Eden Prairie High School - Eagle Yearbook (Eden Prairie, MN)

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GREGG LEAVES Gregg Carey was our foreign exchange student this year. We were proud to have him as our representative to Belgium. Here is Gregg's let- ter to us. When first applying for AFS, I hadn't thought much about going abroad for a summer; mostly because I hadn't excepted that I would be going. As surprised as Iwas, though, I sat on an air- plane bound for Brussels, Belgium. It was hard to believe exactly what was happening until my new family picked me up in Brussels after 2 days of information packed sessions. My Belgium family consisted of my mother and father, 1 brother and 4 sisters, ranging in age from 21 to 9. We resided in Ordingen, about 50 KNI I36 milesl from Brussels. The entire town was farms and orchards, with almost everyone making their living raising pigs and picking Cherries. We worked at a combination of the two from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. Then my brother and I had the night off to make fun as my brother would often say. The nights were something completely different from the labor during the day. Once we got out with friends it was mostly singing, dancing, and DRINKING . The Belgiums are said to drink more beer per capita than any other country and now I believe it. And they don't have a legal drinking age. It was quite a shock to see my mother and 9 year old sister come home drunk one night! The Belgiums are also famous for their french fries, maybe because they originated them. Where here in America people would go out for a hamburger, we went out for Jfrits, or french fries. And they didn't eat them with ketsup; it was most common to order them with mayonaise instead. All in all, AFS opened up my eyes to a world that is more than just America oriented. There were many grim reminders of U.S. involvement in the country: tanks still lying dead along the roadside, stone walls with gaping holes in them, rubble where a farmhouse once stood. Most of all, I learned about myself; and I've found that its alot easier to live, when you understand the person who you've got to spend the rest of your life with. Peace and Love. 28 They say you do this for a living!

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ABOVE TOP: Randy Rannow, Herb Bloomquist, Dan Hone, Carrie Paterson, Pam Griffiths, Dave Bell, and Anne Saxe cavorting in a Clear Lake Play- ground. ABOVE: Swimming, Jean Bell. RIGHT ABOVE: Debbie Lusk. RIGHT: Mr. Lee, Mrs. David Stark, Tom Swirtz, Bill Inhofer and Nancy Towne relax after the concert. 27 I CLEAR LAKE. i Dis mm Mes

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AND JIMMY COMES. . .. 4' 4,4444 444 H74 .4 Jimmy learns to put on Christmas lights with Mr. Redpath 8 son 4Don4. Jimmy gets his OWN snowflake. RIGHT- Interview with Jimmy. 29 Our AFS student this year was Jimmy Muhoozi from Uganda. Jimmy was special to us all and we were quite fortunate to have him at our school. Before Jimmy left, he brought us his letter to publish in the yearbook. We would now like to share it with you. Many people I have been talking to now know what the initials AFS mean and also the full mean- ing of the word itself. Having left my homeland Uganda in East Africa as an AFS student to USA, I was not so sure of what I would be gaining from this program. I am proud to mention that after my complete year in the US, I am now sure of what Iwas to gain. Through AFS, which sends alot of students from all over the world to spend a length of time in the US families and high schools, to learn, to share their experience with people of the US and to learn to mix together with other people. Regardless of color, political problems 8 language barrier 4if anyi. I have not only been led to meet many stu- dents from different parts of the world but also to accept people as they are and to make friends with as many people as I can. During my current year in the US and mostly in Eden Prairie, I have learned many new things that have made my understanding deeper mainly in loving and being loved in a new family, accepting Americans and other people of the world, noticing how Americans feel about other countries and also learning how to deal with myself in difficult situ- ations together with world problems. I am proud of Eden Prairie kids 8 community at large for the hOSpitality they have shown me during my current year. Many people got to know me easily even before I got to know them because I became the first black student to attend Eden Prairie High School. This gave most of them the chance to find alot about me and gave me the same chance to find alot about them and their feel- ings about we AFRICANS . With all the students being friendly, it led me to become a King for the 18T time in my life and eventually to see how easily one can receive a Diploma from a high school. With all the most un- forgettable experiences I have acquired and look- ing back to the night I was on the stage as a King with my Queen. Jimmy Muhoozi-K ariisa