Imagine a life where a prom doesn’t exist. A life where public transportation is how one gets around. A life where school has harder classes and more research projects. These are just some of the German experiences of junior Luke Colonius that differ from students in the US.
Colonius traveled from his home in Bremen, Germany, to Nebraska to become a foreign exchange student after he was influenced by his parents, who did the program as well. Before his journey here, he had never even heard of Nebraska before and had only traveled to one state in the US: New York.
When he got to Nebraska, he quickly noticed how hot and humid it is here compared to back home. He also saw many people driving their own cars, which is an unusual activity in Germany. Within the next few days he was faced with new shocks such as our “eating culture” and public restrooms.
“Between the doors, there are gaps and we don’t have that in Europe. It was so weird when I used the restroom for the first time. I was like, oh, ah everyone can see me, that’s weird.”
On top of general differences, there are many differences between schooling here and in Germany. At his previous school, students got half an hour breaks between their classes and the teachers taught very differently. Students were expected to do their own research and take learning into their own hands compared to schooling here where we more often use videos as tools for learning.
Though he faced many new obstacles, getting adjusted didn’t take much time.
“It took me like a couple weeks, but then it was easy. The people are super nice and open minded. [I] also feel like it’s easier to make friends when you’re an exchange student.”
This year Colonius joined the soccer and cross country teams, which helped him make friends as well. With his friends, he has gained many memorable experiences such as bowling, ice skating, and prom.
One thing he has not enjoyed though is the drama we have in our schools.
We don’t have drama in Germany, but here I was like ‘oh dang everyone’s actually like talking about everyone and is making stuff up’. That’s annoying.”
On top of that, our lack of public transportation has been a big difficulty. In Germany, most people do not drive their own cars but here if you don’t have a car to drive “you’re basically cooked,” Colonius said.
Even with the setbacks he faced, Colonius notes how he has grown as a person.
“I got more extroverted like, I’m talking to more people now. I would say that my social experiences are very good.”
Due to the experiences Colonius has gained during his time here, he would highly recommend being an exchange student.
“If you’re in a different country you learn so much stuff about yourself and in general like how you talk with people. In my opinion, if you have the chance to do an exchange here you definitely should.”
Cross country, tennis, and Archery Club were all new school experiences for junior Giselle Chang, who made her journey from Taipei City, Taiwan to the US to try new things and learn about American culture.
“[I wanted] to experience different lifestyles and, like, [wanted] to experience high school in different countries and to see what American students do.”
Before she arrived here she had some previous knowledge of what it was like in the US because she had been to California before and, when she signed up to be an exchange student, they told her a bit about the differences between her home and here.
One difference is that in households in Taiwan they don’t have dishwashers unlike here where most do. Another big thing that was different was the schools.
A challenge she has faced in school was making friends because language barriers were often prominent. After a while, it got much easier for her but she said being shy worked against her at first.
“I feel like here it’s, like, when you meet new people, you probably should talk more, and it will be easier for you to make friends, but it’s really hard for me to talk more with strangers.”
Though it was difficult to make friends at first, she ended up meeting students who helped her and took her in. Other people who took her in as well were members of her host family.
“You have a second family here, but at first it’s kind of hard, because it’s a little bit weird to live [with] a family that you don’t know. Yeah, but it’s still pretty fun, and I have some nice experiences with living with others.”
Notable experiences she has had with her host family was riding a horse on a farm and going sledding. Sledding was especially fun because it doesn’t snow in Taiwan. In addition, she really enjoyed going to LSE’s prom and homecoming and watching our musicals. Though for Chang, the best part of being an exchange student has been meeting new people.
“You can meet many friends from different countries, and I feel like I’ve grown up pretty much during this year.”
On her first trip to the United States, she found herself alone in Chicago’s bustling O’Hare airport. She had just flown on a plane for the first time in her life, and that was only the start of her new experiences though, because she was about to live in the US for a year with a family she’d never met before. These are the experiences of junior and France native, Laly Martineau.
Influenced by TikToks about being an exchange student, Martineau made the choice to move from her hometown of Marmande to the US. Her vision was to live the “American dream.” She had no clue what Nebraska, or even the US, would be like but she had high hopes.
“I thought it would be like very, very cool. Very, I don’t know, like a big thing. And it is, it is very cool. But yeah, just my dream.”
