Ann-Katrin Schultze hails from Germany, Vladislav Mikhailenko from Kyrgyzstan
Europe and Asia are the respective home continents for this year’s foreign exchange students at Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS).
The home country for Ann-Katrin Schultze is Germany, while Vladislav “Vlad” Mikhailenko hails from Kyrgyzstan.
The world is brought closer together – as well as right to our doorstep – through the addition of foreign exchange students.
Following is the opportunity to individually meet each of these young adults.
Ann-Katrin Schultze
Name: Ann-Katrin Schultze
Age: 15.
Grade: 10.
Sponsoring organization: In the United States to visit her Mountain Lake grandparents, Ernie and Lila Neufeld, as well as aunt and uncle, Sheryl and Rod Fast, and cousin, Katelyn.
Home city/Home country: Oberboihingen, Germany, which is near Stuttgart in southern Germany.
Home parents/siblings: Albrecht Schultze and Rachel Neufeld-Schultze and a 12-year-old brother, Jan-Christoph
Host parents/siblings: Aunt Sheryl Fast and Uncle Rod Fast and a cousin, 16-year-old Katelyn Fast (along with adult cousins Jeremy and Mitchell Fast).
Hobbies: Spending time with friends and family, playing piano, playing soccer and Skyping with friends.
School/community activities you will participate in while in America: Cross country and Senior High Show Choir.
Compare your home school to schools in America: Here students have the same subjects every day, where we have 15 different subjects in my grade in Germany. There also is no study hall in Germany. Students have their own classroom – and the teachers come to us. Scoring (grading) is done fro 1-6 Germany, not A-F as here.
Tell us about your home city/country and how it is same/different as compared to the host city in which you are living: The streets are wider in the United States, and you can see farther; we live much closer together in my home area in Germany. Also, we do not have as many fast food restaurants. There are about 5,280 people living in my home city.
Have you visited America before? If so, where – and do you have a favorite spot; if not, where would you like to visit?: I have visited Mountain Lake before, as well as Chicago, Ohio, Yellowstone National Park, the Rocky Mountains and the Badlands. My favorite place to visit is Yellowstone.
How do you view America and/or its citizens: American people are all very friendly and welcoming.
What do you want Americans to know/remember about your home city?: That in my home city, it is usual to ride bicycle to places or take the bus or the train going from town-to-town.
Vladislav ‘Vlad’ Mikhailenko
VLADISLAV “VLAD” MIKHAILENKO and is spending the year as a family member in the Mountain Lake home of Tim and Kay Swoboda, along with siblings Derek, Krista and Caden.
Name: Vladislav “Vlad” Mikhailenko.
Age: 17.
Grade: 11.
Sponsoring organization: NACEL Open Door.
Home city/Home country: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Home parents/siblings: Alexander and Olga Mikhailenko and a 15-year-old sister, Evelina Mikhailenko.
Host parents/siblings: Tim and Kay Swoboda, along with 22-year-old Derek Swoboda, 20-year-old Krista Swoboda and 11-year-old Caden Swoboda.
Hobbies: Swimming, working out and having an aquarium.
School/community activities you will participate in while in America: Working at the Mountain Lake Family Fitness Center.
Compare your home school to schools in America: School at home is similar, but the school day in Mountain Lake is longer. Our school in Bishkek has the same number of students, but Mountain Lake has more classrooms.
Tell us about your home city/country and how it is same/different as compared to the host city in which you are living: Bishkek is the capital city, and is the largest city with a population of 875,000 much larger city. It is in the northern part of the country close to Kazakhstan. Bishkek is home to Spartak, the biggest football (soccer) stadium in the country. Bishkek’s altitude of 2,600 feet is just off the northern fringe of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too mountain range an extension of the Tian Shan mountain range, which rises up to 15,298 feet and gives a spectacular backdrop to the city.
Have you visited America before? If so, where – and do you have a favorite spot; if not, where would you like to visit?: No, I have never been to America before. Places I would like to see include New York City and Washington, D. C.
How do you view America and/or its citizens: American people are cheerful, friendly, outgoing and interesting.
What do you want Americans to know/remember about your home city/country?: My country is very mountainous and beautiful. We have some of the cleanest lakes in the world. There are a lot of tourists that come to Kyrgyzstan for skiing and snowboarding.
