German exchange finds a home in Onaway, reluctant about leaving
The Onaway area has been like a magnet to foreign exchange students in recent years, and they?ve come from many different countries around the globe. Not too many exchange students have embraced their host-community as quickly and enthusiastically as Conni Wegner of Hamburg, Germany, who has been living with Dave and Kammie Dennis for a year this week.
While most exchange students, who attended school at OHS during the 2006-07 school are already back home, Conni is trying to stay in northern Michigan as long as possible. Her plane leaves Tuesday, and for many reasons, she doesn?t want to go.
?I LIKE IT,? the always-smiling 17-year-old said this week. ?I made a couple of really close friends here, and I had a really nice family. I just liked it here.? She loved to play sports, especially basketball, and showed more Cardinal spirit than any foreign exchange before her.
Wegner routinely could be heard cheering, ?Go Cardinals!? at the many sporting events she attended. Before having her picture taken for this article, Conni made sure to put on her long sleeve Cardinal basketball T-shirt on, even though it was a muggy 88. Wegner has two parents, two sisters, and a twin brother back home in Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany.
Dennis said Conni?s parents ?are good people. We?ve talked with them of course. They understand, and while Conni spent the year with us, they hosted a foreign exchange student themselves.?
Following a photo shoot at the new Presque Isle Lighthouse for a tourist magazine, The Outlook had a chance to corral the always-on-the-go teen, for an interview:
Outlook: What is the toughest part about leaving America? Wegner: Probably getting away from the friends and the family. And then sports, I would like to play more sports, but I don?t have time for it, because we have basketball all-year round (in Germany).
Outlook: Do fans get as excited about girls? basketball in Germany? Wegner: We barely have anyone there. At the most, we have 20 people there, so, it?s not really that big.
O: What specifically are some of the things you are going to miss? Wegner: Having people at my games, or just seeing new places. I know most of the things in Germany. Here, they (host family) showed me a lot. We went camping and stuff. It is really different than back home.
O: What do we have here, that you don?t have there? Wegner: The Mackinac Bridge?we don?t have as much woods, we can?t just ride the four wheelers around. I grew up in the city and there are people everywhere.
O: Do you miss your family in Germany? Wegner: In a way, I don?t know, I just always had something to do. I found friends here real soon, and my family was nice.
O: Do they know you don?t want to come home? Wegner: Yeah, they know that. Dennis: Yeah, they know, but we?re all good about it.
O: What was your favorite place to go: Wegner: Megan?s (Murphy) house.
O: Favorite destination: Wegner: I like Cheboygan, and I like to go to the lakes.
O: Favorite place to eat in the Onaway area: Wegner: Dairy Queen, Dairy Queen. Big time. Dairy Queen.
O: What?s the first thing you are going to do when you get back? Wegner: I?ll go and get my hair cut, actually. A couple of friends are going to pick me up from the airport, so I am going to hang out with them. I have to
O: Has anyone ever said, ?you?re a strange apple.? Wegner: Yeah, a lot of people said that, actually.
Both parties were sad that they have to part ways next week, but also understand that a lifetime relationship has been cemented.
It?s one major reason officials from Youth For Understanding, U.S.A. hope there continues to be an interest in the program. They are encouraging people of the community to come forward and host a student.
Several students from Japan, Norway, France, Venezuela, Mexico, Ghana, and Denmark are coming to northern Michigan.
Anyone interested in hosting a student is encouraged to contact a YFU area representatives Kymberli Wregglesworth at 989-370-4023, Dennis at 989 733-8354, or call Lars Vinz at the YFU field office at 231-625-2880.