Hey guys! It’s me; Robo and I’d like to share my experience of being a foreign Exchange student in the U.S., in Chickasha, Oklahoma, to be precise. Maybe some of you are still thinking about this option so this might help you decide if this is something for you.
It’s been a while but I’ll go back in time and try to recall what it was like when I went there. I arrived at the airport, and my host family was already there to welcome me. My host sister was
standing there with a poster saying “Welcome Robo“. Then we went home. It was the longest ride ever. It was pretty awkward. When we came home I gave them some presents I had brought from
Slovakia. Then we started talking and that was the point when everything became alright. It wasn’t that long, right?
Let me tell you about my host family first though. My host mom was an amazing woman. We became the best of friends in a week or so. We had almost the same personality. The most
important thing was that we had the same sense of humor. People who know me know that it’s not for everyone. That was a great thing. She also helped me out when I needed something. Then there was
her husband. He worked at an oilfield. That means I didn’t spend much time with him. But every time he was home I tried to be with him as much as possible. He was a really great guy. They have a
daughter that is four years younger than me. Even though she was younger than me, we were great friends. Then there was Joo, my best friend. He was also a foreign exchange student from South
Korea. He came to our house about half way through the program after I asked him if he wanted to live with us. He was the funniest person ever.
They gave me three days to get ready for school. The first day at school was just a ´get to know´ day. I got to know all the teachers who were going to teach me, and two guys
showed me the school. The next days were pretty hard because I didn’t know anybody there and had nobody to help me every time I got lost. But when I asked for help, people were really cool about
it and took me to the class I was supposed to be at every time. It took me about two days to remember where all the classes were, and after that it was easy. School is not hard at all in the
U.S.
I got to know many people and I can say that most of them were just amazing. I started playing soccer (what we call football in Europe). It was the coolest thing ever. We were
the first team in our school that won the district finals and went to state since 1998. We had a really great team. The atmosphere in the locker room was awesome. That’s why our games worked out
so well. It’s said that Oklahoma schools have the best school spirit nationwide. I think this is so true. There wasn’t a game that wasn’t sold out.
One of the best things about my year in the U.S. was a week that I got to spend in Las Vegas. It’s exactly like what you see on TV, except that I didn’t know that Las Vegas is
all on one street. I had fun there even though I didn’t get to play any games in the casinos.
by Robo Bayer
Year 2, Issue 2