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Exchange students adapt to lives on Indiana farms

By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

DENVER, Ind. — When Kristin Skare was named North Miami High School’s homecoming queen, no one was more surprised than she, or happier than Kevin and Mary Lou Musselman.

Clint and Beth Manning were not soccer fans when Maik (pronounced “mike”) Stingel came to live with them, but it didn’t take long for Beth to become a soccer mom or for Clint to become an avid fan.

Kristin, whose home is in Stavanter, Norway – a city about the size of Fort Wayne, Ind. – and Maik, a resident of Eningen, Germany – population 10,000 – are exchange students enjoying life in rural Indiana while bringing change to their host families.

“Many farm families are reluctant to host exchange students,” said Tiffany Adams, regional director for International Student Exchange, “but the Musselmans and Mannings weren’t afraid to try it. It’s been a good fit for all of them.”

 Kristin and Maik, both 17, agree, even though they attend a high school that has a post office box for an address and is part of a corporation that has a K-12 enrollment of only 1,098.

While Clint Manning, the undergraduate lab manager for the electrical engineering department of the University of Notre Dame, and Kevin Musselman, an excavator, joke that they have full-time jobs to support their beef and grain farming operations, there is no doubt they are farmers or that they live a good 50 miles from the nearest city.

 “I’m used to being able to walk anywhere in five minutes,” said Maik, son of an engineer father and teacher mother. “Here, we have to drive everywhere. I’m not used to that.”
Nor was he used to doing pregnancy tests on beef cattle, but he quickly adapted.

In his native Germany, he attends school daily until 1 p.m. and then participates in sports. “It is surprising to go to school until 3 p.m.,” he said. “There’s a lot of emphasis on sports here.”
Nevertheless, he joined North Miami’s soccer team and participated in track and field. And, he talked the Mannings’ youngest son into joining the soccer team.

Both students interact well with their host families and share chores. The Mannings’ sons, Ethan and Brady, make a perfect trio with Maik, according to Beth Manning, who was quick to add, “Oh, they argue just like brothers, sometimes, but they really fit together.”
The Musselmans’ daughter, Karli, and son, Daniel, get along equally well with Kristin. Karli and Kristin, who share a room, also share a love for playing in the snow.

 “It’s fun,” Maik said of life in the country. “It’s something new, an adventure. I’m definitely not sorry I came.”

Nor is Kristin, although her adjustment has been somewhat simpler than Maik’s. “I’m more used to country life,” she said.

Her father is a farm consultant and agricultural lender; her mother is a phlebotomist. When she was named North Miami’s homecoming queen, all she could do was gasp in surprise. “I never expected to win,” she said, “but it was fun.”

She won’t return to Indiana next year to pass her tiara on to her successor, but she hopes to make repeat visits in the future. In the meantime, she plans to go to Hawaii with some other exchange students, go to Florida on a family vacation during spring break and greet her parents when they come to Indiana for her graduation.

Maik has visited Alabama, Chicago and Pennsylvania and will accompany the Mannings on spring break to see the Grand Canyon and surrounding area, as well as southern California and the Pacific Ocean. His parents also plan to attend graduation.

Both use Skype to relay news and photos to their parents, which included pictures of zany outfits they purchased at the Salvation Army to wear to a Fort Wayne Tincups game.

But everything hasn’t been fun and games. At Christmas, all of the exchange students in Adams’ territory joined in “Adopt-A-Family” as a community service project. Adams picked a family from a nearby area and assigned each student a family member. By the time they were ready to visit “their” family, Adams’ 15-passenger van was crammed with gifts, Christmas dinner, nonperishable food items and a Christmas tree.

“It was fun to see their expressions of joy when they saw us,” Kristin said. “By that time, we felt we knew them, and we were so happy for them.”

Maik was impressed by how happy the family was. “It was just great to see them,” he said.

In January, all area exchange students participated in a special session in which each prepared a food item typical of their native country. Maik made German Spaetzle – cheese noodles – while Kirstin created a stew from rutabagas, sausage and potatoes that the Mannings pronounced delicious.

Then, after an evening of games and a second meal of pizza, they participated in a “lock-in.” By the time the two arrived for this interview, they’d had only a few minutes of sleep, but they were still enthusiastic about their lives on the farm.

Beth Manning summed up the exchange experience for both families: “I don’t know what we’ll do when Maik goes home. We’ll really miss him.”

Other farm families interested in hosting exchange students may contact Adams by e-mail at asai@rtcol.com or by calling 574-893-1744.

1/27/2010