Have you ever wondered what it's like for an exchange student to arrive in the U.S.? What cultural differences stand out to them? What do they enjoy most? What surprises them? In these early weeks of the school year, we asked this year's incoming class to share some of their first impressions of life in the U.S., and they had lots to say!
Everything is BIG!
My first impression was that everything is really big. Food sizes, cities, grocery stores.
Living in Coarsegold, California
From the cities to the food here everything is bigger, even tho Dewey has only 3 thousand people is a lot more big, with a lot more restaurants and shop than my little town in Italy, who also has 3 thousand people.
My first impression of the US was like vast and everything looked big and different from Japan.
It was one of what I expected to the US.
I was kind of surprised because almost every building was one story, which is unbelievable in Tokyo.
Yui from Japan
Living in El Reno, Oklahoma
Everything here is huge and big, but i really imagined it like this. It’s really beautiful. I’m so happy and glad to be here!
My first impression of the USA was it is really huge like all is big and you always need to take your car but I liked the place and the people are really nice with you.
Ruben from France
Living in Eureka, Missouri
It's like the movies!
My first impression to see the streets and people was that I thought "This is like a movie and I'm in it". People from here say it is not, but it is. Not everything of course but generally it is.
Everything is the same as the movies. It's more than my expectation, I don't know America is so beautiful. Everything is new and interesting. My host family is pretty nice.
Irene from Taiwan
Living in Kentwood, Michigan
One thing that I really like is the fact that everything here is so similar to what I could see in the American tv series and movies, that is what an exchange student from another country expects to find: the cute houses, the American lifestyle, the food... One thing that I really wasn't expecting is the fact that the people here are really nice like the neighbors, the students, the teachers, or even the people that you don't know that you meet outside your house. I love it!
People are so nice!
The first thing I noticed was how people were so friendly. In my home country we don’t have small talk culture and we don’t like to talk to strangers so it was a bit weird at first when random people would just compliment your outfit or ask about your day. Even though it was weird at first, that is now something I really love here!
I have been here couples times already, but what I always see is friendly people ! The students and the family have been nice to me since the beginning. It’s also a country where, from what have seen, people are free to be who and what they want!
My first impression of the U.S. are the people in U.S. are very open to the public. And I think they always say 'Hi!' with their neighbors.
To be an exchange student, I sometimes feel shy and don't know how to speak English fluently, I need to do a sentence reorganization in my brain for a hundred times and speak it out confidently.
Jasmine from Hong Kong
Living in Redmond, Oregon
Having exchange students over here is not a common thing, so when someone knew an exchange student from italy was coming over, rumors spread pretty quickly and i started getting lots and lots of people reaching out to me on social media! everyone was so nice and immediately introduced themselves saying they couldn’t wait to meet me.
Everything is different and that's why everything, even the little details are exciting.
It feels so good to be exchange student, I feel so good with myself for being here and I think that everybody is so nice and kind to me.
My host family is awesome!
I think one of the best experiences I've had here is just meeting my current host family (the Adams) because they were a new beginning for me (the best I could ever ask for)... so in addition to all the wonderful experiences I have lived here, I think they are the most beautiful
Azzurra from Italy
Living in Modesto, California
I have been able to see a little bit of both Seattle and Oregon and from what I have seen I can say that it is a great country and I feel very grateful fot having the opportunity to be here with such a great family.
AWESOME! Everything is new and I love that! I've already make some friends! And my host family is super cool!
Sofija from Serbia
Living in Byron Center, Michigan
School is very different--and cool!
I am grateful for having lots of friends in school and on my cheer team. This picture with my teammate (on the right) was taken at our second football game!
School is school, a lot of assignments and everything is graded...
What really impressed me was the difference between French and American high school (with the subjects, the mentality, the spirit of the school ...)
Everything here is so different like the school (for instance, in Spain we don't have a cheer team...
Thelma from Spain
Living in Wayland, Michigan
Everything is so--different!
Culture are different, house is different, school is different,… This few days are very very nice I think I will be fine here and I think I will pass the best year of my life , I hope !
Living in Coquille, Oregon
When I first came here, everything was so different, people, houses, lifestyle… But I loved it! I was very curious to see everything and learn more about American people. It is, for sure, better than I expected, there are A LOT of new things that I don’t have in Spain, and I’m trying every single thing!
Carla from Spain
Living in Chowchilla, California
Everything is how I expected but at the same time it isn’t. It’s hard to explain. Some things are different from what I picture, for example the church or family reunions. The high school is really different from my last one. And everybody seems king of of interested in me because I am from Spain and that helps to make friends. I am really looking forward for homecoming in two weeks
My first impression is that everything is really interesting and also exciting. I already heard about some of the culture shocks before i came here but it still was not like how I imagined it to be. It is a really exciting feeling as an exchange student because a lot of people want to get to know me and I get to know different sides of the life in the United States.
Ismail from Germany
Living in Modesto, California
We love hearing about all these wonderful adventures and new experiences! Exchange truly is a life-changing adventure and we wish each of our students the best as they make new memories in the coming months.
Keep your eyes open for a soon-coming blog post in which host families share their first impressions of the hosting experience and of their exchange student. (Or scroll down to subscribe to the blog and never miss a post!)
