Avilla to Germany and back again

A computer monitor reads out Test Score: 101 percent.

For former Carroll High School student, Emma Hinniger, it was almost too easy. Unlike her other peers enrolled in Indiana Connections Academy, she already has the ability to speak German.

In 2004, at 3 years old, Emma, along with both of her parents and four brothers, moved from Avilla to Moers, Germany, where she lived for about seven years.

At first, she didn’t completely understand the move.

“I thought we were still in America,” She said.

Since then, she has come to feel as though her understanding of culture and the people around her is much more developed than many people in the Fort Wayne area.

Thanks to her first-hand experience of German traditions, she feels much more of a personal understanding with people who celebrate and have different cultural events and norms, rather than just knowing facts about them.

She says her favorite tradition she always celebrated in Germany involved lighting a candle each of the four Sundays before Christmas and on those Sundays, cake and other sweets were always served.

Returning to America was problematic.

“It was hard for me, especially because I moved into a place where people aren’t quite as accepting,” Emma said.

Emma had to cope with learning how to act “American.”

When she moved back in the fourth grade, many other children asked her if her family members were Nazis during the war. World War II is taught in German schools, however it is not commonly spoken about and many Germans are ashamed that their country is at fault for such destruction and sadness worldwide.

From her point of view, people here are more judgmental, but they also tend to be friendlier than Germans. She does clarify that Germans are not rude, despite hearing this as a common stereotype. They just happen to value respect more so than Americans do, causing them to often come off negatively.

Overall, Emma views Germany as a major piece of her childhood where she had many fond memories, but she does state that she wouldn’t want to move back.

Thanks to having to opportunity to live on two different continents, she has been inspired to travel the world and learn new languages.

“I want to go somewhere completely new as an adult,” she said. “And have my own life outside of these two countries”