The Freisinger Dom-Gymnasium celebrated diversity with the revitalized “Festival of Languages and Cultures”. Students and teachers told the Freisinger Tagblatt what they particularly value.
Freising – Language is many things: identity, communication, but also an audible sign of the diversity in this world. “We should appreciate this diversity, which is why we organized a celebration for it today,” explained the headmaster of the Dom-Gymnasium, Manfred Röder, at the beginning of the event. At the “Festival of Languages and Cultures” people made crafts, listened, feasted and, above all, learned a lot about other countries.
Twelve stations, around 20 teachers and well over 100 visitors who wanted to learn more about other languages and other cultures enjoyed the event, which was charmingly packaged – without a bell-like character, but with great attention to detail. These language events are actually an old tradition from the Dom-Gymnasium, but the corona pandemic has also messed things up here and forced breaks in this regard. Röder was all the more pleased that visitors flocked to the Domberg this year and that some language stations were literally overrun.
Divided over three floors, guests were able to sit in the different classrooms and be transported to either France, Spain, England or America. The responsible teachers, who were here with great commitment, bypassed the classic lectures and instead let the visitors immerse themselves in customs such as pumpkin carving for Halloween.
Pumpkin carving and pinata making
The four high school students Tobias (15), Henri (15), Caglar (15) and David (15), who grabbed a pumpkin to paint, were also very happy with the offer. Foreign languages definitely play a big role for them, because from the eleventh grade onwards you can choose between Latin and Spanish at the Dom-Gymnasium. “If you don’t choose Latin, you’re probably terribly bad at it, or you’re great at English,” says David. They all celebrate Halloween itself, but “just not to excess.”
“We just ran out of wallpaper paste,” Angela Eisenberger had to admit. The reason: Their pinata-making station was a magnet for visitors. “The hardest part was the first layer,” explained Laura (10), who was just sticking a layer of newspaper onto an inflated balloon. While the paste was drying, the ten-year-old explained what goes into a real pinata: lollipops, gummy bears and of course lots of chocolate. Her papier-mâché ball will be inaugurated and opened at the same time in December, which is her birthday.
Liver cheese roll and literature potpourri
Matheo (10) is more of a puzzle enthusiast and has only been going to school at the Dom-Gymnasium this year and thinks it’s “totally cool”. He took part in the quiz show about Canada. However, English is not his favorite language, but rather Latin. The young high school student really likes foreign languages and countries, but when it comes to his favorite food, Matheo relies on the tried and tested: a real liver loaf roll.
The “Freisinger Literaturpotpourri” wasn’t about liver loaf rolls, but rather about Bavarian writers. Benedikt Fuchs organized a reading in which Freising writers in particular had their say, such as Josef Hofmiller with his travel observations or Carl Amery with his novel “The Secret of the Crypt”.
Baseball and show dancing
Meanwhile, all sports enthusiasts were able to work off some energy in the gym, where the Freising Grizzlies introduced them to the finer points of baseball. But there was also sport to watch: The Dom Dancers, a show dance group, showed their latest choreographies and received thunderous applause. Of course, it was also possible to recharge your batteries between the different stations because the parents had prepared a huge buffet – and it also charmingly dealt with the different countries and the associated culinary delicacies.
Speaking of cuisine: Headmaster Röder is an Italy fan, but he especially loves South Tyrolean Gröstl the most. However, there are no compromises when it comes to your favorite language. “Latin, no question,” says Röder with a smile. “After all, that’s what I teach.”
