Çılga Öztekin

Marshall's atmosphere, hockey games, dog sledging, going out, everything we did here was so fun and a great experience.

It's amazing to get to know such nice joyful and caring people. Creating a bond and sharing a whole different point of view is great.

Öykü Polat

Beste Seçkin

From Andrews Family

Things Tom learned

-Overall very positive. Nice that Beste likes to spend time with us and interact and does not mind answering a lot of questions.

-Found that we have some things in common

-The majority of Turks are Muslim

-Learned that most people live in apartments

Carol

-It was really fun to have Beste stay with us

-She offered right away to help cook dinner (and set a good example for my kids!)

-Turkey is perhaps more modern than I expected

-Turkish kids and American kids have a lot in common

The first week the students were here was, just by chance, an unusually busy week for me in the evenings so I felt a bit bad I was not home for 3 evenings in a row but I think Tom did a good job getting dinner and providing entertainment

Arda Yıldız

From Stine Family

As is always the case, short term exchanges, such as this one with these wonderful Turkish students, are never long enough. However, two weeks is more than enough time to develop a meaningful and lasting relationship; and that was definitely accomplished during this brief visit. We have found Arda to be a kind, intelligent, and funny young man that we have grown to love very much. of the world, and his pride in his We have been very impressed by Arda's knowledge country. He has us many interesting things about Turkey and its culture. Additionally, he has also shared with us information he has picked up in his studies and travels to other countries as well. As part of this experience we have been fortunate enough to be able to taste a few of the many delicious foods and beverages commonly served in Turkey. enjoyed them all very much and plan to continue enjoying them for many years to come. The last two weeks have been spent engaging in a wide variety of activities. We have played games, watched movies and a theatrical production, visited the Mall of America also joined us on this overnight adventure), enjoyed dining in a variety of restaurants (including restaurant in St. Paul), bowling and just exploring the everyday activities of life in America. Although we enjoyed going out and participating in different activities together, some of the best moments we shared were when we were just sitting at home (or driving around in the car) and talking and laughing about life! We have discovered that we certainly have more in common than we have differences. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Arda and sharing our home with him. We will miss him very much when he returns home to Turkey, but we are definitely blessed to have had this opportunity to get to know him. our hope is that it will be possible someday in the future to visit Arda and his family in Turkey and get to know them all better.  

Berke Korzay

I sincerely can't be thankful enough to the people who organised this programme. It has been a both educational and a social experience for me. Plus, I had the best time of my life. I got to some know brilliant people, like my host family; Laura, Paul, Daniel and their hungry dog Björn. In my visit, we tried to make connections and learn about each other, as well as learning about our cultures.

 By attending classes at Marshall School, I observed how people outside Turkey learn, and what they do in class. It also gave me the opportunity to meet great people and develop my English skills. Also, I got to see some great places in the Duluth area, like the Canal Park,Wolf Center, Split Rock Lighthouse,Gooseberry Falls and Ely. I went dog sledding, ate Mexican food, attended an NBA game and my host brother's basketball games, learned how to chop garlic and prepare food,listened to Bob Dylan while driving on Highway 61, played a banjo, and lots more. Doing these exciting things with people who are nice to me and care about me made those things more memorable.

 It was also exciting that most of the people I met had little to no knowledge about Turkey, and it was my actions that conveyed an idea about a Turkish person.

 Overall, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm really glad I took it. As my host brother says it, it was a fantastic and amazing-in-every-way experience.

Berke

Özge Sıla Söğütlü

family (noun); A group of people related by blood or marriage 

 This is a definition of family according to Oxford Dictionary. For me, you don’t have to be related by blood to someone to call them family. From what I learned from this trip, complete strangers can be your second family in a short time like 2 weeks. 

I remember the first time I meet my host family in the airport. All of us were so excited about the upcoming two weeks. Now I’m thinking about that day, I was completely jet lagged and ready for the adventure. I really want to go to that day and start my trip once again because time flew too fast. 

