At Your Service Radio Show, International Exchange Students at Rotary Club District Conference. June 6, 2026

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. This is John McQueen-Blaser, and we're here at the Hunter Mountain Resort at the District Conference of Urban District 1710 for the Hudson Valley Youth Exchange. So what better way to continue talking about youth exchange than to talk to actual youth exchange students. We have Caroline from Denmark and Greta from Germany. What part of Denmark do you come from? What made you decide that you were going to be 16 or 17? So what made you decide that you were going to say goodbye to your parents and your siblings and everybody else and come here to the United States? And when you were told you were going to be in New York, did you think you were going to live in Times Square? And where did you end up? And Greta, what part of Germany are you from? And did you also think you were going to end up living in Times Square? And where did you end up? So what made you decide, Greta, to come to the United States Youth Exchange to meet family and friends at home? Very good, very good. So what did you find surprising about the United States? What was the biggest surprise when you got here? Now, here's the question I want to get at. Is school harder here or at home? And Greta, is school easier here or at home? And what did you find surprising about being here in the United States? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The toilets? So how did life go being here in the United States? Did you make a lot of friends? Do you think you might come back here for your 15th anniversary? Have you made a lot of friends here at Cali? And besides being easier here at the United States, is there anything different about your social life or school in general? Do you think you might come back here for your university? At 16? Yeah. What are you going to be studying? Dairy farming. Dairy farming? Good for you. Well, I mean, you know, Hudson Valley is a great place if you have dairy farming. Education or dairy farming? And what do you think of studying university here? Well, no, no. Back home. In Germany, right? What do you think about your career? Now both of you have excellent English. You're English is better than mine because I have a heavy book on accents. But did you study English back home or did you just pick it up while here on the UK train? And what about you? You also do TikTok? Yeah. So have you been sending pictures and emails back to your friends and family back home about life in America? Really? Yeah. How about for you guys? And how many different families have you been living with? Two. And what's the most fun thing you've done here in the United States? Besides the Pringle show. Oh, do they have proms in Germany? You can't really dance in front of the prom? Oh, yeah, how about that? And Caroline, what are the most fun things you've done in the United States so far? What was in Seattle? What are the parts of the United States that you've seen better? And what have you seen in the United States better? So if there are young people listening to our show this morning, who might be thinking about becoming exchange students, go either to Germany or to Denmark or someplace else in Europe, would you recommend them? Tell them how much fun it is to be an exchange student. And Greta, I'm going to give you the last word. Tell people at home why it's great to be an exchange student. Commit them to joining us. Well, Greta and Caroline, it's been delightful talking to you. Delightful to have you as our exchange students here in Hudson Valley. I'm glad you had a good time. I'd be disappointed if you weren't at an in-time school. Let's have a big hand for Greta and Caroline.