Written by Grace Lee 23 and Ivy Li ‘23
Six students from The Grange School in Santiago, Chile are attending our school for the next month. We interviewed them on how their St. Mark’s experience is so far, and how it differs from their own Chilean culture.
First off, here’s to get to know the students and their hobbies. The three boys, Clemente Torres, Tomas Opazo, and Benjamin Zamorano all play sports but have musical talents as well. Clemente enjoys playing the trombone and golf. Tomas likes soccer, as well as the guitar. Benjamin plays rugby, but better enjoys video games and playing the piano. The three girls, Anna Oemich, Antonia Correa, and Francisca Anna all share a love of reading. Anna has many hobbies such as baking and building things with legos. Antonia loves sports and plays volleyball. Francisca is very artistic, and her hobby is drawing.
In addition to that, knowing random facts about the students can help you to relate to them better. Tomas has a brother and two sisters. Clemente mentioned that he likes spicy food whereas Francisca likes all types of food. Anna has eaten impala meat, and said that it doesn’t taste any different from regular meat. Surprisingly, Antonia has never tried any fast food chains in the USA because she is a vegetarian. Here are some things to know about our exchange students that might help everybody to relate to them more.
St. Mark’s and The Grange School have many noticeable differences. The first is the class sizes. The Grange school classes have around 24 students as opposed to the 13 students here. The St. Mark’s campus is very big, and has lots of different options for sports. At Grange, there are also eight levels for classes so students can further in subjects like chemistry and graphic design. The Chileans appreciates the positive energy that the St. Mark’s students had and likes the independence that every student gets here. Some of them even noticed that most of the tables were arranged in circles, and they liked how that setup encouraged community.
Why did the Chileans want to come to St. Marks? Here are their answers. All of them wanted to experience school in a brand new environment and meet new people. Francisca wondered if American schools were really like they are in the movies. Antonia has experienced a pre-college class at Stanford before, so she was curious to see how American schools work.
Additionally, Chilean culture is drastically different from the American culture. The Chilean independence day (Cueca) is on September 18th where they listen to folk music, dance, and spend time with family. Antonia noted that they speak Spanish very quickly, which makes Chilean culture recognizable from other Spanish-speaking countries. Anna loves Chilean food: empanadas, lucuma (a fruit) ice cream, and more. Everybody mentioned different things that they relate to in Chilean culture, and that every culture is celebrated in many different ways.
Along with culture, the Chileans have been celebrating different parts of St. Marks. Every single student mentioned that everybody was smiling and radiated positive energy! Tomas noted that the classes are more focused on the students, and Benjamin said that he liked how the classes have fewer people. Antonia liked that many different cultures are represented at St. Marks, which St. Marks students definitely value as a big part of our community.
The Chileans are adjusting to a completely new lifestyle, so for us to help them adjust, here are a few things the St. Markers can do to help them adjust easier. Keep in mind, most of them are adjusting just fine so we should treat them as a regular part of our community. However, don’t be scared to go up to them and make friends. Benjamin and Tomas want to do sports with other people while Francisca is interested in studio art, so don’t be shy to talk to them about these topics.