Article by: Phia Anderson

While the Excellence Center in Europe offers many language learning, volunteering, and internship opportunities at the center, they also make sure to offer community-based events for the many participants they host here from around the world! Let’s look at a few of them and how some of the participants here feel about participating in them. 

Daily Breakfast at the Excellence Center

Monday through Thursday every week the Excellence Center hosts a group breakfast for all of the participants in its programs. With delicious Arab food made by the director, Rafat, and some of the language teachers, everyone walks away each morning with a full stomach and enough energy to start the day. 

The breakfasts also serve as an important opportunity to build community and bonds between program participants themselves and the staff at the center, with every meal shared at one table and everybody sharing good conversation. 

“The breakfasts have been so important to me here,” Madeline Brooks, one of the Arabic students, reflects. “I feel like they let me get to know everyone so much better and also get involved with some of the culinary culture of the Arab world.”

“It’s really nice to get to share a meal with everyone,” volunteer Phia Anderson says. “Even if you don’t come to breakfast every day, the people there are always so excited to see you and chat, which makes you feel so welcome.”

Weekly Soccer Matches

Every week, the Excellence Center hosts a soccer match at a local pitch only a five-minute walk from the center. With the director, Rafat Shantir, and one of the teachers, Muaz Alabaid, serving as team captains, the participants of the different programs all take part in competitive fun against each other as teammates. While some of the players have experience playing soccer before, many of them do not, and the games serve as an introduction to soccer and an important part of German sports culture as well as a fun way to let off steam. 

Daily Activities in the Excellence Center

MacKenzie Zwillman, one of the volunteers, had never played or had an interest in soccer before, but after taking part in the center’s weekly football matches is now following the Euros closely and looking forward to every Wednesday evening, when the center’s matches are played. 

Madeline Brooks, another volunteer who had played soccer in middle school but hadn’t gotten a chance to play in a long time, thoroughly enjoys the matches as well. “I love playing against the other people from the center,” she says. “It’s so fun to get to play with Rafat and Muaz too, and it helps all of us at the center bond.”

Field Trips

The center regularly holds field trips for program participants, whether in the language courses or for everyone at the center regardless of their program, that take them outside of Halle and to important historical and cultural experiences. 

One of the most recent trips was to Berlin, where the center visited Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe while sharing the history of the city with the participants as they explored before they had a group dinner to culminate the day. 

Hugh Morrison, one of the participants in the field trip, had only good things to say about it. 

“I think it’s always nice to see people outside of their usual environment because you can see them interact a lot more,” Hugh explained. “[Rafat and Muaz] were really excited to take us.” Dining out together was also special to him. “I feel like our center is so centered around food, so whenever we get a chance to eat with each other it’s really nice.”

Recently, Muaz, one of the language teachers at the Excellence Center, also took many participants on a trip to Leipzig to visit St. Thomas Church and the N’ Ostalgie Museum, which is a museum that focuses on the history of Eastern Germany from the splitting up of Germany following World War 2 to the current reality in eastern Germany today. 

“One hour there was not enough,” Hugh Morrison said. “It’s one of the most interactive museums I’ve ever been to. It was so big, and there was so much to learn about and so much to look at.” 

Regardless of whether they’re a day trip to the capital or a quick visit to a nearby museum, the field trips the center hosts always end up being valuable for their participants– socially, educationally, and recreationally!

Weekly Nights Out in Halle

To make participants feel even more comfortable and involved in Halle, the center organizes weekly nights out at a local bar and restaurant, Hafenmeister & Docks, located near the Saale River. These nights out offer an opportunity for winding down in a social setting outside the center and often involve students from the local ESN Halle section, which is a part of Erasmus Student Network, an inter-European student voluntary organization. 

A Love for Language & Learning Arabic: Hugh Morrison on his Program with the Excellence Center

“Docks is great,” Ali Moshmosh, who usually organizes the outings to Docks, says. “Going out there lets people from the center meet locals and other internationals and start to get more comfortable in our community.”

“Docks is always a fun time,” Mackenzie Zwillman agrees. “It’s so nice to see people outside of the center just having a fun time, and it makes everyone feel like coworkers, but like a family.”

Conclusion

Needless to say, the activities the center puts on are always memorable and fun, and whether they’re athletic, historical, or social, they’re sure to put a smile on everyone’s face. At the Excellence Center, the community is one of the biggest parts of the programs we offer, and we take care to build community at every opportunity and engage our participants in whatever way they might want. 

 

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