EudoraNews.com

Exchange students arrive in Eudora understanding they will not see their friends or family at home until June. Yet as the holidays draw near, Eudora High School seniors Julia Filipovscaia, Fanny Kotte and Sarah Hoeller are each experiencing their own feelings about spending the holidays away from home.

Holiday homesickness

Filipovscaia, a 17-year-old from Moldova, explained that New Years was probably going to be harder for her, because it was a more important holiday at home.

"It will be a new experience for me," she said. "All I know is that I really miss my family."

Fanny Kotte, from Dresdau, Germany, said Christmas wasn't what she would miss.

"In America Christmas seems so commercialized, it makes me not like Christmas so much anymore," she said. "I just want to be with my family."

"I will really miss my family's Christmas traditions," said fellow German Hoeller, who is from Cologne. "Here it is all about the electric lights, but in Germany we use candles for light on the trees."

After a 10-month break from their families, the girls are beginning to miss certain things about home.

"I miss my parents, my mom, and our little dog," Julia said.

Fanny added, "I will definitely miss Turkish food, and my family."

Sarah echoed similar sentiments.

"I miss my family and my friends and a lot of little things," she said. "I miss German chocolate -- it's so good; the hills, my room, and I miss my bike.

"I also miss the transportation. We use the buses a lot more."

Traveling tops the girls' lists this winter break, as the three of them hope to see more of Kansas City.

Decisions, decisions

The decision to explore America was not an easy one, but the girls' choices were made with hopes and expectations of what America would be like.

Hoeller said word-of-mouth aided her decision.

"I had heard from my brother, who was an exchange student, that it was a good experience," she said. "I had my own reasons, though: I wanted to explore another culture and language.

"Traveling to America was a challenge for me, and I wanted to overcome a challenge," she added with a grin.

Kotte had similar reasons for coming to the United States.

"About a year and a half ago, my classmate was a foreign exchange student and had a good experience," she said. "I thought to myself, 'I can do that.' So I did."

Filipovscaia traveled to the U.S. because she wanted to learn about one of the world's leading countries.

Although coming from larger towns and cities in Europe to Eudora, the girls seem to blend in with the others teenagers in small-town America. Filipovscaia and Hoeller are both involved in International Club, Environmental Club, and all three girls enjoy sightseeing and learning more about America. Sarah is also involved in high school choir.

Simple misunderstandings

Hoeller said she wanted to see anything and everything that was American. Learning the culture was very important to her, she said.

Kotte and Filipovscaia agree, but dealing with the Americans is not always their favorite thing to do, especially for Filipovscaia, who is from a small country near Russia with which not many people are familiar.

"My study hall teacher asked me where I was from one day, and I told him Russia," she said. "Then he told me that he has a bike from Yugoslavia. I was like, OK, that's good."

Even though Hoeller and Kotte's origins are more familiar to Eudorans, especially with the town's rich German heritage, people in the United States still have misconceptions about Germany.

"Some of the things that people say are odd," Kotte said. "They always ask if we have the same clothes in Germany."

Hoeller agreed and explained some students in Eudora treated her as though she were from another planet.

"People here always ask if we have cars, TV sets, and chocolate," Hoeller said. "I am always like, 'What? Germans are normal like you Americans.'"

When they leave in June, the three seniors will take home a shared experience, but for now they hope to learn a few things while they're here.

"I like learning about America," Hoeller said. "It's such a young country, and there's so much more that will happen."

Maggie Chilcoat is a Eudora High School sophomore who reports on news and views from the high school.

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