East High School - Birch Log Yearbook (Duluth, MN)

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f WE A .3 Denny Hughesgi www' 2 5

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Z 3 1 1 , i 1 K X J Q 1 E 5 w s EEEB f 2 E BEST FIGURE AND PHYSIQUE BEST DRESSED Barb Briglia - AI Esparza , . Pat Bero - Petexwilkinson ii X 5 1 I ml dl lf. We 1 BQ N s 1 Y 1 z

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mga M senior class officers Denny I-lughes, President, Diana Berg, Treasurer, Marilyn Koeppe, Secretary: Al Espar- za: Vice President. I landed on your innocent, and full of good will. After a fewjokes with newsmen, at least I thinkthey were joking, they showed me how little they knew about my country. I don't say this because I am ungrateful- I realized that those newspaper jokes were serious matters with all the people I met: my American fel- lows know little about foreign countries. I came to America with the same level of information. That's why my experience is so useful. Imagine the work you have to do to convince me the U.S. isa great country i Imagine the work I have to do to con- vince you France is not only a wine country. We appreciate the way you listen to us when speaking about other corners of the earth. I can tell you how good I feel when I can't get out after a speech because everybody wants to talk to me. continent during August, 1967, Through movies and magazines, I have built up in my mind, the stereotype of what America was like before I came here. But now I have decided to forget what l knew about America and start a new discovery of myself. At the sa ne time, I wish that American people who got the idea of what Thailand was like from the movie The King and I, would keep aside their old ideas and rediscover Thailand. It is very fortunate that we have a student-exchange program like Ameri- can Field Service. It gives us a hope that one day true understanding among nations will be accomplished, and they shall have peace. It is also fortunate that the Barnes are my family over here and that I go to the best high school in Duluth. My pride in being an Eastite is as great as the honor of being a foreign-exchange student. I know that I am going to miss my family and friends here when I go back to Ban- kok. However, I have to go back to my country, as I love it, and share my experience with my family and friends. Boon and I appreciate your hospitality at home and especially in school. I am having a fabulous experi- ,QYg:q,,,,g-sw Q enwcmuevtsfld MLK ence. In seven months l've learned more than dur- , xr, , ing the years which preceded my coming to the U.S. 'X if ' ' You can be sure thatthe best souvenir l'll bring -5 , home will be American hospitality! jf a.f.s. J My experience this past summer as an American Field Service ex- change student has left me with a number of impossibilities: the im- possibility of putting into words what those fantastic three months meant to meg the impossibility of thanking a wonderful family living half-way around the world who gave me not only food and shelter, but warmth and understanding: and the impossibility of believing that this experience was to happen only once, has happened and is over. To most people, the value of an A.F.S. experience would seem to be living in a foreign country and learning about a different way of life, but it's not. The real value is in struggling with an impossible lan- guage to be able to say good morning to people who are doing ev- erything they know of to make you feel a part of the family, and to find out that all people are one, speaking a universal language of laughter and tears. The real value comes from learning a family and country which has become so deeply entwined with your life, knowing that you may be back someday, but who can be sure? Speaking as one of many AFS. students, I can't say thanks for my personal experiences, but I can say thanks for having been given the oppore tunity to fulfill a worthy ideal - peace through understanding. . Ucdiflib 26