Elsa Lang Lively and Audrey Livingstone

Several months ago, Summit launched a new line of internationalized Summiteers — we over here on the Scholarly Journal team like to call this “The Golden Age” (of American wannabees).  When our beloved Yoonsil and Jinsil, who were in last year’s junior and freshman classes respectively, took their leave at the end of last school year, they had no idea they had opened the door to a world of new opportunities — quite literally.  I (Audrey) was quite baffled when, on the first day of school, a very thick French accent sounded from behind me.  I quickly whipped around and saw a curious new face.  I discovered later that day Mark Belmonte was Summit’s very own first exchange student (though his stay was very brief, lasting a mere two weeks before his deportation due to the expiration of his visa).  Little did any of us Summiteers know this was the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

The school has been more proactively pursuing publicity these past few years.  And when ASSE had too many international students to place in public schools, Summit opened its loving arms.  Following Mark, we received Andréas-Nicolai Thorsten Friis Bertelsen the Dane, Enrique “Kike” del Campo the Spaniard, Loic Inizan the Frenchman, and Andréanne Bourque the Québécoise.  We know you all are extremely perplexed and fascinated by these foreigners, so we took the liberty of jumping the proverbial language barrier and putting ourselves in their shoes to speak with each of them and do some investigative digging to better understand their personal backgrounds, involvement with English/America, and personalities in general.  Enough beating around the bush — let’s see some of their responses, shall we?

Andréas, affectionately referred to as “Denmark,” or, depending on the reader, “the German,” was bred and reared in Holden, Denmark, which is about ten miles from the country’s capital, Copenhagen.  He speaks a bit of French and German and is really missing Danish meat right about now (he says Danish food has better quality — we beg to differ).  He is sixteen years old and leads a fairly normal Danish life.  He is a sophomore here in America, but will not graduate until he is nineteen back home.  He admits the differences between Danish and American schooling are a bit difficult to explain, but he was able to tell us several things.

The Danish schooling system is a year longer than America’s.  High school graduation takes place after what the equivalent of a thirteenth grade would be here, and attending a university is completely free.  His classes at home are a bit more relaxed than what he experiences here at Summit.  He can’t be sure, since he has only attended private school here, but he assumes his school (teachers, work loads, exams) is similar to an American public school.  He adds that one of the biggest differences lies in the foreign language program.

He took his first English course in the fourth grade as a core class.  It is now a mandatory class for Danish students.  The course started with three classes a week that year but progressed quickly after that.  Both of his parents speak English well, so that has helped him considerably.  He says while English is currently a mandatory course, only the younger generations speak it well at this point.  The more elderly population, who were born before and around World War II, may speak some Norwegian or Swedish apart from Danish but do not speak any English.

Apart from being a student, Andréas plays soccer and enjoys partying and drinking with his friends during his free time (the legal drinking age in Denmark is 16).  Andréas tells us the climate surrounding drinking is extremely different here.  In Denmark, most teens start drinking around fourteen — the beginning of high school — as a social activity.  While partying, clubbing, and drinking are more popular during years of undergraduate studies at university here in America, Danes begin much earlier.  University is much more serious in Denmark, he says.  Time must be spent doing work, so there is little of it left to party with friends.  Because he is quite used to this lifestyle, when asked if he would change one thing about America, he said, “the drinking age!”

When Andréas first applied through ASSE to be an exchange student in America, he had no idea he would be placed at a private or Christian school.  He originally applied to attend a public school, but there was a shortage of spots at the public schools involved with the exchange program.  He found out just a few short days before his departure he would be attending Summit and staying with the Kucera family (Mrs. Kucera works in the Business Office, and Schyler and Sean are in tenth and eighth grade, respectively).  So when he arrived and began classes here, he felt quite shocked and slightly annoyed at the complete shift in lifestyle.

He did not expect any of the religious exposure he has experienced while he has been here.  And while it was annoying at first, he says he has grown accustomed to it, and it doesn’t bother him anymore.  He tells us he transitioned quite smoothly into speaking English — it took him about a week to get completely comfortable with the language.  It took him a bit longer, however, to become accustomed to the work load and strict nature that accompany the oh-so-glorious Summit experience.  He finds this helpful for maintaining good structure in his life, though.

