Exchange students at Tecumseh High School adjusting to change

For seven students, walking the hallways of Tecumseh High School (THS) is more than just being in a new school — they’re in a whole new country. Anna Galli of Italy, Piet Strohschein of Germany, Lledo Ofrecio of Spain, Oscar Widen of Sweden, Maren Cremer of Germany, Youp Vermeulen of Holland, and Hathaitot Sukpattee of Thailand, are all adjusting to more than just a new school year.The food is different, their families are different, the school day is different, even sports are different. They are all happy and excited to be in the United States, but in the second week of school the newness of everything is still overwhelming.Schedules have been adjusted, for a few students multiple times, and the kids are trying to find their way in the busy high school. Certain aspects of life at THS and in Tecumseh are different and a little strange for the students.“The food is weird,” said Anna.Youp finds the poster of the atomic bomb mushroom cloud in his history class a little strange. Hathaitot is struggling to follow her history class and the study of World War II, and finding language to be a bit of a barrier.“Some of the words don’t translate into Thai,” she said.Sports have helped Piet, Anna and Oscar make connections with other students. Piet is the kicker for the football team, and played football and soccer back in Germany.The biggest difference Piet finds in playing football for Tecumseh is how much more the team practices. “In Germany we only practice two or three days a week,” he said. “Here practice is every day.”Anna is on the volleyball team, and has 10 years of experience with the sport in Italy. “The girls here are nice,” Anna said. “At first I was really nervous.”Oscar has only been in the States for a week, and is waiting to start practicing and playing games with the THS soccer team. He is ready to take the field as an attacking midfielder and striker.One adjustment is the games in Sweden were played on turf rather than grass. “That’s a big difference,” he said.Their host families have been a good fit for the kids. Traditionally, there is an exchange student catalog where families interested in sponsoring a student see which student would fit with their families.Oscar’s family has three teenage boys who play soccer and video games, just like Oscar. Anna and Youp share the same host family. Another connection for the kids is Youp’s host brother and Oscar’s host brother are close friends, which meant the boys met shortly after Oscar arrived in Tecumseh.For Piet and Lledo, the trip to the United States was a bit different. Piet is the third boy from his family in Germany to stay with his Tecumseh host family. Lledo is the second daughter from her family to stay with her Tecumseh family.Cars are different for the students as well. Oscar found it interesting so many students have their own cars at 16 or 17. In Sweden driving starts at 18, and Oscar said car ownership doesn’t happen until around 25.“I think people should ride bikes more,” said Loup. “In Holland riding a bike is a lifestyle.”But then he admitted with a smile it was nice to be asked to ride in a car.Besides food choices, the students find nutrition to be different than their home countries. Oscar was surprised that students don’t eat healthy foods before practice and games and instead are likely to grab a bag of potato chipsAnna is adjusting to fewer meals with the entire family around the table together. Every day in Italy, meals were shared together.“I love the way you love your country,” Anna said and the other students agreed. “Every house has a flag. Every classroom has a flag.”As for traveling within the U.S., most of the students were interested in a trip to California, where Oscar will go with his host family during winter break.Youp would like to travel to Hawaii through the exchange student program. A surfer in Holland, he is interested in the promise of bigger waves than he was used to back home.“I really want to ride the big wave,” Youp said.If the students were to pass along the knowledge about the United States they have learned so far, they would tell future exchange students, teenage life in the U.S. is a little like the movies but with less dancing.“It’s kind of another world here,” said Anna.“Don’t expect that everything will be as you think,” Hathaitot said. “And bring a dictionary!”

Tecumseh Herald

 

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