Families welcome exchange students

Mike and Edie Ronhovde and Rod and Cyndy Koerber filled open spots in their homes in a unique way.

Both Fremont families are hosting a foreign exchange student this year.

The Ronhovdes are hosting Ana Mattoso of Brazil while Elly Reiter of Germany is staying with the Koerbers.

Neither family had hosted an exchange student before this year, although the Koerbers have welcomed YMCA youth counselors into their home.

The Ronhovdes have had foster children in the past.

But this is a different situation, largely because of the different cultures from which Reiter and Mattoso come.

“That’s kind of the point of it,” Mike Ronhovde said. “It’s for the kids coming, but it also is for the host family that we get to learn about their culture.”

Cyndy Koerber thinks it’s good for her eighth-grade daughter, Kristen, to be exposed to people from other backgrounds.

“There’s a whole world out there beyond Fremont,” Cyndy said. “I think it’s good for Kristen to see that people who are not from the same culture she is are just exactly like her.”

Kristen, the Koerbers’ youngest child by nine years, liked the idea of having another person in her house.

“I was pretty excited because I’d have someone to hang out with,” she said.

Although Brooke Ronhovde, an eighth-grader and friend of Kristen, had been the only child in the Ronhovdes’ home for around a year, she also welcomed the chance to have someone else in the house.

“I was surprised because I had just gotten used to not having family like that here,” Brooke said. “But then I thought it would be fun because I’d have somebody to talk to.”

In fact, Brooke and the Ronhovdes’ other children communicated with Ana through Facebook before she even came to the United States.

“They actually knew more about her than we did before she got here,” Mike Ronhovde said.

Now Ana and Elly have become friends. They had an aerobics class together and soon found out that they shared the bond of being foreign exchange students.

“It’s very nice because we know things are different and we can talk about it,” Ana said.

Elly agreed.

“We kind of connect because you’re going through the same things,” she said. “Everything’s new.”

Elly comes from a small village in Germany with around 300 people. Along with adjusting to a bigger city, she also is trying to adjust to a different language and different foods.

She also is getting used to a different class schedule.

In Germany, there are between six to nine classes a day. At Fremont High, though, Elly takes just four classes.

“I like this better,” she said.

Unlike Elly, Ana is trying to adjust to being in a much smaller city. Her hometown in Brazil has around 1.5 million people.

“It’s very different, but it’s good that I can ride a bike and go places,” Ana said.

When Ana returns to Brazil, she will be done with school but will need to study for an exam to get into college.

Elly still will have two years left in high school when she returns to Germany.

And Cyndy Koerber hopes Elly will be able to spread the word back home about the people of America and Nebraska.

“Hopefully she’ll go home with a good impression of who we are and what our core values are here,” Cyndy said.