During those days, I had such a perfect time and I don`t know how to describe with words. From the places that we went to foods that we ate, everything was awesome. I literally gaining so much weight because my host mom Lisa fed very well with her amazing meals and I don’t regret eating that much.

Best day I’ve ever had was my 17th birthday. I had a privilege to celebrate my birthday in Duluth and it was the best birthday that I’ve ever had. My family threw me a little birthday party and it was so great. I feel like I was at home celebrating my birthday with my biological parents even though we are miles away from each other.Another thing that we enjoyed with my host sister was Ely trip. We both had so much time at there. Seeing real wolves in wolves center was amazing ! The best experience that I’ve had was dogsledding. As a huge dog lover, dogsledding was the best thing that I’ve ever done in my life. I wish I can do it once again. 

For my host sister Alexis, this exchange program was amazing. 

For my host mom Lisa the two weeks we had was so special. 

I really can’t believe that we are now at the end of this flawless trip and I don’t want to leave Duluth and amazing people that I’ve met. Everything we did, everything moment we shared are so special to me and I’ll never forget this trip. Now I have second family from other side of the world and I’m so glad to have them. Thanks for everything. 

                                                                                        Özge SILA Söğütlü

From Roseth Family

“It was really cool to learn about Turkish culture. I’ve never had exchange student before and this was really cool experience for me. I enjoyed so much. I LOVE THE TURKISH COFFEE ! We are so much alike so it was basically living with another version of myself.”

Alexis

“What I learned the most is that our countries are so far away from each other yet we share so many commonalities. It was interesting to experience that. I knew I would welcome you into our home, but I didn’t realize how close we would become in such a short time - you are an important part of our lives. These last 2 weeks have exceeded my expectations, and I’m sorry that time has gone by so fast. The Roseth family now has a family in Turkey; we feel very fortunate.” 

Lisa

Berkay Çağrı Soylu

The trip to Duluth actually made me realise that even if we're from different countries and different cultures we're all people and we like similar things. The host family I stayed with for two weeks could not be better. The way they cared about me and took care of me was so special. They made a lot of things just to make sure I was comfortable and I was having fun and they welcomed me like one of them. Jacquie was so kind to me in so many ways that she made me get comfortable and so glad that I was so lucky just to be able to stay with them. Phil was such a great person to have a talk, I just loved when he was telling stories about himself and his family, it was great and taught me a lot about the way they live and about their culture. I've always wanted a sister and when I met Grace and Ella I was sure that my life would be a lot better if I had one, living with them in the same house was all about laughing, joking and having good time all together and that's one of the things I'm going to miss so much. People I met here is mostly kind and good and then there is Nick. He is the best host I couldn't even imagine to have. I'm just glad he applied for the program and I got to stay with him. The best times I had while staying here were when I was with Nick and Erika. He is one of the best people I've ever met in my life and in some ways he's like my brother. I had fun times when I was with him and I learned a lot about the culture. It was great enough to have this trip and this experience but when I was with Nick it became a lot better. I just only hope that he gets to visit my country and stay with me so that we can do more fun stuff together and maybe this time he could learn about my culture. The time I had here was great and I'm glad that I was lucky enough to stay with them, I wouldn't ask for anyone else and I'm so happy I met them. 

     Berkay

Helin Erden

 First of all, I want to start with how lucky I feel because I was given a chance to participate in a program like this. I want to thank everyone from Marshall School for hosting us and being so helpful during the program.

  It was a great experience to live with an American family for two weeks. They were all so kind and sincere it was almost like I’ve never left home! Thanks to my host family, I tried many different types of food that are popular in the USA I’ve never tried before such as fried green tomatoes, tacos, cheese curds (and lots of candy!). I thought American food was all greasy and unhealthy before, but homemade meals proved me otherwise. I made them Turkish coffee -which they really liked, and made them try some of our traditional desserts too.

