about the animals, and I only skimmed a few. All of the exhibits were so interesting! Some that especially stuck out to me were the aquarium and the African Savanna. Every part of the zoo was so big and there was so much space for a lot of the animals to move around.

In my opinion, the most impressive section of the zoo is Gondwanaland, which is a part of the zoo that is modeled after a rainforest. It had so many trees and vines and exotic flowers, along with countless species of colorful birds that created a cacophony of sounds. It even had a river that ran through the middle and circled around for a river tour! Unfortunately for us, Gondwanaland also imitated the climate of a rainforest, so it was hot and humid despite the cold weather outside. By the time I was at the end of the exhibit, I was ready to be finished, but it was really impressive how large and detailed that part of the zoo was.

Afterwards, I finally had my first Döner ever! I was barely able to finish it because it was so large and messy to eat, but it was good!