Germany 2007 / German - Jordanian Youth Exchange
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Zaid Asfour wrote:
The Snow Ball Effect:
An exchange to pursue for its 4th year! 2007-exchange has indeed endorsed a sustainability of cultural understanding between the youth in Germany and their fellow Jordanians.
A new group of Jordanian youth from various backgrounds and different universities visited Germany for a 10-day well-organized program by our German friends. This year's exchange was entitled "Promoting Intercultural Dialogue" and mainly concentrated on the content. In most of the days of the exchange, workshops were held where participants presented several presentations spanning many topics. Afterwards, discussions were conducted and everybody participated by expressing their ideas and beliefs.
Personally, I was so excited about taking part in this exchange as an organizer rather than a participant as it was the case back in 2005. Along with the Jordan group leader Shadi Nejem and my partner Anas Al-Hadeedi we prepared the Jordanian group before the exchange and the group was astonishing. I take the opportunity here to name them:
| Shadi Nejem |
| Anas Al-Hadidi |
| Zaid Asfour |
| Amer Sma'neh |
| Eman Rawagah |
| Lo'ai Al-Khateeb |
| Saba Badran |
| Omar Kahhaleh |
| Afaq Rawagah |
| Gharam Abu-Assaf |
Since I was in Poland pursuing my engineering internship, I took part in the organization process before leaving to Poland where I spent 2 months. Then, and after my internship has finished, I flied from Poland directly to Germany and met my Jordanian and German colleagues at Munich International Airport.
Back in 2005 my presentation was entitled "Islam Denounces Terrorism"; this year in 2007 my presentation addressed my country Jordan and it was entitled "The Political System in Jordan". You can access the presentation and its notes.
The program had something for everyone. We visited huge industrial companies such as: Witzenmann metal processing company, BASF chemical company and Audi car factory in Ingolstadt. Beside that, we were introduced to many cities and places. You can access the program and check our activities in Germany.
Perhaps the significance of this year exchange was Heidelberg; a wonderful town by Neckar river in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. Heidelberg is home to one of Europe's oldest educational institutes; University of Heidelberg. It was for that university, that this particular town was not targeted by any means by the allies in World War II. Students from all over the globe came to Heidelberg to study in its famous university and hence and unlike other German cities it is an area which had not been destroyed.
Heidelberg, Germany: Castle and "Old Bridge"
At the end of the exchange, and just before one day of heading back home, we had a farewell party where we invested on promoting our beloved Jordan. We presented a video (courtesy of Jordan Tourism Board) about the country's touristic sites. Moreover we provided our German friends with many materials in German about our country.
While I was watching the video about Jordan, I had the feeling that my mission in Europe was successfully accomplished. For two whole months I spent in Poland - where I met people from all over the World - and the ten other days I spent with my German friends, it was time for me to go home. I really missed my country, home, family and friends. This trip however, expanded my horizon to the beyond!
Audi - Ingolstadt