Photographed by Athena Zeng

Photographed by Athena Zeng

On the first day of school this year, most students arrived at MHS either by school bus or by car. For foreign exchange students Eleanor St. George, junior, and Caroline Pangkerego, senior, their journey began on a plane.

St. George is from Perth, Australia, which is approximately 11,000 miles from St. Louis. She will be staying in the United States for five months through a foreign exchange program known as American Field Service (AFS) that is offered by her school. Meeting other kids, traveling by herself, and being independent were all exciting aspects of flying to the US she said.

“The whole entire plane ride here, I just couldn’t believe I was actually coming. I thought about it a lot, but I never imagined actually going,” St. George said.

During her stay so far, the transition from an Australian accent to an American accent wasn’t the only culture shock she experienced.

“Coming into school is still a little bit scary, to be honest. It’s really big. Not even knowing all the kids in your year is a little bit hard. Back home, I knew everyone,” St. George said.

However, she was not frightened away. St. George said she is extremely appreciative of her host family and host sister Emma Censky, junior, for making her stay much easier.

“My host mom, host sister and the other foreign exchange student that’s here- we went on a tour of the school where Emma showed me where my classes were, where the canteen was, and where the school store was so I had a bit of an idea of the school,” St. George said. “They helped me out with my books; they got me to talk to the tennis coach so I could start sports.”

Pangkerego is also taking full advantage of her time as a foreign exchange student by participating in clubs such as Key Club and the Marquette Theatre Company.

“I think it will be fun because in my school, I didn’t have a theatre company, and I’m looking forward to trying it,” Pangkerego said.

Pangkerego flew about 9,500 miles from her hometown in Bogor, Indonesia, before she arrived at St. Louis.

“When I was at the airport, I thought that maybe I would be alone or maybe I would be clueless, but I didn’t feel like I was clueless because so many people were helping me,” Pangkerego said.

Once she made it to St. Louis, she received even more assistance from her host family. Her host mom and dad have hosted several times and did research on Indonesia to prepare for Pangkerego’s arrival.

Pangkerego is adapting to her new school by being exposed to and given the opportunity to take new classes such as German.

German teacher Kim Hotze has learned to help foreign exchange students after teaching several in the past.

            “I try to get a feel of students and find a person or club they would connect with and not just sit in a classroom,” Hotze said.

Even though she said is having some trouble with the language barrier, Pangkerego is focused on improving in order to reach her dream of becoming an Indonesian ambassador to the United States in the future.

But it’s the little things that make Pangkerego’s stay in St. Louis truly special.

“Today I remembered the combination for my locker, and tomorrow I’ll go to the cafeteria. Everyday day gets better- every day is my best day,” Pangkerego said.