*Falcon News note: Interviews were conducted after the students were here for two months. At the time of publishing students have been here for nine months. Student views may have changed.
Elmira High School has eight foreign exchange students this year. The students are Larissa Borris, Ibrahim Menawi, Patrick Lepik, Carol Hoffman, Libe Fernandez, Claudia Ochayta, Hannah Gwosc and Shahjan Munir.
Seven of the exchange students were asked about their journey to the U.S. and the experiences that they have had here.
Shahjan Munir already wrote his own story about his experiences in the United States for Falcon News in October. See that story here.
Junior Ibrahim Menawi
Question: Where are you from Ibrahim?
Answer: “Palestine.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “To try new things and travel.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Nice, better than expected.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “I expected a more urban lifestyle, not the small town living.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “Soccer is more competitive.”
Junior Libe Fernandez
Q: Where are you from Libe?
A: “Spain.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “To improve my English, culture, and for fun.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Weird, different, exciting.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “I had to initiate.”
She explained that she had to reach out to other people in order to make friends, instead of being welcomed.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: “Smile- it’s not easy being far away from your home.”
Junior Carol Hoffman
Q: Where are you from Carol?
A: “Spain.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “To learn English and meet new people”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Bad, lost and lonely.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “The teacher’s relationships.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “I play volleyball and we don’t have one season in Spain; it’s all year long.”
Sophomore Patrick Lepik
Q: Where are you from Patrick?
A: “Estonia.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “I thought it would be interesting and the people would be friendly.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Overwhelmingly friendly.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “The English teacher is fun.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “Football and soccer, but it’s bad here.”
Junior Larissa Borris
Q: Where are you from Larissa?
A: “Germany.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “To improve my English, to be independent and for fun.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Horrible.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “I thought it was gonna be more fun.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “I did soccer and it was fun. In Germany we don’t have school spirit and we don’t have practice every day.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: “I miss German school.”
Junior Claudia Ochayta
Q: Where are you from Claudia?
A: “Spain.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “I wanted to learn English and wanted to have the American dream.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “It was weird and I didn’t know anyone, so it was horrible.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “The size of the school, it’s very small. The people are different and the food is different.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “I did volleyball and it was okay but now I’m playing basketball and the coach is so nice.”
Junior Hannah Gwosc
Q: Where are you from Hannah?
A: “Germany.”
Q: Why did you want to take an exchange year in the U.S.?
A: “I wanted to improve my English and get to know the American way of life.”
Q: How was your first day of school?
A: “Interesting and I got lost a lot.”
Q: How was it different from what you expected?
A: “I thought the people would take initiative more.”
Q: Do you do sports here and how is it different?
A: “I played volleyball. In Germany we have club sports instead of school sports.”
