Students from Belleville's German sister city take in the sights

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This year marks the 20th that Belleville Sister Cities Inc. has participated in a youth exchange program with Paderborn, Germany.

To mark the occasion, Lansing Hecker, honorary German consul from St. Louis, presented a plaque Monday to Sister Cities as past chaperones and hosts welcomed the latest contingent from Germany.

Twelve youth and three chaperones from the Paderborn area will be here until July 17, staying with host families and visiting regional sites.

Coordinator Doris Roach said there are a full two weeks of activities planned that started Monday with a tour of Belleville West High School and some downtown landmarks.

Today, the group is headed for Springfield, where they will see a lot of Abraham Lincoln sites, and Six Flags Over MidAmerica west of St. Louis is another destination this week.

The youth have already had a weekend to get to know their host families and to recover from their travel.

Vivien Fortmeier, 15, and Annika Wolfforster, 17, traveled to Springfield with host Alycia Hollinshead to see fireworks and later go shopping at a mall.

"It is really different," Vivien said. "Everywhere we saw the American flag. It is colorful. It is so gray in Germany."

For more on this story, read the News-Democrat on Tuesday or return Tuesday to bnd.com

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