David Reng

Foreign exchange programs can enhance both the hosting school and the student. Exchange student Jordi Almendros [not pictured] said the option to pick multiple classes in the U.S. is “really cool.”

Nobody likes being the new kid in school, let alone in an entirely different country. This year, EHS has four foreign exchange students and many international students in all grades. These students are acclimating to their new environment, overcoming cultural barriers while also making the most of their time in the U.S.

Junior Jordi Almendros is an exchange student from Barcelona, Spain. Although he has been to the U.S several times, he says high school in America is very different from Spain and is still a big adjustment.

Being immersed in a new culture can be uncomfortable, and minor aspects can feel very big when you are far from what you know.

“The food is probably the hardest thing,” Almendros said.

Freshman Inés Gómez Tarrio from Galicia, Spain, is also an exchange student and is adjusting to her first time in the U.S. In Spain, the community is very tight-knit; it’s difficult for her to go from that intimate social structure to the one in Edina.

“[In Spain] all the people know all of the people, and here it’s too different,” Gómez Tarrio said.

In the U.S, foreign students are exposed to new ideas and experiences that aren’t present in the students’ own country. Even going to school can be widely different for foreign students from what they’re used to. “For studies in the U.S, you get to do more things,” Almendros said.

One of the aspects of American high school that differs from Spain is that students are given the ability to choose some of their classes. “During [your] senior year [in Spain], you can only choose a couple [of] classes, so having a lot [of] options to choose from is really cool,” Almendros said.

Another perk of being an international student at EHS is the school’s welcoming environment. People tend to be more friendly to foreign students as they want to make a connection and get to know them.

“It’s kind of cool because everybody [is] nicer [and] more interested in you,” Almendros said.

Sophomore Ryosuke Oka is a foreign student from Japan who moved because of his father’s work in the U.S. The U.S is very different from what he is used to, but Oka welcomes this and finds the U.S invigorating.

“It is a fresh and amazing experience,” Oka said.

He found EHS’s diverse student body surprising; approximately 98% of the Japanese population identifies as ethnically Japanese, so seeing the many ethnicities present in the U.S. was something he had never encountered in Japan.

“In Japan, I’ve only seen Japanese people, [but in America] I’ve seen every type of nationality,” he said.

Oka expects to work very hard here. He has aspirations to go to college in the U.S and has already begun planning which college he wants to attend.

As much as Oka misses Japan, he says that life in America is fun and exciting, and he wishes to stay here. Oka believes he will have better opportunities in the U.S than those available to him in Japan.

“I expect to learn something that [I] wasn’t able to learn in Japan and improve my English skills,” Oka said.

Senior Zeina Al-Ramahi is the International Chair of Edina Rotary Global Scholars (Al-Ramahi is a Zephyrus Report staff member).

“I reach out to international students and exchange students and host events that integrate both international students and other students of Edina High School,” Al-Ramahi said.

As someone who interacts firsthand with many international students, she believes these students are important to have in a school.

“We can broaden our perspectives of different cultures and learn from other people’s backgrounds,” Al-Ramahi said.

International students don’t just experience EHS culture, they also add to it by sharing their country and customs with the school. These students are essential to creating a diverse and connected environment, and EHS wouldn’t be the same without them.

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Oct. 2, 2025