Different cultures brought together through the Exchange Program

Colorful+Map+of+The+World

Colorful Map of The World

Denise Farley

   

 

     Most people would balk at the thought of living in another country for a year. However, I interviewed two exchange students, and my dad about what they thought. My dad had been in Norway before, so even though he knew what the country was like, it was a new experience for him. These people were my father John who came from Norway, Carola Galetti came from Italy, and Max Suhayda is from Germany.

     When asking my interviewees, both Carola and John had similar views on what the people were like in both America and Norway John said “Very friendly, extremely welcoming pleasantly social. All my friends, peers, family, teachers extremely helpful with translating stuff for school work.” Carola thought ‘’They are not as touchy as we are . . . I actually thought everyone would have southern accent.’’

    When transitioning, both John and Max thought the transition was easy, with a few differences. John’s transition was back to Norway in his senior year. John hadn’t been back for a few years.  ‘’It was easy in the sense that I had been there before on many trips, it was an adventure because I was young with many new adventures ahead of me. It was difficult only in that I did not celebrate American holidays [while in Norway], however it was amazing to be there for a full year and experience Norwegian holidays and traditions that I had not been there for before.’’

     Carola’s transition to America however was ‘’Kind of turbulent because when I came here I had different stops in London, New York and others. I lost my luggage in London and all my stuff was gone. But I got to go shopping which was fun.’’

     To all three this new place was different. Max said ‘’It’s different from home, there are other people, different people, just a whole different experience.’’

     To the three of them, their home country was a whole lot different than their experiences in a secondary country and culture. Their experiences brought along adventures to boast about, memories to treasure, and a whole slew of new friends.