News Story 1

Olivia Riley-S

10/25/18

“Pub G is better.”

I was given the opportunity to represent Kennedy at the International Roundtable at Xavier high school. I got to meet the foreign exchange students of Cedar Rapids and ask them a series of questions, along with other school representatives and the Xavier student body.  With 38 students from 17 different countries, it made for a very interesting event.

                Stereotypes can mislead our impressions of the people we meet, whether it be race, religion, or even gender. I think we tend to alienate foreign exchange students because of their different cultural backgrounds, when in reality, they are normal teenagers, just like me and you. Even with the thousands of miles between our homes, we share a lot of similarities.

 “I just watched a lot of American movies.”  Lara, from Belgium, paints a picture of her dreams of coming to an American high school. The lockers, the lunchroom, the typical Hollywood scene, and so far, she’s experienced just that. Although we have met a lot of her expectations, we haven’t quite hit all the marks, “I’m still waiting for a High School Musical scene.” Lara says, and honestly, so are we.

They also have political opinions, not just in their own country, but in ours as well. Of course, Trump was mentioned, starting with a question asked by a Xavier student,

“What’s your opinion on Trump?”

“Do you like Trump?” asked Julia from Brazil.

“Let’s just say he’s making America great again.”

“I’m really sorry for you.”

That conversation sparked more opinions from the other exchange students, “I might be a little biased, but Trump has been the worst thing to happen to this country.” Said one, followed by, “He’s a joke to the rest of the world.”

Unfortunately, none of them seemed too keen on Fortnite. When asked about the game, Danny from the America’s stood abruptly from his chair and exclaimed, “I do NOT play Fortnite and never ask that again.” Before passing the mic on and returning to his seat. He wasn’t the only one with an opinion, the others felt the need to put in their two-sense, for it was a very important subject, “The entire Fortnite fanbase is cringey twelve-year olds.” And finally, “Pub G is better.”

Playing video games, partying, and doing dumb stuff with friends are common activities here, as well as their home countries. We are very similar, so as Kabylbekova from Kyrgyzstan said, they are “Probably the same as you guys.”