An Exciting Year Comes To A Close For AFS Students

By Laurie Borst

Just ten months ago, Rebecca Schuermann and Heidi Sikemsen arrived in Newtown to begin a year of study as foreign exchange students. Last week, they attended graduation ceremonies at the O’Neill Center. This week, it is with mixed emotions that both young women prepare to return to their homelands.

Both students found the graduation ceremonies very exciting. Heidi explained that graduation at home was very small. Her high school class had about 50 students. In Nuuk, Greenland, there are five high schools with about 200 students total in the senior classes.

“Graduation was really big and exciting,” Rebecca said. “I was so nervous going up to that scene.”

The two students had seen graduation ceremonies on television, but to be there was really cool, the atmosphere was really exciting, they said.

The last time The Bee checked in with the young women was just after Thanksgiving. Both have enjoyed an action-packed winter and spring.

Heidi lamented, “This was my first Christmas with no snow. At home, we have three days of celebration and lots of visiting. Here, we stayed home together as family. It was really nice. The tree was huge and beautiful.”

Heidi’s host family, the Odams, took a number of trips into New York City to see the sights, and of course, took Heidi to the Christmas spectacular where she delighted in seeing the Rockettes.

New Year’s was spent at the Odams cabin in Pennsylvania. Lots of family members visited. In Greenland, Heidi said, lots of fireworks celebrate the new year.

During February break, there was lots of snow in the Pennsylvania hills and Heidi enjoyed sledding and skiing. In March, she attended a Nickelback concert and a Broadway show, Beauty and the Beast, which she described as “awesome.”

April vacation saw Heidi visiting Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. She had a lot of fun, go-kart racing in North Carolina and in the nation’s capital she was impressed by the beautiful buildings and monuments. Heidi thought the Capitol was beautiful. She said they were unlucky with the weather, but everyone still had fun.

“I have been so lucky with my host family,” Heidi said, “I just love them.”

Rebecca also traveled a lot. In February, she visited Whistler and Vancouver, Canada, where she did a lot of snowboarding. During that trip, she spent a day in Los Angeles and went to Venice Beach. April vacation again took her to the West Coast. First, she saw Las Vegas then went to Los Angeles and cruised to Catalina Island, San Diego, and Ensenada, Mexico.

She also spent a weekend in Washington, D.C., on a trip with 50 AFS students. They toured the Capitol, which she found impressive. Her favorite monument was the obelisk, as she called it, aka the Washington Monument.

Both young women visited amusement parks on a couple of occasions. This spring, Rebecca went to Six Flags for the second time. Batman and Superman were her favorite rides. Heidi visited Lake Compounce, riding the Sky Coaster and Boulder Dash.

Heidi and Rebecca both attended the senior prom, which they described as lots of fun. They said it was different from what you see in the movies.

“I never knew there was so much work behind it. Yeah, there’s the dress, but the shoes have to match, manicure, pedicure, makeup, hair, match your date, where to take pictures…” Rebecca recounted. “It’s fun once. But, too much money, too much to do.”

Heidi agreed wholeheartedly.

Rebecca said her favorite teacher at Newtown High was Miss Buonagurio. “I liked her a lot. She was very good at explaining things,” Rebecca added, “I used the Reading and Math Center, too. It helped a lot. I was there every day in the beginning.”

Heidi’s favorite teacher was Dr Toby, who she had for Honors Literature. “I had never read whole book in English,” Heidi explained. “The vocabulary was difficult for me but Dr Toby never gave up believing in me.”

Heidi and Rebecca both said they had never read so many books. Both really liked Tim O’Brien’s book on the Viet Nam War, The Things They Carried.

“It made impression on me about how people felt during and after the war,” Rebecca said.

Heidi said she learned more about United States history than she knew about her own. Rebecca added, “It’s part of the experience here. If you live here, it’s one thing. To learn history, you understand why things are the way they are.”

Reflecting on their thoughts about America before they came here, Rebecca said, “Before, I was not really for America because of politics. Now, I realize it’s the government, not the people. And I used to think all Americans are really, really fat and only eat McDonald’s.”

“There are actually a lot of skinny people here,” Heidi said.

“I didn’t think I’d be surrounded by so many trees,” Heidi added, switching topics. “With no transportation, I felt hemmed in.

“My host family was the greatest,” Heidi continued. “The biggest shock was the loss of independence. I needed a ride to go anywhere.”

“Me, too,” Rebecca agreed. “I felt a complete loss of independence. It was hard to accept in the beginning. In Switzerland, you can bike or take the bus wherever you want to go.”

And what was the biggest lesson these young ladies are taking away from this experience?

“My way is not always the right way. I need to compromise,” Rebecca said. “If I want something, it doesn’t always happen. I’m more open-minded now.”

“Getting up in the morning. I felt so bad for my host father,” Heidi lamented. “He had to drive me to school a lot. He missed work time. I was ashamed of myself. I tried hard to go to bed early and get up on time. I’m more responsible than when I got here.”

What will they miss most? Rebecca said her friends and Heidi will miss her host family. Both students enjoyed Cody Foss’s weight lifting program this past winter, although, Rebecca reported, they sometimes did more dancing than weight lifting.

“Heidi’s a really good dancer. She showed us moves to the in music at the gym,” Rebecca said.

Through sports, like cross country last fall, the women made good friends, and from there, networked to other friends.

“They were all open-hearted and welcoming,” Heidi said. “There is so much hospitality in this town.”

Guidance Director Neil Culhane also received kudos from the students.

“He was so nice. You knew you could talk to him. He helped me organize things,” Rebecca said.

Both students’ English has improved dramatically. “In e-mails to my mom, I used to write in Swiss-German. Now, English is easier,” Rebecca said.

Heidi said, “I speak three languages, Greenlandic, Danish, and English. It’s hard to speak Danish now. I’m going to Denmark on Tuesday with family friends. I hope I can speak all right.”

Rebecca is not returning to Switzerland until July 12. She is excited to see a Fourth of July celebration.

Did the young women find a favorite restaurant? Rebecca loves the Inn at Newtown, which makes a “really good shrimp salad.” Heidi found the food at Rainforest Café really good.

Both of them chose the same favorite movie they saw here: Pirates of the Caribbean. That statement was followed by murmurings about Johnny Depp.

Their sojourn in America has introduced them to new music.

Heidi discovered Fall Out Boy. “When I first got here, I was into hip hop and dance music. Now, I’m more into soft rock.”

Rebecca was always into classic hard rock, but listens to a lot more now. She was going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert. After arriving last summer, she got to see the Steve Miller Band.

The young ladies made lots of good friends, they reported, and are making plans to visit and correspond in the future.

“Next summer, people are planning to go to Switzerland,” Rebecca said. “And maybe a road trip through Europe. It’s sad to think about going back.”

When she returns to Greenland, Heidi plans on working for year and figuring out where to go. “I’m interested in languages and international affairs,” she said. “I may have to go to Denmark for school. I would like to study in Italy for a year.”

Rebecca will look into attending the college in her hometown for a year and then see what else she can do, what opportunities she may have. “Maybe I can do an exchange here for college. I love to travel now. To think about being in one place more than six months is boring.”

“Lastly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped us make this year so good,” said Rebecca. I love the people of Newtown, how they interact with you, so open-hearted and open-minded.”

Heidi added, “We’ll never forget this town.”