WEB EXTRA

Sister Cities foreign exchange connection

Keep in touch with Columbia's high school students who are studying abroad this summer in France and Spain. Check back to this page regularly for videos and blog entries from the local students and their foreign counterparts.

Watch the Video – France (Rahwanji)
Watch the Video – Spain (Gonlin)
Watch the Video – Spain (Zahlis)

Date: July 7, 2008

Before, I said Madrid and Toledo are my favorite places ... well, now I've got to add Amazon Natural Park to the list! Yesterday, we went to the mountains of Spain (Elena told me to bring a sweater, but regrettably, I did not) and went on zip lines through the trees!! It was sooo much fun. We were taught how to move through the courses, what to do if we were on a zip line and ended up in the middle, how to be safely attached to the wires at all times. It took at least half an hour for our guide to demonstrate it all. There are five difficulty levels: One is the easiest, and five is the hardest. I did three different courses: a level three, a level two and a level three. The last course was my favorite!!! It was higher up than the other two, and when I looked around, I was surrounded by tall trees, and under me was a little river and a bridge, and there were bushes everywhere. It was so peaceful, and at the same time exhilarating to be so high up in the air, so close to the canopy of the trees! I loved it.

My girl, Elena, is scared of heights. But while I was on the level two course, she was way above me on the level five course!!! I was shocked. She said that even though she's scared of heights, this is fun and she wants to do it. Eva, too, is scared of heights, but was with me the entire time on all the courses I did. When she was about to cross a thin line with only her harness to save her, she said: "I can't do this! I really can't!" But there was no other way for her to get down unless an instructor came up to get her.

We all said, "Yes, Eva, yes you can! You've gotten this far already. You've done so much! The zip line is really close." And Eva did it. She conquered her fear of heights!! She went through the course, up the moving ladders, down the zip line, all the way to the ground. When it was all over, she admitted it was fun and she'd have regretted it if she hadn't gone all the way.

It was by far the best day yet.

Log on weekly to hear more from the student adventures in France and Spain!

Soccer with the French
By: Brittany Williams, Columbia resident and Sister Cities foreign exchange student

Date: July 5, 2008

France is beautiful! My family is really nice, and they are always asking "a va?" (which is like asking "How are you?" in the U.S.) to be sure that I have everything I need and that I'm enjoying the trip.

We've visited museums, churches, chateaux and other people's houses, among many other things. The guys love to play soccer. One of the French guys brought his soccer ball on our visit to see a museum about Impressionists! It's fun to join them and pass the ball. I've learned "passe/donne-moi le ball" (pass/give me the ball) and "ici!" (here!) are very helpful when playing keep-away with them.

We've taught them games like link-tag and zoo, and they have showed us French music and popular French-teen dances (which are about as strange to us as our dances were to them).

Today, we are going to the Louvre! But right now, it's time for lunch. Probably something delicious with a lot of bread. Overall, it has been a wonderful trip that only looks like it will get even better.

Log on weekly to hear more from the student adventures in France and Spain!

Foreign exchange students from Columbia attend a Fourth of July party thrown by their hosts in Cergy-Pontoise, France, in their honor. They are singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" and holding the American and Maryland flags. When the French students come to Columbia, a Bastille Day celebration will be held, and the French group will undoubtedly sing for the Columbia students!

Spending free time in Madrid and a cathedral tour
By: Vanessa Gonlin, Columbia resident and Sister Cities foreign exchange student

Date: July 3, 2008

I've been soo busy and have a lot to talk about! Shopping in Madrid, the cathedral at Toledo, watching la eurocopa ¡¡¡ESPAÑA GANA!!! Creo que podimos. (Spain is winning! I think we can do it!), meeting the relatives. ¡Dios mio! (Oh my God!)

But I've also had a lot of free time to just chill and relax. Not many days were planned in Spain, so I thought we'd go to the pool and mall and movies and friends' houses a lot. But Elena goes to a school in Madrid, so all her really good friends live in Madrid! And the movies are expensive, and the mall here is small, and there aren't that many clothing stores, so twice Elena and I met a few other girls at the nearby metro station to go to Madrid. That mall is bigger and has a movie theater (we saw "Sexo en Nuevo York" ("Sex and the City" – LOL) and candy shops, etc.

