22 | feature / the standard / feb. 2020
foreign exchange students explain expectations compared to reality of life in the U.S. his year, the school welcomed four foreign exchange students from different parts of the world to study while experiencing American culture. All four exchange students, including Italian senior Alessia Luca, began the process out of mere curiosity and continued the pursuit until they landed in the United States. “I was at school and I was so bored and I would go online and stuff [when I] saw one of my friends was in America,” Luca said. “He texted me how to do it and I came back home and asked my parents and they said, ‘yes.’” However, the experience was very different for Pakistani senior Yawar Khan. He is here through the KennedyLugar Youth Exchange and Study, which provided him with a very competitive scholarship that was difficult to obtain. “I think 8,000 [or] 9,000 people apply and they only select 77 people,” Khan said. “So I gave the test [a shot] then I got no calls for a month ... then it was like my 45th day, I got a call for an interview, and I was losing my mind.” When he came to the U.S, Spanish junior Jon Goenaga had many
expectations but has since learned that most of the stereotypes were false. “There are stereotypes like people are fat,” Goenaga said. “There are always school shootings.” Luca said she was shocked when she experienced her first lockdown drill — something that’s unheard of in Italy — but has never felt an imminent threat. All four foreign-exchange students expected Americans to be fat and wealthy, but they said in reality Americans are just as fit, if not more fit, than the people of their home country. “I think I was 14 years of age or something at the time when I saw an American,” Khan said. “He was fat, he was rich and he was in a five-star hotel, so my image was pretty much confirmed 100% at that point … And then I came here [and] none of that is true.” Even though not every American is a millionaire, the sheer size of the U.S. allows for larger living spaces than in the bustling cities of Europe and Pakistan. “These are giant houses, like a hotel for us,” Luca said. “My [Italian] friends call my [host family’s] house a castle.”
Yawar Khan, Pakistan
Ben Wilbur, Germany
Luca said in Italy, Americans are perceived as mean and closed-minded, but she has observed that Americans really are not like that at all. “You’re very nice people, more than I thought,” Luca said. “When we think about America, we think of the people who have the money and they are very cold.” Food has also been a mind-opening experience for the exchange students. German senior Ben Wilbur said his favorite part about the U.S. is fast food. He said they have a few fast food options in Germany, but not even close to the amount present in the U.S. Meanwhile, Goenaga said the portion sizes are extremely large here. “They are huge,” Goenaga said. “In Spain, you have to ask for four plates to be good and here it’s like one and you can’t even finish it. And also drinks — in Spain you buy each drink. You don’t have refills, [but] here you drink it and they bring you another one and it’s so weird.” The polarization of Western and Middle-Eastern culture became clear to Khan when he said one of the reasons for his travels was to try the food.
