“Usually, a foreign exchange student will have a funny accent and not speak your language very well. This is all the more reason to hang out with them, because everything will suddenly become that much more hilarious,” junior exchange student Nele Jacobs said in a Facebook post. “Also they are generally young people, and have the tendency to be extremely good looking!”
Jacobs is from Trier, the oldest city in Germany, where she started learning English in seventh grade. Since Jacobs is the first in her family to study abroad, she has viewed a great change between American and German culture. As an exchange student, Jacobs will stay in America, taking classes and learning the differences in society of the two nations.
Jacobs has settled into Albemarle’s busy school life with a drive to do “typical high school things.”
“I had the feeling to get out of Germany for a while,” Jacobs said. “I wanted to go to America, of course, but also because I just wanted to leave my German everyday life behind me and start something new. In Germany, going to America is a really big deal and I really wanted to continue to learn English.”
One of the biggest changes Jacobs faces is the change in her school life. “Everything is different,” Jacobs said. “I went to a girls high school with 800 students. It’s very small, and everybody knew everybody.” Jacobs feels she has adjusted well to Albemarle, saying, “I love this school.”
In Germany, Jacobs’ class consisted of 32 students that stayed together the whole day as the teachers changed classrooms for different subjects. Jacobs’ school does not offer electives, so she was thrilled to take part in choir at AHS.
“I love the fact I have Show Choir,” Jacobs said. “It’s singing and dancing in the same class that you get a grade for.” Jacobs also enjoyed taking part in AHS’ pep rally and Homecoming. “I love the high school spirit, I wish we had that in my German school,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs is not only attending an American school, but living with an American family and adapting to the American culture. “People are a lot more open here,” Jacobs said. “And we do more as a family here than in Germany.” Jacobs mentioned some things she regularly does with her host family such as playing games, watching movies, and spending the weekend together. Jacobs’ host family has proven to be a big part of her year abroad.
Jacobs is staying with the King family, who have now hosted five exchange students from the exchange program Education First (EF). Wendy King, Jacobs’ host mother, says that her family chooses which applications from exchange students best match their family’s interests. “We host exchange students because we love kids, the girls love older sisters, and we love sharing America and learning more about the students’ home countries,” King said. The girls that King mentions are her four homeschooled daughters that are ages five, ten, and two eight year old twins.
Living in America will eventually lead to eating like an American. The food in Germany is completely different from that of America, and Jacobs remarks that the food here is “way too fatty.” However, there are some American delicacies that certainly stand out. “I wish I had tacos at home in Germany,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs has shared her culture with others, including her friend Kiara Croswell, a junior who is in Wind Ensemble with Jacobs. Croswell said she and Jacobs connected over playing flute and both having a German background. “We automatically understand the ‘German humor’ which is pretty much just really bad sarcasm,” Croswell said. Croswell admires Jacobs’ hard work towards improving her musical skills and said, “If you don’t know her, you should totally get to know her.”
Since Jacobs will be living here for a year, she has some ideas of what she wants to do with the rest of her time abroad. She wants to play lacrosse in the spring because she does not have the sport in Germany and, “it’s very American.” Jacobs also wants to make sure she gets a lot of shopping in before she goes back to Germany. “The clothes are a little different, but you have stores we don’t have and it’s cheaper here.”
However, Charlottesville has proven to be somewhat of a disappointment to her. “I love Abercrombie and Fitch, but you closed your store here,” Jacobs remarked. Aside from the clothing store, Jacobs has started to miss a lot of things from her country.
“I miss my family and my dogs, and my city,” Jacobs said. “I miss going out and not telling people where I am!” Jacobs explained that most families in Germany are very tolerant in letting their teenagers go out on weekends without confirming any plan with their parents.
As for her home country, Jacobs plans to return with insight on a different lifestyle, school, and culture that she experienced in her year abroad.
“Exchange students willingly decide to get off their [butts], leave their home country, and go see the world. For that reason, they should be given a helluva lot of credit,” Jacobs said in the same Facebook post.
