COQUILLE – Teenagers Izzat Mukattash and Julianne Owens are opening doors and, they hope, understanding of their different cultures in countries a world away from home.

Julianne, 15, from Coquille and Izzat, 16, from Jordan are participating in two foreign exchange programs, one bringing students to the U.S. from predominately Muslim countries and another sending American students to those countries.

When stories of young people heading to the Middle East often have a connection to war, Julianne is happy to be an exception. She is part of a program helping put misconceptions between the cultures to rest. She found out about three weeks ago she was going to spend five months in Muscat, the capital city of Oman, in the southeast corner of the Arabian peninsula. She leaves in August.

"I was really surprised and really excited," she said.

Julianne is among 14 students to receive a full U.S. State Department scholarship to study in Oman and one of 49 going out of the country.

The program, Youth Exchange & Study, was created in 2003 in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The goal is to combat misunderstanding and misconceptions between Americans and those who live in countries with large Muslim populations, by bringing in Muslim students from overseas. Julianne will be part of the first year of the outbound program, YES Abroad. Both programs are part of the nonprofit AYUSA Global Youth Exchange.

YES has become increasingly competitive. Last year, 667 Jordanian students applied for the scholarship. Izzat was among only 28 Jordanians to study in America. Altogether, 850 young people from Muslim countries are living and going to school here this year through the program.

He downplays his achievement, which required passing a written application, an English test and an interview, but it's not hard to see how he rose to the top. Attitude is everything for Izzat, whether it's being among a religious minority as a Christian at home or living almost a year in a foreign country.

"If you think everybody is just like you, it's just normal," he said.

He studied this year at Myrtle Point High School. Izzat said, though not easy, it takes less studying to earn good grades here than in Jordanian schools. Myrtle Point did offer something he had never experienced in an academic institution: sports.

Izzat took a liking to a distinctly American sport - football. He was a varsity team kicker and was a wide receiver for the junior varsity team last fall.

"It's the best sport I've done in my whole life," he said.

Izzat also was homecoming king.

The enthusiastic 16-year-old said his host city reminds him a bit of home in that it's a small town where everybody knows everybody else.

"I feel like everything was normal for me," he said.

Julianne, on the other hand, is expecting to adapt to big cultural differences. She will have to cover herself with a headdress and full length robes. And while Izzat's outgoing personality served him well, Julianne will have to learn to redirect hers, as men and women relate to one another in a different manner in Oman.

"I'm such a bubbly personality. That's going to be a challenge for me," she said.

She also will kick off her exchange during the month-long fast of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims don't eat from dawn to dusk. Julianne will not be required to observe the fast, but is encouraged to join, something she plans to do.

The YES program always is looking for host families.

Julianne's mother, Kari Owens, who's the YES regional director, said YES students are sent to orientations beyond their preparations for scholarship testing, where they study the language and culture of the countries they will be living in. Julianne, with Izzat's help, is learning Arabic.

"It's really a hard language," she said. "I think if I know some before, it will be a lot easier to function."

Owens said the program brings something unique – and necessary – to American schools.

"I think this gives our students exposure to diversity and another part of the world," she said.

For Izzat, there is a simple way to bridge the void between cultures.

"Talk to people," he said. "Don't wait for people to talk to you."

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Exchange students from all across Nebraska gathered together over the weekend for the Second Annual Nebraska Monument Tour.

The event included a hike from the top of the monument to the bottom, allowing the students the opportunity to explore new grounds before breaking for lunch prepared by Randy Wallerich over a Dutch oven.

"We wanted the students to experience as much of the Old West as possible during their visit to the area," said Sheryl Wallerich, Academic Year United States of America (AYUSA) Global Youth Exchange Regional Director.

In addition to their hike and lunch and after an afternoon visit to Agate Fossil Beds, the students enjoyed a spaghetti dinner prepared by members of the Monument Bible Church.

Following the spaghetti feed, the group enjoyed an evening with Gordon Howard as he delivered a presentation concerning the Oregon Trail before kicking back to music by Kent Gabriel.

Today the students are scheduled for a personal tour of Chimney Rock before traveling back to their host families.

The festivities would not have been possible without the help of local sponsors. Sponsoring the event was the Scotts Bluff National Monument, Agate Fossil Beds, Gordon Howard with Chimney Rock, the Monument Bible Church, Broadway Office Supply, Wal-Mart Supercenter, Panhandle CoOp, TierOne Bank, Sports Village and Platte Valley National Bank.

Wallerich said the organization places students from 75 countries and currently Nebraska is home to 35 foreign exchange students.

However, only 11 were able to make the trip and take in the festivities because of scheduling conflicts, she added.

Kenny is from Hong Kong and is living with Ted and Ruth Vakoc of Morrill and said he has experienced snow for the first time.

"It is very cold, but my host brothers and I had a snowball fight and that was a lot of fun," Kenny said, "and we also went skiing, and even though I got hurt, it was fun."

Kenny comes from a small family with only one brother and his host family includes eight children.

"So that has been quite an experience in itself," he said joking.

Sophie from Germany is living with Rebecca Ryan of Mitchell, and although she is a senior at Mitchell High School, she would be considered an 11th grader in Germany.

She said the children there are required to attend school for 13 years and do not use the terms freshman, sophomore, junior or senior.

The transition from Berlin, population 3.3 million, to Mitchell has been the most difficult for Sophie.

"There is nothing to do, so I entertain myself with sports," Sophie said.

The Germans also eat a lot more Italian foods, real Italian food.

"What you eat here in America is not real Italian food," Sophie said teasing.

"We are in need of host families," Sheryl said, "because we have more students interested than we have homes for."

The only requirements include the ability to offer the student room and board.

"Basically, a person would take them in as one of their own," Sheryl said.

The students do not have to have a room of their own, they can share a room as long as it is a girl with a girl or boy with a boy and each foreign exchange student is responsible for their own expenses including any medical costs.

Individuals wishing to participate must be 25-years of age or older and the program also includes single parent homes.

Sheryl said interested parties can actually now view the students in the system online at www.ayusa.org and may choose either a semester student or academic year student and all participating students are between the ages of 15 and 18.

The program is really in need of families and for those interested in serving as a host family Sheryl asks that they give her call at (308) 646-0021.

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Though the food, the atmosphere and the culture in Veronika Kowlolik's hometown are quite different than in her current location, the friends are exactly the same.

Much to her surprise, it only took a week for Kowolik, an exchange student from Cologne, Germany, to find a group of friends to sit with at lunch and spend time with after classes at Greenbrier High School.

However, this did not come as a shock to principal Steve Lucas.

"Our kids and our community are so supportive, not only to exchange students, but to new faces in general," Lucas said Tuesday. "Our kids have welcomed Veronika with open arms and she has been able to fit right in."

Kowolik, 17, said she believes it was the welcoming attitude exuding from the residents of Greenbrier that made easing into the school year a little less frightening.

"I felt like part of them on the first day," Kowolik said. "I was so scared when I started here in August, but everybody was so nice and it was wonderful. Now my friends and I go to football games, the movies and shopping and we just do things normal teenagers do."

As for her family life, Kowolik said she fit in just as well with her host family as she did with her peers in school.

Kowolik lives with Mark and Elizabeth Songer of Conway, along with their daughters, Heather, 13, and Hannah, 8, and she said she was pleasantly surprised by how well they accepted her.

