From Italy to Turkey to Palestine, Edina High School has been home to many exchange students for the 2023–24 school year.
Because many of the exchange students had never left their home country, the idea of adapting to a new culture and educational system sounded daunting. To ease their transition into EHS, many of the exchange students prepared by watching YouTube videos and movies to research the culture shift.
Senior Mati Gamba from Italy noticed that there were many cultural differences that she had to adapt to. For Gamba, one of the hardest differences was navigating friendships and making genuine connections. “I feel like everybody’s so nice, but they don’t let you in, it’s very hard,” Gamba said. “The first five minutes [people would ask me questions], and then they were like ‘Okay, bye.’”
Like Gamba, senior Ufuk Yagmurlu from Turkey noticed a big cultural difference in EHS’s social dynamic. “When I was approved [to] come to the U.S., I was looking at high school tips, and one of the videos [talked about] ‘hallway friendship’. It’s basically like, you made a friend from a class, and then you [see] them in the hallway, you can greet each other,” Yagmurlu said. “It was so weird for me because [I was wondering] ‘Why do I need hallways?’ but now I realize you have to go to classes, rather than teachers coming to you. In Turkey, we just have one class, and teachers revolve rather than students.”
For senior Abdelrahman Avualqumboz from Palestine, one of the biggest differences he noticed took place outside of school. He felt that there was increased safety in America compared to the conflict he faced first-hand in the Gaza Strip. “There would be a bombardment of houses and my own house was bombarded twice. So security and safety is, I would say this is a bit of a strong statement, but it is a luxury,” he said.
Even though Avualqumboz has not always felt safe in Gaza, he is still proud of where he comes from. “What [Gaza] is to me is that it is home. Even if it isn’t always secure, even if it is not the most pleasant thing ever, it is still home, and I still feel that I belong to it,” he said. “I believe that no matter where I go, I will always be proud of my identity, and that is what I realized here; I would rather be Gazan than anything else in the world.”
During their semester abroad, Yagmurlu, Gamba, and Avualqumboz have all had time to get involved in the school community. Yagmurlu has joined the Volunteering Club, Gamba made the Girls’ Alpine Ski team, and Avualqumboz has taken part in the Model United Nations team. Outside of school, all three exchange students have also gotten to travel and experience American culture with their host families.
Gamba has been to both school and professional sports games. “Going to the [Edina] football games is just iconic. I also went to an NBA game,” she said. “I’ve never been to as many sports events as I’ve been here, but it’s fun. [I like] the ambiance, it’s just a cool environment.”
Yagmurlu and Avualqumboz have been staying with the same host family, so they have gotten to experience lots of different activities and food. “I got to go to the cinema for the first time in my life. We don’t have cinemas in Gaza, shockingly. [The ones] we had were burned,” Avualqumboz said. Both boys also got to eat at a variety of popular fast-food restaurants for the first time. “I got to try the different food chains like Domino’s and Popeyes and Taco Bell, all [things we had never tried],” Avualqumboz said.
Although their experiences differ, all three exchange students have gotten to experience life in America both inside and outside school walls. Yagmurlu, Gamba, and Avualqumboz will finish out the rest of the school year at EHS before returning home to Italy, Turkey, and the Gaza Strip in June.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on February 21, 2024.
