Did you ever notice a new looking student at the first day of school that looks really lost? That might be a foreign exchange student. Believe me, we get lost a lot!

We get told we are going to be ambassadors for their country. I always thought that seems weird, I am just one teenager, how could I represent a country? However, I finally realized how important exchange students are. Most the students in Cannon Falls never met a German before and some might never meet one again. I could be the ONLY German you would ever know. As a result, whatever I do this year is what my class mates think of Germany. One person is determining the view of so many people. That is us, the exchange students.We are not just influencing communities members this year, but the rest of their lives. As people say “exchange is not a year in life, it’s a life in a year”. This might sound corny, but at the same time, it’s true. Ask any exchange student, this year is the best of their life and the one that is shaping us the most (physically and mentally). There is just no way to describe this feeling of discovering a new culture and language, to feel home and at the same time not.

If I look back, I was a completely different person just a few month ago. Then I got to make new experience, meet new people and discover a different culture. It just opened my eyes on how big the world really is and what really counts. And that’s the same for all of us. Other Rotary Exchange students told me about their experiences here, that are so similar to mine, and about their home country. It is a once in a lifetime chance to talk to people from Asia, South America and Africa at the same time. Those places never seemed reachable and I never felt more connected to the world. On the way we exchange students get to tell you about our countries and cultures. I was really surprised how little people generally know about other places. Here are some examples:

-To a girl from Chile: “Have you ever met the Mayans?”

-To a girl from Italy: “Is Italy one of the 52 states of Europe?”

-To a boy from Germany: ”Is your country still controlled by the military?”

-To a girl from Belgium: “Are you speaking European or Spanish?”

-To me from an adult: “Are you fluent in German?”

– To a girl from Brazil: “Is Brazil a southern state of Mexico?”

My favorite one: “Can you speak with an american accent instead?” Believe me, if we could, we would do it all the time!

Also just to make sure that I was clear the first time, we speak German in Germany, we do have houses, I know what pizza is and I have even heard about TV’s.

However, don’t get me wrong, we love to share information about our country, it’s our job. So keep asking, questions are (almost) never dumb. Let’s discover this world together, we can’t know it all, but at least we can try!