"It was weird how you come to a totally new family and have to get to know them," Kowolik said. "And I have had a lot of friends who were exchange students who had problems with their families so I was nervous, but I was really surprised and I'm so happy with my situation now."

At her home in Germany, Kowolik lives with one older brother and she said one thing she really appreciates about her host family is being able to play the role of big sister.

"The girls are so cute and they're always wanting to ask me questions and show me stuff," Kowolik said. "We really are just like sisters."

And although she didn't expect it, host mother Elizabeth Songer said Kowolik is just like a daughter to her, too.

"You're supposed to get a student here to bring new culture into your family, but I wasn't supposed to get attached to this young lady," she said. "She's just like my oldest daughter and it's going to be hard to let her go. I've always told her she's not a guest she's always been a family member."

Mark Songer, Kowolik's host father, said when the family began researching different exchange programs, they opted to bring a student overseas for just a semester because they didn't know what the situation would be like.

However, he said they quickly changed their minds upon meeting Kowolik and made arrangements to keep her in Faulkner County for the entire 2008-09 school year.

In her first semester, Kowolik experienced her first football game, became involved in the prom committee and was crowned queen of the annual Fall Festival.

Overall, Kowolik said the biggest difference between schools in Germany and in Greenbrier is the positive attitude among both students and teachers.

"In Germany sports are separate from school but I like how they go together here," Kowolik said. "It was just amazing when all the kids were cheering for their own high school. I think it's surprising that the kids come back to school after classes are over just to watch a game or plan activities."

As for the teachers, Kowolik said they seem more like friends than authoritative figures at Greenbrier High School, especially counselor Joyce Boggan who helped her get settled at the new school.

"The teachers in Germany are a lot stricter," Kowolik said. "It's more comfortable here and you can just go to the teacher and be open with them. They explain stuff to you if you don't understand it, and they care that you get good grades."

Kowolik has served as a teacher in her own right, as the students have been bubbling with questions for her since she began the school year.

"Every day, even after several months, my friends here are so surprised by the things I tell them about Germany," Kowolik said.

Lucas said he sees the scenario of Kowolik bringing so much new information into the school as a win-win situation.

"She's going to bring stuff into our school that our students may never have learned about otherwise, and she is doing it in person," Lucas said. "The kids in the exchange program have always been very positive, and she is no exception to that."

Jackie Wray, a Greenbrier junior who Kowolik referred to as her "best American friend," said Tuesday she has loved the experience of getting to know Greenbrier's newest student.

"I think we've learned a lot from her and about Germany and we love hearing about her family and friends at home," Wray said. "She's very fun to be around and because she is such an outgoing person, she wasn't intimidated very long and fit right in."

Just as a few of her friends have already started planning trips to Germany, Kowolik said she has promised her host family this won't be her last visit to Faulkner County.

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Pakistani exchange student Komal Ali, right, enjoys life in America with her Brooklyn Park host family, Anne Swedberg, left, and her daughter, Kysa, center. Not pictured is Darwin Swedberg, Anne's husband.

When 16-year-old Komal Ali stepped off the plane from Karachi, Pakistan, last summer, she found few surprises.

"Everything was white and glamorous like all those movies we watch," Komal said. "It was modern and advanced. There were a lot of white people with blonde hair," she added.

Why does a high-achieving, outgoing teen that is close to her family and friends decide to live in another country halfway around the world?

"I wanted to be on my own for awhile, explore my talents, and see what I am without my parents," Komal said. "In Pakistan, you live very dependent on your parents. No high school kid has a job in Pakistan. Their parents pay for all their stuff. I wanted to experience a different culture, and see the contrast between a third world country and a super power."

Not that she didn't have a few concerns, or wasn't sad to leave Pakistan. "Will people be friendly? Will they be nice to me because I'm Muslim?" she wondered.

Some Pakistani parents don't want their daughters or sons going to America, Komal said, because "they might get corrupted or change their attitude." Her parents didn't feel that way, she said.

Komal competed with nearly 6,000 Pakistani students for one of 61 scholarships to live and attend school in the U.S. Students receive a one-year, fully funded scholarship plus a monthly stipend of $125 to cover expenses. They stay with host families.

The YES program is a high school exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The goal is to build understanding between Americans and people from predominantly Muslim countries.

The selection process involved an initial application, a test, a 15-minute panel discussion and an individual interview.

"During the interview, the judges see if you are capable, adaptive, friendly, and have a good sense of humor," Komal explained. "We all need to have these qualities to go to a new school and adjust to the culture."

Then there was a 24-page application form, including documentation of straight A grades in English from sixth to 10th grade.

It was three or four months before Komal learned she had been accepted.

Komal attends Sage Academy in Brooklyn Park. When she first came to Minnesota, she stayed with her YES community representative.

Komal became friends with Kysa Swedberg at school. "I asked her if she could host me, and she asked her parents, and they agreed," she said. Anne and Darwin Swedberg are Komal's host parents.

Komal said her American classmates assume exchange students are smarter than they are. "They say, 'You don't look 16, you look 18 because you act so mature,' " Komal said.

She has other perceptions of teenagers in the U.S. "A lot of American teens are immature," Komal said. "They are more into what the media say. They think everybody is superior. I think a lot of American kids are suffering from an inferiority complex."

That's not the only thing. "I've noticed that all my American friends talk about is boys and sex. They don't in Pakistan. We usually talk more about academics and stuff going on at school," Komal said.

Friendships are different here as well. "In Pakistan, you would give your life for your friends. But that's not really the case in America," Komal said. "They talk and hang out, but are not emotionally attached."

She also thinks American teens should show more respect for their parents. "They are the ones who conceived you and took care of you as a child," she admonished.

Apart from that, Komal thinks her American friends are really cool, and she enjoys their company.

Komal has noticed a number of stereotypes about Pakistanis that are prevalent in our culture.

"All the media show bearded men carrying guns. Pakistanis are really likable, hospitable and caring," Komal said. "If you ignore the pictures the media give you and come and live with them, you will see they are friendly."

She says the neighborhoods and schools are nice, and most people like Americans. "It's not all about killings and stuff," Komal said.

She mentioned a few other stereotypes that she feels are perpetuated by the American media. "Every Muslim man wears a turban. Not true! And every Muslim man is not a terrorist," Komal said.

She does not wear a veil, and neither does her mother. Komal said her family follows Islam on a regular basis, but are moderates, not extremists.

Of the 61 students selected for the YES program, 40 are girls, and 35 don't wear veils, Komal said.

She was expecting U.S. schools to be harder than those in Pakistan. But instead, "It's a piece of cake. I got a 105% on my Algebra 2 test. That was a shock. I would never get that in Pakistan," Komal said.

She was placed in the senior class at Sage Academy. When she returns to Pakistan, Komal will have to repeat her junior year, because they do not accept the American grading system.

Besides hanging out with her American friends, Komal likes to cook, draw body art called henna (on hands, like a temporary tattoo), salsa dance and write.

Saying she has "completely morphed" into American culture, Komal has enjoyed a number of firsts, like meeting people of other faiths, such as Jews and Christians.

"I learned more about these religions than I knew before," she said.

She found her first Christmas "captivating" - from the beautiful Christmas tree to the mountain of gifts, to the excitement of giving and receiving gifts.

