Three new foreign exchange students are spending the 2024-2025 school year at Oxford High School. Junior Eino Lindström is from Finland, junior Lionel Von Planta is from Switzerland, and junior Lotte Moersheim is from Germany.
Most foreign exchange students make the journey thousands of miles away from their home country in order to learn more about other cultures, strengthen their abilities to speak a language not native to them, or simply for the sake of travel. Some of the foreign exchange students at OHS this year have similar sentiments.
“I think it was always a dream growing up to go study in another country,” Moersheim said. “America is usually the main choice for most foreign exchange students.”
Lindström grew up hearing stories from family members about what it is like to take an exchange year. As he grew older, this inspired him to come to America and become foreign exchange student himself.
“I wanted to experience what it is like to live in America,” Lindström said. “My mom was an exchange student in Switzerland when she was my age. Her dad paid for the whole trip, and even when I was young she promised me that she would pay for my trip.”
Senior Carson McCready and his family are hosting Lindström for his foreign exchange year, and McCready is also on the OHS boys soccer team with both Von Planta and Lindström.
“They bring a new fun and positive energy to the soccer team,” McCready said. “Like the new culture, for example. I mean culture is always just a great thing to have on the team. I really appreciate the diversity and I think it is really cool to have them. It is such a great opportunity and a huge gift, in my opinion.”
Many foreign exchange students often have to take time to adjust to their new life in another country. Staying with a host family that the students barely know in an unfamiliar place can be jarring and takes time for the students to grow accustomed to. Von Planta is staying with another local family, the Rifkind-Lerner family.
“At the beginning it was a bit weird because I had to get used to them and they had to get used to me,” Von Planta said. “How they live, when they eat, things like that. Their normal life. But now, it feels good and normal, like a little second family already.”
Moersheim, from Germany, has a special interest in tennis and dance, and is also on the OHS cross country team. During her foreign exchange year, she is excited for many extracurricular activities and fun, classic American events.
“I am mostly looking forward to football games and homecoming, and also cross country and track,” Moersheim said. “It has been really fun so far to meet new people, play new sports like pickleball, and try new food like Chick-fil-A.”
All the foreign exchange students are excited for the many events they will be able to make memories at in their upcoming year in Oxford. They anticipate a fun-packed foreign exchange year, but being in a new place that is far from home
could present each student with unique obstacles such as homesickness or issues with the language barrier.
“School is easier here to me, but sometimes in biology class the vocabulary is very hard,” Von Planta said. “In German I would know the words but I do not know them in English yet. I could see myself getting homesick in the future, but I have
not felt that yet.”
Given that all three of the foreign exchange students are from rather northern parts of Europe, they are used to much colder temperatures. Mississippi’s heat and high levels of humidity was unexpected for the students and has been an adjustment for them, especially when it comes to athletics.
“I mean, I knew it was going to be hot, but the weather was a shock,” Lindström said. “I play club soccer at the Tupelo Futbol Club, and we had to practice in a 113 degree heat index. It never gets above 60 degrees in Finland so the weather here is a big change.”
The community is very excited to host such a diverse group of foreign exchange students and immerse them in a new culture. For Von Planta, he wanted to do a foreign exchange year in the United States to learn more about true American culture.
“I wanted to do a foreign exchange year to learn a new language and to get to know a new culture,” Von Planta said. “From the movies you always have an idea of what America is like and it is interesting to see what is true and what is maybe different.”
