Turlock, California, population: approximately 69,733 as of 2012.
Just about everyone who lives in Turlock is faced with the question, “Turlock? Where is that?”
“It is a pretty good place, small and quiet, not a big city like you see in the movies,” were the words Francesco Rossato used to describe the little-known city of Turlock where he’s been residing with a host family since the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year as part of a foreign exchange program.
Rossato, a high school senior originally from a city just outside of Venice, Italy, is one of the five European exchange students that are attending John H. Pitman this year. Juniors; Antonin Beaufils, Karim Zeller, Barbora Jurcova and sophomore; Sven Mischel are the other foreign exchange students visiting the campus. Respectively, they are from rather well-populated cities in France, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Germany, which may be why they all commented on the size of Turlock in comparison to their hometowns.
“It’s very small, but in a good way because if you want to meet with friends, you just need to drive for five minutes and you’re there,” Sven Mischel rationalized. Mischel’s hometown is Düsseldorf, Germany, a city that just so happens to have a population of 11 million people.
Karim Zeller is from a Swiss village on the outskirts of Zurich (the most popular city in Switzerland) and noted that he was able to pick the state he would go to but not the city. “I chose California with the idea of having a lot of beach, palm trees, and a little bit colder, but it’s also awesome here. I think it’s not exactly what I expected, but it’s a unique experience.”
Besides the fact that these five students are from fairly large cities, they’ve had the opportunity to experience different cultures throughout Europe, the United States, and a number of other regions. Collectively, they have been to Italy, France, Germany, Egypt, Austria, England, Switzerland, Spain, Florida, and New York.
Perhaps the most remarkable was Zeller, who actually had to stop and think of where to start off the lengthy list of places he’s visited. After checking off almost all of the European countries and American states mentioned above, he moved on to the continent of Africa and continued from there. “In Africa, I’ve been to Morocco, Kenya, Egypt, then Thailand, Singapore, and to Jamaica, and the Bahamas.”
Naturally, the curiosity arose as to why they all traveled so often and most of them mentioned that learning English was a factor in coming to America or English-speaking countries, but the trips were more pleasure than business.
“Every country is just different and I like traveling; I want to see everything, the whole world,” Barbora Jurcova, a native of Košice, Slovakia, laughed.
In regards to Americans and how they differ from other people around the world, Antonin Beaufils commented that Americans are more patriotic than the French, but he found it strange that they are also so fascinated with the idea that he’s from Aix-en-Provence, France. The other four students were quick to note that Americans are generally more polite, friendly, and talkative than people back home.
As for their thoughts on Pitman, most of the focus was on the fact that the school has a sports program. “We don’t play sports at school; we play sports for the town, but not for school,” explained Beaufils, who is on Pitman’s water polo team.
Rossato has been playing basketball since the age of eight and is part of the varsity basketball team, Zeller, a big NFL fan, has joined varsity football, and Jurcova is on the girls’ basketball team. Mischel mentioned that he had tried out for the football team, but since the teams were already made, he settled for PE 10.
Jurcova mentioned that she’s met many people that have helped her get used to Pitman. In response to the kindness that’s been geared towards them, the exchange students are paying it forward by sharing a few simple phrases that may help out students at PHS if ever traveling abroad:
“Hello, I’m looking for…”
French: Bonjour, je cherche…
German: Hallo, ich suche…
Italian: Ciao, sto cercando…
“Would you point me to the information office?”
Italian: Mi potreste indicare l’ufficio informazioni?
“Do you (know how to) speak English?”
German: Sprichst du englisch?
French: Est-ce que tu parles anglais?
Slovak: Prosim vieš rozprávat Anglicky?