"In my religion, we celebrate Eid where instead of presents the elders give money to their kids," Komal explained. "Christmas Day reminded me of Eid. I personally think that Christmas helps the bonding between family members."

She missed being with her family during Ramadan, the Muslim holiday, but she attended a mosque for Eid prayers, describing it as enchanting. "I never felt that close to my religion like I felt that day."

She doesn't often get to Friday prayers, Komal said, "but I have started believing in my religion more than ever after coming to the U.S.!"

Komal plans to get into A Levels for her last two years of high school in Pakistan, and then pursue a Chartered Accountancy program in college.

She highly recommends the exchange student program. "It's a great learning experience. You learn more about yourself and others. You get outside of your world," Komal said.

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Since 2003, the U.S. Department of State has invested millions so teenagers from predominantly Muslim countries can experience a year at a United States high school, a public relations tactic of sorts that they hoped would pay off handsomely.

Created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "legislators felt very strongly that for America, there needed to be more knowledge and exposure by citizens … of other countries," said David Beiser, director of grant programs for AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, a nonprofit group that connects potential foreign exchange students with host families.

The hope of legislators: That Muslim teens, in turn, would return to their countries aglow about the U.S., in general, and the communities where they had resided.

The Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was designed to do just that.

In 2003, its first year, about 75 students from Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia attended U.S. high schools.

Next fall, the program will pay $8.2 million for 401 students from 19 countries to spend some time in the U.S., Beiser said. San Antonio, which over the years has hosted a large number of YES students, hosted the program's annual training conference, which ended Saturday night. This year, 45 YES students are in the greater San Antonio area, Beiser said.

"I tend to think it's because of our friendly spirit, but Texas is actually the No. 1 state for exchange students," said Connie Coutu, the southwest regional manager for YES who alone has hosted 29 students. Districts cap the number of foreign exchange students who are accepted. Most attend a school in the East Central, North East, Northside or San Antonio school districts, Coutu said.

Aseel Said, 16, beamed as she walked with others from the conference to visit the Alamo. A Palestinian, Aseel left Gaza this summer to spend a year in San Antonio, where she is attending Alamo Heights High School, driven by her goal to represent her people and her family. "Being a Palestinian is challenging enough in itself. Getting into this program was another challenge," Aseel said. "It's been hard to come here, but I wanted to show people who we really are." Recent violence at home has made her nervous, but she said she is in constant contact with her family. And recently, the experience of being in the U.S. felt worthwhile when one of her teachers asked her to talk to her class.

"I know the situation by heart," she said. "And I was more than thankful to explain my side."

YES scholarships cover all of a foreign exchange student's costs, including airfare, ensuring the legislative mandate of diversity that was set when the program began. Beginning next fall, YES will also award 14 scholarships to U.S. teenagers so they can spend a semester in Mali, Morocco and Oman, Beiser said.

"We're expanding to promote understanding and tolerance," Beiser said.

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After a full day of traveling from Helsinki, Finland, Venla Forsstrom, 17, stepped off the plane last August, into the open arms of the large extended Dubroc family.

Eddie and Leslie Dubroc live in Metairie with their children Tony, 22, Stephen, 21, Wesley, 15, and Raquel, 18, who splits her time with them and her mother. They are a host family with Academic Year in the USA Global Student Exchange (AYUSA).

"It started off with just a few of us going to the airport to meet Venla, but everyone was so excited that she was coming. They all wanted to welcome her to America," Leslie Dubroc said. "I think we overwhelmed her with our cheering and sign waving! On the ride home she had just enough time to get used to us. Then we arrived to find all the neighbors outside waiting with their 'welcome to the neighborhood' signs and a party."

AYUSA is a non-profit educational and cultural organization dedicated to promoting peace and personal growth through international exchange. Students ages 15 to 18 have the opportunity to live with volunteer host families and to study in local high schools for an academic year or for one semester.

Since 1980, AYUSA has provided opportunities for more than 37,000 students from the United States and around the world to participate in the program.

Hosting a foreign student is something Dubroc has wanted to do for a long time.

"When I was in high school, my family hosted an exchange student," Dubroc recalled. "It was a wonderful experience so it has always been in the back of my mind that I wanted to do this."

The end result was a "match made in heaven," Dubroc said.

"You get profiles on the students, and after reading about Venla, my i nstinct was she would be best suited for my family," Dubroc said. "And I was right. My children have all taken to Venla. Sometimes I have to remind myself she's not my child."

A resident of Espoo, Finland, Venla lives there with her mother Marja, father Juha, and younger brother, Oula. The family has also traveled extensively throughout Europe.

This is Venla's second trip to America. Last year, she came with a student group for a three-week, cross-country trip that included a brief stay in New Orleans.

"I couldn't wait to come back to the States," said Venla, who speaks five languages. "I wanted to improve my English and I really enjoy the culture."

Kathy Estes has worked for AYUSA for the past six years. She is now a regional director.

"I first became associated with the organization as a host family," Estes said. "I always say that I have 10 daughters - my own, Beth, 23, Katie, 22, and Victoria, 17, and seven international daughters. We still stay in touch with them all."

Estes explained that the vetting process is easy yet thorough for both the student and the host family.

"After receiving an application from a host family, I conduct a personal interview in the home, a background check is done, and references are checked," Estes said. "The prospective students must go through our screening process plus comply with stringent state department guidelines. This insures we get the very best students in our program."

Besides Venla, there are eight other AYUSA students currently living with Louisiana host families. And there are approximately 1,700 placed nationwide. A main component to the process is having a local school willing to accept a foreign student. East Jefferson High School has proven to be the perfect fit for Venla.

"Any given year we have five or six foreign exchange students in the Jefferson Parish school system," said assistant principal Dawn Kalb. "It benefits our students by exposing them to different viewpoints, lifestyles, and cultures. The visiting students usually speak fluent English but they come to improve their writing skills. They enjoy the freedom of making educational and social choices they may not have in their home countries."

"The kids here are the same as back home but the school is very different," Venla added. "In Finland there are no sports, pep rallies, or uniforms. And high school is optional after ninth grade. Most students do continue because they want to get a better job.

"I love sports and I play on the school soccer team. And my favorite subject is Spanish."

Dubroc said Venla's enthusiasm and self-sufficient, adventurous nature has won her a close circle of friends.

"Everyone has taken to her," Dubroc said. "And it's been non-stop ever since she arrived."

Soon after arriving, Venla got to experience something that has become part of our routine lately -- hurricane evacuation.

"Her mother was very concerned when she heard about Hurricane Gustav," Dubroc said. "Marja could only envision Katrina so she was relieved to hear we were evacuating to Atlanta. And we turned it into a mini-vacation by visiting Six Flags and Stone Mountain."

As far as her future plans, Venla said she thinks she wants to be a doctor. But first, there's a visit to Australia on her travel wish list.

"It's going to be very hard when she goes home at the end of May," Dubroc said. "I know I'm going to cry. This is such a positive, life-improving experience that we will definitely be a host family again."

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Some of Fadi Oulad-Hsain's classmates at Blue Valley High School wanted to know if the Moroccan exchange student had ever seen a tiger. He is from Africa, after all.

Turns out he has. At a zoo.

"It's all good," Oulad-Hsain says with a laugh, effortlessly throwing out American slang.

