School has started up again all over the world, and while most of us are in the same school, some of us have come from Europe! This year we have the honor of hosting four exchange students.

Junior Amanda Andersen hails from Denmark. Andersen said that her transition to a new home wasn’t too difficult. “We FaceTimed before I came,” she recollected. “So it wasn’t that weird.” She said that, “In general, a lot of things are just different here.” One of the things that surprised her the most was the dynamic between student and teacher; she recalled it being much less strict at home, and that the teachers here have more power. Anderson mentioned that she missed Danish meals.

Junior Mia Radzei hails from Germany. Radzei said that she likes it here, but it’s different. “It wasn’t really that bad because I have my own room and my own stuff.” She claimed that most of all, she misses German bread. “The bread here is much lighter, it’s more like toast.” Something that surprised her on arrival is that you can get refills when you go out to eat.

Junior Elli Metschnabl hails from Germany. Metschnabl said that she likes that it’s different here. “In Germany, we have broad subjects like Math and English. It’s cool that here they have classes like Piano and Culinary Arts.” She said that her shift to America wasn’t hard because she feels close to the family. Metschnabl said that she, too, misses German bread. “One of the first culture shocks I had when I got here was the trees and cars. They’re all big, like everything else here.”

Junior Helen Erne hails from Germany. Erne said that “It’s different here, but a good different.” She notes that she likes the variety of class options. Moving here wasn’t hard at all because her family was previously friends with the one she’s staying with. “I miss German breakfast,” she says. “Everything here is so sugary.” Erne states that one of the first things that surprised her was the look of the school buses. “I just rode the bus for the first time yesterday. I don’t know what I had thought they’d look like, but not how they actually look.”