By Charlene Chew
Five foreign exchange students attending Cal High this year left behind their home countries to come to California this summer, excited to spend a year improving their English and receiving the experience of a lifetime by living with an American family.
These students came from five different countries for one of their high school years.
They all felt that America is the right place for them to learn about new cultures and languages.
“I want to improve my English, make friends, share Chinese culture, and see American culture,” said junior Tiantian Zhang, an exchange student from Beijing, China.
Tiantian has learned about American culture from her host family and she has shared Chinese culture with Mandarin teacher Wen-fang Wang’s students.
All of the exchange students went through an application process through one of the 47 nationally accepted placement organizations, such as Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) and Homestay.
Each student filled out an application that Principal Mark Corti had to approve, and then the agency put together a full package that represented the student, said Cal’s registrar Eileen Wall, who organizes Cal’s foreign exchange program.
Sophomore Leon Leitenbaeur, from Germany, waited a long time before receiving his host family two weeks before leaving Germany.
“I hear America is a great land, very fun, and not really expensive,” said Leon. “I want to see the land and learn the language. I will better speak English, and I am on my own, so I have to do things by myself. It will help me.”
Junior Moritz Brieger, who is also from Germany, has already visited some renowned California sites, such as Yosemite and San Francisco.
“America is much more multicultural,” said Moritz.
Senior Elsa Mandroyan from France said being an exchange student will improve her confidence and provide a positive experience for her, despite really missing French food.
Senior Sofia Possfelt, from Sweden, has spent time cooking Swedish food for her host family, shopping, and playing soccer. Her early impression of Americans is they are very patriotic and have a lot of rules.
“I’ll probably be able to get a better job and know the language better,” Sofia said of her experience. “It’ll also give me good benefits if I ever want to study abroad.”
She has found American schools to be very different from those in Sweden, where students are on a first-name basis with teachers and get paid to attend school.
“I think school is easier here,” said Elsa.
Elsa and Leon both came from smaller schools in their home countries and said that schools are very different and much bigger here.
“The people are very open, frankly,” said Leon. “In Germany people are not as open to new people. They don’t go up and talk to them. It’s great here, easy to find new friends.”
Sophomore Megan Williams met Leon during cross country practice before school started.
“He taught me how to speak several phrases in German,” Megan said.
Moritz brought his host family a German book and has shared the German language with them.
Many people decide to host foreign exchange students to experience people from different cultures. Junior Siena Gerbert’s family is hosting Elsa and another foreign student from Dougherty Valley High School this year. This is their second year housing an exchange student.
“We think it’s a good experience for our family to learn about different cultures,” said Siena. “We try to show them how our family works and different attractions California offers.”
Leon’s host brother, freshman Mark Nathlich, said they have a close friendship and has learned a lot from Leon.
“Going to an American school is a big way he can see our culture,” said Mark. “It’s very interesting to see what is different in his country compared to the U.S.”
Overall, the feedback from exchange students and host families at Cal has been pretty positive, said Wall.
“It’s just an overall good experience that teaches you a lot and is really helpful for the family and students involved,” said Siena, “The students really become a part of our family.”