The 17-year-old is one of 375 students from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia who are living this year in U.S. homes as part of the Youth Exchange and Study Program. Congress established the exchange program in October 2002 after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to bridge cultural divides between Muslims and Arabs and the U.S. The U.S. State Department pays for the program, which will cost about $23 million this year.

The idea is to dispel myths about the Muslim world through relationships built by teens. In the Kansas City area, Oulad-Hsain and two other teens live in homes in the Blue Valley School District.

The three teens are willing ambassadors for their countries and their Muslim faith—and they plan to take home tales of being welcomed by their American peers and host families with mostly benign misconceptions of their native countries.

For instance, Oulad-Hsain's classmates had a hard time grasping that he was from Africa. They assumed Morocco was mostly desert, but Oulad-Hsain lives in a hilly, lush tourist area. Some were surprised to learn that Muslims believe in Moses, just as Christians do.

Ashwaq Al Yahmadi of Oman was afraid she wouldn't make friends, because before she left home, her dad warned her that Americans think all Muslims are terrorists. Aside from one boy who asked her if she was a terrorist, her experience has proved her father wrong. She has made friends and loves how inviting her classmates have been.

"Most of them didn't think that about me at all," Al Yahmadi said.

As a member of the Blue Valley Northwest Diversity Club, she participated in an overnight lock-in at the school, where students deepened their appreciation for each other's cultures.

"They asked me a lot about my country," Al Yahmadi said. "Do you drive cars or ride camels? Do you have computers? Restaurants? McDonald's? Movies?

"I told them, 'Just because I'm Middle Eastern and from a country you've never heard of doesn't mean we don't have technology and aren't like everybody else,' " she said. "I told them, 'We have everything you guys have, and it's the same.'"

They talked about terrorism and the stereotype. She bonded with her classmates and made friends.

"It was really nice, really good," she said.

That's just the type of interaction the program is hoping for. When Al Yahmadi goes home, she will be able to tell her dad that no, Americans don't think we're all terrorists and they didn't hate me, said David Beiser, the YES Program director.

Another legacy of the program comes from its community service mandate. Each student must do 30 hours of community service while here and then more when they go home. In many of the participating countries, community service is not a core value as it is in the U.S., Beiser said.

One group of former exchange students was cleaning up a beachfront in Tunisia when local villagers asked what was going on. The townspeople were so impressed with the answer that they started cleanup days, Beiser said.

Jamilah Shumi, 16, especially loves the community service part of the YES Program. The Bangladesh native has given at least 70 hours of her time to various charities around the area.

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Alexander Eklof, an AYUSA exchange student from Uppsala Sweden, fits like a glove in our western culture. For all the thousands of miles that separate the Scandinavian country and the United States the two cultures have much in common, according to the slender Eklof. His American Gold Beach sponsors are Michael and Jennifer Quesada.

"My dad, Kaj, owns a furniture store in downtown Uppsala, a city of 150,000 people on the eastern coast. It's mostly like any westernized large city; with shops, restaurants, banks, real estate offices, high rises, condos and schools," Alexander said.

His mom, Helena, is a hostess attendant on SAS (Scandinavian Airways) and flies world wide in 747's. Alexander doesn't fit the blond, blue eyed and light skinned features one associates with a Swedish heritage. "There's some Asian lineage on my mother's side," Alexander explained. It shows in his more tanned skin color and brown eyes.

A major difference between Sweden and the U.S. is in the educational systems. "Sometimes we only go to school one hour a day," Alexander said. "Other times it's two hours and then on particular days we go 9 hours; from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All schools require students to take English classes." Alexander is proficient in the English language and understands teenager slang verbiage. "Our school systems are less demanding in Sweden," Alexander said. "We spend much more time outside of the school grounds than here in the United States. It's more relaxed and fun for teenagers."

Alexander has his sights set on either training as a firefighter or shooting for a bigger star as a commercial airline pilot. As you might surmise he has a weakness for the daring and dangerous. "I've puttered around the amateur boxing scene in Sweden, too," he said. Anything that makes the adrenalin flow wildly draws this 18 year old's attention.

Training for a firefighting certification would require going to college for two years. Studying to become a pilot means a four year university commitment. Alexander is an excellent student and maintains a high GPA. Exchange students are chosen because of their high scholarly records, lofty principled standards, and a willingness to study and make new friends in a foreign country.

Since Sweden has become so westernized selecting food and drink presents no noticeable choice differences in American cuisine. "We eat hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza and steaks in Sweden," the ever relaxed exchange student noted. "We also drink pop, hot chocolate, and Gatorade," he added, smiling. Asked about his hobbies Alexander felt his top three choices included watching TV, eating and sleeping.

He knows computers, too, and makes use of his knowledge in Jerry Ross' lab. "Its fun playing games and digging for information on the search engines," he enthused. "Computers are something that connects all of the cultures," he maintains. Because of his easy going demeanor and excellent usage of English Alexander Eklof has gained many new friends at Gold Beach High School. He plans on returning to Sweden in June, 2009, shortly after graduating as a senior. "Hejda," he exclaimed, or a fond goodbye.

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Getting back to school for Harrah High School student Ho Yan Yau has been anything but normal. Almost 8,000 miles away from home, Yau is learning more about American culture then she could in any of her history books.

Yau, who goes by Christy, is an exchange student from Hong Kong. She began her journey with her first trip on a plane, after 15 hours she arrived in Oklahoma. Once she got off the plane she saw the differences almost immediately. She says in Hong Kong "there are very, very many tall building, here it is very different, when we drive the sky is very beautiful."

Once school started Yau began meeting her new classmates and learning new subjects and routines. The first change was having a schedule of changing classes. "In Hong Kong we stayed in one classroom and the different teachers came to us, here we run, run, run and sometimes I get lost and have to ask," Yau says.

Another big difference for Yau is not wearing a school uniform. In her American school she has a lot more freedom. She says students in her Hong Kong school must wear a uniform, the girls can not wear make-up and they can not wear their hair down. "There we don't have to worry about 'today wear what?' it is very different," Yau says.

While Yau is getting used to the culture differences in her new school, Harrah students are curious about her culture back home. "They always want to know their name in Chinese, and they tell me many secrets, too many secrets," Yau giggles shyly.

When it comes to having fun outside of school, Yau did a lot of the same things at home that Oklahoma kids do. She says that things in Oklahoma are laid back as opposed to the fast pace she is used to. Here she can be more focused on doing her school work. She is even thinking about applying to The University of Oklahoma after she graduates. "Here it is not so crowded and the people are nice." Yau says.

Yau will be at Harrah for the entire school year, but according to her host mother Martha Montgomery and AYUSA Global Youth Exchange representative, there are many more exchange students that would love to come to Oklahoma City area schools but the need for host families has limited the amount of students that they can take.

"We are always needing host families," said Montgomery. She feels that many American students are sheltered and the exposure to different cultures could help them learn more about people their age.

Montgomery became a host parent after her daughter graduated from high school and went off to college. She was a host parent for two years before they asked her to help place exchange students in her homes around her area.

This year Montgomery has already placed six students in Eastern Oklahoma County, but she says there are still a lot more schools in the area that have slots for more foreign exchange students.

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When Junaid Bin Masood, a 17-year-old Pakistani exchange student studying in southern California, was asked whether he had a gun in his backpack, he was speechless. He had never been out of Pakistan before, so this question from a schoolmate was jolting. But he kept his cool and explained that most Pakistanis are not jihadists.

