LaCrosse exchange students adjust to small town America

For exchange students Joao (John) Cruz, Jaume Borrell (James) Vega and Daniel Aengenvoort, the past five months in LaCrosse have been something straight out of a Hollywood screenplay.

Just over a month into their time in America, the trio were guests of honor for the Tigercat homecoming game. Attending the festivities dressed to the nines with dates dressed even more dazzlingly, the homecoming experience smacked of Tinsel Town.

“I felt like, ‘I’m in a movie now,’” said Aengenvoort of Dusseldorf, Germany.

“That’s American life,” said Cruz, who comes from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Cruz said the cinematic sensation extended when he ate his first meal off a tray in the school cafeteria. Vega, from Barcelona, Spain, laughed when he remembered his first sight of a LaCrosse school bus.

“I couldn’t believe when I saw the yellow school buses,” he said. “It’s just like the Simpsons.”

The three, who hail from large cities, felt a touch of culture shock when they arrived in LaCrosse.

“They told me I was going to a small town, and I thought something like Colfax, with, you know, like 3,000 people,” said Cruz. “But then they told me it was a town with 300 people. That’s a neighborhood to me.”

Sao Paolo’s population is more than 10 million people.

All three said they have been welcomed as a sort of family by the close-knit LaCrosse community, quickly learning the ins and outs of the town.

“In one month we knew where everybody lived,” said Vega. “I really feel like we just became part of the community.”

Almost to a fault, said Aengenvoort.

They weren’t used to meeting the parents and families of dates in their home countries – something they did after booking their homecoming dates.

“But they already knew us,” said Aengenvoort.

“Actually, here everybody knows everything. You can’t do anything without everybody knowing.”

The three students arrived in August, during the height of the west Palouse’s annual heat wave, and late last month experienced the bitter cold of winter.

“They just kept watching the thermometer go down when it got to around zero,” said Carolyn Martin, the LaCrosse “mom” of Cruz and Vega.

The duo is staying with Carolyn and husband Allan Martin’s family for their stint here. Aengenvoort has been staying with the family of LaCrosse Supt. Gary Warge and his wife, Lynn.

As the mercury dropped, Cruz and Vega continually dialed the town’s 611 time and temperature number to see exactly how cold it was.

Later during winter break, the three were playing video games one night, when they looked out and noticed snow flakes falling.

“We stayed out until like 3 a.m. playing in the snow,” said Cruz.

While the snow was a slight dusting by LaCrosse standards, it was a completely new experience for Cruz and Vega.

Another new experience for the students was a chance on the school’s JV football team.

“The first time I saw a football game, I thought it was a fight,” said Vega.

But the soccer fans quickly took to the high speed collisions of the gridiron.

“It was so much fun. Just to hit someone,” said Aengenvoort.

They listed corn on the cob, can openers, four-wheel ATVs, reality television and bacon double cheeseburgers as their favorite touches of American culture.

But as much as they have soaked in, the tiny U.N. delegation has also given LaCrosse students an education of their own.

“Our kids have learned a lot of things from them, as well,” said Wargo.

Mostly teaching them how to speak Spanish, Portugese and German, said Vega, though often times those words may not please LaCrosse parents.

The trio departs after the school year ends in June, and all three said they will be taking back memories, experiences and friendships.

“We’ve made a lot of good friends. For our whole lives,” said Vega.

“It’s just so different. It’s really great here,” said Aengenvoort.

They will also be taking home apple slicers, which they received in their stockings from Ol’ Saint Nick.

If, that is, they decide to return home.

“But I think I don’t want to go to college in Brazil.”