by: Maja Slavik

Shelby High School has had many exchange students in the past years. A high school exchange student is someone who goes to school in a different country than their home, for either a semester or a year. During that year, they live with a host family, go to highschool and experience everyday life in their host country.

This year Mr. Thad White, Shop and Agriculture teacher, is hosting an exchange student from Norway. Mr. White was an exchange student himself when he was in highschool. He said hosting an exchange student is his way of giving something back to the world, but he also chose to do it to show someone the country. As White said, the best part of hosting a foreign exchange student is to show off his home, community, friends and family, but also sharing American cuisine and learning about Norwegian food. 

As a host parent and family, the hosts learn a lot about the exchange student's culture. Mr. White has learned many differences and similarities between Norwegian and American culture. He said he can confirm his theory about Norwegian food being plain and a lot of fish, but he also learned more surprising things, like that Norwegians seem to pay more attention to the brand of their car than Americans do. He would recommend hosting to other families, because it is a great experience, but White said “Hosting is not for everyone”, he explains that you have to have a schedule that allows you to travel and show the student the country, “You have to plan out the whole year”. 

Hosting doesn’t end in the family, it affects the entire community including the school. Mr. White said that the exchange students always bring a good element to the school. 

This year, Shelby High School is hosting 4 exchange students from all over Europe. For them, the most surprising things about America are how different the school system is, with sports and eight hours of school a day, how cold it gets and that soccer is not as popular as it is in Europe. 

For Anton, who is from Denmark, living in a host family is very different but an amazing experience.  Andrea from Norway said, “it was weird at first but the longer you’re there the more normal it feels, once you find a routine.” For Enrico, who is from Italy, he said it’s like starting a new life, with different people. That is also the best part about going on exchange for Enrico, meeting new people and exploring a new culture and new country.