"Everyone knows there are good and bad things all over the world," Junaid says. "There are some bad people in Pakistan, too. Just like in the US." Such incidents underscore the divide between Americans and the people of Muslim countries. That is why the US State Department created the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program (www.yesprograms.org). This competitive program sends some of the best and brightest teens from Muslim countries worldwide on one-year stints to high schools across the United States. "What both Americans and our students learn is that while there are difficulties and conflicts between our cultures, the overriding desire of both is very simple and the same: to live in peace," says David Beiser, director of grant programs at AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, who works with the State Department to carry out the program.

About 3,000 Muslim students from nearly two dozen countries have participated in the program since its inception in 2003. In the 2007-08 school year, it brought 750 students to the US.

The State Department is planning to expand the program. Next year, it will add 25 more students and one country, Suriname. Mr. Beiser says the program hopes to take this even further. And starting next year, American high schoolers will study in some of the Muslim countries in a reverse exchange. "Exchange programs are not the only way to mend relations between the US and Muslim countries, but they are an important one," Beiser says. "Every time a YES student and an American family have a successful program together, a minisummit takes place and helps relations a little at a time."

Diana Kamakh, a Palestinian YES participant from Lebanon who spent the past school year in a high school in Colorado Springs, says that those who've been to the United States have a much more favorable opinion of the country than those who have not.

"If you've been to the US, you must fall in love with something in it," she says. "Plus you'll get a chance to know that the government and the people are two different things."

Lisa Anderson, former dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York and provost of the American University in Cairo, says that despite a few cases of visiting Muslims being appalled by what they see as a decadent United States, most have a positive experience.

"They [will] tell stories for the rest of their lives about their host families, their classmates, roommates, faculty, and even ordinary people who went out of their way for them," Dr. Anderson says. But can one program really bridge the gap between the United States and Muslim nations?

Anderson says that the US has not done enough to reverse its bad image in Muslim countries.

"I think most of us involved in higher education in the United States have been dismayed by the US government's failure to seize on educational exchange … as a way to ameliorate the damaging consequences of our increasingly onerous visa policies since 2001," she says, adding that student exchanges are a way for the US to brighten its tarnished image.

Until this decade, it wasn't unusual at all for Muslim students from the Middle East and elsewhere to study in the US.

But since 2001, Anderson notes, Muslim parents abroad are much less likely to send their children to study in the United States. The parents are concerned that their children could be harassed at US airports and unwelcome on campuses.

"Many, many national elites around the world studied in the United States when they were young," she says, "but that pipeline is drying up and we will regret it in 20 years."

Ironically, that has probably been good for American-style institutions in the Muslim world, such as the American University in Cairo, which saw its biggest applicant increase in history this year, she says.

Still, the YES program has made inroads.

Ruby Pena, Junaid's American classmate and a high school senior, says that he was the first Pakistani she had ever met. "I learned a lot about what [he] and his friends do in Pakistan, which is almost the same as what we do here," she says, noting activities such as going to the movies. "I realized that no matter where, people do the same things."

But despite these social bridges, images often drive opinions more than dialogue. "I think the images most people have of the Muslim world come from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and, of course, from Sept. 11," Beiser says.

Such impressions are dispelled when host families and schools meet YES students, Beiser says.

But it can come as a shock to American students to learn that their own country's image in the Muslim world is not particularly flattering either, he adds.

Nevertheless, says Diana, the Lebanese student, "Muslim communities are not all anti-American like it is pictured in the American media."

But prejudice continues to exist, demonstrating the need for the program. Diana says that she had an experience much like Junaid's.

She met another exchange student (not from YES) who asked if she carried a gun. "I was kind of mad," she says, "but I understand that he doesn't know any better. Every time someone knew I'm a Muslim from the Middle East, they ask me questions like that."

Generally, however, Americans tend to be tolerant of Muslims, says Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group.

Although a few people tend to link Islam automatically to terrorism or the subjugation of women, Americans are largely people of faith, he adds, and respect others' beliefs.

Despite the notion that the US media promotes a negative image of Muslims, the origin of these images must be understood, Mr. Hooper says. "In large part it comes from people doing negative things overseas. And not only overseas, but we also had [the terrorist attacks of] 9/11.

"Obviously Muslims do not believe those linkages [between terrorists and all Muslims] are justified, and Islam does not create these linkages," Hooper says.

"But in some cases, Muslims do create these linkages."

Junaid says that some of his beliefs about the US were debunked when he came to the US as part of the YES program. Before arriving, he thought American life was a perpetual fraternity party.

But he learned differently during his stay, says Katherine Migliaccio, his host mother. He discovered what it's really like to be an American. And that's the image he took home to Pakistan with him.

"They all think it's like 'Baywatch' here," she says. "He realized that's not how Americans are."

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One Klein High School student is spending her 2008-2009 school year in Germany after being awarded the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) Scholarship to study in Germany through AYUSA International.

Jedel Galloway is one of 250 students nationwide to win the merit-based scholarship. The scholarship is a joint-sponsored grant between the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag. It funds American and German students to study abroad for one academic year in each of their opposing countries. The scholarship was designed to strengthen ties and share cultural insights between German and American youth.

"Germany is absolutely spectacular," Galloway said. "I am constantly surrounded by incredible people who do incredible things, beautiful old buildings mixed right in with the new-age modern ones and old traditions, but open minds."

She describes her German host family as loving, amazing and having quirks like any other family.

"I can't even describe how much I've learned in my past month-and-a-half here," she said. "My German skills have greatly improved and the people are very cooperative and patient with me."

Galloway said she's had an outstanding experience so far and is looking forward to the next nine months she will spend in Germany.

"I can't complain about anything because no matter what the problem is, it is quickly fleeting and replaced by true joy and happiness almost immediately," she said. "I love life in Germany and would highly suggest this program to anyone seeking adventure, learning and a heck of a lot of fun."

For more information on the CBYX Scholarship or to host an international exchange student, call 800-579-1709 ext. 5610 or visit AYUSA at www.ayusa.org.

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A local man is recovering after a near-drowning over the weekend. The high school student who risked his life pulling him to safety is being called an international hero.

Marion High School senior Max Wagner arrived in the United States three weeks ago as an exchange student from Germany.

Over the weekend, Max saved Joe Willems from drowning.

It happened when Max, his host-father Ken Christensen and his brother-in-law Joe got their boat caught up in some rocks along the shore of Marion Reservoir. Joe was on the back of the boat trying to help.

"I didn't have a very good hold I guess, when he started the engine and put it in gear it flipped me off I landed right in front of the prop," Joe said. "I landed right in front of the prop. It got me, it grabbed my shirt and twisted me right into it."

Caught in the boat's prop, Joe was drowning. That's when Max took action.

"I saw his hair and his hand, and I grabbed his hand so he could breathe, the propeller was still running and that scared me," Max said.

Max dove into the water and pushed Joe to the surface so he could breathe. He then swam under the boat and tore Joe's shirt from the prop.

The prop ripped the skin on Joe's chest, tore through his arm to the bone and nearly severed his thumb. But thanks to Max, he's alive to tell the story and is expected to make a full recovery.

Close Story

In the summer of 1985, Yoshiko Okamura came to the U.S. as an AYUSA high school exchange student. She stayed with a warmhearted host family, attended an American high school, encountered new friends, and returned to Japan with a wealth of knowledge.

