AFS students from surrounding schools share their American experience. Photo By: Nadia Baca
By Vasco Garcia
On Sunday September 22nd, sixteen (AFS) exchange students from all over the world gathered with AFS volunteers at PHS to share their first impressions, fears and hopes while living in Northern Indiana for the last six weeks.
At 1 p.m. teenagers from all over the world stepped into PHS “with a lost air,” meaning everything is new and they are trying to fit in with an adventurer’s eyes and sharing one common thing, the fact of being an exchange student living in Northern Indiana. They came from Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Palestine, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and Portugal. Before the official beginning of the “AFS Post Arrival Camp,” the first students to arrive introduced themselves to each other and welcomed others. An immediate chemistry and connection was established between them for being in the same situation and experiencing the same emotions. Monique from South Africa said,”It made me feel good to know that there are other students that have the same feelings I have and that they have gone through similar things that I have gone through. It made me feel comfortable and welcome.”
After the first introductions, the exchange students were divided into two groups and taken into different classrooms accompanied by AFS Volunteers. It was time to talk and discuss about the different issues and obstacles students had found in the first month here. AFS volunteers organized interactive activities in order to motivate students to talk and openly share their experiences. Fortunately, most students feel they have integrated and are easily overcoming their cultural shock, but some still struggle with the language and communicating with their family and friends. This was the main problem discussed by AFSers, who in groups tried to find solutions for personal problems by addressing the way they had faced that problem. This mutual assistance between students helped them to feel better and share their feelings more openly. After two hours of conversations interrupted by “coffee-breaks,” the camp was almost done. To end the day one of the AFS volunteers gave information on a future trip to Chicago.
Mai Takeuchi and Bee Yongkul enjoyed their first AFS meeting, through sharing their experience in Plymouth. Photo by Nadia Baca
Most exchange students agreed that this short but efficient camp helped them to feel more comfortable in the United States as Frederikke from Denmark said, “I already did feel comfortable, but it was good to talk about everything, and to hear about others’ experiences.” When asked if they would like to have camps more often, Lubna Naureen from Pakistan said, “Definitely. I think there should be such gatherings every month so we can measure that how much we get responsible, adaptive and liable.” However, this is not possible as Amy Schmeltz, an English teacher at PHS, recognized and said, “I’m sure that more meetings would probably be helpful for the students, but the logistics make it difficult to accomplish for such a big group.” Mrs Schmeltz became involved with AFS through Spanish Teacher Mrs. Delia Gadziola. Mrs. Schmeltz had great memories of a German exchange student from her high school years.
Mrs. Schmeltz believes that AFS introduces PHS students to the world, and provides an opportunity for students here to get a first-hand look at what other countries are like.