Can you tell me a little bit about your country?
Ivy: I’m from China and I grew up there. Going to Brooks wasn’t much of a difference to me because I went to an international primary school, so I spoke English already. School in the US is more independent because elsewhere you get put in a class where you get basic instructions and anything else you have to teach yourself. Chinese schools guide you a little bit more where it’s more of like the teacher helping you through each subject.
Henry: We board at our school and I didn’t go to a different school before this so it’s my first boarding school. Obviously, international students have more experience coming from different schools but I have done summer camps for a month at a time so I have a bit of experience being away from home. Being independent with each of your classes and living alone gives you a really valuable experience.
Ivy: There’s a lot of emphasis on taking care of yourself and not depending on other people, especially when we’re living with people our age versus our parents.
What differences have you experienced since being in a foreign country and public school?
Ivy: You get a lot more structured classes here even though our school has a really packed schedule but we still have more free periods and in that time I can just go back to my dorm, stay there for an hour. Here you have to find space and time to sort of do that, even in the 10 minute break you have to find time to go to your classes and rest.
Henry: I agree with that, I might have a sleep in one day or when I just need to wake up for the first period and after that I can just go back to my dorm and have a nap or do more work. There’s a significant change with you being super close there and here my host family lives 5 minutes from here by tram, just far enough to be convenient. Also, it’s fun to walk around town after school and just hang out with your friends whereas in Brooks the city is a bit more far away.
Ivy: There it takes me 3 minutes to walk to school but here it’s like an hour of public transport so that’s a big change for me.
What’s your favorite subject?
Ivy: General History but in the States it’s a lot more writing and memorising and here it’s more studying rather than just choosing what you want to know.
Here I really like English because it’s a lot more talking and that’s usually not the case in the US, it’s more lecture based.
Henry: Here I like Mr. Eckhart’s English class because I can get a bit involved because the students are learning about the US. This year back home I have a bunch of hard classes, which kinda takes the fun out of them but I would also say History. It’s interesting and not a crazy hard class.
What have you learned so far while being here?
Henry: Well, I’ve been to Europe a bunch of times but I haven’t lived here before, which I feel like is an experience I’m kind of having now and what I’ve learned from that is how similar yet so different we are with different environments and school structures.
Ivy: I learned a lot while talking to younger kids because we get sent to all A and B classes and I learned a lot about Hungary, for example, someone told me that their mom could choose between learning Russian and German and now there are a lot more different options.
What inspired you to take part in this exchange?
Henry: I really like travelling and I’ve done a lot of exchanges and I wanted to see a different place. Also, Botond, the exchange student from Hungary was in my dorm and I got to know him, which inspired me. The exchange program was always in the back of mind and I just took the opportunity.
Ivy: It’s the opposite for me, I’ve never been to Europe before and I wanted to do something new for my senior year and something I usually wouldn’t get the time to do.
How do you get chosen for the exchange?
Henry: There’s an interview process and an application process. You have to fill out a couple of questions about yourself, about why you want to do this and what value you would bring to it. After that, they interview you and the exchange students that are there are part of that, too.
Ivy: A lot depends on the people who go to Brooks from here, we get to meet them and I sort of made my decision based off of that and Henry mentioned that Botond was in his dorm which I guess influenced him as well.
What do you miss the most?
Henry and Ivy: You’re away from your home all the time.
Ivy: I guess it’s different for me since I’m only home for two months a year and the rest of the year I spend in Brooks but I mostly miss my family and my dorm.
Henry: It’s winter right now in our school, which isn’t my favorite but I’m excited that when we get back it’s going to be spring. I miss easy access to my family because I live 35 minutes from school and I really miss driving.
What do you think is the difference between Hungarian people and American people?
Ivy: People here are a lot more shy than in the States because if you go up to someone and compliment their outfit it’s totally normal but here it’s not really a thing.
Henry: I mean we are teenagers in high school so we are similar but here there are a ton more people and that affects how I see people. I don’t know many people here but in my school everyone kind of knows each other and we say hi to everyone.
What’s your favourite Hungarian dish?
Henry: I’ve had chicken noodle soup a bunch of times and I love it.
Ivy: My host mom is half-Serbian and she went on a day trip in Serbia and she brought back food, which was really good but I sadly can’t remember the name of it.
How do you like szeged?
Henry: I love it. I’ve been to other European cities like Florence and Munich and they have massive castles and churches and I feel like this is a city I recognize more. I like that it’s more homey.
Ivy: I’ve never been to Europe but living here is really nice and since I haven’t been anywhere else I noticed small architectural differences. I like how the city center is close by public transport.
What are some challenges you’ve faced since being here?
Ivy: Sort of the language barrier but people are really helpful. It’s different when they speak in Hungarian because it’s weird how you don’t understand anything.
Henry: When students speak to each other in the 10 minute breaks they speak in Hungarian but they switch to English to help us.