She later returned to the U.S. where she realized her dream of becoming a pilot. In May of 1995, she was employed by Horizon Airlines, receiving recognition as one of their highest achievers. On June 12th, she made history as the first Japanese female commercial aircraft pilot when she flew the Horizon Air Dash 8.

She now lives in Washington and continues her success as a pilot.

First Encounter with the Host Family

I studied abroad in the state of Indiana. When I arrived at the airport, I was welcomed by my host family, the Michaels, who were all dressed in jeans and t-shirt with friendly smiles across their faces. Tom, the father worked as a lawyer and Linda, the mother was a French teacher. Their daughter Jenny was a freshman in college and they had a son named Ned who was a high school student two years younger than me.

Rather than going home from the airport, the Michael family took me straight to local children's museums and fairs. The fair was a rural event where local farmers brought their farm animals - cows, pigs and chickens and had shows to see who had the best livestock. Deep-fried snacks were sold at the food booths and they were nearly the size of an elephant's ear.

As a native of Tokyo, I felt a small degree of culture shock being immersed in a rural community where amusement involved a show of cows and pigs, but I also remember feeling delighted and joyful at the same time.

Attending High School in the U.S.

I attended Marion High School which was about 15 minutes by car from my host family's home. The town of Marion, Indiana is known to be the birthplace of the famous James Dean. Unlike a Japanese school, the American school allowed you to create your own curriculum and choose your own courses. I chose drama, typewriting, P.E., and my strong subject, mathematics. In order to learn more about Indiana and the U.S., I enrolled in social studies. I was driven by the motivation to "do everything" so I also participated as a cheerleader for the basketball team.

The American Reality

The Michael family was an upper class family, however, the United States is a country that has a gap between poverty and wealth. I spent one night at a friend's house whose family received government financial aide. Her mother told me, "Although we are poor, there is a lot of love in this family." I clearly remember her words to this day.

Perhaps because Indiana was still quite rural when I attended high school, the influence of segregation still remained so much that the cafeteria would naturally divide by race - African Americans in one section and Caucasians in another section. Seeing this reality, I understood the various levels of living circumstances and hardships that existed in the U.S.

My Decision to Become a Pilot

Although I continued high school in Japan following the study abroad program, I decided to attend college in the U.S. to pursue a career as a flight attendant, and that was when I returned to live with the Michael Family once again.

One day, my host father Tom took me to an air show and I met a female pilot. I told her about how I wanted to become a pilot and she said to me, "Don't give up. You can do it if you try hard." Her words of encouragement re-inspired my dream of becoming a pilot.

The First Flight

After intense studies throughout college and following my successful graduation from aviation school, I flew for the first time at Hiser Aviation, which is a pilot training center in the Los Angles area. In June of 1995, I began working with Horizon Air as a commercial aircraft pilot. Horizon Air had 650 pilots total, only 10 of which were female.

When I entered Horizon Air, I was recognized as one of the highest achievers of the time. I still remember when the training captain said to me, "Yoshiko, I have never met anyone as accomplished as you, and your technique is flawless!" I am extremely grateful that I pursued my dream of becoming a pilot; I never gave up.

For Those Considering High School Exchange

Time flies very quickly, and it is now 25 years since I was a high school exchange student. When I look back at the past, I realize that my dreams and inspirations developed through the relationships I built with my host family, my friends and the community.

Japan and the U.S. each has its own unique culture. It is important not to become confined in your own thought and to actively engage in understanding the country you find yourself in. The most valuable thing I learned from studying abroad is that the U.S. is a place where those who have the ambition to achieve their dreams have many opportunities and that there are people who will support you. I had dreamt of becoming a pilot since age four, and I was able to make my dream come true!

A message to all - Take hold of your dream and make the most of your opportunity to study abroad in the U.S.

Close Story

While spending a year in Green Bay, Lina Badran, 16, improved her English.

Aseel Alsoub, 16, saw firsthand the city's love for the Green Bay Packers.

Dilafruz Umarova, 17, was amazed to see prayer in the state Senate.

And Souhair Ghozayel, 17, experienced a lighter homework load.

All are foreign exchange students from programs in the Academic Year in the USA or AYUSA International Global Youth Exchange nonprofit consortium, placed with host families in the Green Bay Public School District for the 2007-08 academic school year. Each said the experience was great.

"It's been a very good experience and I know I'm going to miss everyone," said Alsoub of Jordan. Alsoub, Badran of Jordan and Ghozayel of Lebanon are participants of the Youth Exchange and Study Program. The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funds the grant program created to build bridges with countries with a significant Muslim population after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Umarova of Tajikistan is a participant of the Future Leaders Exchange, also a grant program, providing scholarships for high school students from countries of the former Soviet Union. The four are among 27 exchange students in Northeastern Wisconsin this year under AYUSA.

Participants are high school students ranging in age from 15 to 18 who speak and write proficient English and have academic achievements. Students are screened and host families select the students based on their interests, age and nationality provided in profiles. The four students in Green Bay leave in June.

While in the United States, the students learn about the school system, participate in community service events and teach others their culture, sometimes through presentations in the school or by bringing items or cooking food. Students received the added bonus of learning about the city's love for the Green Bay Packers.

"It was so crazy. It was amazing," Alsoub said of her experience at a Green Bay Packers game this year. She shared a host family with Umarova and attended Green Bay East High School.

Alsoub, hesitant to come to the United States when first presented with the program's application, decided to apply after learning about the program and receiving support from her family. Her experience gave her insight on what America looks like.

"Here in Green Bay, it looks very different, nothing like it seems on TV because we see movies and Hollywood stuff," she said. "But I like it here. It's really different from home, especially the houses, the neighborhoods, everything is different, but it's still good, it's really good."

Ghozayel, who attends Preble High School, said she wanted to learn about the country and teach others about hers.

"What made me so excited to come (is) that they told me that the aim of the program is to come and represent our countries and to learn about the American culture and teach the people here who we are and who we really act like and who are the people from the Middle East," she said.

Hosting exchange students isn't new in Wisconsin. The state is among the top 10 with the highest number of exchange students, said Deb Prokop, regional coordinator for the AYUSA.

"Wisconsin really embraces international education and welcomes foreign students," she said. According to the bureau, Wisconsin hosted 1,262 students in the 2006-07 school year. In the 2007-08 school year, the state ranks sixth.

Prokop has worked with the exchange program since 2002, has three years with the YES program and has opened her home to 16 students, including Badran, who is attending Bay Port High School. She meets with the students in her area once a month.

"I've learned they're kids, just like our kids," she said.

The program plans to expand and is in search of more host families.

Reach Corinthia at cmccoy@greenbaypressgazette.com

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When East Side resident Dennis Krantz used to think of Morocco, he thought of movies such as "Casablanca."

From now on, he and his family will think of 17-year-old Marouane Smaili and the 10 months that the Moroccan youth is living with them as part of a federally funded cultural exchange program.

Since coming to Tucson in August, Smaili has become very much a part of the family, host parents Dennis and Susan Krantz said. They also have two biological children -- Jenna, 13, and David, 15.

The Krantzes and Smaili sit down to family meals and talk about their day, relax by watching television shows such as "American Idol," go on vacations and attend church together, even though Smaili is a Muslim.

