Luissa Pohlmann, a high school junior and a new member of the girls’ soccer team, transferred to Cannon Falls just this past fall. Unlike many of the other new students roaming the hallways, Luissa is one of the four foreign exchange students at the school, which means that she comes from somewhere a bit further away than the neighboring cities – She comes from Tornesch, a small town close to Hamburg in northern Germany.

One of the largest differences between Germany and America, Luissa has found, is the educational system. “ I would say that the school is very different because in Germany we do not have so much homework. Like here you have, I think, every day some homework to do and in Germany you get homework in, I think once in a month. But in Germany the schools are longer, so my last lesson in Germany is finished at 4:50pm, and here it’s just until three. And the breaks between school lessons are very short in America. In Germany, you have a lot more time between the lessons.” However, extra homework and a frantic pace do not mean that all of the differences are inherently negative – after all, there are other ways that the two countries differ, beyond even homework, culture, and approximately 4,850 miles. Another large distinction, of course, is the food. “We don’t have peanut butter in Germany. So here there is peanut butter and the food is tastier. I like it better.” She laughs, “I love the peanut butter.”

In many ways, the teens in Tornesch are very similar to those in Cannon Falls. Friends often go to the movies, hang out with friends, or attend practices (in Luissa’s case, these practices are for handball, and last from 7pm to 8:30pm since sports in Germany are not provided through the school system) in their free time. Luissa also spends a lot of time walking her dog, a Jack Russell Terrier named Jason, and riding her horse, who they call Petite Peter Pan. “In the summer, there is a season where you can do competitions, so I ride him… Not every day, but very often. Sometimes I just walk him or visit him to give him a break.” Luissa isn’t the only Pohlmann to be spending time in the States this year, “I have a twin sister, Lara. She’s also an exchange student right now in Texas.” She also has an older brother by the name of Philipp, who plays Soccer at his University. Though she plays Handball in Germany, she’s had little trouble switching to using only her feet, and has been dominating the Soccer fields at Cannon, having already scored multiple goals for the girls’ team. “She’s handled everything really well, and is fitting in well.” Says Alana Robinson, a senior at Cannon Falls and one of three captains on the girls’ soccer team. “I think she did really well and helped the team a lot. She became part of the team really easily, and will always have the soccer family.”

According to Luissa, even though there is not much German influence in mainstream American media, there are a lot of English and American influences in German media. In fact, Luissa says that she doesn’t really like German music, and tends to prefer English speaking artists. “ I don’t know why, but sometimes their songs are very boring, and they always sing the same way… I like a lot of music bands like One Direction or Adele.” She also loves American movies such as 12 Years a Slave, since she likes the actors and learning about history. Luissa is also a fan of mystery shows, such as Hawaii 5o or CSI. So she decided to solve a mystery of her own, and find out what it would be like to immerse herself into another culture entirely by becoming a foreign exchange student. This essentially meant leaving her family, friends, and day-to-day life behind and living with complete strangers in order to gain new experiences and learn about America. So far, she likes what she sees, “The people here are so friendly and very openminded. In Germany, I think, some students would never go to an exchange student and ask them questions. Here in America, it’s friendly and very respectful to everyone.” Although she admits that Mr. Olson is very funny, her absolute favorite teacher would have to be Mr. Fogarty – he speaks German and, perhaps most importantly, he’s got peanut butter pretzels.

So far, so good. Willkommen in den USA, Luissa!