Stefan Lornez
by Kolin Scheele
February 08, 2010
What inspire you to become a foreign exchange student? I got the idea to become an exchange student, because a lot of of my friends and some of my family members were also exchange students. So I knew what it would be like to be a student, far away from home in a foreign country, but I was curious about the world and I wanted to experience another culture and do something useful in my life.
What is the strangest/ most fun experience since you were here? Not the strangest, but one of the best experiences was the Nebraska-Oklahoma game. It was just amazing to be part of the hyped Nebraska crowd. It is amazing when I first came here I knew nothing about American football and in a couple months later I was cheering for Ndamukong Suh and complaining about a ten yard penalty.
What is one thing you want to take back to Germany with you that you learned in America? I learned a lot of new things since I arrived. Not only the language, but how American people live and how the American policy works. If you're new in a country you have to learn how people treat each other to be respectful and not to be rude especially if you language isn't that good. I've learned a lot of small things I'll always remember and use in life.
Can you tell us about your country? Germany and the United States are pretty much the same. You would be surprised how similar we are. Of course there are all the little differences, but a German and an American teenager to are doing the things in their leisure and have the same little problems to endure. The only big differences I could think about is that us Germans are very selfish in terms of community work. Everybody cares about their family and friends, but there is almost no community participation in like fundraiser for the local church. Besides that we have just 300 different kinks of sausages and no speed limits on certain highways.
Do you ever get home sick? Yes, there are times I'm home sick, but I really got used to it. Of course I miss my family and friends, but I don't feel bad about it anymore. It was hard to say goodbye to everybody and learn to live without them, but I learned to handle that quickly. It probably helped to be involved in the social live here so fast.
What do you do with you free time? I do try to do a lot of sports. I was part of the football and basketball teams. Of course I'm hanging out with my new friends, doing sports, and spending a lot of time with my host family.
