By Jacquelyn Perreira

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Becoming a foreign exchange student requires a willingness to be exposed to new cultures. For the ones who are attending MHS this school year, Juniors Giulia Ara, Luiz Bueno and Sadaf Akhtar and Sophomore Frede Hackbart, it is this willingness that allowed them to come to the United States through The American Field Service (AFS) Intercultural Program.

“I decided to become an exchange student maybe (three years ago), and I had to fill out all the papers and I (had) to go to orientation and they (explained) everything and we … learned about how to be with a family that’s maybe hard in the beginning,” explained Hackbart, who is from Germany.

The AFS charges about $12,000 per student and allows them to make a preferred list of countries they wish to visit. From there, where the student lives depends on the availability of a host family for that student to live with.

Despite the high cost, the majority of the students decided to join the AFS program for much of the same reasons. “I would like to improve my English and have a unique experience,” said Ara, who is from Italy. Bueno, who is from Brazil, agreed, saying, “I would like to experience another culture … especially American culture because it’s a country and a way of living that I really admire. And I wanted to share Brazilian culture (and) way of being.”

Typically, the students stay in that region for the entire school year and then a month afterwards. Being away for an entire year has different effects on the students. For Bueno, the distance has not been so hard to cope with. “It’s kind of hard saying goodbye to your friends, your family, but (they know it’s) for a good reason, so … I guess my feeling of being excited was bigger than feeling (bad about) leaving people that I like behind. I mean like, it’s for one year (and) I can come back,” said Bueno. For Hackbart, it has been more difficult. “For me it’s really, really hard … I miss my family very much, we love and stay in touch the whole time,” she said.

Since attending MHS from the beginning of the school year, the students have noticed differences between MHS and the schools in their country. “(MHS) is more bigger, more developed; the teachers are so helpful, they help you out in everything,” explained Akhtar, who is from Pakistan. “The schools in Germany aren’t as big as Mililani and you have one room and the teacher comes to you. And … I have fourteen classes. But I … have some classes one time a week, some classes five times a week,” said Hackbart.

Bueno has noticed social differences. “I was in the (MHS) stadium, and stadiums in Brazil, we don’t sit and watch the game, you jump, you sing, you scream … and (MHS students are not that way, so) I really find it very different (because) I had to change my way of cheering for a team.”

Though the students have been at MHS for a short time, they have already started to gain social lessons. “Not everybody who seems friendly is really friendly and that people who seems a bit strange in the beginning can be really good friends, and that everybody is really nice to you and want to help you,” said Hackbart of what she’s learned.

As for what they hope to obtain from MHS throughout the year, the students are remaining optimistic. “The number one thing I hope (and am) pretty sure I’ll take from this experience is friends … and I hope I have a good school year,” said Bueno. Hackbart also hopes to gain friends. “I hope to get a new experience and to learn (English) better (and) to get many new friends,” she said.

All of the students hope to fatten their passports by continuing to travel to different countires.