When our conversation with Andréas shifted in a more cultural direction, he told us the main difference he sees in American vs. Danish culture is openness about sex.  He says in Denmark, teens are very open with each other and have no qualms about talking about those types of things — things of a very personal nature.  But he observes it seems off limits to discuss those things in America.  On a different note, though, he says Americans celebrate certain holidays in the same way he does in his hometown.  For example, his family decorates a Christmas tree, has a nice dinner, and opens presents on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

On a lighter note, Andréas says after he graduates high school and attends a university, he wants to be a pharmacist, like his father.  He says his favorite movies and TV shows are South Park and American Pie (all of them), Jersey Shore, Mean Girls, and How I Met Your Mother.  He loves listening to Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg (when we told him Snoop Dogg recently abandoned rap for reggae as Snoop Lion, he said, “that’s lame”).  If he were any animal, “I would be a lion,” he says.  Among his favorite slang expressions are “chillax” and “oh snap.”  He describes himself as “confident, athletic, and a winner.”  Sean Kucera begs to differ — he describes his new brother as “selfish, prideful, and unsportsmanlike … and ugly.”  His best memory so far in the states has been his trip to Washington, D.C. with the Kucera family.  “It was cool,” he says.

Our Danish friend came to America to better his English, become more mature, and gain life experience.  He feels he has already accomplished this.  He says when he returns to Denmark, he will respect Christians much more than he did beforehand.  He wants to be more open minded and has already begun this process.  He says, “I do not think that all Americans are fat and lazy with their schoolwork anymore.”  Good to know, Denmark.  Good to know.

Another one of our foreign exchange students is the lovely Andréanne Bourque.  She is seventeen and hails from a small town called St-Célestin, which is between Montréal and Québec City.  She has lived there her whole life and so is very well established there.  Because her town is so small, she goes to school a few towns over at St-Léonard d’Aston.  She has one sister, who is fifteen, and one brother, who is twelve.  Her father sells tractor parts, and her mother nannies six children during the week.

A few years ago, she chose to begin taking English classes when she began high school.  (Interesting fact about Andréanne’s high school: she has every other Friday off!)  She came to America to better her English because she needs it for the job she hopes to land after high school.  She would like to work in hotels or restaurants, and because of this, she does not need a university degree — she doesn’t plan on applying or attending.  Though she had to quit before coming here, she worked at Casse-Croûte Roy et Dionne.

When asked about her cultural preferences, she says she prefers Québécoise music and food.  Her favorite foods are lasagna and spaghetti, but she does love poutine (French fries with gravy and cheese curds — a Québécois specialty).  Though she misses the food, family, and friends she left behind, she says what she misses most is driving her car.  “Missing the family and friends, I was ready for that,” she tells me.  She had to sell her car before coming here so it didn’t get ruined from the heavy amounts of snow that blow through her hometown, and she is very excited to buy another one when she returns home.

Like the other foreign students, she was not aware she would be at a private, Christian school, but she says she has really been enjoying it thus far.  Her favorite memory to date was a sleepover at sophomore Michaela Seaton’s house.  It was the first time she felt truly comfortable speaking in English with the Summit girls.  She likes it here, but wishes there were more options for sports.  She is currently playing basketball.  She describes herself as “shy, a perfectionist, and someone who loves to travel.”  If she were an animal, she would be a monkey.  She loves America so far and is greatly looking forward to the test of her time here.

Enrique del Campo hails from Salinas, Spain and is fifteen years old.  He currently resides at the White household along with his French counterpart, Loic.  His interests include, but are not limited to, skiing, surfing, and eating chocolate.  If he had to be any animal, he would be a fox or a horse.  If he had to describe himself in three words, he would say, “Spaniard, chocoholic, and crazy.”

He describes the process of coming to America as a foreign exchange student as being very long, with significant amounts of paperwork to complete, on top of his schoolwork.  After a grueling six-month process of sending in personal information, essays, and pictures, he was selected to spend the academic year in America.  He said before the Whites were identified as a potential host family for him, his only other host family option was located in Arizona, an hour away from the high school he would be attending and in the middle of a desert.

Although this is his first year abroad in America, he has previously spent summers abroad in the States.  Some differences he has observed about America are the early driving age for teenagers (in Spain, the driving age is eighteen) and how Americans are not as obese as he expected.  He explained the majority of Europeans base the majority of their expectations about American culture on American movies and reality television.  Contrary to what the American media lead him to believe, he finds Americans to be very friendly and accepting.  If he could change one thing about America, he would just change the format of the textbooks in his English class because they are very difficult to understand.

He also shared his thoughts on attending a private Christian school by saying it is not strange for him at all to be a student at a religious school.  He comes from a Christian family in Spain, and religion has been a fundamental part of his upbringing.  He hopes to finish his high school years at Summit, and after visiting Liberty University in Lynchburg with the White family last month, he would also like to attend Liberty after he finishes high school.

When asked what he hopes to experience in America before leaving at the end of the school year, he said he would like to visit Mount Rushmore and Virginia Beach, as well as play a game of authentic American football.  He is also very excited about going to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens and spending the holiday season with his host family.  Although Christmas is celebrated differently depending on the country, he explained in Spain they celebrate in a similar way to most Americans: with Christmas trees, lights, and exchanging presents with loved ones.

