Shortly before Christmas break, Thyra Muhs arrived in Gretna for her exchange semester here in Nebraska. The 15-year-old German is the fourth exchange student this year at Gretna High School and is only staying for the spring semester. She is following the path of her mother, who was an exchange student at Gretna High School 37 years ago in 1989. Muhs’ mom’s host family became like family for her, and Muhs family has come multiple times to Gretna to visit. Thyra Muhs alone has been to Gretna seven times in her life. The first time, she was four weeks old, and she got baptized here in Gretna. She calls her mom’s host mom Grandma and has a close connection to her and her family.

Although Muhs loves her mom’s host family, she is staying with a different family for her exchange year, but she visits her host-grandma once a week, usually on Saturdays. She got in contact with the Gragerts, her host family, through her father and Kelly Dean, the German teacher at GHS. Her dad led an elementary school in Kiel, and since Kiel is a foreign exchange partner of Gretna High School, he got in touch with Dean, who then found the Gragerts. The Gragerts’ youngest daughter, Valerie, is a senior at GHS this year and Muhs’ host sister. The Gragerts hosted her already last year when Muhs came for a month. She did a mini version of an exchange to see if she liked the American teenager life, and she did. However, for Muhs, it was not an option to come back with a different host family than the one she has now.

“If I come to the states then only to my host family that I live in because I already knew and loved them and because of the critical political situation in this country at the moment,” Thyra said.

This, however, turned into a problem relatively quickly. Usually, exchange students come through an organization to Americam that has an established international education connection. None of the organizations Thyra contacted could guarantee that she would end up with the Gragert family. On average, if an international student doesn’t have a scholarship, an exchange year costs around $15,000 to $20,000 dollars. For Thyra and her family, it wasn’t an option to pay this amount of money with no guarantee for her host family, so they decided to do it on their own.

The visa process to come to the United States, however, can be quite hard. Exchange students usually have a J-1 visa, which allows them to be in the country during their usually 10-month stay. This type of visa is provided to those attending a private school or who come through an organization. Gretna is a public school, and since Thyra didn’t want to go with an organization, she couldn’t get a J-1 visa and applied for the normal, 90-day visitor visa. As a consequence, she has to leave the country to go home during spring break, where she also has a couple of important medical appointments, and will come back for the rest of her stay until June 20.

The fact that Thyra had to fly and organize the whole trip and stay by herself never scared her.

“I always made myself an emergency plan in my head, saying ‘okay, if something happens, then it is that way and then I don’t have control over that,’” Thyra said.

Since she isn’t here through an organization, it also means that she doesn’t have to follow their rules like most exchange students. A big rule for foreign students is that they can’t drive and are not allowed to get their license here. Thyra doesn’t have that rule, but she prefers not to do it anyway.

“I think I could get my driver’s licence, but I really don’t want to. I’m scared of driving on American streets, especially with how people are driving here,” Thyra said.

Thyra’s favorite part about America is her host family and the “familiar atmosphere,” as she calls it. Also, the Gretna life is very cliché, including the yellow school bus, which is one of her favorites, but that’s exactly what makes it so special for her.

In Deane’s opinion, who helped Thyra through her journey, for Thyra and also other exchange students in general, it is not only fun for them to see the American culture and grow on their own, but also beneficial for the American students.

“Gretna is a little one-sided when it comes to culture. There are not many cultures other than white Americans, which can be a bit disappointing for exchange students,” Deane said. “At the same time, it is an advantage for American students, as through foreign students they can broaden their horizons and come into contact with other opinions and cultures.”