Stephanie Waller, 18, and her 17-year-old sister Annah Waller, are spending part of their summer vacation abroad — but they are leaving their parents at home.
The Wallers, both students at Morton High School, are among a group of 22 area teenagers participating in Friends of Friedrichshafen, a Peoria-based youth exchange program. The program sends teens to Peoria’s sister city Friedrichshafen, Germany, where they stay with a host family for three weeks. Next year, the roles will be reversed and teens from Friedrichshafen will stay with families in the Peoria area.
The teens left for Germany July 15 and will return Aug. 5.
Although this is his first time traveling to Germany, Peterson is no stranger to the program.
“I’m excited to see ‘my German’ again,” he said.
“His German,” Julien, stayed with Peterson and his family last summer. “We’ve been talking through e-mail ever since,” Peterson said.
He said he is not nervous about traveling without his parents. Neither are his parents.
“They travel a lot,” he said. “They think this trip will be a good experience for me.”
The teens travel with two chaperons, who also stay with host families.
“Even years when we are hosting, we’re having friends come stay with us,” said chaperon Eric Hoadley. “This will be our fourth consecutive year staying in each other’s homes. It’s great.”
Hoadley has been involved with Friends of Friedrichshafen for seven years. This will be his third trip to Germany but his first without his wife, Theresa, as co-chaperon.
While he said he is a bit nervous about his first trip as chaperon without “his rock,” Hoadley said he plans to keep in touch with his wife during the trip the same way the family has kept in touch with the German friends they’ve made from the program.
“Skype is a wonderful thing,” he said.
Hoadley said his family often uses the software application, which allows users to make video calls over the Internet, to keep in touch with their friends in Germany.
“We used it a lot this summer and I made sure my wife knew how to run it so we can keep in touch while I’m gone,” he said.
Hoadley said that while in Germany, the group participates in the daily-life activities of their host families, join in local community events and meet up for eight or nine scheduled events. This year’s scheduled events include a day trip to Munich and Cessna rides through the Swiss Alps.
“The neat thing about the program is the kids actually build friendships,” said Theresa Hoadley. “The Germans are so hospitable. They go out of their way to welcome these kids into their homes and make them feel like family.”
For more information about the program, visit peoriasistercity.org.
