Being an exchange student in America

My name is Marcos Lascurain, and I’m an exchange student from Madrid, Spain. I’ll be living in Marietta during this whole year, attending Wheeler High School. And you may think, why did I come here? Well, coming to spend a year in America is something familiar between European teens my age. The primary objective is getting to know another culture that for us only exists in Disney Channel films. Attend an American high school, with its American football and cheerleaders team, with it’s “nation” spirit, with all its clubs, sports, and activities; living with an American host family, in a big individual house with a garden and some pets; and of course having the opportunity to visit other places in America like New York, Florida or Colorado. This is something relatively easy thanks to a program called the J-1, an agreement between the Spanish and the American government. Thanks to that I could access to a scholarship that makes this experience possible.

I’ve been here for almost three months, and I’m still adapting to the American life. During the first weeks, it was difficult to get used to something that is different from what you have at home and having all your friends and family at millions of kilometers far away. But soon I started making new friends, understanding how things work, getting involved in sports and clubs, making trips to other parts of America and having an excellent relationship with my host family. Also, thanks to social media nowadays it is effortless to make a video call almost any time you want, so that also makes you feel you are closer to your family and your friends.

The main difference I find between Spain and America is people’s personality, especially between people my age. Here my friends can drive, they have a job and a car; they have responsibilities, and they are treated as adults. In Spain, we can’t drive or work till we are 18, so this means there is no difference between the way adults treat a ten years old kid and a 16 years old teen. I also see American teens are more responsible; they are “good kids.” In Spain, teens see life in another way and talking about hanging out with friends or going to parties we are in two completely different worlds.
Another thing I liked a lot about America is diversity. My American friends are white, Indian, black, Hispanic, Asian which is something we don’t have in Spain. The thing I like the least in America is cars. Americans take the car for going everywhere because everything is far, and if you don’t have a car (like me) you depend on another person that needs to drive you anywhere you want to go. In Spain, teens move in public transport, train, buses. Each time I want to hang with my friends I can take a train and go to the city center, go to a shopping mall, to a cinema… anywhere you want to go you can go by public transport.

From my first three months here I would say I’m enjoying a lot in America and even I miss some things from Spain, this is a fantastic opportunity and I expect this year to be one of the best ones in my life.