Article by German Exchange Student (TN)

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http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/cor ... 47,00.html

German visitor finds warmth in Cordova
IN MY OWN WORDS

By Jan Nienhoff, Special to Cordova Appeal
June 2, 2005

Hello! My name is Jan Nienhoff and I'm a German exchange student, spending a year in a host family here in Cordova since August. I am an 11th-grader and attend Cordova High School. This school is so much bigger than my German school in a suburb of Hamburg, a city in the north of Germany. It was very different for me to find my classes and all that, so that the first days always some nice person helped me find my way.

The Americans I met here over the year made it a lot easier for me, because they were all so friendly, open and willing to come up and talk.
Being an exchange student in the States gave me more than knowledge about the country, its language and culture. It teaches building friendships, taking responsibility for myself, respecting differences and tolerating other beliefs.

All that might sound very hard and, of course, it is a challenge to leave everything behind but I swear that there will never be somebody who regrets a year like that.

Why did I come here? My family in Germany used to have several exchange students when I was younger-- that's what made me willing to do the same. They always said: "This is a one-time chance and you can't make it up when you are older because other things are going to come in your way."

Seeing them having a great time made me want to do the same. And now I'm here, and my time is almost over. I'm going to leave Cordova the 20th of June heading to Washington, where all the exchange students from my program meet to have an after-year seminar for three days. On the 23rd I will leave the States.

My exchange program is called the "Congress-Bundestag-Youth Exchange" (CBYX), which gives scholarships to students who are interested in being a "young ambassador" in the partner country. Every Congress member in Germany and the United States can give a scholarship and with it the amazing opportunity to experience a different culture.

But I'm not only part of a program, I'm part of a family. Being here for now almost nine months, and staying in a wonderful host family, which takes very good care of me, is just awesome. My host family has grown kids who live all over the States, which gave me the chance to travel to Houston, Texas and Boston.

I also made a one-week trip to California with other exchange students from the States and Canada.

I really am having a great time. Open to everything, I joined the cross-country team of Cordova High, which made a lot easier to find friends. Coming over here and knowing nobody make it very hard if you don't do sports or other after-school activities.

Enjoying to run and the team made me join "track and field" this season. I ran the 800 meter and pole-vault. I'm going to miss my team so bad when I go back. I spent every day a lot of time with them and we always had a great time.

I also joined the youth group of my church where I met lots of wonderful people.

All those experiences I had and the ones that I'm going to have until I leave made me grow and changed my views and me.

I'm looking forward to my last five weeks here in America. I would like to encourage as many students as possible to apply themselves for a chance like that. Information is available at academicyear.org or at asse.com

Some of the things I love here in America: Sports, food (especially barbecue and pancakes), shopping.

Jan Nienhoff is an exchange student from Hamburg, Germany, who attended Cordova High School during the 2004-2005 school year.