JEFFERSON — He may not be from the South, but Riccardo Dei Rossi has fallen in love with two Southern favorites: fried chicken and mashed potatoes.
“The food is so good,” said Dei Rossi, a high school exchange student from Scotland.
Dei Rossi and 19 other high school students from Scotland have been spending the last week learning more about American life and customs as participants in the Jefferson High School Scotland Exchange program.
“Every summer, for the past 11 years, a group of our students have been going over and spending two weeks in June experiencing Scotland and staying with a host family. It’s a cultural exchange that works really well — students are basically a member of the family for the two weeks that they are there,” said Kevin Smith, Jefferson High School principal, during a recent school assembly. “Then for two weeks in October, the Scotland students come here and reciprocate.”
The Scottish students will return home Tuesday, but in the meantime, they have visited each Jefferson school and spoken to students about some of the differences they have noticed between their homeland and America.
“You guys get free refills (in the U.S.), we don’t get those,” said Laura Brown of Scotland. “And you guys have Wendy’s and Chick-Fil-A. We don’t have those, either, but we do have McDonald’s.”
Despite the shortage of familiar fast-food eateries, JHS students enjoyed their educational vacation.
“Staying (in Scotland) for two weeks was the (best) part of my summer,” said Karla Carreno, a JHS junior. “It’s really a trip of a lifetime.”
Fellow exchange students echo Carreno’s sentiments.
“Scotland is pretty freaking awesome,” said Ben Daniel, JHS junior. “When you see the huge castles, with birds flying over them, sitting on a cliff in the middle of Scotland, you realize that you’re pretty special. The sights, the food, the people — it’s great. I think I’ll be friends with (the exchange students) for the rest of my life.”
With the economy still slumping, unnecessary travel is not high on the priority list for many families. But JHS administrators say the costs shouldn’t stop a student from taking advantage of such a learning opportunity.
“The school system takes care of about half the cost and you are staying with a host family, so there isn’t a charge there for food or housing ,” Smith said. “The cost to students ranges from around $600 to $1,000. There’s no way you could go to Scotland (on your own) for two weeks and only spend $600 to $1,000, so the cost isn’t prohibitive.”
Staying with a host family was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but students say they adjusted quickly.
“I was a little nervous about going over there and staying with a family I’d never met, but they really made us feel like a part of the family,” said Kayla Adams, a Jefferson High School 11th-grader. “Scotland is really like no other place that I’ve ever seen.
If for no other reason than to take in the sights, the Scottish students are urging Jefferson students to take advantage of the program and come visit their country.
“The scenery is amazing,” Brown said. “I’ve been to Europe, and obviously (the United States) and I haven’t seen anything like the mountains of Scotland.”