   School was fun too. I had the opportunity to participate in class and to learn about different learning styles. What I liked most about Marshall’s education is how interactive they were, with all the activities and group works that makes learning fun. I made friends at school that I want to keep in touch with. Teachers were also very nice to all of us.

  I liked Duluth too, even though it was the coldest place I’ve ever been! (I’m glad I learned how to walk in the snow without falling though, as I’m not the most balanced person.) Duluth is really calm and beautiful with the gorgeous view of the Lake Superior. I visited University of Minnesota and I really liked the campus. I started considering studying in USA after my visit.

   My favorite part of the trip was dog sledding. It was super cold in Ely but it was super fun to do that. I don’t know if I will ever have a chance to do that again, but if I could, I would definitely try it again. International Wolf Center was also interesting to me, because I love animals and it was nice to be able to see and learn about the animals that are specific to Minnesota area.

   What I loved the most about USA is the diversity. There are many people from all around the world and from different religions, but people respect each other and live peacefully. I think we all need to learn this. Student exchange programs are a great way to do that as it helps you see the world from different point of views.

   Helin Erden  

Lara Küçükgül and Bahar Azak

That was one of my best experiences. First of all I want to say thank you to my host family for making my experience better. They tried to do everything for me. I am really thankfull for that. Also I want to say thank you to Nicole. She tried to do the best for me and she become my sister. We shared lots of things and memories. She is one of the best person that I met in Duluth .We had lots of good experiences with my host family but if I have to choose the best one I would choose the day we went to Ely and do dog sledding. It was so much fun and also we had a chance to feed those dogs and spend time with them. It was my first time but I really liked it, I would like to do it again.Our funniest experience was the time that we went Five Guys to get a cheeseburger. The staffs forget to put bread to our cheese burger, there was only a meat and some cheese in the container. I had never experience something like that and I don't think so that will happen in future. It was shocking experience. Also while we were in Duluth we did skating, skiing, watching movies, shopping, visit superior lake, falls of amnicon, kawishiwi falls and also I had a chance to went Holy Rosary School and meet with those students and help them with their project that is about Turkish culture. All of that experiences become  memories that I'll never forget .I was so lucky to be part of that project, I think everybody should live that experience for once. Again thank you to all of the people that make that project, our host families and our teachers that accompany us.  

                                                                                                                  -Bahar

Duluth, Nicole, Danielle... I'm going to miss them all so much. It was one of the best two weeks I've ever had. Our host mother, Meg, was a really nice person and tried to do everything that we wanted, I'll definitely miss her too. Everyday we did something different and it was really fun. We left the first day for resting and to get to know each other. On tuesday all the turkish students did a presentation to introduce Turkey and the culture. For the rest of the week we went out to eat and went down the lake. The weather was freezing but still we walked around, talked and of course shopped. In the weekend the went to Ely as a gruop, with our families. We did dog sledging which was thrilling. Stayed in a cute hotel and had lots of fun with our friends. Also fed the dogs and helped the people there to put the dogs in their cases. Our second week was even better than the first. On monday, thanks to our mom, we went shopping to the Mall Of America which was huge. Me and my housemate bought loads of gifts and also the things that we can't find in our country. Also we did ice skating, went to a hockey match, bowling, to a movie, etc. I've never watched a horror movie, they insisted on that my first one should be here so we went to a scary movie. While doing all these of course we never forget to eat because we are in America, the hometown of fast food and candy. I wanted to try the food so we often went out to eat. I ate as much as ı can because you only live once, right? Our host family was amazing, ı think I am really lucky for that. We laughed, shopped and ate together. I really enjoyed my stay. I think everyone should try this experience at least once in their life; especially the students who plan to study in an other country.

                                                                                                                    -Lara

From Weber Family

Thoughts on our visit….

