German student ‘experiencing’ America

By Phil Cobb | September 4, 2015 |

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During the football jamboree at North Andrew, Johanna Werner and her host-mother Amy Wolf cheer on the South Nodaway/Jefferson football team.

Spending a year in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from your family, can be a terrifying experience for anyone, but for South Nodaway R-IV senior Johanna Werner, it’s a wonderful experience.

“I wanted to experience the American daily life,” Werner said. “I spent the holidays in America a couple of years ago and I thought it was really cool here, so I educated myself on American education and the exchange program.”

Werner comes to the northwest Missouri area from a small town near Frankfurt, Germany.

While on the airplane heading toward the United States, Werner’s mind was racing with different ideas and expectations of the American lifestyle.

“I was really excited, but when I got to the house for the first time, I never had a worry,” Werner said.

Werner is attending South Nodaway High School this year through the Council of International Educational Exchange, a non-profit organization that promotes international education and exchange.

“I watched video diaries of other exchange students and that got me really interested in the program,” Werner said. “I wanted to feel the school spirit, the everyday school life, and the communities.”

Of course, anytime there’s a change in routine or culture, it takes a little time to adjust and for Werner, the biggest adjustment has been the classroom setting.

At school in Germany, she said students are able to choose a subject, but there are four main subjects, English, French, German, and mathematics. Students also have courses like biology and chemistry, but they stay in the same classroom all day with the same people.

At South Nodaway, she changes rooms between every class and she said it took a little bit of time to get used to that.

“At the beginning, it was very confusing,” Werner said. “But, I got used to it, and now I know the classes and where everything is. The lockers are very useful because we don’t have lockers back home.”

“If I ask a silly question, the teachers don’t look at me funny,” Werner said. “They all help.

One of the biggest changes and adjustments for Werner was competing in sports.

“We have a subject that is physical education for everybody,” Werner said. “We do badminton, gymnastics, soccer, but we don’t play the games at the school. Our school’s don’t play against each other.”

Werner’s main athletic competition growing up was gymnastics, but at South Nodaway, she’s thrown herself right into the middle of things.

She auditioned for the cheerleading squad by sending a video of her tryout from Germany.

“The main reason I wanted to be a cheerleader was so I could cheer for all of the football players,” Werner joked. “I played softball because my host family is big into softball and a classmate encouraged me to play.”

If her first day at a new school was a little “overwhelming” for Werner, the first day playing a new sport was “nerve wracking.”

“It was something new and incredibly different,” Werner said. “I didn’t know anything about softball before I got here, so they had to teach me all of the rules.

“At first it was a little much for me, but my first practice went pretty well’” she said. “They taught me slowly and my coaches were so nice about it.

She said she “had worries leading up to the first practice, but afterward, I felt great because everyone was so nice.”

In only a few weeks, Werner has played in a handful of softball games, attended high school football games, and been a member of the cheerleading squad, but the favorite part of her time at South Nodaway is her host family.

“I love my family,” Werner said.

“I didn’t think I’d feel so comfortable so fast,” she said. “On the first day, they showed me the whole house and the school.”

Werner is being hosted for the year by the family of Rod and Amy Wolf of Barnard and their two daughters, Allie and Delaney.

She found out she would be living with the Wolfs in January and said that made the adjustment a lot easier because she got to know the family better.

Werner said through the past few weeks of living with the Wolf’s, she feels as if she’s a part of the family.

Living in a smaller community was an adjustment that Werner didn’t know if she’d be comfortable with, but she said that’s been an amazing experience so far.

“I didn’t know if I’d like the small school feeling, but it’s been great,” Werner said. “In the whole school, I didn’t meet a single person that wasn’t nice.”

“Everybody treats you like they do everyone else. They act like you’ve always been here. They don’t judge me,” she said.

Another aspect of the American high school life that Werner enjoys is the “relaxed” dress code.

She said that at her school back home, she always had to make sure she was wearing a nice sweater and jeans, but in America, it’s a little different.

“It’s really great here because in the morning, you don’t have to worry about dressing up,” Werner said. “I can just wear shorts and a t-shirt.”

Werner’s year of learning in the United States is an experience she says she’ll never forget, but the year doesn’t count toward her graduation in Germany.

“I have to do two more years when I go back,” Werner said. “We have three years of high school, so I’ve already done one, and now I’m here this year, but I still have two more back home.”

For now though, Werner doesn’t have to worry about the next two years of “German” school. She wants to experience the “American” culture.

“I want to go to a professional football and baseball game,” Werner said. “I really want to eat a corn dog though.”

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After coming through the airport terminal, German exchange student and now South Nodaway R-IV senior Johanna Werner, right center, meets her host family, the Wolf’s from left, Allie, host-sister, Amy, host-mother, and Delaney, host-sister.

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Johanna Werner spends time with her host-sisters, Allie, left, and Delaney, right, at a picnic for all northwestern Missouri foreign exchange students held at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park.