With every hello, comes a goodbye. And with every goodbye, comes another hello. As we bid adieu to foreign exchange students from previous term: Vanessa D’Andola from Germany, Eva Lee from Taiwan, Valeria Huidobro from Peru and Jenny Lee from South Korea, the doors open to another great addition of students from across the world. Olá, “hello” in Portuguese, which is the native tongue to one of the school’s new foreign exchange students: Paula Machado from Beto Horizonte in Brazil.

     “It’s very different from Brazil, but it’s a wonderful experience. The people are more friendly in Rolla. My city is big and you don’t get to meet everyone,” Machado said.

     Of course, when entering any new setting, teens are often uncomfortable with speaking and probably even more when it’s not their first language.

      “The first moment is difficult but it’s getting better. My host family speaks just English. When they talk to me I can understand them, but if they have friends over and they’re in a group, I cannot understand,” Machado said.

     Culture is different from place to place, and food is one of the biggest cultural elements of all. Because of her new location, it is understandable that she does not think American food is as good as home.

    “The food is completely different. Food in Brazil is better than here,” Machado said.

     你好 (Ni-hao). That is hello in Chinese, the native tongue of our other foreign exchange student: Jason (Junyi) Chen from Chongqing, China. Of course coming from China to a small town can be a change, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a good one.

     “I like it here because the people are very friendly and Rolla is very beautiful,” Chen said.

     Chen has found his niche with the marching band.

     “I’m in the high school band, and I like it. I don’t know what the instrument I play is called,” Chen said while demonstrating a percussionist in action.

     Like Machado, Chen has had some difficulty with communication, but he’s getting there.

     “I get along pretty good with teachers. I’ve had no problems at all,” Chen chuckled, “It’s very hard to understand, but I’m trying.”