Foreign Exchange Students at T.C.

T.C. Williams is the epitome of a diverse high school, with students from more than 80 countries. Among these are foreign exchange students, who spend one year away from their native countries living with host families.

Noemie Moulin is a junior from Switzerland. She came to America in August 2009 and is staying until the beginning of July 2010. She is travelling through the American Field Service (AFS), a 90-year-old organization that offers intercultural exchange programs in more than 50 countries.

AFS promotes cultural immersion. Almost half of the students who travel through AFS become fluent in their host country’s language. Noemie is no exception; she has studied English for four years and is now fluent. She also speaks French, Italian, Spanish, and some German.

Attending T.C. is a different experience for Noemie. “It’s like three times [the size of] my old school,” she said. “The classes are more interesting. You can choose what you really want to study.” Noemie is taking Photography, Sociology, Algebra II with Trig, English, Spanish, Biology, and History.
Noemie is very involved in activities at T.C. She did fall crew and plans to do spring crew as well. She also went to the Homecoming dance and to the pep rally. “It definitely was fun,” Noemie said of the school events.

Noemie also enjoys other activities in the community. Her host mother, Kathleen, takes her places on the weekends. “Sometimes we just go see a movie or we go to dinner at a Thai restaurant. We went to the Kennedy Center twice, and to church,” Noemie said.

Junior Caroline Espersen is also a foreign exchange student. She came to America from Denmark at the end of the summer. Like Noemie, she is staying until the end of the school year. Caroline is travelling through International Student Exchange Programs (ASSE), which was founded in 1938. It originally organized trips between Germany and Sweden, but now includes Asia, some Latin American countries, and most of western Europe.

Like AFS, ASSE promotes the understanding of cultures and languages. Caroline speaks Danish, English, and German. She started learning English in third grade and German in sixth grade.
Caroline is staying with the Drurys. “I really like my host family,” she said. “I have a host mother and a host brother and they are both very nice.”
Caroline’s host brother, senior Dylan Drury, described his family’s interest in the program. “My mom decided to do it because she had been involved with the Danish school,” he said. “It seemed like fun and she wanted to try it.”

The Drurys are having fun. During the weekends, they do various activities. “We’ve seen D.C. and visited all the historical tourist attractions,” Dylan said. “We went to play laser tag.”
On Halloween, Caroline went trick-or-treating and then to a friend’s house, where she watched scary movies. According to Caroline, Halloween is celebrated in Denmark, but not as much as in America. She also celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time. “I’ve never celebrated that before,” she said. “It’s a nice tradition.” She also enjoyed a Christmas vacation with the Drurys. During winter break, they went to Florida to “snorkel, go to the beach, and just relax,” Caroline said.

At school, Caroline takes Chemistry, TV Production, Art, Honors English 11, American History, P.E., and German. Switching classes is new to Caroline. At the school Caroline attended in Denmark, she had one base class. The teachers were the ones who moved from class to class. “I like both ways of [teaching],” she said.

Like Noemie, Caroline has participated in many activities at T.C. She was on the crew team in the fall and plans to join again in the spring. Her winter sport is cheerleading. She is also a member of the German Club and attended the Homecoming game and dance, as well as the pep rally.

Caroline and Noemie both keep in touch with their families, although in different ways. Caroline communicates with her family through Skype, a video chat that allows her to make calls over the Internet. Noemie e-mails and calls her family frequently.

Both girls appreciate the opportunity to meet new people. “You meet people all the time,” Caroline said.
Noemie says that the best thing about America is the people. “They are very warm and nice,” she said.
T.C. students also enjoy interacting with the foreign exchange students. Sophomore Sarah Phippen, who is a friend of Caroline and Noemie’s, said, “I think it’s great because we get to know what other cultures are like…and they get to see what our country is like.”
Caroline’s host brother Dylan summed up the experience. “It’s really interesting to learn about different cultures,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the foreign exchange student and everyone at the school because you can learn so much from each other.”