As far as his musical interests go, he is quite fond of Imagine Dragons and Wiz Khalifa, to name a couple.  He strongly dislikes Justin Bieber and One Direction, groups that seem to be most popular among pre-teen and teenage girls.  When asked if he enjoys listening to screamo music, he said he wants nothing to do with this genre of music.  He describes the sensation he gets from overhearing screamo music as, “Uh, okay, don’t touch me.  It’s strange, very strange.”

Another American cultural aspect that has inspired his self-expression through his style is the skater look.  He says this clothing style is particularly popular in Spain, and he and his friends enjoy shopping for brands such as Volcom and Quiksilver in their free time.  He is particularly fond of colored shoes and skinny jeans and snapbacks.

Not surprisingly, Kike said he misses his parents, older sister, and friends back in Spain tremendously.  Specifically, he misses taking pictures in mirrors with his friends and surfing in his free time.  Despite feeling homesick from time to time, he has adapted to his temporary American lifestyle for the next seven or eight months and is excited to see what the rest of his stay in Virginia holds in store for him.

Loic Inizan, affectionately referred to as “Lewis” by his American friends, calls Toulouse, France home, where he lives with his parents and younger sister.  He is eighteen years old and enjoys swimming, surfing, and spending time with friends in his free time.  If he was an animal, he would be a “bad shark … like Jaws,” perhaps because he enjoys spending so much time in the water.  He describes himself as being “shy, athletic, and a Frenchman.”

It has always been his dream to come to America to improve his English and experience authentic American culture.  Although he already completed his high school education in France, he wanted to take a gap year before beginning his college studies because English-speaking abilities are very helpful to have when finding a job later on.  Although he is not certain about what he wants to study in college, he is very fascinated by science and ecology.  What he is sure about, however, is he would like to live on the beach later on in life, preferably in the south of France.

Like Kike, Loic shared that the selection process for spending an academic year abroad was very long and tiring.  After nine months of interviews and application procedures, he was selected to come to America along with around two hundred other French teenagers.  Interestingly enough, one hundred and eighty-five of the students participating in an exchange student abroad wound up in the States to learn English.  Many other French students share the same dream of coming to America, mostly due to the popularity of American culture in Europe.  Before coming to America, he thought Americans were always eating hamburgers, there were lots of cheerleaders and football players in high school, and bullies dominated the school system.

Because Loic originally thought he would be attending a public school in America, he did not anticipate his enrollment at a private Christian school in the slightest.  He said it was strange at first to come to Summit because “nobody in France is Christian,” but he has adapted to the cultural change of living in a Christian home and attending a Christian school.  He is interested by the differences between our more religious society and the French secular society.

Since his arrival in Virginia back in September, some of his favorite memories consist of Busch Gardens outings during Howl-o-Scream season and spending time with his new host family.  Some of his favorite musical artists include Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, KiD CuDi, and Mac Miller.  His favorite songs at the moment are “Young, Wild, and Free,” “Work Hard, Play Hard,” and “Sorry for Party Rocking.”  Because his newly acquired American friends enjoy introducing him to new slang expressions, you can frequently hear him saying things like “Psych,” “Let’s go,” “Check this out,” and “Na meen?” (short for “You know what I mean?”).

Apart from the religious differences between many Americans and French people, Loic also said clothing styles vary greatly between the two cultures.  He explained in France, everyone wears very elegant clothes all the time so they always look presentable, no matter the occasion.  On the other hand, he observed many Americans dress like bums, wearing jeans with tennis shoes, and they walk into notable establishments such as Wal-Mart and 7-11 wearing sweatpants and pajama bottoms.  He wishes to tell Americans who insist on dressing themselves in this manner, “You can’t wear that.  It’s forbidden.”

Despite any pet peeves he has regarding American clothing habits, he still has managed to thoroughly enjoy his American exchange experience thus far.  Like Kike, he is excited to see Christmas Town in all its splendor this holiday season and celebrate a traditional Christmas with his host family.  Apart from those hopes, he is just taking American life one day at a time, making the most of his stay in Virginia.

Hopefully you have all learned a little more about your fellow schoolmates through these interviews.  We (Audrey and Elsa) encourage all our readers to take time to make these latest additions to the Summit family feel at home here in America and consider chatting with them about their mother countries.  Perhaps you will be able to learn a few tidbits about different cultures and expand your knowledge base about their traditions.  You can also expect to see a new student from Italy, Emilia, wandering the Summit hallways beginning in January with the start of the second semester.  As lovers of learning and fellowship, let’s try our very best to welcome her into our Summit family and help her to have a wonderful American experience.

Note: James Lee was not interviewed for lack of time.  2nd semester, Elsa and Audrey plan to interview James and Emilia for a follow-up article.