BY BEN GORMAN

     As Oktoberfest comes and goes Mariemont loses its close German ties.  Just a couple weeks ago we said goodbye to our German students, David (pronounced Dah-veed) Schoenfelder and Marc Dietz. If you didn’t guess from Marc’s last name, they are the cousins of senior, Wilhelm Dietz. The Dietz family is German themselves and Wil’s grandparents still live in Germany, where the majority of his family still currently resides.

     Every so often Wil goes back to his family roots. Marc recalls first meeting Wil in Germany “three or four years ago” at his “little village in the forest, Silberg.” Schoenfelder met his cousin the same way we met the duo, while he was a student in his German School in Stuttgart.

     After a quick conference with the principal, Marc was told he “could stay in America and miss school for three or four weeks,” according to Dietz.  That was all the convincing he needed.

     While the cousins’ only experience with American high school is Mariemont, they loved their high school experience here. In fact, Marc even said he would like to transfer to Mariemont if “there weren’t so much homework.”

     What really made the American experience enjoyable for the two travelers were the differences from their home. “Everything is much cheaper here,” Marc says happily, “You also make holidays a bigger deal.”

     Upon their return they will recommend an American voyage to their friends.

     Await their return as Schoenfelder said he may come back “maybe one day.”