We have two foreign exchange students attending school on campus this year who have come from two different countries. One is from the Netherlands and one is from Spain. My first question for them was, “what is it like over there?” Anne, from The Netherlands said, “the temperature is very different; it snows a lot.” Her language is different too. In the Netherlands, they speak Dutch.  The same went for the other student, Paula, who comes from Spain. She said in Spain they don’t eat lunch at school; they wait until they get home around 3 p.m. to eat lunch, then they have a late dinner, around 10 p. m.

The reasons they gave for coming here is because they want to speak better English and make new friends.  The things they miss the most from home is food, family, and friends.

I asked how school was different from ours? They have much smaller schools and see most of the same people all the time. They also have no sports teams at school. Instead, the kids who play sports, like Paula, who is an avid basketball player, play for a city team.  The teams aren’t affiliated with their schools at all.

The food they enjoy the most here is Mexican food. The difference between our schools is there is more school spirt and it’s happier here as well. They also like school better here in general. In addition, I asked them what they want to buy while they are here. They said NBA jerseys and Jordan’s shoes. They also plan to buy electronics, like a new iPhone because it’s less money here than over in Europe.

Anne told me that she became a foreign exchange student by making a profile and then finding a matching family through the company EF (Education First). Paula said that her mom called a friend in USA (Mr. Hebert, and English and AVID teacher here on campus).

Interested in researching if YOU can be an exchange student?  Check out this article here for some information.