Delphi’s newest exchange student, Lena Strack, is from Berlin, Germany. Lena actually has a twin brother, who is also a foreign exchange student. Traveling to a country overseas, not only away from your parents, but from your twin, cannot be an easy task. Adopting a family who you know so little about can be intimidating and lonely in ways.

Lena’s brother is currently in Saginaw, Michigan, as an exchange student. She says she doesn’t talk to him much, but she hopes he is doing well. They were influenced by their dad because he, too, did an exchange year in Oregon. At first, her brother wasn’t interested in becoming an exchange student until after Lena decided she was coming to America. 

During Lena’s travels, she was flying from Berlin, Germany, to Frankfurt, Germany. She was flying with a bunch of other exchange students from Frankfurt to Chicago. Her three hour layover in Frankfurt just kept getting longer, and the flight crew kept saying that the plane was not prepared. Eventually, they were informed that the windshield of their plane had been cracked and they had to find another plane. So, the airport gave the students each a five star hotel room as compensation. Because of all this mess, she wasn’t able to fly with the other students to Chicago, and had to fly into Washington D.C instead. By the time she reached Indianapolis, she asked the airport counter where her luggage was, and they had no idea. So she went to her host house with only her backpack. Fortunately, three days later, her suitcase magically appeared on her front step. Talk about a tough first impression!

So far Lena’s experience here has only been positive, she was nervous because she had heard of other exchange students who have had negative experiences with finding friends, but she hasn’t had that issue at all. She says that even her teachers have been interested in her and she is amazed at how nice and welcoming everybody has been to her. Her teachers in Germany don’t care about you personally. Apparently this environment has been a change of pace compared to Germany. German school is harder compared to American school, and most people in Germany think Americans are dumb because of this. 

Surprisingly, Lena is excited to embrace American culture, which is mainly based around sports. Currently Lena is playing volleyball, and is the team’s biggest cheerleader. She said that one of the things she was looking forward to the most was to go to her first ever American football game, which would’ve been this previous Friday. According to other Oracle fans, she was definitely decked out in camo for the “Hunting Bison” theme. Lena can’t wait to enjoy her new life here and be involved in almost everything, making the most out of her opportunity.