LIVING IN AMERICA; EXCHANGE STUDENTS ADJUST TO MIDWEST

It didn't take long for Hedda Tegnemo to adjust to life as a high school senior in America. She came with no expectations so that nothing could disappoint her.

Tegnemo, 18, is an exchange student from Blomstermala, Sweden, and attends school in Jackson.

"I chose to come to America, and that's all," Tegnemo said, adding that her first week here was difficult. "I didn't realize what it was until I came here."

Since August, Tegnemo has lived with Emily and Leon Tuschhoff but will live with two other host families before returning to Sweden in July.

"We tried to keep her busy and make her feel like part of the family," Emily Tuschhoff said, adding that Hedda is actually the fourth exchange student the family has hosted.

The three other students, from Brazil, Finland and Norway, still keep in touch with Tuschhoff through letters.

And exchanging letters has kept Tegnemo from getting too homesick. She usually receives five letters a day and talks to her family in Sweden twice a month.

In fact, her mother even suggested that she apply for the student exchange program.

"My mom asked me if I wanted to go," she said, adding that her mother saw an article about the program in their local newspaper.

Rafael Naya from Pamplona, Spain, is a junior at Cape Central High School. His mother also suggested that he study in another country.

"I wanted to learn English and know something about another country," he said, adding that everything here is very different for him.

"I know English because I studied it at school, but I didn't speak it with American people," Naya said. "When I first came here I couldn't understand anything."

Learning English in a school is very different from speaking it everyday, said Jocelyne Ausseil, Naya's host mother. Ausseil is originally from Southern France.

But the difference in spoken and written English wasn't the only change. The school systems in America are different from those in foreign countries.

Students here have more choices for classes and extracurricular activities. In Sweden and Spain, students don't change classes, teachers do.

Both Tegnemo and Naya have another year in school back home before attending college there.

While some classes in American schools aren't as challenging, getting around town is a challenge.

Most exchange students are able to use public transportation systems in their home countries.

"In my city, I can go by bus to other places but here if you have no car then you can't go to those places," Naya said.

Having another student living in the house often helps with transportation, Tuschhoff said.

Both Tegnemo and Naya's visits to America are sponsored by local Rotary clubs.

Five foreign exchange students enrolled in classes at Perryville High School this year. The students are from Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Macedonia and Germany.

And that mix of culture has taught a valuable lesson to all the students, said Principal Dan Steska.

"It gives a new perspective when these students talk about current affairs worldwide," Steska said, adding that the exchanges show the differences and similarities among students everywhere.

Earlier this month, the school hosted 20 German students in a three-week exchange with its sister school in Mettingen. Students from Japan will arrive for an exchange visit in March. The school also has an exchange program with another sister school in Mexico.