CALABASAS : Students From Russia Get a Taste of West

He’s only been here about a week, but Nickolay Belicov has already made up his mind.

“I like America very much,” the 10-year-old from Vladivostok, Russia, said during a respite from baseball practice at Meadow Oaks Camp in Calabasas this week.

Nickolay is visiting the United States with Olga Kravchemko, 12, on a monthlong exchange program sponsored by Meadow Oaks School.

The two students at the Executive Academy International in Vladivostok were selected for their grades and knowledge of English. They are spending nearly every day of their visit at camp, where they participate in activities such as horseback riding, swimming and fishing.

Their visit marks the first time that the 30-year-old school has hosted foreign students at its annual summer camp. Meadow Oaks administrators initiated the exchange after Russian private school administrators visited during a tour of American private schools, and they hope to send two of their students to Russia next summer. Meadow Oaks paid for the children’s air fare, and host families are providing room and board.

Rob Frank, director of the camp, said the exchange is a learning experience for everyone. “It shows children that there are many other cultures--that it’s OK to be different,” he said.

Olga is very shy and knows less English than Nickolay, but her enthusiasm for the water slide and the treehouse was unmistakable in her constant smile. Clad in sneakers, baseball caps and oversized T-shirts, Nickolay and Olga blended right in with their American counterparts at the camp.

At home with his host family and at camp, Nickolay has taken a crack at basketball, baseball and golf for the first time. He also ate at McDonald’s, saw a Dodger game and visited Sea World in San Diego.

But his most memorable activity so far was a trip to a Target store.

“They have a lot of things for children,” Nickolay said. “There’s not such choice in Russia.”

Host parent Linda Abrams said having Nickolay at her home has helped her two sons realize that the similarities between cultures are sometimes more distinct than the differences.

“Children are children,” she said. “They all get excited about the same things.”