Northwest High School - Silvertip Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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20' ABOVE: Members of the American Field Service QAFSQ Club enjoy a pool Party at the home of Melissa McKenzie. RIGHT: Sharing a bit of her taste in music, Melissa McKenzie shows Maria Victoria Diez a sampling of Western culture. BELOW: Participating in the AFS and the Interculture Student Exchange Tom Sarlvik, Anja Schutte, Elisabet Henriksson, Maria Victoria Diez and Laila Nielson came to the United States to attend Northwest.

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Exchange students learn, experience American culture Arriving in the summer of 1982, six foreign exchange students from various countries came to Wichita to spend a year with American families. During the year- long stay they made friends, attended school, stayed with a new family and par- ticipated in various activities. Exchange students attending Northwest were Alberto Peimbert from Mexico, Elisabet Henriksson from Sweden, Anja Schutte from Germany, Laila Neilsen from Denmark, Maria Victoria Diez from Colum- bia and Tom Sarlvick from Sweden. They were able to experience and learn first-hand about American culture. The learning experience was returned when Northwest students took the advantage to get to know the exchange students and learn about their respective countries and cultures. Each exchange student was re- quired to take government, U.S. History and English to qualify for graduation status. Although learning was a major aspect of their stay in Wichita, they also experienced many new activities and social events. A few experiences that were different from the traditional ways of their own coun- try ranged from dating to eating out. All of the exchange students attended the junior- Senior Prom which proved to be an ususual experience for them. Long dresses and tux- edos are a symbol for weddings and they thought that the Prom looked like everyone was getting married, because of the formal attire. Dating was also a new experience. It is more common in other countries for couples to meet somewhere than the tradi- tional American way of the male going to the female's house to meet. Also, school is taken more seriously in other countries and therefore extra-curricular activities are not emphasized. It was a difficult end to a special year when the goodbyes of six students probably meant forever. Each had different per- sonalities and each one will be remembered for something that only identifies with that one individual. Many goodbyes were filled with tears as the exchange students left in late june to go back home. 'iff