Morro Bay High School - Treasure Chest Yearbook (Morro Bay, CA)

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AFS Brings The World To Morro Bay 1 ooking for the world? The American Field Ser- vice was created by volunteer ambulance crews during World Wars l and ll so that stu- dents could gain worldly experience by living in oth- er countries. Since then it has become very popular and has allowed 130,000 students to form global relationships. There are sixty-eight countries where the service sends students, but finding host families in those countries is often very difficult. Therefore, the choice is limited. Basically, students can only pick between going to Europe or the Southern Hemi- sphere, said the group's advisor Mr. Richmond. The country they go to depends on where a host family can be found. Junior John Hartwell left for Casablanca, Morroco, this year after several months of waiting patiently to be accepted. This year the Morro Bay Chapter of AFS was in- volved with several community functions, including their annual home tour. During the event, members gave tours of unique and very beautiful homes in this area. Every year it is a great success, and it's neat to see some truly spectacular houses right in our own town, said member Lanya Lamouria. Besides sponsoring community events, the club helps exchange students adjust to their new life styles. Funds raised over the year helped to pay for yearbooks, caps, and gowns for Stephan Goertz and Thomas Meier, as well as to help pay for club trips to Solvang and La Purisma mission near San Diego. Said the co-advisor Miss. Boomer, Even if you don't want to go to another country, AFS is a great club just to learn more about our world.

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5 H: ik Page 146. 1. American Field Service. FRONT ROW: K. Stead, L. Hart, A. Orton, S. Goertz, E. Knudsen, D. Havemann. BACK ROW: T. Meier, B. Emmons, L. Lamouria, G. Larsen, N. Cavazos, J. Main, M. Mueller. 2. Stephan Goertz is an AFS exchange student from Worpswede, West Germany, who is living this year with the Kitzman family in Morro Bay. He is a member of the basketball team, and after first semester he joined the yearbook staff. People asked me why I am doing all this, leaving my family, my friends, and losing a year of school. It's hard to say, but I probably just wanted to get to know new and different people and a new culture. I wanted to learn from those those people, about them, and even about myself. When I first arrived here, I was surprised to see that almost everybody was friendly and nice to me and to each other, which made it a lot easier for me to get a good start for this year. But everything turned out being more difficult than if first seemed to be. I started out not knowing anybody, not having any friends and not being used to the American way of- life. After a while, though, the depression disappeared day by day and it turned out to be the best experience of my life. Thanks so much to everybody for helping me during this year. Page 147. 1. Thomas Meier is an AFS exchange student from Zurich, Switzerland who is living with the Lilly family in Los Osos. He enjoys running very much and was a member of both the Cross Country and Soccer teams. When I arrived here, I was so surprised at all of the friendly people. It made a lot easier to get involved. This year has been a great experience and will effect my whole life. Thanks to everyone who has made this a super year. 2. Elise Knudsen is here on the Educational Foundation youth exchange program. It is similar to the AFS program, except that students have more choice over the country that they want to go to. The first host family that she stayed with did not work out well, and she is now living with the Fullbrights in Los Osos. Until August of last year, I have lived on the west coast of Denmark in a town called Esbjerg. It is very different from California, sol notice a lot of changes, both good and bad. The weather is nice here. I really enjoy not having snow this winter, but I would probably miss it if I was going to stay here next year. The school system is very different over here. lt's a hassle to rush from one classroom to another, because I was used to having the teachers change rooms. But I really like school activities and school sports which we don't have in Denmark. I'm going to miss all the fun after school when I go back in June. Although I had to change many of my ways of living, l'm really having fun. I enjoy my stay and Americans make it easy to be away from home for a year. , ... s.. if if Foreign Exchange 147