Day 10, 22.October 2019

On Tuesday, October 22, the German students went to Oklahoma City to visit the Capitol and to the Oklahoma History Museum. We started at school at 9.30 am and the two Norman North teachers Mrs Rex and Mrs Bagg and one mother drove us to the Oklahoma Capitol building. There we had a short guided tour. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much because of a lot of ongoing constructions. Still the building, the hallways, materials, etc. that we saw appeared to be extremely impressive, for instance the Senate hall, and also very beautiful. Later we went into the Capitol's souvenir shop and some of us bought a jumper, a cup or magnets as gifts for our family and friends at home.

After looking at the Oklahoma Capitol building we had a short break and had the opportunity to take pictures, eat our packed lunch, and enjoy the warm sun in the park outside the Capitol. Then we walked to the Oklahoma History Museum. Over there we had two and a half  hours to look at all the different galleries. The topics, for example the Land Run as one of Oklahoma's major moments of settlement, the famous sinking of the steamboat 'Heroine', or African American life in Oklahoma and the US, were all really interesting. There was so much to see that it was hard to make your way through all of them, especially because everything was in English and sometimes not very easy to understand because we didn’t know all the vocabulary.

I was most interested in the gallery about Oklahoma's Indians ("Native Americans in Oklahoma"). I loved finding out more about their way of living, about their history, culture, language and their present role in everyday social, political, and artistic life. In general the museum was really nice because we could also touch things, and do things ourselves and not just look at them. Furthermore, there were some amazing pieces of art or other exhibits, and it was a great opportunity to see them.

After coming home that day my exchange partner had bowling tryouts for the school's bowling team. I was really surprised that they even have their own bowling team. It was a lot of fun to watch because my partner Colleen did quite well. Also, one of the men working there was extremely interested in German culture and asked me a lot of questions. Further on, he gave me bowling shoes and I was  allowed to bowl with everybody (I really did not do well, but it was fun). Some of the other student went to HeyDay, a family entertainment center, and spent some time together there.

Altogether it was a great day to learn more about American culture and especially about Oklahoma's long and eventful history.