Madrid and Toledo are my favorites ... I did a lot of shopping in both places (yay!!). We went to Toledo today, and our tour guide spoke to us in "Espanglish" so that the Americans could understand everything but still have the Spanish learning experience.

We toured the cathedral, which is INCREDIBLE. People put so much time and effort into these minute details because they want everything to be perfect and impressive (which it was). I'm not religious, but our tour guide described the importance of certain statues and objects so that we could appreciate it. People are buried in the cathedral! Their tombs are right under the ground. You can walk over the surface (tombs have gold flooring and inscriptions)!

Log on weekly to hear more from the student adventures in France and Spain!

Visiting Toledo
By: Sarah Blake, Columbia resident and Sister Cities foreign exchange student

Date: July 3, 2008

Spain is amazing.

We went to Toledo today, and it was the prettiest city I've ever seen. The castles and the walls and the little houses and everything.

Basically, every night we go to this tapas bar with all our friends, and it's a blast. Our friend George makes me try all these Spanish foods. Some are good, some aren't.

I love it here.

Sarah Blake is entering her senior year at Hammond High School, where she is a member of the field hockey team.

Log on weekly to hear more from the student adventures in France and Spain!

¡Hola de España!
By: Alli Lehr and Julie Morse, Columbia residents and Sister Cities foreign exchange student

Date: June 30, 2008

It's crazy to think we are actually living in Spain and having so much fun. Our days are so chill but so fun. We got to visit our hosts Alba and Laura's school in Madrid. It was so different but so cool. The students were receiving their "marks," or report cards. So many students were crying, but they were all very friendly.

We have seen many different sights in our two trips to Madrid: El Prado, the stadium for Real Madrid, El Banco del España, La Puerta de Alcála, a gay pride parade, el centro del Madrid and La Churreria. We spend a lot of time at the pool with the other students, and we all try not to get burned.

We got to watch Spain defeat Russia in soccer on Wednesday. This means Spain will play in the Eurocup Finals against Germany. All the Americans plan on painting their faces; the two of us bought jerseys yesterday in Madrid. We are very excited to be here and are having a great time. Our Spanish is getting a lot better, but luckily many of the students are quite good at English.

Well it is time for paella. ¡Adios para ahora!

Alli Lehr is a 2008 graduate of Atholton High School. She will be attending Lehigh University in the fall. Her interests include dance, field hockey, and snowboarding.

Julie Morse is entering her senior year at Atholton High School.

First two days in Spain
By: Sarah Blake, Columbia resident and Sister Cities foreign exchange student

Date: June 26, 2008

Today is the end of my second day in Spain. It's absolutely amazing. Yesterday, we went to the pool and visited my host Manuel's friends. They are all so, so nice. Things are really different in Spain. On the crosswalks, even if there's a car two feet away, you start walking across. And it's weird having lunch be the biggest meal of the day.

My host family is so nice. Manuel has two little brothers, and they are so both cute. And his dog, oh my goodness. It is the cutest thing in the world. It's a little white dog named Polo, and he's adorable.

Everyone in Spain is nice. Really. Everyone.

Today, we had a scavenger hunt game, which was really fun. We traded a shirt for things at this mercado and went all around Spain. The Americans and I wanted to run so we could win, but the Spaniards merely said "no es necessario."

Then, I took a nap, and one of Manuel's friends, Alberto, came over. We watched TV for a while. It's funny. Alberto doesn't really speak English at all, and he was saying how he liked all these songs that were on MTV that were sung in English, like Rhianna, and Eminem, and things like that, but he doesn't understand it at all. He was also wearing a shirt that said "rip curl," and he didn't know what that meant, either.

The soccer game was the most fun thing in the world. EVERYONE was so excited about it. We were walking down the streets, and the group I was with was high-fiving and hugging all these people who they didn't know as if they were best friends. I really, really wish we had something like that in America. It was great.

I'm going to sleep now. ¡Viva España!

Sarah Blake is entering her senior year at Hammond High School, where she is a member of the field hockey team.

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