Luis Jaegermann decided to spend a year in America on the
Foreign Exchange program with two goals in mind, “Play sports and just
experience the culture.”
He’s from Dortmund, Germany a city of just over 800,000 but
doesn’t seem to miss much about it except for his family and some of the food.
Jaegermann is spending this year in the home of Exeter-Milligan
Superintendent Paul Sheffield and his wife, Karla. And even though the Sheffield’s don’t have
any kids at home to connect with, he is enjoying his stay, ”They are
great. I really can’t complain about
anything. It’s kind of weird not having anyone who goes to school with you but
I don’t have a problem with that.”
He’s really enjoying the sports at Exeter-Milligan as he
played on the football team and is now playing basketball, although practice
every day after school has taken some adjusting to. He loves food and cited wings along with
Runza’s as his American favorites.
He misses his family and friends at home along with his
football team in Germany. Specially
seasoned brats with their sauce is the food he misses the most.
His mom will be visiting him over the Easter holiday and he
looks forward to showing her his life in Nebraska.
He has traveled to Arizona with the Sheffield’s over the
Christmas break but was sick most of the time.
“It was a fun Christmas but was really hot down there.”
He has experienced so much of what he wanted to in America,
“The culture in high school, the games, the cheerleaders. I wanted to experience the atmosphere when
you are at the games.”
The only downside to his trip to America will be the schoolwork
he will have to make up as he is missing a school year. On the upside, the practical experience of
speaking almost exclusively in English has been a big boost in his confidence
in speaking.
Jaegermann would like to pursue a career in Engineering and
sees this experience as a great benefit, “I think it’s helpful to speak
multiple languages when you have to talk to people from other countries.”
He’s got a just a few more months to tack on some more
American experiences before heading back home to Germany.
