by Dylan Carlson Sirvent, ’19
Kaila Borgards
Borgards, a junior currently at UAHS who is a year-long exchange student from Siegburg, Germany talks on where she is from and what it is like to be in UA compared to Germany.
Where are you from?
I’m from Germany and I live in the Midwestern part of Germany. I live in a city called Siegburg, it’s about the size of Upper Arlington. It’s near Bonn, more like in between of Bonn and Cologne.
Have you lived anywhere else?
I was born in Mexico city. I lived there until I was three years old. After that, I moved to Germany, because my dad is German. We lived in Germany for two years, so from when I was three to five. Then we returned to Mexico city where I was in Kindergarten and 1st grade, age 5 to 7. Then I returned to Germany, ever since then I’ve been living there, until, well a few weeks ago.
How have you liked UA? What has been the experience going from Germany to UA
Everything is different here. Everything. I thought when I chose the United States, I was like ‘how much different can the US be from Germany?’ But, literally, everything is different. School is different, the streets here are so much bigger. Everything’s bigger here. So many people told me that but I didn’t really believe it but it is true. I was like ‘Whoa, what?’. The streets are so big, in Germany they’re not even half the size they are here. Also, the houses here are very big. They have one house for one family. In Germany, it’s like one house with two families. Food portions are also bigger here.I went to a fast food restaurant and I ordered fries and it was like one pound of fries.
Do you get more homework here in the US than Germany?
Oh yeah. So much more homework. So much. I didn’t even think I could spend so much time doing homework. It’s insane. Here, I have like two hours of homework. Over the weekend I spent five hours on homework. In Germany, homework is normally like 10 minutes. In Germany they don’t grade homework. The teacher doesn’t really care what you wrote just that you wrote anything.
Gauthier Huchet
Huchet, another junior exchange student at UAHS, from Rennes, France shares his thoughts on how UA is different from France and why he decided to pursue an exchange.
Original Language:
Tu viens d’ou?
De France, de Bretagne. Je viens de Rennes, c’est la capital de Bretagne.
Pourquoi est-ce que tu est dans l’Upper Arlington? Comment est-ce que tu as arrivé ici?
Je suis très ouvert avec le monde. Très sociable. Donc je pense que l’échange, que ça sera un bon experience.
Avec quelle famille est-ce que tu resteras?
Je serais ici avec trois familles. Tous les familles sont de Upper Arlington. C’est bon parce-que je peux rester dans la même ville pour tout l’année.
Quelles sont les différences entre Rennes et UA?
Ici (en Upper Arlington), il y a beaucoup des maisons. Mais, en Rennes il y a plusieurs des magasins, il y a des bars. Tu peux promener avec tes amis. Et ici, ça c’est pas vraiment possible. C’est une ambiance different. Mais, j’adore ici aussi. C’est complètement différent.
Tu trouves bien le UA?
Oui. Les personnes ici sont plus ouverts qu’en France. Quand il ya un groupe des amis, ils sont pas ouverts comme ici. J’aime bien ça, parce-que je peux parler avec beaucoup des personnes, et ils sont très aimables.
Translated:
Where are you from?
I’m from France, Brittany. From the city of Rennes, which is the capital of Brittany.
Why did you do an exchange to Upper Arlington?
Well, I’m not very shy and very social. So, I thought the exchange might be a fun experience.
Which families will you stay with?
I will be with three families. All the families are from Upper Arlington, which is good because that means I can stay in the same city for the whole year.
What are the differences between Rennes and UA?
[In Upper Arlington] there are a lot of houses. In Rennes, there’s a lot of malls, and there’s also bars. You can walk with your friends everywhere. But here, that’s not really possible. It’s a different atmosphere. But I love it here. It’s completely different.
So far, have you liked UA?
Yes, very much. People here are more open than French people. In France, friend groups are a little more closed. But here, I can speak to a lot of different people, and everyone is very friendly.