Studying a Foreign Culture . . . Ours : Education: Young people from 50 nations bid farewell and discuss what a year in the United States has meant to them.

Vladimir Gomez was going home--a few pounds heavier, perhaps, but a lot smarter and more sophisticated about a nation that he could only dream about a year earlier.

“At first it was difficult to take this culture, food and the new school,” said the hazel-eyed Gomez, a native of Colombia. “I had to adjust to a new family and make new friends.”

The 19-year-old Gomez was among 700 students from 50 nations who gathered at El Segundo High School on Wednesday to bid farewell to their adopted country. All had spent a year in the United States under the American Field Service exchange program--attending schools, learning the culture, making friends.

Like Gomez, many of the students in the program arrived in the United States seemingly ill-prepared for exposure to a new country. Gomez knew just five words of English when he arrived to spend his time with a family in Boise, Ida. And there was little in his background that seemed to prepare him for his new adventure.

When he was 9, Gomez said, he ran away from home and lived on the streets for a short time. He later spent time at a rehabilitation home for troubled youth, which provided the scholarship that brought him to the United States for the first time.

After only reading about the United States in newspapers and magazines, Gomez still can hardly believe he has actually lived here. The first few months were difficult, but as time went on he grew more comfortable with the language and his surroundings.

“In America, if you don’t know the language, people don’t pay attention to you because there are so many people from other countries here,” Gomez said. “(But) I feel very lucky to have had this experience. And it’s very hard to say goodby to my family in America.”

Inma Heredia, an exuberant 16-year-old from Spain, said her year in the United States helped her take responsibility for her life, and feel more secure about herself.

“You have to be more individualistic here,” Heredia said. “You have to know what you want and you have the opportunity to do it.”

Heredia said she was surprised at how little Americans demonstrate their affection to one another, compared to her own country.

“In Spain we all kiss and hug,” said Heredia, who lived with a family in Thousand Oaks. “Here people were shocked when I tried to hug them.”

Adelita Velasquez, 18, of Venezuela was also surprised at her American friends’ reactions to her displays of affection.

“You have to get a little cold and I got used to that,” said Velasquez, who lived with a family in Tucson. “Before they thought I was an easy girl because I hugged a lot.”

For Velasquez, all cultures came together through the program.

“Now I have friends from all over the world,” she said. “When I listen to the news and they talk about Japan, I will think of my new friends in Japan.”

Wearing a beige cowboy hat, Koichiro Nakamura gleamed as he recounted his achievements in America with a family in Rio Vista.

“This year I did everything I wanted--football, basketball, baseball and swimming,” he said. The 18-year-old said he loves American football so much that he can’t wait to teach it to his friends in Japan.

Nakamura’s gleam faded as he thought about boarding a plane to head home.

I’m confused and scared,” he said. “I’m not the same person that left (Japan).”

Before boarding buses to the airport for the trip home, the students assembled for the last time in the school auditorium. They listened to speeches, they talked, and then they sang.

Clutching each other’s hands as tears streamed down some of their faces, the 700 teen-agers from across the globe joined in a chorus: “All we are saying is, give peace a chance.”