Exchange student shares study abroad experience

By Molly Moser

German exchange student Lena Thurich is two months into her 10-month stay in the U.S., attending high school at Clayton Ridge and living with host parents Carolyn and Neil Hofer. The 15-year-old has joined the cross country team and is enjoying her new family. “My exchange organization YFU focuses on finding a host family for you that fits to you no matter where the family lives. And they made their job good, because my host family fits perfect to me!” Thurich told The Press. She’s looking forward to a family trip to San Francisco, Calif., and traveling throughout New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. with other exchange students before heading back to Hamburg. 

There, Thurich will pick up her schooling with three years remaining in her 12-year course of study. “The education system is so different that it is hard to find similarities,” she explained. “We have different schools for motivated people who will go to a university (12 years), people who will make an apprenticeship (10 years) and people who decide to only do nine years of school. 

“Because of the fact that most of the students are motivated to learn in my school, the teacher gives us more freedom,” Thurich explained. She starts her school day in Hamburg at 7:50 a.m. and ends some days at 3 p.m., some at 1:15 p.m. She’s studied alongside the same classmates for five years. “We usually can't choose our classes, but in 10th grade, we can specify for our talents (science, languages, aesthetic, social science). Usually the teachers have to change the rooms and we can stay in our classrooms.” 

At Clayton Ridge, Thurich is taking classes in strength training, choir, and food and culture – all classes she would not have taken had she stayed home. There, she studies physics, chemistry, German, French, sports, music and art.

Though Thurich was too young to be interested in the most recent presidential election in Germany, she's taken notice of the U.S. election season. "A thing that really confused me here is that the presidents are allowed to have TV commercials... I've never seen signs of the favorite president candidate in the yards in Germany," she commented.

Her physical fitness routine is another aspect of Thurich’s life that differs in the U.S. “I have never heard of cross country in Germany but we live in a flat urban area, and I'm sure that there's something like cross country in areas with more nature around,” she said. “I was a gymnast for 10 years in Germany so I only went for a run every couple weeks, and not fast and not with hills.” Other popular sports in northern Germany include soccer, horseback riding, basketball, dance, sailing, surfing, and skiing. 

One thing that did not change for Thurich on this side of the ocean is her love of playing piano. She started taking lessons in first grade. “My parents both have music as a hobby, but never forced me to practice. I chose it by myself. They just want that I'm happy, and they are really happy that music is one of the things that make me happy,” said the 15-year-old. “I like to play classical music, or music from the romantic époque, as well as jazz. This year, I performed a modern jazz piece together with another boy, so we had two pianos and played at the same time. It was the best experience I made and we had a lot of fun together, even though it was a lot of work.”

Music taught the young woman to persevere. “I just never gave up, and there were a lot of hard times where I thought I could never play a certain song, but I wanted to achieve my goal, so I put a lot of effort, time and work in it. My piano teacher is the best teacher I could imagine, because she always believed in me and challenged me with new projects. Without her, I wouldn't have played so much.”

Thurich played a recital for residents at Guttenberg Care Center last month. "It was a new experience to play for such an audience. They were really thankful; that made me so happy," she said. "I had performances in Germany, but not too much, about five bigger ones and then the one or other small performance."

Small-town Iowa life has been an adjustment for Thurich, who lives in a city with a population over 1.7 million. “I am not used to the fact that everyone knows everyone here. It definitely has perks and disadvantages that it is a small town, but I'm happy that it's different, because that is what makes the exchange year so unique,” she said. “Even though the life is so different, I already found a lot of friends I would also be friends with in Germany.”