Exchange of cultures

Seven international students at YHS will call the Mountain Area home for a year

by Lacey Rees of the Sierra Star

Nora Plano, from Spain, its backed by fellow international students Juliana Pinto, Brazil, and Johanna Glasmeyer, from Germany. They are attending Yosemite High School this school year through “Academic Year in America,” a program that focuses on cultural exchange.

Ka-ram Kim, of Korea, pauses with Christina Harloff, Eva Robben and Johanna Eichstaedt, all from Germany, on the Yosemite High School campus. All are attending YHS for one year.

This year Yosemite High School is host to seven students who are from foreign countries.

Four are from Germany and one each from Spain, Brazil and Korea.

They are staying with host families in the Mountain Area through a program called, “Academic Year in America,” a subsidiary of American Institute for Foreign Study.

The six girls and one boy arrived just before school started in August and will stay until graduation in June.

“The students are here for cultural exchange, to help American students and families learn about another culture as well as help [the students] learn about America,” says Stephanie Samuels, international student coordinator at YHS.

“Every body is doing very well, she says. “There are four girls on the tennis team, one in band, one in drama, and they are all getting A’s and B’s in their classes.”

For most of the students, this is their first trip to the United States. The Sierra Star had a chat with them to get their impressions of Yosemite High School, the Mountain Area and America.

Johanna Glasmeyer

Johanna is from a little German village called Hagen, near Hanover.

She is staying in O’Neals with Carole Calderwood, a YHS teacher, and her husband, Bob Wiens

“Everything is so big here; the distances are so far,” is one of her observations. “They told me it would be spread out, but I didn't know it would be that spread out.”

And the supermarkets in a small town like Oakhurst, she says, “It is as large as one in a big city in Germany.”

At school she thinks it is hard to make friends. She says she has to be the one to initiate meeting someone. “It is hard to make friends here,” she says. She thinks few students notice she is a new foreign student and speak to her.

She is on the tennis team although “I hadn’t even touched a tennis racket before I came here,” she says. In Germany she did judo and horseback riding for sport.

Besides speaking German and English very fluently, Johanna also speaks French and is taking Spanish at YHS.

She will be in the drama production, “Grease,” in the spring, a senior project produced by another student.

In June, her parents and sister will come to watch her graduate. She has two more years of school in Germany. She wants to go college to become an interpreter.

As for American food, “We don’t have peanut butter,” she says. “But I like tacos. I really miss my mom’s mashed potatoes.

Nora Plano

Nora is from Argentona, Spain, a little town by the sea, near Barcelona.

She and fellow foreign student Juliana Pinto, of Brazil, are staying with host Judy Nokes in Coarsegold.

She, too, was surprised at how “everybody lives spread out. “In Spain you can walk everywhere or take a bus.”

She notices a different relationship between teachers and students. “At home we call the teacher by the first name. Here you call them Mr. and Mrs …, but the relationship is closer here,” she observes. Here teachers show more emotion.

She was surprised to see students eating in some classes and as well as seeing girls put on makeup in class.

“In Europe you just listen to the teachers,” she says.

She has joined the Interact and Spanish clubs, and would like to join the snowboard club in the winter. She skis at home.

She also finds it “weird” to be in a car with a 16-year-old driver. “In Spain you have to be 18,” she says.

When she goes home she will take a state exam to enter college where she will study biochemistry.

She says she does cooking at her host home, but she doesn’t like chocolate and peanut butter.

Juliana Pinto

Juliana is from a “little city” of 300,000 people (“little for Brazil”) named Taubaté. It is located between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

It is a little more than an hour from the sea and 20 minutes from the mountains.

“I am happy here because of the family,” she says. She and Nora both live with Judy Nokes of Coarsegold. “I think we feel at home, me and Nora.” They are like sisters, she adds.

She notices that the weather is especially hot and dry here in the summer.

To her, all our food has spices. She was especially surprised to see her host mom put spices in potato salad.

Schools are different in that “the students stay, the teachers move,” and the schools are smaller. Since the “students stay all day together, it is so much easier to make friends,” she says.

She belongs to the YHS Interact Club and Future Business Leaders of America and is taking drama.

“When I go back [to Brazil], I have six months to study to take an exam for college.” she says. She is not sure what she wants to study, but she plans to keep up on her English. “If you stop, you will forget,” she says.

Johanna Eichstaedt

Johanna is from Hamburg, Germany where she lives with her grandmother. She is staying with Maria Oliver of Oakhurst. She feels right a home because living with Ms. Olivers is similar to her family in Germany in that she lives with older people.

She tried to study about living in the United States before coming here, but she was surprised at how many kids there were at school. She thinks that people are polite. “You have to separate the people who are interested in you and those who are not.” She perceives that a lot of the kids at school “are more interested in themselves, having to present themselves and being like the others,”

School here is very social because they live so spread out, which is also different. She notes that in Germany, the students have less activities in school.

She is on the YHS tennis team. In Germany she has studied karate for eight years. Since she has played the flute for four years, she is also in the school band.

She has two more years of school when she goes back home. She hopes that her Yosemite year will give her credit for one of those years. She has noticed how much fast food we have and the larger portions. She says her host mother makes “really good food,” and she especially likes pancakes.

In college she is interested in journalism or being an interpreter or a judge.

In Germany she works in a travel office as a secretary one day a week for work experience. The owners speak English so she can practice her speaking skills.

Christina Harloff

Christina is from Duisburg, Germany a town of about 500,000 near Cologne and the Dutch border. She is staying in Ahwahnee with Leo and Sheila Miner and their children.

