8/22/2007 - Lessons in a foreign land
by Jessica Bock
St. Louis Dispatch
ST. CHARLES — Vinicius Caixeta gathered his homework from his locker at St. Charles West High School and wished he could have just one, easy conversation in Portuguese.
Everyone speaks so fast here, the 16-year-old said after his first day of high school in America. Sometimes he couldn’t find the right words to express himself. His head hurt from digesting and translating in his mind the English spoken by his teachers and fellow students all day long.
Three days earlier, Vinicius had arrived at Lambert Field from his home in Patos de Minas, Brazil. As a high school student with AFS Intercultural Programs, Vinicius signed on to spend this school year living with a host family in St. Charles. He will navigate life and lessons in a foreign land, thousands of miles from familiar faces, food and phrases.
As Vinicius made his way to St. Louis, the Fortneys were preparing to open their home to the Brazilian teenager, who they knew liked sports and studying languages.
Corey Fortney, 38, learned of AFS Intercultural Programs through a co-worker and a flier posted at his office asking for host families. What better way to learn a foreign language, Fortney thought.
After signing up with AFS and a few months of planning, Fortney, his wife, Sherry, and their son, Evan, 5, anxiously awaited Vinicius’ arrival.
“What’s he going to be like? What’s he going to like to eat? Will he like us? Will he like the pets?
“At first it’s a big high,” Fortney said before Vinicius arrived. “But once he settles in, will he still like us?”
Minutes after landing on the longest trip of his life, Vinicius opened his carry-on bag and pulled out a green flag with a yellow diamond around a blue, star-studded sky. He proudly showed off his nation’s flag in the baggage claim area at Lambert Field as other travelers looked on.
Vinicius had never been on a plane or traveled in a car longer than four hours before his 16-hour trip from Brazil to St. Louis, with layovers in Miami and Chicago. But it was the journey of the school year ahead that filled his voice with excitement.
“I have always liked the English culture,” he said after putting the flag around his back like a cape. He secured it around his neck with a going-away gift from a friend, a pin of the Brazilian and American flags intertwined. “I’m most excited for school and my friends that I’m going to make.”
On that day at Lambert, Vinicius and another student from Brazil were guided by three volunteers with AFS Intercultural Programs. Wearing bright red AFS T-shirts, the men spent the day shuttling exchange students from the airport to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Ballwin, where the students met others in the program. The teens spent the night and part of the next day getting acclimated to the U.S. with help from AFS volunteers before their host families picked them up.
“We tell the kids, ‘This will be the year of your life that you will remember forever,’” said John Heitz, a volunteer and former host dad. “It’s an extension of family and friends for the rest of your life.”
This school year, AFS Intercultural Programs and other programs will bring dozens of students to study in the St. Louis area. AFS alone has arranged for 26 students from 16 countries — including two students in Belleville — to spend their school year in the St. Louis area.
The students are placed with host families that AFS thinks will make a good match. Vinicius has a younger brother at home in Brazil. In St. Charles, he will be big bro to Evan.
In addition to their host families, the students are matched with an AFS volunteer who serves as their liaison through the year. Liaisons help with anything from disagreements with a host family to homesickness.
“You’ll see how much he’ll grow, not only with language skills but as a person,” said Diane Gambill, Vinicius’ liaison.
Less than 24 hours after landing in St. Louis, Vinicius had already begun to adapt. When other exchange students and some of the AFS volunteers at orientation had trouble with his name — pronounced Vin-knee-see-os — he agreed to let them call him “Vinny.”
A large piece of fabric hung at the wall at the orientation, filled with colorful messages and words of wisdom from last year’s exchange students.
“Remember, you’re the only one who can make or break your year,” one student wrote.
Vinicius waited at a table with other students and volunteers while host families arrived, hugged their students, posed for pictures and left.
“It’s kind of like being in the delivery room,” one volunteer said.
Soon, it was just Vinicius and a small group of volunteers. The door opened, and at last, it was his turn. The Fortneys had arrived.
Evan had been asking his parents about Vinicius all day. At the church, he clung to his mother’s leg as his parents greeted his new “brother.”
In their first minutes together, the new family tackled some communication barriers. Some words didn’t translate. And like others, his new host “dad” struggled with the pronunciation of his name. They talked about possible nicknames.
“How ‘bout ‘son’?” Corey Fortney asked him. The meaning of the suggestion slowly registered on Vinicius’ face. He laughed and enthusiastically agreed.
PEANUT BUTTER AND PANCAKES
After a weekend of getting to know the Fortneys and American foods like peanut butter and pancakes, Vinicius experienced his first day at St. Charles West.
Excited first-day chatter filled the hallways as Vinicius made his way through the chaos and into the counselors’ office to meet his tour guide for the day, Lindsay Pape. Since he arrived in the U.S., Vinicius had asked lots of questions. But he was silent as he took in the school and students.
Lindsay, a senior in jeans and flip-flops, studied the printout of Vinicius’ class schedule and pointed to a nearby classroom.
“This is chemistry. That’s with Mr. McDonald. He’s cool,” Lindsay said.
They stopped at locker 186, Vinicius’ locker for the year — something new. In Brazil, he and other students just stash their school supplies in their backpacks.
Along the way, they chatted about soccer. Vinicius has found soccer to be a common bond with many fellow students. He practiced twice with the soccer team before school started.
After the tour Vinicius headed for chemistry, his first class. He had permission to be late so he could learn his way around, and walked in while other students were getting textbooks and filling out first-day paperwork.
Vinicius walked into the classroom, 17 sets of eyes upon him. He shook hands with teacher Todd McDonald and asked another student if he could sit next to her in the front. As he sat, Vinicius turned to the class: “Hi, everybody!” he said eagerly.
His first school assignment in America: Build a paper airplane that can fly from one end of the room to the other. If the plane doesn’t make it across the room, tweak the design and try again — a lesson in designing an experiment. Vinicius was still filling out paperwork when the other students began making their planes. When they got up to fly their crafts, he quickly folded his paper and got into position with the other students.
At McDonald’s cue, the students threw the planes into the air. One sped across the room, further than the rest.
“They must teach you in Brazil how to make paper airplanes,” McDonald said.
Vinicius nodded, retrieved his plane from the other side of the room, and joined the rest of the students.
He had landed just where he wanted to be.
 |
Printer Friendly |
