“This is my first time in the United States and I am very excited.” Nelly Lohse is a foreign exchange student at Sahuaro High School all the way from East Saxony, Germany. Nelly explained that she wasn’t that nervous about coming to Arizona because she looked up information and places to go to before coming. Something that surprised her the most about the U.S. was the communication and how everyone is so friendly and she can actually hold a conversation with someone, in Germany there isn’t that much communication.

When Nelly came to Sahuaro she wanted to try something new, so she tried out for the girls golf team. She said, “The views of the golf courses were beautiful and I really enjoyed being out there.” In Germany Nelly was in gymnastics, fencing, ballet, musicals, and dancing. Nelly did all these activities outside of her school because the schools in Germany do not hold electives or any school sports. The schools in Germany aren’t really like most schools in the U.S.; the school she attends in Germany is 1st through 10th grade with 500 students that stay in one room all day while the teachers switch classrooms. “I like the way they do things here better because we get to walk around and get out of the classroom.”

Should any Cougars go visit her home country, she she suggests people visit Dresden, the capital city of Saxony, the region where Nelly is from. She says, “It’s very beautiful with very old and interesting buildings.” If you do visit, foods Nelly suggests people try in Germany is their sausage and sauerkraut, Nelly says, “It’s very good in Germany.” Another food she suggested was Stollen, it’s a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar. It is a traditional German bread eaten during the Christmas season.

Nelly is staying here in Tucson with a family of a mom and dad and their two children who are six and eight. Since she has been here she visited Mt. Lemon saying, “Very cool and I loved the views.” Some of the food she’s tried since she’s been here and really liked are burgers, chicken, Mexican food, and spicy food. In Germany Nelly lives with her mom, dad, and her 5 year-old brother; Nelly said she “misses her family a lot.” One thing Nelly found hard was finding new friends and being able to communicate with them.  She was afraid to do something wrong in a different culture. Nelly Lohse will be spending the rest of the school year in the U.S. and will be leaving back home in May.