By Bari Cohn
Staff Writer
German exchange student Britta Schäffer chose the California girl life in a semester abroad at Mira Costa.
Sophomore Schäffer is currently living in Manhattan Beach with the Tell family, which was set up through the Education Resource Developmental Trust program. She came here from her hometown of Hamburg, Germany. According to Schäffer, the transition is difficult, but she is beginning to adjust to life in a different place.
“It has always been my dream to come to America,” Schäffer said. “When my friend told me about this program and how much he liked it, I decided to do it.”
The Educational Resource Developmental Trust program gives high school students from as many as 20 different countries the opportunity to come to the United States in order to gain knowledge of a different culture and society.
“We treat foreign exchange students like we would any other kid,” Mira Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “We’re glad they’re here, and they enrich our lives.”
Schäffer is on the junior varsity girls tennis team. According to her, she plays for a tennis club at home, but, because her high school in Germany does not have a team, playing for Costa is a new experience.
“The whole tennis team would agree that it has been awesome getting to know Greta,” sophomore tennis player Maya Serota said. “Learning about where she is from has been super interesting, and we love having her on the team.”
According to Schäffer, she has been getting along very well with her host family, especially her host siblings, of which she has four: Nicholas (age 15), Natalie (age 13), Connor (age 11), and Jessica (age 8).
“We would never have come up with the idea of hosting an exchange student ourselves, but when we found out that Greta could spend her exchange semester at Mira Costa, we decided we really wanted to have her stay with our family,” Schäffer‘s host mother, Valerie Tell, said.
Schäffer and her host family met when they were both on a vacation in Sardinia, Italy, and the families decided to have her live with them in Manhattan Beach. According to Schäffer, she hopes that in the future when the children of her host family are old enough, they will be able to stay with her in Germany.
“Greta is a wonderful addition to our family, and our other children are enjoying spending time with her,” Valerie Tell said. “We are having such a great time having her in our home. Also, giving Greta a tour gives us a good reason to go experience all of the fun things Los Angeles has to offer.”
According to Schäffer, all of the people at Mira Costa are very nice and friendly, which has facilitated her adjustment, even though she misses her family and life at home. She hopes to return to America in the future.
“I know that I will be able to gain a lot from this exchange program,” Schäffer said. “I am experiencing a very different culture, and I will definitely have a lot of stories to share with my family and friends when I return home.”
Leave a Reply