One day shortly after the summer holidays, we were surprised with changing our classroom for the sportsground. There was someone very special and we had the chance to interview him. Read here what we found out:
His name is Ray, he is 26 years old and lives in Washington DC. He works as a fitness coach and used to be a professional footballer in the second team of Washington DC United, where he trained under famous British coach Wayne Rooney.
Ray came to Germany to visit his uncle, who lives in Schlebusch and to inquire about job chances at football clubs in the area. His family originates from Ethiopia in East Africa, but when Ray was ten years old, they moved to the US. Now he lives not far from the White House inWashington. When asked about the environment, he told us that there are some young men who like to move around in the streets like gangsters, but usually people avoid trouble. Most of the people in the US are very religious and Ray enjoys listening to spiritual music.
Outside the city Ray likes the landscapes of Maryland, the silence and the colours of nature. He doesn’t eat fast food because he says the processed food is poison for your body. He even shops at the American Aldi, because the food they sell comes from Europe and he thinks it is healthier.
We also talked about politics, and Ray surprised us with the statement that although Trump is a “bad person”, he is convinced that he is “a good politician“. Another topic we asked him about is money. Everything is really expensive in the United States, he told us. WIFI costs 80 USD per month and the house rent is several thousand dollars. Insurances, like for a car or for medical treatment, are really expensive too.
The army is a “big thing“ in the USA; they even offer trainings for students at school, where you can learn to train like the professionals. After high school you can then easily sign in the army if you want to. Both, female and male are welcome and 40-60 percent of the students decide to join this special school project. Ray joined the army program too, because of its effective and well structured physical trainings. But after school, he didn’t sign in the army.
When we asked him about his impressions of Germany, he told us that he thinks it ́s funny that if you look at the size, three German cars would fit into his truck at home. He likes being in Germany because he says, the people here are very friendly and that is also the thing he will remember when he goes back to Washington.
...................................
This text is a co-production of class 9 b, based on a report written by Amelie Hillmann, compiled by Moritz Graupner, with technical support by Leo Voigt and edited by the teacher.
