Maximillian (Max) Goll, our 2022-2023 exchange student, introduced himself to the club. Max is from Bad Homburg, Germany, a city of about 54,000. Max was born in 2006 in Beijing China when his father was on an overseas assignment. He has 2 younger sisters, 15 and 13, one born in the US and one in Germany. Thus all 3 Goll children were born on different continents. Most of his friends are from school or his soccer team, and several of his friends are also on exchange programs this year. From the photos, it looked like the going-away party was a good time!
Max has volunteered with local groups sending donated clothing and personal items to Ukraine. He enjoys concerts and sports – especially soccer. Max’s family skis in Italy every year. He hopes to go to a Packers game in October. His favorite soccer team is Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga (Germany’s soccer equivalent of the NFL).
Max said that Germany is similar in many ways to the US but has distinct differences. The country is much smaller , and the population of Germany is ¼ of the US. Cities with Bad in the name are famous for their good water quality.
Max's school in Bad Homburg is Kaiserin-Friedrich-Gymnasium. The student census is 1400, and there are 120 teachers plus other staff. The school system is much different, with some students finishing after the equivalent of 10th grade in the US. The two years after that are equivalent to college in the US.
Among his goals for this year, Max listed hoping to meet new people, making friends, having good times, living in a new culture, seeing new places, and “having the best time of his life”.
Max told us a little bit about the outbound exchange student process. In Germany, Max had an annoyingly large number of video calls early on. Max got his wish country of the US. The program’s preparation in Germany included a district conference in Wiesbaden.
Max has already had some good experiences visiting many places including the MN state fair (and apparently sampling Sweet Martha's cookies), and he started high school soccer. He has already met most of the Northstar Youth Exchange students. When he spoke to the club, Max was accompanied by his current host mom Brandy Howe.