"I don't get it!" is a cry not unknown in the classrooms of FHS, especially during semester tests. Students are often baffled by a concept being discussed, but for a few, the language itself is the barrier to understanding.
Most students know that there are exchange students at FHS, but few are aware of their classmates who have taken the enormous challenge of living in another country. Approximately 12 students from FHS are either on an exchange program or have gone on one in the last year. Returnees to FHS include junior Missy Ruff (Spain), junior Moira McKinnon (Turkey), senior Amelia Eastman (Australia), senior Lindsay Davis (Costa Rica) and senior Kelly Hayden (Italy).
Ruff lived in Barcelona, Spain, for the first semester of 1996, living with a family and attending a local high school. Ruff chose Spain because she spoke Spanish - but later discovered that the residents of Barcelona speak Cat‡lan.
"My host family was very nice," said Ruff. "We had some communication problems all the way along, because they speak Cat‡lan, but we got past it."
Davis accepted the challenge of an exchange program, living in Alajuela, Costa Rica, from February to August, 1996. Davis also enjoyed the experience, although she did not speak the language, either.
Davis' typical day in Costa Rica, at least on school days, consisted of a lot of work and a lot of time with her host family. Davis usually got up at 5 a.m., went to school, and came home for lunch with her family. She then returned to school, and came home again for tea time with her family at 3 p.m..
"I loved it," said Davis. "The only think I would have changed would have been to stay for a year instead of six months."
Hayden made the choice of staying the entire 1995-1996 school year in Udine, Italy. She decided to go on an exchange program because her family hosted an exchange student during her sophomore year.
"She kind of sparked my interest" in an exchange program, said Hayden. "I didn't know that much about it until she came to live with us."
According to returnees, the host families of the students truly do become their families. The relationships with families and friends that students develop while on exchange programs are relationships that endure. Because of these strong bonds, many former exchange students want to return to their host countries.
"I wish I could go back," said Ruff. "I am planning on going to Barcelona to visit my family and friends after graduation."
Exchange programs are not for the weak or the easily frustrated. Because of language, cultural and personal differences, many former exchange students still recall hard times, as well as pleasures, of their experiences.
"I hated it when I went shopping, and before I said a word, the salesperson started talking in English," said Ruff. "It was frustrating because I was trying to learn the language. I just looked so American."
Regardless of the complications of living in a different country, all of the returned exchange students recommend the adventure.
"You can take a class and learn about a country, language, culture, but unless you are immersed in the culture, you don't totally understand," said Davis. "Anybody who's ever had an aspiration to learn, that's the best way to learn. If you want to learn about Egypt, go there."