By: Harmony Takhar

Many people have met Bellbrook’s foreign exchange student from Germany, Vincent Kirchner. I had the chance to meet him during track season and become friends with him. I decided to do a little interview with him about his foreign exchange experience.

Q: What was the most obvious difference between the US and Germany? Everyone is more friendly in general.
Q: Do you think it’s more of a Bellbrook kind of thing or the country as a whole? I think it’s the whole country. I saw somebody walking his dog one morning and he said good morning, for no reason. Like I didn’t even know him and he said good morning. They don’t do that in Germany. If you don’t know someone, you generally keep your distance from that person.
Q: Did you feel welcomed at Bellbrook High School? Heck yes. So many people tried to hang out with me. Young Life, for example, really helped.
Q: Is there anything BHS could’ve done to help you feel more welcomed? Not really. Picking a lunch table the first month was a little hard though.
Q: Do you think sports would’ve helped? Definitely. I wish I did a fall sport because once I did track in the spring, I had many more friends.
Q: Was the transition hard? For me, no. But maybe for others, yes.
Q: Do you think you will come back to the US?  Yes! I definitely want to come back to visit my friends I made and after college I want to come back as well.
Q: What was your best memory in and out of BHS? Track season was the best at BHS and Fall weekend from Young Life was a lot of fun.
Q: Would you recommend this foreign exchange program to others when you go back? Yes, definitely. It was amazing. As you get to know more people and the culture, you fall in love with it. You get better in English, as well.
Q: Were you satisfied with your experience as a whole? Yes. My host family helped out a lot with it and I think they made it as good as it was. I didn’t really get homesick, but if I did, my host family was good at helping with that.
Q: Will you be sure to keep in contact with the new friends you made here? Most of them, yes. At least I’ll try. The older ones will all be at college, and some friendships will fade. I’ll never forget the memories though.