This school year, Brown County High School hosted four foreign exchange students from across the world. A fifth student joined them for the first semester.
These students stayed with local families who took them in as one of their own. They took American high school courses, participated in sports, performed on stage with the choir or theater departments and adapted to life in small-town Brown County.
As the school year ends, the Brown County Democrat reached out to these students to ask them about their time here and what they will most miss once they return home.
Jiajun ‘Bob’ Cao
Home country: China
Age: 16
Host family: Derek and Sara Clifford
Q: Is this your first time visiting the United States? How has your stay been? Was it what you expected?
A: (I visited) three years ago and I went to San Francisco. Yes (this is what I expected). I think this experience is pretty good.
Q: What has been your favorite part about living and attending school in the United States? What has been your least favorite part?
A: (I liked) all kinds of activities for sports and music and lunch. I hope they can make more kinds of food instead of making the same food again and again. I think the (lunch) price was a little too expensive.
Q: Why did you decide to attend school in the United States? What brought you here?
A: Because I want to attend American universities. This is much easier for me to apply. The exchange student program (brought me here).
Q: What do you want the community to know about your time here in Brown County? What have you enjoyed about living in this community?
A: I just want them to know that I had a really good experience here. Because I live in a big city, living in a town is pretty cool for me — beautiful environment, fresh air and enthusiasm from people.
Q: What will you miss the most when you return home?
A: My host family, my friends and all my teachers.
Q: Do you see yourself returning to the United States in the future? Why or why not?
A: Yes. Next year I will enter another private school as an international student.
Q: Are there any people you would like to recognize who impacted your stay here? Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
A: To everyone I know here, I really appreciate them for their patience and help.
Violaine Barral
Home country: France
Age: 17
Host family: The Richardsons the first five months, but I changed in January and I have been staying with the Bethards since then. The Bethards are an amazing family. Jackie and Kenneth have three children: Ana, Gabi and Wesley.
Q: Is this your first time visiting the United States? How has your stay been? Was it what you expected?
A: Technically, I have already been to Chicago when I was 2 years old, and except for the aquarium’s store, I don’t remember much. So yeah, it is pretty much my first time in America. My stay was hard at the beginning, especially when you don’t speak English fluently and your family tries to teach you the rules of the household, or when you are supposed to get to work, but you don’t know what the work is even though you listened. I expected to befriend a few people and to hang out often with them. Unfortunately, even though I have indeed befriended people, we didn’t hang out as much as I would have liked to.
Q: What has been your favorite part about living and attending school in the United States? What has been your least favorite part?
A: I really loved my American high school. The large range of courses is just exceptional. I studied creative writing, theater arts and psychology. These three subjects do not exist in France (in high school) and that I loved. The relationship between teachers and students is much more friendly and we have this feeling that they actually care about us. And the clubs — I didn’t really involve myself in either one of them, but I spent the best time of my life being in the theater department as a runner in the play and as an ancestor in the Addams Family show. However, three things have been bothering me. The most important is the baffling absence of subway or even buses. The inability to move of my own will has made me feel like a little kid. I also didn’t like the fact that every assignment is graded. It’s like we don’t have any occasion to get something wrong because it would directly affect our grade and when we do get it wrong, the teachers don’t explain why unless we ask them, which can be difficult for shy people. Finally, I liked the food at the beginning, but as time went by I have found it unhealthy and repetitive, especially at the cafeteria.
Q: Why did you decide to attend school in the United States? What brought you here?
A: I really wanted to discover a new culture, meet new people and learn a new language. I could have waited until I attend university, but I wanted to benefit from the open-mindedness offered by this kind of experience as soon as possible and confirm my career field. I also wanted to attend a different school system to discover new ways of teaching.
Q: What do you want the community to know about your time here in Brown County? What have you enjoyed about living in this community?
A: I want them to know that I spent a great time being around them — such positive people, and I will all miss them terribly.
Q: What will you miss the most when you return home?
A: I will miss my friends and my family the most. It was so much to get to know them. Seeing them every day and living with them was a bliss.
Q: Do you see yourself returning to the United States in the future? Why or why not?
A: I will return to the United States to teach French, I’m sure of it, but I don’t see myself living in America for more than three or four years. I would miss the French pastries too much.
Q: Are there any people you would like to recognize who impacted your stay here? Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
A: I’d like to thank Calla and Jade for befriending me and pushing me on stage when I didn’t feel brave enough. Ela, the Romanian exchange student, understood me so much whenever we talked about what we were experiencing and it was great to know her and her culture. I thank my area representative too, Melissa, for driving at 3 in the morning so I could go to the New York trip with other exchange students and for everything she has done for me all along. Finally, a big giant thank-you to my host family. Thank you, Wesley, for playing video games and Nerf with me. Thank you, Ana, for all the times when you acted like an actual sister with me, hugging me out of the blue and laughing with me in front of the TV. Thank you, Kenny, for being so curious towards my culture and asking so many questions; I have been so happy to discuss with you even when I don’t know the answers. Thank you to Jackie, my amazing host mom, who has listened to my babbling about school or strange things I don’t understand and who has always payed full attention to it even when it was random or boring. She has always given me advice whenever I need it the most and it has always been what I need to hear. And thank you to my host sister, Gabi, who argued, teased and laughed with me and sticks with me for the worst and best like a real sister. I’m looking forward to welcoming you in France next year. I love you so much and I’m going to miss you.
