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International Exchange Students Attend Lawrence High School and Make the Township Their Temporary Home

Agnes Lindberg from Sweden and Maw Meaw Tubtimthong from Thailand are attending Lawrence High School this year as exchange students through Youth for Understanding.

Patch recently caught up with two foreign exchange students who, through Youth for Understanding, are living with families in Lawrence Township and attending Lawrence High School this year. (A third student from Germany was not available for an interview.)

Agnes Lindberg, Sweden

Agnes Lindberg is from Helsingborg, the eighth-largest city in Sweden. “It is not large, but it is pretty. It is about an hour from the Southern tip of Sweden, and a short ferry boat connection to Denmark,” she said.

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Agnes is attending the 10th grade at Lawrence High School. Back home in her home town of Sweden, high school starts in 10th grade, but students begin specializing in a field as early as the fourth grade.

That was when Agnes began her music major. In school she learned classical music and participated in musicals like “Cinderella.” Together with her classmates and teachers, they created an original musical based on music by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Recently her town started a new school for musicals.

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Agnes said she finds school in the United States to be “a lot stricter. We do whatever we want to do in Sweden.”

In third grade she began learning English, which she now speaks beautifully. Many of the television programs aired in Sweden come from America and are shown with subtitles, so Agnes said she has been hearing American English most of her life.

When asked what prompted her to take part in an exchange program and study in the United States for a year, she spoke about the time she traveled to Ireland for a week with her school. The students stayed with Irish families and performed in a concert. It was so much fun Agnes said she wanted to go on a longer exchange.

She said she learned that an uncle on her mother’s side of the family went on an exchange trip 30 years earlier with Youth for Understanding and some of her cousins have also gone (more recently) on exchange trips.

Agnes will return home to Sweden before the next school year there starts around the Aug. 22.

Maw Meaw Tubtimthong, Thailand

Maw Meaw is also a 10th-grader at Lawrence High School. In her home county of Thailand, she attends a public school for students in sixth through 12th grades.

In ninth grade, she explained, students take an exam in order to continue studying in 10th grade at the same school. There are two semesters, with the first running from June to the middle of October, and the second going from the middle of November to February. The normal school day is from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., with seven classes and lunch. 

She said a typical school day in Thailand starts with students standing in front of their country’s flag, singing the Thai national anthem, praying to the Buddha, practicing meditation for two minutes, and then listening to their teachers talk about what will go on in school that day.

Maw Meaw said all of her classes back home are held in the same room, with the exception of chemistry, physics, biology and art – which take place in a different building.

“At lunch, my friends and I eat very fast because we can have more time to walk around the school. We have parks and (a) garden in our school, so we can have a rest there. We don't need (a) pass to go to the bathroom. Students in Thailand study really hard. In one semester we have chemistry, physics, biology, math, English, history, and arts. We cannot pick classes we want, but before we start tenth grade, we can choose Science-Math or Language (track).”

Maw Meaw applied for the Youth for Understanding exchange program to learn more English. She started to learn English in the first grade. In Thailand she was taught grammar, but not how to use it. She said, “I was very shy to speak English, so I didn't talk that much. But I talk a lot with my friends.”

Older students who were exchange students to other countries sparked her interest in the program. She said: “That looks cool and their English is good, and I want to be like them, not cool part but I want to improve my English.”

Lawrence High School is a lot different than her school in Thailand because at LHS she can choose classes that interest her. Plus there are many after school clubs, she said, adding that she is joining the international club. She said she tried out for swimming but found the rigorous training schedule to be exhausting. After school, she practices Thai dancing with a friend. She said she has found people here in the United States to be “friendly.”

Maw Meaw’s host mother is Maia Hughes, a field director with Youth for Understanding. Their love for each other is strong and mutual. Maw Meaw said, “I'm happy with my family. They are so nice, and I love them. I maybe get homesick when I go back to Thailand. I will miss them so much. And I was surprised that it's already half way of my exchange year. This year is passing so fast.”

“My family will always have a sister in Thailand,” said Hughes. “We all agree she is a permanent part of our family! From my end as a parent it has been wonderful having Maw Meaw in our home. I see the changes in my kids – they have become more empathetic of others and a lot more curious about other people, religions and governments in other parts of the world.  She has also been a terrific role model.  My daughter pitches in a lot more to help around the house now that she sees her sister being so helpful.  I would say without a doubt that this has been a growing experience for all of us, and that instead of giving an opportunity to a student to come here we have all gained much more than we have given to the Youth for Understanding program.”

Maw Meaw said: “I miss my family, my friends, my teachers, my school. I miss the mall that I went with my friends before I came here, we went there almost every day. We went to see movies, sing karaoke, play games. We had a lot of fun. I miss my friends so much. I miss beaches that I went with my family and my friends. I miss Thai food, but I like food here too. But I don't get homesick because I have family and friends here and I love them so much too.”

Next time you see Agnes or Maw Meaw in the halls of Lawrence High School or around town, say hello to them and learn a little bit more about their lives. You will find them to be charming and very friendly.

If you are interested in becoming a host family to an exchange student, please visit the Youth for Understanding’s website. Information about applying to become an exchange student and embarking on the “learning adventure of a lifetime” can be found here.

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