International exchange programs are educational, memorable, and fun! Parents receive pages upon pages of propaganda summarizing the many historically, culturally significant places their children are guaranteed to see. The students are fed stories by friends of past exchanges and dream up exploits of their own.
Of course, by the final bus ride to the airport, there looms a Vegas-like motto that haunts impending months upon the American students' return: what happens in a foreign country stays the foreign country.
Despite exhausting schedules, occasionally boring tour guides, and that thing that might have happened that no one is ever going to talk about, these students want to go back. They would sooner ask for a plane ticket than an iPhone this holiday season. Their millions of memories and photographs are far from satisfactory by comparison.
You had to be there, they say. They refuse to talk about it further, fearing their words will fail to do it justice.
It was amazing, they say. Glances are exchanged in hallways, nods and smiles and waves, but words are limited and cryptic. What is this mystic quality about being in another country that inspires such unusual behavior?
At only a few decades more than two hundred years old, America is a baby of a country. If you were to place its biography alongside that of, say, a middle-aged European nation, it would be like comparing a novella to something by Tolstoy.
Huzzah democracy! Huzzah separation of church and state! independence! freedom of the press (this is a newspaper, after all)! But what about culture? art? history? Have we become, or were we in the beginning, such a mixing pot of people and ideas that we have little to call our own?
Is this what our students find while on the other side of the ocean? A taste of culture, of art, of history more than a few hundred years old?
On October 26, a handful of BR students, decked out in tie-dye shirts and giddy with anticipation, said goodbye to the States. There were no regrets, despite numerous phone calls at the gate reassuring parents that yes, they would remember to wear seatbelts and no, they would not do anything "stupid," whatever that meant. Why would they have regrets? They were on their way to England.
Escorted by the BR teachers affectionately known to those on the exchange as Ro-dog, Grandmaster P, and K Mac, the small group of juniors and seniors arrived in Heathrow airport the next morning. Another three hours or so and they were greeted by their British partners. Hugs and handshakes, and everyone went their separate ways.
Less than two weeks later, they would be going through the same motions, but in reverse, and in what seemed like slow motion. It should also be noted that there were a lot less handshakes this time around, more hugs and more tears. The sky itself opened up and rained for the first time since they had left Bridgewater; it was a sign, perhaps, that England was mourning the loss of twenty-two American students.
What can be said of what happened in between that short period of time? Education happened. Enlightenment happened. Parties happened. Disagreements happened. Friendships happened. Cambridge, Kimbolton, Ely, Oxford, London, and places in between happened.
Stories became jumbled with characters like Edward Montague and Helen Keller and Henry V; words like pants and jelly and punting took on a whole new meaning; driving on the other side of the road became gradually less terrifying.
Opposites attract Рa two-word clich̩ that says so much.
Male BR students were outnumbered three to nineteen while the Kimbolton students were an even eleven-eleven split, resulting in many girl-guy exchange pairs. Senior Jordan H. wondered aloud on the drive from Heathrow about how she should greet her partner, Max: "Am I suppose to hug him?" Awkwardness dissolved quickly by the end of the first weekend.
Among the many bonding moments planned for the students, one of the most memorable was the sports competition. Basketball was a brutal American victory. Football / soccer was a close two-to-one game. The outcome of the tie-breaker was yet another American win. Thus, the Americans took the Davies Cup, so named after the coordinators of many events of the exchange. It may not have been as grand as the ITF's Davis Cup, which professional athletes, but also Americans, went on to win a month or so later, but is certainly worth mentioning as a memorable, albeit sweaty and embarrassing, time together.
Of the sports competition between the students, senior Zack B. said, "It seems as though the British are not very familiar with basketball. Having said that, the Americans beat them down – rightfully so, seeing as it was developed in America. Naturally, when it came to soccer, or 'football' as they liked to call it, the favored English dominated."
The relationships that developed between exchange partners are expected to be strong, as BR students lived with the same families for two weeks and spent a lot of time alone together. Sammy D., senior, said, "I found my twin across the pond. I never thought at the beginning of the exchange that I could become best friends with someone thousands of miles away, but my partner Maddie and I are the same goofy person, and without this exchange, I would have missed out on a life long friend. I'm already counting down the days until they come in March!"
Besides the relationships forged across the Atlantic, other distinct elements contributed to the awe-inspiring moments that remain indescribable and beyond words.
For some, it was the history. Talia P., senior at BR and prospective student of architecture, said, "It was amazing to see all of the art and architecture England had to offer. Buildings were centuries old and each brick seemed to contain more history than a whole American city. Restoration takes on a whole different meaning."
Whatever it was, they miss it. Senior Jacob Y., after his first day back at BRHS, said, "Augh! I went to school at 7:20 this morning; I had to put my bag in an actual locker; there was no assembly; I didn't go to Buttercups; my Environmental Science class had twenty-eight people in it; I didn't go to my school's non-existent common room; and I had nine periods. That's it. How much do Virgin flights cost? Like $650?"
Many Brits have adopted an AOL screenname and many more Yanks have learned to work with MSN messenger. Facebook has been another saving grace for the American-English alliance. Long-distance telephone calls have appeared on more than a few bills this month
The countdown for the arrival of the English in late March continues.
23 December 2007
Traditiooooooooontradition
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