A Danish exchange student from the 1960s returns to Hollister
for 40th class reunion
Hans Christoffersen may have only spent one year at San Benito
High School back in 1966, but the foreign experience meant so much
to the Dane that he has continued to consider Hollister his
”
other
”
home for the duration of his adult life. and recently came back
for his 40th class reunion.
A Danish exchange student from the 1960s returns to Hollister for 40th class reunion
Hans Christoffersen may have only spent one year at San Benito High School back in 1966, but the foreign experience meant so much to the Dane that he has continued to consider Hollister his “other” home for the duration of his adult life. and recently came back for his 40th class reunion.
“I spent the time visiting with my old friends, seeing former teachers and staying with my other ‘mom and dad'(Howard and Elma Renshaw),” Christoffersen said.
Back in the 1960s Hollister was quite a different place, especially from Christoffersen’s home in Odense, Denmark.
“Hollister was a very different place. Everything was different from what I was used to. The biggest difference was that at Danish high school I was treated as a young adult, but here we were treated as children, the rules were very restrictive,” Christoffersen said.
Christoffersen lived on a ranch in the country outside Hollister during his stay and perhaps it was this lifestyle that stuck with him – listening to the coyotes and crickets when he went to sleep every night. There were memories that did not fade.
Christoffersen was not treated like a guest in the Renshaws home; he said he was family.
“They always treated me exactly like a son. You can’t get any closer to home than that,” Christoffersen said.
Living in the country and not being able to drive Christoffersen was dependent on his foster-brother to take him and drive him into town. He made a lot of friends through the high school and even participated in the athletics.
“I was on the track team. I ran the mile, and did the high jump,” he said. At home during his youth Christoffersen’s father was on the Danish national track team.
In 2000, Christoffersen brought his two sons to America for the specific purpose of visiting Hollister.
“This was America to me. It didn’t matter who you were, or what politics you held, everyone made you feel at home, especially the Renshaws,” Christoffersen said. “The first thing my kids saw when they got here was an American mailbox, they were fascinated. You never think of it as a great experience, but it was.
Back in 1965 during his time in the United States, he visited several other parts of California, including San Francisco and Fresno and he and the rest of the foreign exchange students saw parts of America as they traveled to and from New York, where the boat took port. Still, the memories of life in Hollister have endured for Christoffersen.
When he received the invitation to his 40th class reunion he was excited at the opportunity. He emailed his second family and asked if they could find him a place to stay while he was in Hollister.
It was at his reunion that he reconnected with his old friends and felt so comfortable with them that he asked if he could stay with them during the remainder of his trip. For the second week of his Hollister trip, Cristoffersen bounced from house to house sleeping in spare bedrooms and living rooms.
During the day he would wander around his adopted home and in the evenings he would visit with old friends.
So, while most of us would like to go somewhere tropical for our vacations, apparently the Danish would rather explore the familiar fondness of home.
