TRUE VOLLEY EXCHANGE; CAPE CENTRAL, JACKSON MATCH NO. 1 IMPORTS

Volvos and Porsches aren't the only imports from Sweden and Germany in southeast Missouri.

Lisa Ahstrom, from Falun, Sweden, and Lena Steinberg, of Nachrodt, Germany, both 17 and seniors, have quickly reached the top of area high school tennis. Ahstrom is the No. 1 player on Cape Girardeau Central's tennis team, and Steinberg is the top player for Jackson.

Ahstrom and Steinberg, who both came here through the Rotary Club exchange program, met on the court for the first time Tuesday at Central.

Steinberg defeated Ahstrom 8-2 in their singles match, but Ahstrom and her partner Summer Chaudhari got the better of Steinberg and her partner Lynn Casteel in doubles by an 8-6 score.

Despite the singles loss Tuesday, Central coach Annette Slattery said, "Lisa has been a pleasant surprise for our team, not just because of her skills but because of her excellent attitude and her friendship with the other players. It's fun having her."

Jackson coach Linda Adams is also thrilled with her new addition, who is 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in No. 1 singles.

"It takes six players, not just one, but we're thrilled she's here," said Adams. "She's a really good player."

While Steinberg had visited New York before, she said that living in Jackson is her "first time to be in real America."

And when talking about "real America," the two discussed many of the same things when asked about the differences between their countries and the United States.

Steinberg said it seems that as a whole students in Germany are more interested in school, and Ahstrom said extracurricular activities such as tennis make school here more fun than in Sweden. She said in Sweden school is strictly studies.

"(The biggest difference) is the school, definitely," said Ahstrom. "In Sweden we go to school to learn something, when we go here we go to have fun and to learn, and it's a good combination.

"(Here) you play sports in the school, you have clubs in the school; there's so much you can get involved in, so it makes it fun to go to school. I like the school the most here."

Both also talked about weather: Steinberg says she enjoys the weather here, while Ahstrom found her teammates' misconceptions about the weather in Sweden amusing.

Said Ahstrom with a laugh: "Everybody is talking about the weather because they think (Sweden) is so much in the north. They think there are polar bears on the street and everything. But it's not like we are living in igloos and stuff."

Both also quickly mentioned the people in southeast Missouri.

"It's been a lot of fun and I have met a lot of people, and everybody has been so nice to me. Everybody is so friendly and outgoing," Ahstrom said.

Steinberg expressed similar sentiments: "I like the people here; everybody is really friendly."

The strangest thing here for Steinberg is all the young drivers on the road.

"In Germany you have to be 18 and pay a lot of money for your driver's license," she said.

And for Ahstrom, it's the place where many of the cars of those young people can be found on weekend nights -- fast-food restaurants.

"You eat a lot of fast food. That's a very big difference."

And does American fast food compare well with Swedish home cooking?

"No. Not really," she said with a smile.