Teen heads to Germany as part of Rotary Youth Exchange
Alex Kail, 17, said he was excited to head to Germany as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.
“Just the culture. I just want to live and breathe German and be a little German boy,” he said. Kail was looking forward to seeing anything that was different from the United States.
However, Kail said he tried not to have too many expectations and was willing to see how the experience went.
“I’ll just go in without expectations to live it to the fullest,” he said.
Kail will travel to Paderburn, Germany, for one year starting Aug. 18. He will attend a gymnasium, which he described as an advanced high school similar to U.S. advanced placement classes.
He gave a presentation about himself and U.S. culture to Rotary Club of Farragut Wednesday, July 27. He said it would be the same presentation he would give in Germany. The presentation in-cluded photographs of Kail’s American-style celebrations of Independence Day, Halloween and Christmas.
Kail said he was ready for the trip.
“Maybe it would be better if I spoke more German, but you can only ask for so much,” he said.
His father, Kevin Kail, works for Woodmen Life Insurance, which donates American flags and patriot handbooks containing the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of In-dependence and biographies of presidents to Rotary Youth Ex-change participants.
“A little touch of America to take with them wherever they go,” he said.
Kail also talked about his family.
“I think that’s really at the core of who I am. The relationships with family are probably the most important thing in the world,” he said. He graduated from Farragut High School one year early this year in May.
“It’s kind of all a blur of online classes and small amounts of sleep, but here I am,” he said.
He said the early graduation allowed him to avoid coming back to high school after the year abroad.
His presentation also included a slide with various Tennessee icons including Jack Daniels, Dolly Parton, MoonPies and the Great Smoky Mountains.
He said he was introduced to traveling at an early age. At ages five and seven he traveled to Canada and Mexico. However, he said he had not recently traveled to other countries.
