From monkey visits on the porch, to flashing IDs at checkpoints, there is no question that living out of the country is incredibly different than the familiar lives we live here in the United States.
For junior Sierra Henderson, nothing has been the same since she moved to Mansfield from Malaysia at the age of nine. After arriving in Malaysia in 2001, and living there for three years doing mission work specifically involving the school systems and housing children, she feels like she has spent her time doing the right thing.
“I’ve never experienced anyone as kind as the people there,” junior Sierra Henderson said.
After living in an entirely new world, Henderson knows she will miss the people she spent time with in Malaysia. In the aftermath of experiencing a world like nothing else, she plans on going back as soon as possible.
“Malaysia will always have a special place in my heart,” Sierra Henderson said. “It is a place I will never forget.”
For senior Valtteri Päiväniemi, the change appears to be the opposite, coming here. Since arriving in August of 2012 from Espoo, Finland, he has seen a world of differences.
“I thought that everyone would be riding horses and wearing cowboy hats and that it would be like in movies,” senior Valtteri Päiväniemi said.
After falling in love with the country, he plans to return as soon as he can.
“It’s so different,” senior Valtteri Päiväniemi said. “I wish I could stay here forever.”
Like Päiväniemi, senior Xavier Ester knows how different things are when moving to another country.
After living in Germany for about eight years, and seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, senior Xavier Ester knows the feeling of experiencing cultural differences. At the tower, Ester received his nickname, Yo, which means leaf.
“Now that I am stationed in the United States again, I will never forget the memories with my friends,” senior Xavier Esters said. “Everyone will have a special spot in my heart,”
With laughs shared, lessons learned, memories made, and friends gained, foreign exchange students and Americans alike have all been able to say they have seen world, inside and out. What they know as home remains a mystery, but where their hearts really are will never be a secret.
