Germany native Gloria Gabriel couldn’t wait to call home and
tell her mom all about her culture shock.
”
My mom asked ‘is it just like all the American movies there?’
and I said yes,
”
she said.
”
The girls are all pretty and the houses are all neatly in a
row.
”
Hollister – Germany native Gloria Gabriel couldn’t wait to call home and tell her mom all about her culture shock.
“My mom asked ‘is it just like all the American movies there?’ and I said yes,” she said. “The girls are all pretty and the houses are all neatly in a row.”
Gabriel is one of six foreign exchange students from all over Europe and Asia who will spend the next year in Hollister and experience California life.
“This has always been a big dream of mine to come here,” she said. “The sun, the ocean. Everyone always wants to come to California.”
Anne VanBoom, 17, came from the Netherlands, and agrees with Gabriel.
“I wanted to come to California and see the culture because you always see it in the movies,” she said. “One of the places I really want to visit is Hollywood.”
Aside from the special trips to California landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Disneyland, the six students will spend the majority of their days meshed into the large student population of San Benito High School. Although she’s only in her second week, Gabriel said she’s been very happy with how friendly the student body has been.
“It’s very easy to make friends here,” she said. “Everyone I have met has been very open, and in Germany it’s not that way. People won’t just come up and talk to you unless they already know you.”
The students have come to Hollister and the high school through a non-profit program, which was started in 1980, called Academic Year in the United States of America (AYUSA). The program matches the students with host families in the area, and in some circumstances, it’s not only the student who benefits from the experience. Dave Jorgensen and his wife Kayoko chose to house 16-year-old Satomi Motegi from Japan. Originally from Japan herself, Kayoko felt it would be a good opportunity for her children to learn more about the Japanese culture, and also for Motegi to have someone she could relate to during the experience. Her husband is ecstatic about have Modegi in their home as well.
“We have three small children and I think it will be a great for them to have the experience of having an older sibling,” he said.
