CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP
Due to health considerations, John Jacoby has resigned as President of the Madison-Freiburg Sister City committee. Replacing John are Tom Kaminski tjkaminski49@gmail.com and Mike von Schneidemesser vons@gmx.net. John will continue on the board.

HOSTING A VISITOR
Madison's relationship with Freiburg includes cultural and school exchanges. Frequently groups of adults will visit Madison to get acquainted with our city or to renew friendships formed by previous visits. Madisonians also exchange visits with friends made through their visits to Freiburg. The two cities trade off with social events we have labeled "Fairs". On occasion, young adults are interested in visiting Madison for cultural experience as well as improving their English. High school exchanges are also arranged for interested students.
The committee is asked to provide homestays for these visits. If you might be interested in hosting sometime in the future, please let us know. We are updating our list, so if you already signed up,
we would appreciate it if you would let us know that you are still interested. This can be done by e-mail to Connie Seversin. E-mail tcsev@att.net, phone 608 249-6943.

A VISITOR FROM FREIBURG
Fabian Schwaer, a recent high school graduate from Freiburg, is enrolled at WESLI and is serving as an unpaid intern with the city of Madison.
In June Fabian graduated with the Abitur from Kolleg St. Sebastian, a private Catholic high school in Freiburg. He arrived Sept 4 in Madison and is being hosted by Gerry Brins. Fabian enrolled right away in WESLI on the Square, in the English as a second language program. Accustomed to using public transportation in Freiburg he uses Madison's transit system and takes the bus to downtown.
Fabian enjoys sports of any kind and was one of the 85,000 spectators who saw the Badgers lose to Penn State - ouch!. He fits right in with his red Badger Tee, and knows all about football rules, because it was the subject of a lecture at WESLI. Freiburg's pro soccer team is doing quite well this year, yet the atmosphere at Camp Randall dwarfs anything he has experienced in Freiburg.
The many tennis courts plus the bright lights for play at night have impressed Fabian as well as the fact it is free. He has already adjusted to the quicker response of Madison's concrete courts compared to the clay courts prevalent in Germany. And golfing is a bargain, too. With a friend he tried baseball batting practice at Vitense's, and they were humbled when neither one got a hit at the 45 mph speed. He is also impressed by the people who manage to follow multiple games and sports on the dozen screens or so at a typical sports bar in Madison.
Hm, how does he know, being only 19 years old? He is fully aware of the age laws around here, no alcohol until 21, yet kids can drive at 16. It is 16 and 18, respectively, in Freiburg. He had seen the movie 'American Pie', so he knew what was going on, when upon arriving by bus in Madison in the evening he saw police raid an underage drinking party.
Anything else he found odd? Upon arriving at O'Hare, immigration grilled him on how long and where he planned to stay, scanned his eyes, and took finger prints; but what is the point asking him if he is a terrorist, Nazi, or drug seller?
He likes the pizza around here, even though on his first try to order pizza over the phone it took a good ten minutes to clarify everything. Yet he managed to get it delivered still hot and with the toppings he had to spell out over the phone - doing business over the phone is the biggest challenge for a foreigner with an accent. He likes the generous breakfast offerings: bacon, sausages, eggs, especially breakfast burritos! He noticed that every meal comes with some form of bread and a glass of water, and was surprised how unabashedly people ask for a 'doggie bag'.

WINETASTING AND CAROLING
Our third annual wine tasting of Freiburg and German wines will held on Saturday, 6 December at John Jacoby's house, 748 Chapman St.. We will begin at 6:30. To help offset our costs we are asking for a donation. Later in the evening those who wish to exercise their vocal cords may go caroling. You do not want to miss this opportunity to taste wines brought back by Tom Kaminski after the Madison Fair and sample some wonderful hors d'oeuvre.

HOSTING AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER
Each year members of the Madison Friends of International Students invite one or more international students attending the UW to their Thanksgiving Dinner. Few of these students have any idea of what Thanksgiving is all about, and are surprised when they find the campus vacated on Thursday. This year, 2008, due to good publicity by the MFIS, there are more students than hosts.
To invite a student, please contact Eng Braun, the MFIS Thanksgiving Hospitality Chair, 273-1721, ebraun@chorus.net, and she will put you in contact with one or more students.