Foreign Exchange Student Experiencing New Culture
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 27, 2009, 2 Comments
Courtesy Roberto Treviño,
With her love of experiencing new cultures, Nicole Kiel of Düsseldorf, Germany, has traveled over 5000 miles to visit America and will be calling Laredo home for the fall semester.
Kiel an 11th grade foreign exchange student is currently attending Nixon High School and the Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts School as part of the Academic Year in America (AYA) Program for the fall semester.
AYA, a program of the AIFS Foundation, is one of the largest and most respected high school foreign exchange student programs in the United States. About 900 high school students live with host families across the United States every year. Local AYA Coordinators pair host families with students based on their different hobbies and interest.
For the fall semester, Kiel is living with her host family Robert and Leslie Bird and their two daughters Staci, an 8th grader, and Sharron, a 10th grader, who also took part in the decision to host Nicole.
“The Birds are super friendly and nice. I love them,” stated Kiel. “It’s like I have a second family in another continent.”
Kiel picked the United States because she has always wanted to travel and experience different cultures. “I want to experience the American way of life, establish new friends and to improve my English speaking skills,” explained Nicole. “I want to experience the high school life, and to establish my independence.”
“I think Nicole is GREAT! She is enthusiastic and excited to be in the United States,” stated Leslie Bird. “The girls are learning so much about her culture and are, in turn, having fun showing our culture to her.”
Kiel, 17, enters Nixon High and the Trevino Magnet School as a junior. She is fluent in German, Polish, English, Latin, and French. Nicole also has had four years of playing the piano and she is refining her skills at the Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts.
Kiel said she has enjoyed her classes and trips to the mall. “I just love it,” Kiel replied. “I love my AP calculus and piano classes at VMT and my Drama class at Nixon High. The Mall, I love it. I am able to go to the movies and shopping in all these stores. We don’t have that many stores in Germany.”
While Nicole is in Texas, the Birds have planned several cultural activities throughout the semester to make it a more enriching experience for Nicole. They plan on visiting NASA in Houston, the River Walk and Alamo in San Antonio, Texas A&M in College Station, as well as South Padre Island and New Braunfels. “We are very excited that Nicole will be able to spend Christmas with us before she returns to Germany,” stated the Bird family.
Timely comments . I am thankful for the facts – Does anyone know if my assistant might locate a sample a form document to edit ?
I feel bad for her. Laredo really blows and I say this not because of it’s residents but because of its city government.