“Everybody in Germany has a picture of the United States from the movies,” she says. But she didn’t imagine that Oakhurst would be such a “small village.”

She is used to taking the underground [subway] or bus to get to the city center in 10 minutes.

“Here you have to make plans to go to Fresno — one hour and back by car.”

“[Teachers at YHS] are more open,” she says. In Germany teachers have to be authoritarian. “We have to learn so much more than we do here.”

She plays tennis here and wants to try to get on the softball team. In Germany she has fenced for four years. Her skill level is medium. “You have to do it a long time to get really good,” she says.

She also belongs to the Future Business Leaders of America at YHS and takes art. She still has three more years of school when she get home before she enters college. she in interested in law or business.

Christina says she learned the “King’s English,” in Germany and it took about two weeks to get used to [American] English.

“I love Mexican food,” is her one comment on food.

She quotes a slogan to describe her overall impressions. “It isn’t better; it isn’t worse. It’s just different. That fits in every case,” she says. She e-mails her family every day and telephones once a week.

“It is starting to feel like home,” she says and credits her host family with making her feel that way.

Eva Maria Robben

Eva is from a small village in Germany named Hebelermeer near Hamburg and the Dutch border.

She stays with Poncho and Carla Capuchino of Oakhurst. Sometimes their children Michael and Leah are there, too. “And I have a grandma, Grandma June, and I love them all. They are like a second family to me.”

Oakhurst seems very small to her. “I knew there were huge distances in the United States, but when I came here, I realized it was so true.” She visited the United States before when her family went to Florida on vacation two years ago.

She thinks the teachers are more strict in Germany, but the teachers here are “so emotional. For instance, they say, “Yeah! That’s incredible,” or ”Oh, great.” The school is so spread out rather than being in one big building.

In Germany “you play sports outside of school in private clubs” where you go one or two times a week.

She likes it better here because you have more opportunities to play sports. She is learning tennis.

Other differences include only being able to speak one language, English. She thinks the people are more friendly here. She noticed that the weather, especially earlier this season, was so hot. “In Germany it’s cold,” she says.

“And the food. The food here has too much sugar and fat,” she observes. “You don’t eat enough vegetables or salads.” In general she thinks Americans don’t have a healthy diet.

She also was impressed with the huge distances between different locales.

When she goes back to Germany She will have two more years of school. She wants to go to college somewhere other than Germany.

“I like to travel and meet people,” she says, “and I’m interested in languages. That’s why I did this year.”

She would like a job where she can travel and use her languages — German, French, Dutch, English, and Latin. She wants to learn Spanish next.

Ka-ram Kim

Ka-ran is from Seoul, Korea, and this is his first trip outside the country.

He is staying with the Sonderland family in Bass Lake. He doesn’t have time to see his family very much, but here, “I spend more time with my host family.”

He thinks that the people here are more friendly. He is used to riding the subway and the bus in Korea rather than using cars.

In school “we don’t change classes in Korea,” he says, “We have one main teacher and then some other teachers for math and science, but they come to us.”

He plays basketball and baseball, which is his favorite sport.

He thinks that there is too much food. “In Korea, we eat less” for the food supply is less.

Other differences he notices is that he normally doesn’t wear shoes in the house.

“Korea is small, so we don’t have room to garden,” he notes. “Here, my host family has a big garden.”

He also says the apartments are taller, some five stories tall with many families.

Ka-ran wants to go into international business. he will have 1.5 more years of high school when he goes back to Korea. He says that in Korea he doesn’t have time to see his family very much, but here, “I spend more time with my host family.”

He thinks that the people here are more friendly. He is used to riding the subway and the bus in Korea rather than using cars.

In school “we don’t change classes in Korea,” he says, “We have one main teacher and then some other teachers for math and science, but they come to us.”

He plays basketball and baseball, which is his favorite sport.

He thinks that there is too much food. “In Korea, we eat less” for the food supply is less.

Other differences he notices is that he normally doesn’t wear shoes in the house.

“Korea is small, so we don’t have room to garden,” he notes. “Here, my host family has a big garden.”

He also says the apartments are taller, some five stories tall with many families.

Ka-ran wants to go into international business. He will have one-and-a-half more years of high school when he goes back to Korea.

Thoughts on attack

Each of the students have thoughts to share concerning the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Johanna Glasmeyer was first “shocked” and then worried and scared. “I wanted to be at home with family and friends.” Then, she talked about it and called her parents. “Now I feel better,” she says.

At first Nora thought it was like a movie, it was shown on television so many times. She wonders what its consequences will be.

Juliana is worried about the consequences. “I don’t know what we will do or what will happen,” she says. “It is very different. I don’t now what I am supposed to do.”

Johanna Eichstaedt said the first week was very hard for her. “I was completely shocked and can’t imagine so many people dying. People like you and me. It is like a nightmare — and like reality.”

Christina thinks “it is right that America is going to fight back. [All nations] have to fight terrorism. The fight against terrorism should have started earlier,” she says.

Eva says, “I think it’s just terrible, and I can’t understand why people are able to do this. And I’m very scared for the future because no one knows what will happen exactly. I was just [in New York] for orientation three weeks ago. That’s where I met Christina [Harloff]. We are great friends now.”

Ka-ram was surprised at first that so many Americans were upset, but then realized how bad it was. “We don’t have terrorism in Korea,” he says.

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This reporter would like to acknowledge the help of Stephanie Samuels, YHS international student advisor, in gathering information for this story.