Transitioning from one house to another within the same city can feel life- changing and difficult in itself; moving from one continent to another without any family by your side is another story. Junior Martin Huttenloher made that terrifying yet exhilarating move by coming to America.
He moved from Germany to America and at first, Huttenloher had no interest in coming overseas, but after hearing from his friends in Australia how incredible traveling abroad is, he decided the foreign exchange program was for him. In Germany, students learn English by the third grade. To his surprise, his first day here was spent in silence as he came to realize that learning a language in school is much different than how it is actually spoken. Upon spending a lot of time around the language, he began speaking eloquently and confidently.
“America is totally different [than Germany],” said Huttenloher. “Everything is different– the school, the people, the lifestyle, the hobbies, et cetera.”
Wanting to experience American culture, Huttenloher attended a local festival and met up with two friends from the study abroad program in Agoura. Huttenloher has also been to a corn maze, which he thinks is an odd source of entertainment because there is no corn in Germany. He has also experienced the one of the classics of California culture: In-N-Out. American culture is without a doubt growing on Huttenloher.
Huttenloher sometimes questions why he chose to do this and go so far away from home because the change is so difficult. However, he Skypes with his family every week and writes daily to his brother.
“I enjoy America because people here are more open minded,” he said. “Here, people will speak out if something is bad.”
Obviously adapting well to this radical change in scenery, Huttenloher looks constantly on the bright side of being far from home in a foreign country. And that is what America is to him: foreign and extremely different from his home. Martin hopes to experience more culture while he is studying here, and go home with some newfound knowlege.
