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原文請參考：http://www.startribune.com/local/north/103218794.html?page=1&c=y
The American experience, times 7
Stereotypes break down when foreign exchange students learn about American culture at Sage Academy.
Sage Academy prides itself on its global outlook, a worldview magnified this year by the presence of seven foreign exchange students.
That's a record high number for Sage, a public charter school in Brooklyn Park with an overall enrollment of 89 students in grades 9-12. For one year, visitors from Serbia, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Afghanistan not only will learn American culture, but they will also teach their peers a thing or two about their native cultures.
Sage seeks to make its students active citizens of the world.
"We are deliberate about being global. That's what sets us apart," said Sandra Maron, the student services coordinator.
Twelve countries' flags hang in Sage Academy, representing students it has hosted from countries such as Russia, Pakistan and Italy.
When foreign exchange students, who are typically juniors and seniors in high school, arrive at Sage, the school displays their country's flag to bring a little bit of their home into the school, said Maron.
While most of the students missed their homelands when they first arrived, one visitor, from Afghanistan, noted things he didn't miss: the "big sound of suicide bombing and the crying of orphans and widows" that he often heard back home.
Coming from a country that is at war, he was nervous about his reception in Minnesota. To his relief, he said, Americans turned out to be kind and hospitable.
"When I came to America I found people different than I expected," he said. "People always want to talk to us."
Another exchange student, from South Korea, had similar reservations. She didn't think she would make friends, having the impression that Americans think only of themselves.
But it didn't take her long after spending time with her peers to discover that wasn't the case.
"These students can have an impression of our country that is negative or stereotypical, so it's a strength to have students come for a year and see more than what Hollywood portrays," said Louise Burton, a student representative of Nacel Open Door Foreign Exchange Program in Eden Prairie.
Adjusting to America
After living in Minnesota for a few weeks, the students are adjusting to American life, what they describe as cold weather, delicious pizza and "many TV channels."
The students aren't just acclimating to the weather and larger TV channel selection, though. They no longer get lost in the crowd at school. Mio Henza from Japan was one of more than 1,000 students at her school back home, where it was hard to get to know people.
And it's much less intimidating for an exchange student to enroll at Sage than at one of the large high schools in the area.
"It's a good environment, because ... it's hard to meet students when you're one out of like 700 students," said Nancy Mulhern, of World Link Inc. foreign exchange program.
Maron said the school's environment is not only good for exchange students, but for any student. There are no individual desks, no bell indicating the next class and students are on a first-name basis with teachers.
Seeing the world
Sage is an expedition school, taking students on trips to locations such as Boston, Chicago, Ireland, Austria and Florida.
It also allows students to take more traditional classes with a teacher providing direct instruction, as well as classes that are more project-based that give students the chance to work on their own and at their own pace.
"We're at an all-time high as far as numbers," said Maron. "I think that speaks to students desiring and requiring individualized instruction."
She said she believes the school's small size is what caters to students' needs best -- whether they are from Brazil, Afghanistan or Brooklyn Park.
Further information about Sage Academy is available at the school's website,www.sageacademy.org
Hannah Gruber is a Twin Cities writer.
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