During first semester of the 2013-2014 school year, Tunstall was introduced to two foreign exchange students: Leo Berger, from Germany, and Yme, from the Netherlands. Although the purpose for a foreign exchange student is to take advantage of another country’s opportunities and experience their culture, many students at Tunstall took advantage of the knowledge these boys offered and learned a lot in the short period of time they were in the States.

Having the company of each other, coming from two extremely different cultures, and diving into a completely new culture, made the experience more comfortable. “Yme was a very good friend, and it was good to have each other!” said Berger.

Since Berger has returned to his hometown, he has remained busy due to the difficulty of school and the information he missed while he was in America.

Coming to the States, Berger was very nervous, unsure of what to expect. His only source of information of what an experience in the US may include was from the movies, involving big yellow school buses and lots of guns, stereotypically.

However, after arriving, Berger was reassured that the US was not the stereotype it appeared to be. “In America, everything was way bigger and you had to go by car everywhere! And the food was very different!” said Berger.

Because football is not a sport that is played in Germany, learning the American sport was a challenge for him. “At first it was very complicated with all the rules I had to learn, but I really enjoyed playing and watching it!” said Berger. Football was even one of his favorite details of his experience in America, along with the way the people treat each other, especially if they don’t know each other. He also spent time with friends he made in the states, discussing music, clothes, and culture, while also going out and having fun with the people he met. “We would have buggy races in Wal-Mart,” said senior Justin Oakes.

Although Berger did not at any time wish to return home, he did miss the bread and pastries. He enjoyed his time and company in the states, particularly the football team who helped him learn a new sport and attend Tunstall’s football games on Friday nights. Berger also named his favorite restaurants as Kick Back’s and Outback, where he would order ribs or steak. He hopes to return to the States for a few weeks over the summer for vacation.

In Danville, certain southern hobbies and slang attracted Berger. Although he was not allowed to handle a gun in his experience as a foreign exchange student, he was interested in hunting and will attempt to check this off his list if he returns. He also picked up on southern slang on his trip to the states. “I would say parts of the southern accent like ‘y’all’ and ‘I reckon.’ And at the beginning, I had a difficulties to understand that,” said Berger.

While he learned new parts of our language, students at Tunstall also picked up on some new language and German lingo. “We liked to go back and forth. He would say something then we would try to say it back,” says sophomore Matt Fulcher.

Although Danville is a small town and unexpected location for a foreign exchange student, his experience, as well as the students of Tunstall’s experience, was very beneficial. Adventurous Berger can be nothing but an inspiration for students to want to reach out to other cultures. If nothing else, Tunstall was able to provide a positive reflection of America, just as Berger gave a positive outlook of the people of Germany.