On Friday, October 25, the German students and their partners made a trip to the Wichita Mountains southwest of Norman, Oklahoma.

We met at Norman North High School at 8:30 am and after taking a group picture with the GAPP shirt everyone was wearing, we had to drive for one and a half hours. The bus we were driving in was a typical yellow school bus so the German students could make the experience of how it was to be sitting in one of them. 

When we finally arrived, a rancher from Native American descent drove with us through the Wildlife Refuge. He told us about the animals which live there. For example, he talked about the prairie dog, which is very important for the ecosystem, which wouldn’t work without that cute little animal. However, we didn’t see one because the weather was too bad (there was lots of rain and wind), but we saw some Texas longhorn cattle, deer and bison - even herds of bisons. The rancher was very emphatic about protecting nature and kept telling us we should cherish it and protect it for future generations. We could feel he really meant it. At a river we got out to take some pictures and to walk just a bit, but it was so cold, windy and rainy that we only stayed for 10 minutes. Still, it was worth the experience.

After the tour we walked through the small museum where we learned a lot about nature, mostly about local animals and plants and about how they matched. Some of us bought some souvenirs in the gift shop and some of us took pictures with the padded bison.

Then we drove to Meers, a small village close to the Wildlife Refuge, which is popular and famous for a restaurant serving huge longhorn burgers. We also got to try cobbler, a delicious and very typical American dessert.

After eating those huge servings most of us were sleeping almost all the way back to Norman. When we arrived, all the German students went home with their partners. Some of us did a movie night together but most just hung out at home relaxing.