Amherst High School has two new exchange students this year — one from Austria and one from Sweden.

Anja Zimmerbauer,  a sixteen-year-old senior from Austria, has two host sisters — Madie and Aly Meintke. Anja really enjoys hanging out with her host family. Though Anja hasn’t been in Amherst long, she is already starting to feel at home with the friendly feel of the of the small town that is like her home in Austria.

“I love going to football games,” Anja said. “They are so fun! The classes are also so interesting, especially psychology.”

Right now Anja is involved in Cross Country and Volleyball. She enjoys both sports but likes the team aspect of Cross Country more. 

“I miss my friends and family a lot, especially my best friend  since we usually see each other everyday,” Anja added.

Anja wanted to become and exchange student out of curiosity from all the YouTube videos and other social media posts she has seen of others going on foreign exchange years and she always wanted to do it.  Anja wanted didn’t have a specific destination she wanted to stay this year, but she does hope to visit the east coast area. The weirdest thing Anja has noticed about America so far is how friendly everyone is — and the insane amount of cheese everywhere.

Our second Exchange student is senior Cornelia Larrsson, who is 18 and comes from Sweden. Even though Cornelia hasn’t had much time to see Amherst, she said everyone here has been warm and welcoming. Like Anja, Cornelia’s favorite part about Amherst has been the football games.

A few things about Amherst has surprised Cornelia. “All my classes are so much shorter here,” Cornelia said. “Classes back home are usually around three hours.” She really enjoys U.S. History and Ceramics. Cornelia is staying with the Eschenbauchs, who are “the best host family you could have.” Cornelia is in Volleyball and Art Club so far, and she is exited for both.

Cornelia wanted to become an exchange student to try something different.

“I had a chance, so why not do it? The people at home will still be there,” she said. Cornelia also didn’t know where she would be staying but hoped it would be Texas or even Arizona.

The weirdest things Cornelia has observed in the U.S. so far is how loud people are but also how nice they are. Cornelia has also taken note of how outgoing everyone is here compared to back home. She said the most noteworthy thing she has noticed is how greasy all the food is here in Wisconsin.

So give our new members of the community, Cornelia and Anja, a warm welcome as they begin their year-long adventure in Amherst.