Karen Demeyere, born in Gent, Belgium, has decided to pay America a little visit. Although she graduated high school in Belgium earlier this year, her application for the foreign exchange program at her old high school was still accepted.

“I want to study English,” she said when I asked her why she had applied for the program. “Because of that, I wanted to go to an English speaking country. Besides, it’s good to learn how to adapt to different cultures and get along with different people.” After this, I asked her why she chose America, and then Arkansas. She said the United States was the most alluring, mainly because of the whole “American dream” of high school here. Then she said she wanted somewhere in the United States that was warm, but not too hot. According to her, Arkansas is way too hot and way too cold. I think we can all agree with this. 

Ms. Demeyere told me that schooling in the U.S. is much better than in Belgium. In the U.S., the teachers are much more personal with their teaching, the classes are more interactive, and there’s a lot less homework given compared to her home country.

Other than that, Ms. Demeyere said that the only big difference between living in the United States and living in Belgium is nationalism. Driving through Conway, it would seem perfectly normal if you saw several American flags being flown by schools, banks, or businesses. In Belgium, this is apparently abnormal. “The only time we see the Belgium flag in Belgium is during the world cup,” Ms. Demeyere stated.

I asked Ms. Demeyere if she would want to come back to America after she goes back home. “Oh, yeah, definitely!” was her response. Hopefully, next year won’t be Karen Demeyere’s last year in the United States.