Some parts of the Krantzes' culture, such as singing in church, were new to Smaili, he said. And vice versa: The first time they sat down to eat a Moroccan meal, Smaili started eating with the serving spoon. In Morocco, he was accustomed to everyone eating from a communal plate, rather than serving the food onto individual plates.

When they have time to eat a Moroccan meal as a family, the Krantzes now eat the Moroccan way.

"This is the most fun thing we've learned," Dennis said last week during such a dinner.

Cultural exchange is a fundamental part of the Youth Exchange and Study Program, the U.S. Department of State program through which more than 700 high school students from predominantly Muslim nations are currently studying in the United States.

Smaili's native country is 98.7 percent Muslim, according to the CIA's World Factbook.

He is one of five Youth Exchange and Study Program students in Arizona, according to AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, a non-profit organization that has helped administer the program since 2003.

"The idea is that they experience America," said David Beiser, AYUSA's Youth Exchange and Study Program director.

Since coming to the United States, Smaili and the Krantzes have gone with other exchange students and host families on a weekend trip to Disneyland and have visited the Grand Canyon. He's also been to Washington, D.C. And in turn, Smaili has taught Americans -- the Krantzes and people outside his host family -- about his homeland. He gave a presentation about Morocco to the youth group he attends at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 8051 E. Broadway.

Part of the American experience is that, although we're a diverse country, we're one nation, Beiser said. "That's a message we try to communicate on a worldwide scale."

The program also aims to encourage thinking with an open mind, along with the concept of volunteering and community service, Beiser said.

Smaili volunteers at St. Paul's and has helped carry equipment for the marching band at Santa Rita High School, 3951 S. Pantano Road -- where both he and his host brother, David Krantz, go to school. Smaili is a senior and Krantz is a sophomore.

He will go back to Morocco in June, but it won't mean the end of his international travels. After he finishes his last year of secondary school in Morocco, he's considering going to an American university and plans to eventually become an international businessman.

Contact reporter Danielle Sottosanti at 618-1922 or at dsottosanti@azstarnet.com.

Moroccan exchange student Marouane Smaili has introduced the Krantz family to Moroccan cuisine, which is eaten from a communal plate. From left are Dennis Krantz, David Krantz, Smaili, Jenna Krantz and Susan Krantz. During his stay, Smaili is considered part of the Krantz family.

James S. Wood / Arizona Daily Star

A new outlook From Moroccan exchange student Marouane Smaili's perspective Five misconceptions people have about Morocco and Islam:

1. The religion is very strict and based on violence.
2. The culture is strict.
3. The people are closed-minded.
4. Only people of the African race live in Morocco.
5. The country doesn't have technology such as cell phones and the Internet.

Five things he learned about the United States that he didn't know:

1. The culture is diverse, interesting and simply fun to learn about.
2. People are open-minded, sociable and respectful.
3. The educational system is very interesting with a lot of freedom -- elective classes -- and cool activities.
4. There is a full mix of cultures and races.
5. There is a cultural mix of food and ways of cooking.

On the Web

For more information on the program:

• Youth Exchange and Study Program: www.yesprograms.org
• U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: www.exchanges.state.gov/education/
• AYUSA Global Youth Exchange: To learn more about becoming a host family through AYUSA, go online to www.ayusa.org or call 1-888-552-9872.

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Kawan is from Iraq.

He doesn't know any terrorists.

He's never seen an explosion.

He's not angry with Americans.

But they're the kind of perceptions the high school exchange student has been trying to dispel since arriving in Columbia last year.

"They ask, 'If if you fought in a war? Have you seen any explosions? Have you seen anyone being killed? Anyone being kidnapped?" he said. "That's not exactly what happens in Iraq.

"And, some people in Iraq say that the United States don't like Iraq, but there are a lot of nice people here."

The 17-year-old, who attends A.C. Flora High in Richland 1, is part of the Youth Exchange and Study, created by the U.S. State Department in 2002 to help relationships between Americans and Muslims following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Unfortunately, those events were the first introduction many Americans had to Muslims, and it was in "a pretty scary way," said David Beiser, director of grants programs for AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, an agency that administers YES.

But face-to-face meetings through opportunities like exchange programs can change negative perceptions, he said.

There are five students in South Carolina -- three in the Midlands -- who are among more than 700 who came this year from places like Gaza, Israel, Pakistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

For Gail Gieseking and Pete Williams, host family to Kawan -- whose full name is not being used because of a federal policy protecting Iraqi exchange students -- the experience has been eye-opening.

"It's like the two words go together -- Iraq war," Gieseking said. "So that's what he's had to redefine for people ... it's a country and it has people, and no, not every 16-year-old is a soldier."

Israeli Muslim Narmeen Salama, 15, an 11th-grader at Irmo High, said it takes a certain level of maturity to be without her family and to be an "ambassador."

She has given many presentations about her culture and helped relaunch a school Muslim club.

"People get to know your country through you. Like, if you don't do something, for example, you don't wear shoes, they expect that everyone in your country does not wear shoes, that it's normal for you. You have to be real responsible here."

Students are chosen through a rigorous process and get scholarship money to participate. This year, $19.2 million was spent on the program.

Host families are always in need, Beiser said, and almost anyone, including single parents and retirees, can help.

The government likes the program so much that it is working on sending American high school students to countries with large Muslim populations.

That could begin as early as the 2009-10 school year.

"These students that do this have guts beyond my comprehension," said Pete Williams, a host father in Columbia. "To grab the bull by the horns and come here, that's really pretty amazing."

Ultimately, the program is about focusing on what we all have in common, said Marion Crane, the Columbia coordinator for YES, who has hosted at least 60 students in cultural exchanges.

"It is difficult to generalize a nationality, to create stereotypes, once you have gotten to know and respect someone from that country," she said.

Reach Woodson at (803) 771-8692

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OCALA - Katja Schmitz is quiet, polite and holds her thoughts close. RikkiLee McGlynn is boisterous and tells it like it is. They seem like typical American teenage sisters. They go most everywhere together, room together and wear similar clothes.

And sometimes they don't get along.

For Katja, 17, an exchange student from the 700-year-old German village of Bergneustadt, learning about life as an American teenager was a dream. For RikkiLee, 17, a North Marion High junior, hosting an international student was a dream, though she soon learned one result was she would no longer be the center of attention in her family.

Katja has learned to understand American sarcasm, fallen in love with chicken parmesan and introduced the McGlynns to tuna fish pizza. RikkiLee has had adjust to sharing time with her parents, brother and dog. "Sometimes I feel like I hate her," RikkiLee said, adding she also protects her like a sister. "I'm not used to sharing my family. I am a very selfish person."

Katja smiled while RikkiLee talked about her international sister, who has been living with the family for seven months. "When she gets like that, I watch television with dad [actually the host father, Scott McGlynn] while she cools off," Katja said. "I even watch golf if I have to."

RikkiLee said she feels bad about it afterwards, but "sometimes I have made her cry. I want her to feel like she can yell back at me like a sister."

Though the teenagers sometimes don't get along, they are also always together. They go to North Marion High functions, football games and even played together on the Lady Colts soccer team. "I think it was hard for her to understand me. She didn't know that I was joking with her," said Scott McGlynn, 46. "She really thought we didn't like her at first."

