Exchange student gets taste of US

German exchange student Romy Hensel will call Decatur County home while she attends Bainbridge High School, and she’s already gotten a taste of American culture — literally.

Hensel has ticked off some “bucket-list” items with the help of host mom Sasha Alday and her family, eating at Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s and Texas Roadhouse since arriving in South Georgia last month.

“It was probably the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life, flying to another continent alone, all by myself,” Hensel, who is part of the Pan Atlantic Foundation’s high school exchange program, told The Post-Searchlight.

Hensel said her father was an exchange student to Oklahoma 27 years ago. His experience and encouragement — it was the “best year of his life,” Hensel said — led her to participate in the program.

Before coming down south, Hensel spent three days in New York as part of the program. There was a mix of nerves and excitement before Hensel’s host family welcomed her at the airport.

“It was exciting, but [you’re] nervous because you’re hosting someone else’s kid,” Alday said. “It’s a big culture shock to come to the U.S., but then you come down to South Georgia.”

Hensel said that everything seemed bigger, but that things are farther away. She experienced some longer drives heading to Tallahassee for back-to-school shopping and to catch a movie at Cairo’s Zebulon Theatre.

“But the people are very nice here,” she said.

Alday said she and her family have already learned about Germany, like its lack of air conditioning. (Only 6% of German households have air conditioning, according to the country’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle.)

“I’m excited to be able to cook some German food with her and just learn some language,” Alday said. “Overall, just learning a lot more about Romy because she’s a very sweet girl.”

Alday and her family looked into hosting exchange students after her daughter met Greta Zuccaro. The Italian exchange student attended BHS last year — and became its swim program’s first-ever state champion — as part of the Pan Atlantic Foundation’s program.

Cynthia George placed Zuccaro and Hensel with their respective host families. She said South Georgia’s small towns have embraced her students — and gain a lot in return.

“A program like this, you never know, it changes the trajectory of a student’s future,” she said.