Passport to Prom
Australian Boyfriend Travels Overseas for Flour Bluff Senior
Madalyn Mata, Social Media Editor
April 17, 2026
Embedded Files
Jaxon Waldhart and Nicole Altenberg rush into their first hug at the airport . Photo by: Ashley Altenberg
For most students, prom begins with choosing colors, booking appointments and making dinner plans. For senior Nicole Altenberg, one of the biggest moments came long before prom night ever started: waiting at the Corpus Christi airport to see her boyfriend step off a plane after more than a year of knowing him only through a phone screen. The wait felt longer than the flight itself.
After months of paperwork, interviews, canceled travel plans and visa approvals, Jaxson Waldhart, an 18-year-old student from Australia, was finally arriving in Texas for the first time.
Nicole stood at the terminal watching passengers leave one by one until the line stopped moving. Then he appeared.
“Then suddenly I saw her and she ran up to me,” Waldhart said. “I caught her and it was bliss.”
For Waldhart, that final flight from Houston to Corpus Christi felt far longer than thirty minutes.
“I had no idea how tall she was, or how she even looked up close,” he said. “I was one of the last people off the plane, and she thought I didn’t make it onto the flight.”
What followed became the first chapter of a visit that would last six months — not for prom alone, but to finally experience everyday life together after building a relationship across continents.
“It wasn’t just for prom,” Altenberg said. “He wanted to see America, and we wanted to finally meet in person. Prom just happened to fit during the time he was here.”
The two first met through an Air Force cadet Facebook group for teens interested in military careers. Conversations about aircraft and future plans quickly turned into daily calls.
“We both wanted to go into the Air Force, and we just started talking,” Altenberg said. “Then our parents got to know each other, and of course we had to make sure neither of us were 50-year-old men.”
Waldhart & Altenberg ejoy the view from the 3rd floor of the Aquarium before going to play poker. Photo by: Audreana Underbrink
Their relationship soon developed into a routine built around time zones, school schedules and work hours. Because Australia is nearly half a day ahead, ordinary conversations required constant planning.
“Sometimes it would be night for me and noon for him, and we still tried to have dates,” Altenberg said.
Their dates often looked different than most teenagers would imagine.
Waldhart and Altenberg enjoy their time at prom posing with inflatable instruments.. Photo by: Audreana Underbrink
“Sometimes I’d prop him up on the counter while we cooked together,” she said. “We watched movies together online, and I even took him to the theater on my phone once.”
Packages became part of that connection too.
“I sent him food from here, like Pop-Tarts and chocolates, and matching pajama pants so we could wear the same thing,” Altenberg said.
For Waldhart, making the trip required months of work and planning. He took part-time jobs, saved money and completed visa interviews before receiving approval for a B-2 visa that would allow him to remain in the United States for six months.
“I do actually wanna return to potentially get work experience here in the US, because I want to work for an aerospace company, like Boeing,” Waldhart said.
Nicole’s mother, Ashley Altenberg, watched the process unfold from the beginning.
“It took a couple months at least, about four to six months, I think,” Ashley said. “It was kind of rushed, but they’ve known each other for over a year.”
Waldhart now stays with Nicole and her mother while completing online coursework based on Australian school schedules.
“He has to wake up at nighttime to do his school,” Ashley said. “They’re a day ahead of us.”
Waldhart is currently in his senior year, though Australia’s academic calendar differs completely from the United States.
“So his school is year round. He doesn't graduate until December,” Nicole said.
During his stay, the family has introduced him to local events and plans to continue traveling this summer. So far, he has visited Corpus Christi’s Art Walk, explored local attractions and adjusted to daily life in South Texas. More trips are planned.
“We’re waiting until summer so Nicole can go out more, and we want to take them to Six Flags, SeaWorld and wherever else we can,” Ashley said.
Waldhart & Altenberg dance together to a slow song at Prom 2026. Photo by: Audreana Underbrink
By the time prom arrived, the couple had already spent several months adjusting to real life together, but prom still became one of the most anticipated parts of the visit. For Waldhart, the experience was unlike anything Australia offers.
“We have formals, but they’re much smaller,” Waldhart said. “Prom has a lot more to it.”
Waldhart dips Altenberg in a pose for photos just as he dips her during the dance itself. Photo by: TSS Photogrpahy
Australian formals, he explained, usually focus on dressing nicely and attending dinner, with less entertainment overall. Prom at Flour Bluff offered something much larger.
“Everything was blown out of the water,” Waldhart said. “We got to play blackjack and poker, had caricatures done, and the dancing was amazing.”
The dancing stood out immediately.
“I liked the dancing quite a lot,” he said. “That’s something I’d actually want to take back home.”
Nicole said seeing him experience American dance traditions became one of her favorite parts of the evening.
“He had to practice the Cha-Cha Slide beforehand,” she said. “I didn’t get to teach him the Macarena, though.”
While Nicole has had many opportunities to attend dances in the United States, this was her first prom experience, but it left a lasting impression.
“I haven’t been to a prom before,” Nicole said. “I ended up loving prom, getting to dance with him, getting dipped, all of it.”
While both had never been to prom before, Waldhart felt completely out of his depth with the preparations. He had only ever participated in school formals in Australia and now needed to learn unfamiliar formalwear details in order to get ready.
“I had to learn what cufflinks were, how to tie my own bow tie and what a boutonniere even was,” he said.
Outside prom, there were lots of surprising encounters and adjustments that had to be made. The biggest change though, would be the availability of a variety of foods.
“They have a lot less variation in Australia due to more of a closed off food market,” Nicole said. “There’s a lot of foods he’d never tried, like cheesecake and corndogs.”
“Poptarts! I love poptarts.” Waldhart said. “We don’t have them in Australia.”
Waldhart explained that he was worried about not having his favorite food from back home, Vegemite, so he decided to bring some along to ensure he would have at least one food he was sure to eat.
Waldhart & Altenberg share a moment during photos at Prom 2026. Photo by: TSS Photography
“I brought a, like, a two pound jar of the stuff. I was not messing around,” Waldhart said. “I’ve given a few people a taste of it, and most people don't like it.”
He also said many stereotypes about America changed once he arrived.
“A lot of people overseas think most Americans are stupid,” Waldhart said. “That’s been completely disproven. I’ve met a lot of really cool people here. In Australia, people are much more blunt.”
Despite all of the challenges of unknown foods and social conventions. Prom was one of Waldhart’s outstanding memories.
“Absolutely 10 out of 10,” Waldhart said. “I don’t regret missing my formal in Australia even one percent.”
For Nicole, prom became more than a dance. It became proof that a relationship once limited to calls, packages and time-zone math could now exist in ordinary moments; dancing, laughing and finally standing side by side.
And for Waldhart, the biggest part of the trip remains simple.
“The main reason I came here was for my girlfriend,” he said. “I love her, that's truly the biggest thing.”
Page updated
Report abuse