RikkiLee's mom, Lori Jean McGlynn, agreed, saying there was a language barrier at first. She said the family thought Katja wasn't happy and didn't like them as well. But now everyone understands each other. They all say it has been a great experience for Katja and the McGlynn family, one of about 10 area families currently hosting international exchange students.

The students are part of Academic Year USA (AYUSA), a global student exchange company that led 1,300 teenagers from about 75 countries to homes around the United States.There are strict rules that apply to all exchange students. No alcohol, drugs or even dating are allowed during their 10-month stays. The average cost per child is $10,000, not including about $2,000 spending money they bring with them.The host families are responsible for providing a bed, food and transportation to school and related functions.

Eileen Zimmerman, AYUSA regional director for Marion County, first hosted a student 30 years ago. She said her company is very meticulous, requiring criminal background checks on all host family members. The families choose the exchange student, who also must agree. The hope is that the families and students are compatible. Sometimes, there are problems and she must find another host family or the child must return home early.

Sometimes a host family may be too strict, worried about the student getting harmed, or there are cultural differences. In other cases, it may be a health issue with the host family.

Stefan Niesen, 17, of Huerth, Germany, which is a small village located in the Cologne suburbs, was moved from a home recently due to a host family health problem.He was moved out of a home that had a 16-year-old boy into the home of Max and Kelly Hadaway, who have no children. The couple, who are in their 30s, have been trying unsuccessfully to have children.A few days before they learned about Stefan's plight, they were considering hosting a child next school year. Then, Zimmerman contacted them about the situation.

"The stork then brought us a 16-year-old, 160-pound German boy," Max said with a laugh.

They have taken Stefan to Texas to meet their family, been skiing in New Mexico and soon will head to the Florida Keys. He even exchanged Christmas gifts with the family.

"My favorite gift was a pocket watch," said Stefan, who attends Belleview High School.

Last week at Forest High School, Peichin "Peggy" Tsai, of Taipei, Taiwan, said she thought American high schools were segregated, where students formed groups of friends based on ethnic groups or sports they played.

Peggy said she was shocked to find that America is truly a melting pot, where people of all races intermingle.Peggy also had a different vision of the typical American household."I thought all Americans lived in mansions," she said, adding she soon learned that most homes were more modest than she had envisioned.Later that evening, Peggy sat at a kitchen table with her host family, James and Lynn Zimmerman - Eileen Zimmerman's son and daughter-in-law - and their two children, Ashley, 12, and Michael, 14.Ashley looks up to Peggy and loves having her around the family."She is doing much better in school," James Zimmerman said of Ashley's grades.

Back at Forest High, Derya Rabanus, of Siegen, Germany, said she felt intimidated about communicating in English, but has now lost her German accent and speaks fluent English.

Instead of using money from her savings account to get a driver's license and car, Derya paid $9,000 for the trip, gaining support from her mother to tap into an account started by her grandmother."I was pretty scared about having problems with the language," said Derya, who was homesick when she first arrived and her birthday fell on the third day of school. "I felt alone."

Another student, Juliana Shimizu, 17, of Sao Joaquim, Brazil, said American high schools are much different than she imagined. She said they are much better than those of her homeland. "There are much more activities here," said Juliana, who was born to Japanese parents who moved to Brazil before she was born. "I like the school system much better than in Brazil."

Eileen Zimmerman and her husband, Mike, are Juliana's host family. They take her with them every Sunday to First Baptist Church in Ocala. The church is planning a mission trip to Anchorage, Alaska, in May, and Juliana received money from her parents to go and help renovate a church. "I want to go and help them have a closer relationship to God," Juliana said.

Now, Eileen Zimmerman is seeking host families for next school year. "We want people to consider being a host family," she said. "It's an experience they will never forget."

Joe Callahan may be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com or 867-4113.

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Chautauqua Park provided a scenic background this weekend for a gathering of high-school exchange students from across the world as the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program hosted its fifth annual Youth Leadership Summit in Boulder.

Arriving Thursday from placements in states throughout the US, the 52 students - representing the cultures, religions, and ethnicities of countries throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Africa - gathered at the Chautauqua Community House to begin a weekend filled with group activities, skill-building, and leadership training.

"I really like it so far," said Alisbah Sehar, a 16-year-old high school student from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, during a group activity requiring students to use two beams to travel across a series of blocks. "Here in the USA, kids can stay after school for programs that help them with their studies - at home, students must pay to go to centers that do this".

Sehar went on to say that, by attending the Youth Summit in Boulder this weekend, she has learned the necessary skills that will help her achieve the goal of starting an after-school program in her own community when she returns to Pakistan.

"I am a senior, so I already know the curriculum my younger classmates are studying," she said. "The seniors in my class could help the younger students do better. I have also learned how to raise funds from parents and other students if we need it I can lead people."

Amine Rekik, a 17-year-old high school student from Sousse, Tunisia said that he has enjoyed getting to know the side of America that he does not see on television.

"It's not the same image I see on TV," said Rekik. "We see the U.S. mostly as trying to dominate, but it's not like that."

Rekik also said he enjoyed seeing the unity between members of different Arab countries during the activities and throughout the course of the summit. He said he plans to use the training he received to start community service projects such as cleaning up the littered beaches in his hometown.

Bethany Rehling, Youth Coordinator for Sister Cities International, an organization that helped to sponsor and plan the summit, stated that Boulder provides a wonderful setting for the event on the terms of its natural beauty and its strong sense of community.

:There are two great aspects to this, one is what the students are learning - how to be leaders," she said. "They'll go back to their own countries and share with their community what American culture is like and change their community for the better."

"The other great aspect of this summit is that it really is put together and supported by the Boulder community," Rehling continued. "These students are staying with host families from Boulder who have opened up their homes to them, the Boulder Valley School District donated bus transportation, the Chautauqua Community House was used for the summit - so it's really a great way for these students to touch the Boulder Community."

Rehling also expressed gratitude for the 21 host families who committed to offering their homes to the students, many playing host to several students at a time, and getting them to and from the events on time in addition to sharing their lives and experiences with the students. Host home providers such as Laura McCutchen, however, see the opportunity as an equally exciting learning opportunity for themselves.

"Being part of a host family gives me a firsthand experience of how people live out their Muslim faith in everyday life - and it's a way of learning it that's not the way you see it in the media," said McCutchen, a business manager at Boulder's YWCA who has opened up her home to visiting exchange students for all five of the Summit's annual events. "Once you do it once, you're hooked."

McCutchen hosted three female students this year-Meliha from Bangladesh, Alifbah from Pakistan, and Faten from Israel-and views the experience as eye-opening for everyone involved.

"You've got your extremists and fundamentalists in every religion," she said, "but these are people who are just like us in using it as a part of their foundation for life. And they get to realize that with us, too. They get to see that whatever our government policies are is not necessarily the way the people think and live - so it helps to dispel fears in a lot of ways."

This dispelling of fears also happens to be the primary objective of the YES Program. The program was initiated by the U.S. State Department of State after 9/11 in order to foster understanding between America and the Muslim world.

"They don't want to leave each other," said Natasha Fong Cohen, Senior YES Coordinator for AYUSA International, as she was seeing them off at the airport on Sunday. "A lot of lifelong friendships were made across country lines, across religious lines - and for me that's just really inspiring that they were able to get along so well and work together."

Contact Lance Vaillancourt about this story at (303) 443-6272, ext. 125, or at Vaillancourt@coloradodaily.com.

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