Delphi Community High School is hosting five exchange students this year who couldn’t be more different – but one thing they all have in common: they ventured the big “step” over the Pacific right into a new life full of choices, experiences and new impressions. But how does it feel to be in another country, without knowing anyone and speaking another language? How do the students deal with homesickness and all the unknown things that inundate their mind? And what did they expect from and then actually discover in America?
Most of you might be surprised or horrified by this. When asked,“What did you expect America to be like?” the exchange students had a fairly common answer. Here is a little hint: “Wildcats everywhere, wave your hands up in the air.” Yes, you’re right. High School Musical was the first slight expectation the exchange students had when they thought about their year abroad.
Some expectations were true: the locker sections, the lunch table groups and the school spirit at games are new and unknown for Laura, Tim, Jana, Elena, and Purui.
“What I miss most? Good food!” Jana Gornik is obviously not in love with the American kitchen culture, but she is enjoying her favorite sport, basketball. The 15 year-old exchange student from Cologne in Germany played for five years at home and is now a member of the Delphi Oracle team. It might seem ironic, but the thing she misses most in the “country of freedom” is her personal independence and the fact that she can’t walk to school or to town.
Laura Mantyla (17) from Finland misses public transportation, too, and of course her family and friends. She has a little sister (12) and in her free time she runs track, draws and reads. Facebook makes her homesickness a lot worse because she can actually read and see pictures of what her friends back home are doing and sometimes wishes she could participate. Her “ favorites” so far are the soccer team, sweet tea (which doesn’t exist in Finland), and her trip to Chicago.
Purui Lui (17) from China said, “The longer I live in America, the more differences I discover.” New for her is the county life with siblings and the free time – which she likes a lot! She loves taking pictures (during her trip to Disneyland she took about 500!) and trying out new things. Purui also appreciates the fact that everyone is more open about questions and answers them more respectfully. For the rest of her year, she wants to listen to American news more often and find out how we think about her home country of China.
Elena Morawin (16) enjoys living a “second life” that is “at least as good” as hers back home. What scares her a little bit is that she is slowly realizing how easy it is to adopt other people’s views and habits without thinking about where they come from. Writing her diary at least once a month helps her to understand “what is happening” with her and also to reduce her homesickness.
The third and last German this year is Tim Lueneburg (16), known for his soccer skills. He is a member of the “HSC Hanover” – one of the best teams of northern Germany. Unfortunately Tim tore his ACL in his knee during his second soccer game and has to go back home for a surgery in February. His help against homesickness is doing things with friends. Skyping with his family and friends make it “better and worse at the same time.”
Even though their interests, opinions, and home countries are different the exchange students are all united by being new in a culture that captures many surprises and things to discover. It is hard to put the feelings to words, even for the exchange students themselves, but all of them definitely appreciate their choice and are glad that they took advantage of the exchange program.