As the arrival date came closer, the more nervous we became. “I hope this will work out, What if they don’t like us, How will it be with all our animals….” These were just a few thoughts going through our minds. When we met Lara and Bahar, all the nervousness disappeared. Within the 10 minutes it took us to get home from the airport, you could tell it was going to be a wonderful experience. Immediately, these girls felt like they were part of the family and that we had known each other for years. By Sunday night, Nicole and Danielle were already saying they didn’t want Bahar and Lara to go home. The energy and friendship grew with each day, not only with our family but between Lara and Bahar. By the end of the first few days, the girls were like sisters. Laughing, joking, and enjoying being together. This feeling continued as we got to know several of the other students. From bowling to making Turkish coffee (and reading the coffee grounds), a mini super bowl part to a birthday party, movie night to dog sledding, shopping to sightseeing, hockey to cross country skiing, everyone was very comfortable together. Groups of kids hanging out as if the were best friends. Our family has grown by two and we are not looking forward to saying goodbye. We were reminded daily that, even though we live in different parts of the world we are all the same inside. We laugh at the same things, like the same music, shop in the same stores, watch the same TV programs/movies. We will look back at all the things we have done, all the conversations, and funny moments with smiles and a warm heart.

--

                                                                             -Meg and Nicole and Danielle

Zeynep Ebru Arısoy

I feel so lucky because my host family was so welcoming and they made this experience more important for me. My host mom Christa and my host sister Milly was always so kind to me and I enjoyed every second that I spent with them. The first day, when we came to Duluth, we went to bowling and I met with a lot of new people. Making new friends was the most fun part of this experience! I made foreign friends and also I got closer with the other exchange students from my school. While making friends I felt that my English was improving and also I felt more confident. We did a presentation infront of the whole school and I felt really comfortable. We talked about Turkey and we gave some information about our country, talked about our culture and traditions so that the Marshall students can learn a little bit about Turkey. Christa and Milly took me to the largest unsalted water aquarium, I saw a lots of differenf kinds of fish, it was amazing. We went to the National Wolf Center, seeing the wolves was so exciting and I thought that they were beautiful and pretty. Also, we went to a little town named Ely and did dog sledding and I tried to ski. It was so much fun! I had the opportunitiy to do some activities that I can't do in Turkey. I was able to see the differences in the education system. The lessons were different from ours, and because of that I learned a lots of new stuff. I realised that sports was really important in America and a lot of people are interested in sport activites. Spending time watching basketball matches in school and also spending time with my friends at the same time was awesome. Milly was in orchestra so I listened to different kinds of music when they were playing. I made them listen to some Turkish music so they have an idea about it too. I was really happy when they said that they loved it. Other than that, Christa told me stories about native American's and I was really interested in it. They took me to shopping and we spent time together and not only in Duluth, they took me to The Cities so I can saw that place too and go and spend time in Mall Of America. I'll never forget when we went to see a movie with Milly. It was great, we really had fun. I'm really thankfull for everything they did for me. Most importantly, they made me feel like I was in home. I know that I have a second family at other side of the world and it means everything to me. I hope that someday they'll come to Turkey so I can make them eat all the delicious food I told them about. 

- Zeynep Ebru Arısoy 

From Timm Family

Over this exchange, I had a ton of fun getting to know her! Our weeks together were full of laughter and discussion of music especially. I hope I ger the chance to see her again and become even better friends with her.

- Milly Timm

Having Zeynep with us has been such a joy! I've learned the following:

Zeynep means 'father's jewel'

Zeynep's parents have matching tattoos

She loves her friends and thinks of them more than she does herself

She loves Turkey, her school, her family, and her sister Oyku

Zeynep is a very accepting and open person

She has confidence in herself, and trusts in others

She likes cards

She loves hip hop and rap, and loves to dance

She shared herself and her heart with us on the first day she was here, because that is who she is. 

Our family is so thankful to have her in our lives! 

-Christa Knudsen