From the moment she got here, she knew she wanted to experience as many things as possible.
“I wanted to see everything. I wanted to try everything. I was so excited. My first impression was, ‘Oh, wow, it’s cool. I can’t wait to try everything’.””
As she had hoped, over the past year she has experienced many new things. This year she was on LSE’s Varsity soccer team and was a member of the Self-Care Club. In addition, she has really learned to love watching American football games. She also has gotten to know her host family very well and they even went on trips to the Grand Canyon and White Sands together.
“I like to try things. I like to spend time with my host family. But the trips, the trips [are] like, my favorite thing.”
Another new thing she had the opportunity to do was going to prom. She thought that prom was “cool” because it is something that she does not have back home.
“It was an American experience. American dream.”
When she goes back home, Martineau is going to miss watching high school sports and she is eager to get back to though is her family. Homesickness has been a big difficulty over the past year, especially because due to differing time zones she hasn’t been able to keep in contact with her family very well.
“[Being] homesick is very hard. Sometimes you’re in your bed and you’re like, ‘Why did I do that’? After a bad day, you know? Like, why did I choose to be an exchange student? I miss my mom. I miss my dad. But just for like one hour and then you are happy again.”
Other difficult things that she has faced have been seeing her friends back home hanging out without her, as well as language barriers.
“Like, when you want to talk but you don’t know how to say it, you’re like, never mind.”
Even with all of these challenges, she has really enjoyed herself while here.
“I can have a lot of memories. But I think when you are alone in another country, you can learn a lot about yourself. I think that’s the best part. I learned a lot. I grew up a lot. My mind is not the same as before. So, that’s the best part.”
For students going to high school in the US, movies like “High School Musical” and “Mean Girls” are known to inaccurately portray schooling, but for junior foreign exchange student Malou Nielsen, they had set an expectation for her experience in the US.
“I thought high school was going to be more like the movies,” Nielsen said.
She had been to New York, California, and Arizona before but none of those states prepared her for the differences between Nebraska and her home, Vejle, Denmark. Nielsen decided to leave her home and become an exchange student because in Denmark it is common for students to go to boarding schools out of the country but she knew that she’d rather do an exchange which she saw an ad for on a flier.
Once she got here she noticed how hot it is here compared to Denmark, where it doesn’t normally get very hot during the summer. Not only was she “dying” from the heat, but she was also surprised with the fact that in Lincoln you have to drive everywhere.
The differences between here and her home didn’t end at that though. At schools in Denmark you have a weekly schedule and the teachers come to your class rather than you going to different classes.
School activities Nielsen participated in this year were cross-country, diving, run crew for “Legally Blonde” and she and other exchange student, Josefine Edvardsson, created LSE’s Swiftie Club. Being a part of these activities caused her to hang out with people more here than she did in Denmark and really helped her become more extroverted.
“I learned how to step out and talk to people a lot more, which was nice.”
In addition to support from friends, her host family is also a very big support system. Her host parents are good about providing her with all her needs and aren’t very strict so she is allowed a lot of freedom which has helped her with creating a routine.
Outside of school, she has enjoyed going to Round1 and The Mill and she likes going on drives with friends and talking. She also loves Raising Canes and wishes they had that in Europe. Her favorite thing she has done though is when she went with her host family to Florida. It was such a great experience because it was back in September around when she first got here so she had the opportunity to get to know her host family better.
Throughout her experience there have been a few downsides including her miss for food from Denmark. She has tried creating it using ingredients here but “it’s not really the same.” Another issue she’s been faced with is comparing her experiences over the past year to ones of other exchange students.
“I would say comparing your year to other people’s year and other exchange students, which is hard, because I know a lot of exchange students because I was on a camp with them, and then I see every time they post on Instagram. I’m like, ‘oh, why am I not doing that,’ but then I remember, like, oh, but I’m having so much fun, and I shouldn’t compare myself to others, but it’s hard not to.”
The majority of her time here has been good though and she’s grown quite a bit.
“I’ve developed a lot as a person, I’m still introverted, but not as bad and I’ve learned to get to know myself a lot better. I’m a lot more open now, and I’d say I’m better at meeting people now, and I have to go to college when I get back to Denmark, so I think I’m a bit more prepared for that, now that I’ve already tried going to a new school.”
