Diary of an Exchange Student Experiencing New Things

With four months left in America, I continue to experience new things--perhaps more than ever, since I know my time is running out!

This month, I went to a birthday party where I ice-skated for the first time. I found it hard just keeping my balance! Though I got off to a good start, I soon fell on my knees. For a while, I was constantly grabbing the railing, but, after one hour, I could already skate for a short distance on my own.

With that behind me, I had a visit from one of my best friends from Portugal, Carla, who is an exchange student in North Dakota this year. When I picked her up at the airport, we had so much to say that we were both talking at once.

She was very enthusiastic about all the green trees and plants in California after her winter in North Dakota. For months now, she has been surrounded by snow.

I took her to my school and, though she was shocked by the fences, she liked the open space areas California schools have. Because cold is a constant in the north, she told me, schools are very interior in their construction, with few windows, and they’re often overheated. Places where students can sit on the grass and get some sun simply don’t exist there.

I tried to show Carla as much as I could in California, so we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. We were disappointed in Universal Studios because the film sets that had been so powerful in movies like “Psycho” turned out to be nothing but facades.

But both of us loved Disneyland. It’s such a happy, colorful place. We saw a 3-D film, “Captain EO,” with Michael Jackson, that made us feel he was right there with us. In fact, someone near us stretched out his arms because he thought he could touch what he was seeing.

In another extraordinary ride, we felt we were flying in a spaceship. As we flew at the speed of light, the seat went so far forward that we really seemed to be traveling that fast. Twelve hours simply wasn’t enough for Disneyland!

I then took Carla cruising one night on Hollywood Boulevard. People do it here all the time. According to Carla, they do it in Fargo, N.D., too, but they only have one main street to cruise on.

Here, we drive up and down several streets, watching people and listening to loud music. People scream from one car to another, and sometimes streets are so crowded that it takes hours to drive 20 feet.

In Portugal, teen-agers don’t do this. At night, we meet our friends in discos, pubs or at each other’s houses.

It was interesting for me to hear from Carla about the northern United States and how different it is from where I’m living. Though Carla found Los Angeles crowded and smoggy, seeing her was wonderful, especially now, when I am beginning to be anxious to see my family and country again.

In one recent phone call from home, I learned that my uncle had won $56,000 in the Portuguese state lottery. He had been crying for two days, and I wish I’d been there to experience all the excitement with my family.

But, of course, I will be back there soon enough and, in the meantime, thank God for mail and telephones!