Marcela Bota
Home country: Romania
Age: 17
Host family: John and Pamela Drebus
Q: Is this your first time visiting the United States? How has your stay been? Was it what you expected?
A: Yes, this is my first time visiting the U.S. My stay has been filled with good memories and new experiences. It was nothing like what I expected. Overall I can say that is was better than anything I could’ve imagined.
Q: What has been your favorite part about living and attending school in the United States? What has been your least favorite part?
A: I can’t really decide on one specific moment that was my favorite, but some of my best memories include the homecoming color fight and football game, the soccer campout, attending Young Life and participating in a ton of amazing activities, winning my first tennis game, and traveling through the U.S. with my host family. My least favorite parts weren’t actually related to someone or something in particular; they were related to homesickness and trying to find friends at Brown County. Fortunately, I managed to get over these problems with the help of my host parents and friends, for which I’m deeply grateful.
Q: Why did you decide to attend school in the United States? What brought you here?
A: I came to the U.S. as part of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program, which is a scholarship program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The process of getting the scholarship involved an essay portion, an English test and an interview. I applied for this program because I saw an opportunity to experience new things, to grow as a person and to expand my understanding of other cultures. I knew that there was a big chance that I wouldn’t get selected, but I did my best to prove that I was flexible and open-minded, qualities that FLEX was looking for.
Q: What do you want the community to know about your time here in Brown County? What have you enjoyed about living in this community?
A: I really liked living in a small community like Brown County. People are so nice and open, which made it easier for me to adjust here.
Q: What will you miss the most when you return home?
A: I’ll mostly miss my friends and host family. They were the ones that held me up when I wanted to quit and they made my year so much better.
Q: Do you see yourself returning to the United States in the future? Why or why not?
A: I’m considering coming to the U.S. for college, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll definitely visit America again soon and I’ll come to Brown County to relive my dearest memories.
Q: Are there any people you would like to recognize who impacted your stay here? Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
A: I could write a book about all the people that influenced my stay here, but I’m going to limit my answer to just a couple of people. First, I’d like to thank my natural parents in Romania for being so understanding and supportive during my exchange year. Secondly, I’d like to thank my host family; John and Pamela were the best host parents I could have wished for. They treated me like their own daughter and they cheered me on during my hard times. I’d also like to thank Mr. Killinger and the staff of Brown County High School for accommodating me here and for helping me with everything I needed. To my soccer coach, David, and my tennis coach, Mr. Miller: Thank you for teaching me soccer and tennis from scratch. I know I wasn’t the best player, but you still gave me the opportunity to play and have fun. Also, a big thank you to Sabrina Hickey, my local coordinator, who is an amazing woman and a trustworthy friend and who worked day and night to make her exchange students happy. Lastly, I’d like to thank all of my friends (in Brown County and all over the U.S.) for being encouraging, caring and for giving me the best year of my life.
Cesar Ruiz Alonso
Home country: Badajoz, Spain
Age: 16
Host family: John and Pamela Drebus
Q: Is this your first time visiting the United States? How has your stay been? Was it what you expected?
A: I came to the United States when I was 4 and stayed a whole year, just like now. It has been really nice. I really did not expect a lot because I didn’t know to what state I was going until the day before I got in the plane here, but in general it is better or the same than I expected.
Q: What has been your favorite part about living and attending school in the United States? What has been your least favorite part?
A: (I liked) that you get to learn a lot of different things and make new friends. There isn’t a thing in particular (that is my least favorite part).
Q: Why did you decide to attend school in the United States? What brought you here?
A: That I could learn about a whole new culture, and I also thought that it would be fun. Probably that I wanted to have new experience, and also, my family is the one that tried the hardest to get me here, where I am now.
Q: What do you want the community to know about your time here in Brown County? What have you enjoyed about living in this community?
A: That I enjoyed my time here, and that it’s a pretty nice to live. I think there are a lot of awesome places to go and a have fun, like the Brown County State Park, where you can see pretty nice views.
Q: What will you miss the most when you return home?
A: Probably my friends, host family and the environment, and also the sports that I practiced here, like baseball.
Q: Do you see yourself returning to the United States in the future? Why or why not?
A: Yes, because there are a lot of friends that I want to see again after this year.
Q: Are there any people you would like to recognize who impacted your stay here? Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
A: Well there is a lot of people, but mainly people from my baseball team like Jake Riehl, Branden Leslie and Josh Parry. Also, people that make the classes more fun like Seth Kegley, Devon Smith-Harden, Aaron McCann or Jackson McPheeters. It has been an awesome experience, the time I have been able to be with all of them, and also that I’m going to miss their famous sentences such as, “Idiot dude, idiots” or “Hey, go tell coach/teacher, ‘Me no speak English.’”
