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Foreign exchange students leaving with friendships, fond memories
As they pack their bags to go home this summer, foreign exchange students from Spain, Germany, and Italy who have been attending Clarke County High School this past year say they will be carrying with them fond memories and treasured friendships.Echoing similar sentiments, area families who hosted some of them say their lives too have been enriched by the experience
Under the umbrella of two programs aimed at broadening educational and cultural horizons, some of the students spent the entire academic year while others came for several months.
And as they leave, yet others are hoping to arrive for their chance to learn in – and about – the United States during the upcoming school year.
Tanya Barton, the local coordinator for the New-York-based, nonprofit Program of Academic Exchange, known as PAX, says she is seeking a family to host a 16-year-old German boy named John whose interests include soccer, tennis, basketball, and piano and who hopes to find a family with a dog.
I think he’ll fit really well into Clarke County,” she said, adding he also needs to take French class.
Barton says she became active in the program when she and husband Rick decided to host a student from Brazil in 1999, with whom they still keep in touch.
The key attributes necessary for both the exchange students and the families, she emphasized, are adaptability and open-mindedness.
One characteristic quickly noticeable about the students was that each spoke English understandably and without difficulty.
Pointing out that the students come with their own spending money and medical coverage and pay for their school lunches, Barton says the cost to a host family is basically the price of setting another plate at the table, plus that of gasoline depending on how often the student needs transportation to activities.
Barton said she interviews prospective host families and makes a home visit. The families get to review profiles about each student and contact them so that everyone can get to know each other better before they arrive, Barton added.
You really make someone’s dreams come true,” said Christina Price of Berryville, whose family hosted Lavinia Ferne , an 18-year-old girl from Italy. “And it doesn’t really cost much.”
Most definitely you get more out of it than you’re really putting into it,” she added.
Ferne, who participated in cross-country and tennis and served as a mentor at Berryville Primary School, graduated with the Class of 2008, but still must attend one more year in her native Italy where school lasts 13 years.
Saying she particularly enjoyed going to the prom, Ferne said, “We don’t have anything like that; so it was just fun to get dressed up and go and find a dress and go out to dinner with friends.”
I love this school,” she said, adding she would consider returning to the United States for higher education or additional sight-seeing. While here, she visited New York and Washington, D.C., as well as local and regional attractions, she said.
From the beginning, she was always like an older sister,” said 11-year-old Brooke Price. “We tease each other all the time.” Ferne has an 11-year-old sister in Italy.
Ana Badiola, a 16-year-old from northern Spain who stayed with the family of Tammy and David Lanham of Bluemont, said the experience was an excellent opportunity to study English.
One difference, she noted, is that she has attended the same school since childhood, rather than changing schools at certain grade intervals as students do in this nation.
Badiola, who will be a senior and graduate in Spain next year, took art class and helped make sets for the high school’s drama and theater productions.
Commenting on the architecture of the buildings in this nation’s capital, she said, “They’re really impressive.”
Of the United States, she added, “I always thought it was a cool place.”
Her advice to students considering the program: “It’s just great; they don’t have to be afraid.”
It’s a lot of fun and you learn a lot, and it makes you grow as a person,” Badiola added.
Noting his family purposefully selected a girl because of their 12-year-old daughter, Olivia, David Lanham said, “It really turned out well for us.”
Lanham advised prospective host families to do their homework on the child they are considering hosting, noting, “There’s lot of chemistry and luck involved.”
The other program, a cooperative arrangement between the school system and a German school, the Max Born Gymnasium, allows students to attend to study here for several months.
Three 17-year-old students, who still must attend two more years of schooling in Germany, said they used the opportunity as a chance to take classes not offered in their schools.
Mario Reptschik said he took engineering and environmental systems classes. Christian Hainzinger said he also took engineering and participated in sports. And Sandra Mueller said she took marketing.
Our school is more theoretical,” Hainzinger, adding he especially enjoyed sight-seeing regionally and going sailing.
The exchange students shared several common impressions. They agreed classes and tests were easier than in their schools. And they said they found people in the United States to be very friendly and helpful.
They always ask you, ‘Hey, how are you?’” Mueller pointed out, noting that also the student-teacher relationship in this nation is friendlier.
I always have been interested in the country (United States) and the culture,” Reptschik said
Students also noticed Americans’ heavy reliance on cars to get around – a factor that required scheduling flexibility to accommodate their extracurricular activities. In their countries, they said, places are located closer together and connected better by public transit, bicycle paths, and pedestrian walkways.
Barton, the host families, and the students also emphasized that the exchange programs help dispel stereotypes about different cultures and promote understanding among people and nations.
You bring a lot more families together,” noted Jim Price.
Christina Price said she hopes the experience widened her family’s perspective. “There’s a whole world out there.”
Contact the reporter at rmarlow@timespapers.com
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