Imagine stepping off a plane into an unfamiliar foreign country, leaving your hometown that is over 5,000 miles away. Going to a new school, staying with a different family, that is what exchange students do, it is a nerveracking change. Mathidle Friebel is one of the exchange students this year at Lakeland High School (LHS). Coming from Germany, she is here for the American school experience.
Friebel is from Jena, Germany. Friebel decided to do an exchange year to experience something new and get better at English while taking a year off. Friebel wasn’t phased with the differences, she had been watching american t.v. shows and learning about American culture back in her home country.
“I don’t think the adjustment was hard because I know a lot about America, I knew what to expect,” Friebel said.
Friebel said her first week was the hardest. She wasn’t used to the schedule change. In Germany, students don’t choose their own classes, so the process of switching into classes was new for her. German schools also do not provide elective classes such as teen living, art, photography, etc. Nor do they have any sports or extracurriculars, Friebel plans to play tennis later in the spring and is excited for the season to come.
“Im excited for the school year because we don’t have homecoming or prom in Germany, and the football games are fun,” Friebel said, “I like the people too, they are more open. I like when people start small talk, it’s not a thing back home.”
Regardless of the big change, Friebel is actively making friends and enjoying the American experience. Although, there are some major differences between the two countries that she is not very fond of.
“The food is very different, I’m not used to eating so much fast food. The stores are really big like Walmart, we don’t have a Walmart in Germany,” Friebel said, “It is also more strict here with the hall passes and bathroom rules, and homework is new for me.”
Friebel isn’t the only student having to make this adjustment. Christian Ambrosino, an exchange student from Italy, feels similarly about American schools. Like Friebel, Ambrosino came here to study abroad and perfect his English.
“School is much harder in Italy, it’s way more plain, no posters, no color and looks like a prison,” Ambrosino said, “I like it here because the teachers actually want to be teachers. In Italy, they hate to be teachers.”
Change is difficult, especially leaving a place you’ve known your whole life. Despite the difficulties of adapting to a whole new school system and environment, our exchange students are actively embracing the American experience one day at a time. While the adjustment is hard, they always keep a positive attitude and constantly work hard.