A Whole New World: Foreign Exchange Students adjust to new foods, customs, and people

Buffalo High School has nine exchange students this year. The students’ home countries range from Spain to France, from Germany to Norway and from Japan to Thailand.
Senior Leonie Dre, Senior Henriette Kjos-Hanssen, and Senior Cristina Aliu are three of the exchange students we have this year. Dre is from Germany, Kjos-Hanssen is from Norway, and Aliu is from Spain. All three girls agree that life in America is much different than it is back home.
“We do not have football, Homecoming, Prom, or school yearbooks in Spain. It’s different and I wish we had that in Spain,” Aliu said.
Dre and Kjos-Hanssen agree that people in America are a lot nicer.
“People in America are so much nicer and polite than they are back home,” said Kjos-Hanssen.
Although Aliu is enjoying her time in America, she misses the Spanish food the most.
“People here eat so much fast food. Back in Spain, I only eat fast food three to five times a year.”
“Something I really miss is brown bread,” Kjos-Hanssen said, “It’s sweet but it’s not just sweet. It’s really good.”
Dre also misses the brown bread from home. However, both girls agree that there are certain American foods that they will miss once they go back home. These foods include bacon, biscuits, corn dogs, cupcakes, and DQ ice cream cake.
“I’ve tried a lot of new things that I haven’t tried before. I’ve also met a lot of new friends,” said Dre. “I hope to accomplish many things while in America. Most of all though I want to improve my English and try to not be so shy.”