JUNE 2010 AFS COLUMBIA PACIFIC
END OF STAY
PICNIC...A FINAL
FAREWELL:
A Visit to the Columbia Gorge...
The Dalles Chapter of AFS
On June 19th, AFS invited exchange students from
Columbia Pacific will other chapters in the Columbia
be having an End Of Pacific Area Team to visit the
Stay Picnic to say a Columbia Gorge. Students
final farewell to all the arrived Friday morning at
Fort Dalles Museum for a
2009/2010 Exchange
tour lead by Mary Davis.
Students. The
Favorites were the “real
potluck picnic will be human hair” wreaths and
held at Oaks Park on pioneer artifacts in the
June 19th starting at Surgeons’ Quarters, the
noon. Please bring Anderson homestead
your favorite dish residence, the three large
from your home bells to ring in the front
country. Exchange yard. Our community is so
Students will be given
lucky to have this museum
as a spotlight of history.
free ride bracelets to
Lunch was served at Sorosis
the amusement park. after which the boys played a
There will be a $10 rousing game of Frisbee. The
ride bracelet charge second stop was the Discovery
for siblings and guests. Center and Wasco County
For information, Historical Museum. The highlight
contact Ron Combs. here was the Birds of Prey
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Seattle Trip...
It was eight kids from all over the
world (Azerbaijan, Chile, Italy (2),
Ashland Trip 2 Kenya, Thailand (2), and
Turkmenistan) and two first-time
Volunteer 3 chaperones who set off on the trip.
Awards We caught the northbound train
early on Saturday morning and were
in Seattle before lunchtime. Thatch's
Letters to 4-5 skill with his iPhone ensured that we
Host Families easily found the bus that took us over
to the Seattle Center. At the
Student Q&A 6-7 Experience Music Project, we all
experimented with guitars, keyboards
Host Family 8 and drums, but the favorite exhibit
Comments was the "Have Your Rock-Star
Picture Taken Here."
Prom 9 Later we rode the elevator to the
top of the Space Needle, where we
A Trip to Italy 10-11 had a fabulous view of a wet, grey city
--really, you can take great pictures
even if the sun isn't shining! After a
Hosting News 11 brief rest at the hotel, we headed out
again to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe
where we had a noisy celebration of
Gianmarco's unbirthday.
presentation and seeing the owl,
kestrel and Bald Eagle up-close
and personal. The day ended
with a potluck and evening with
one night host families.
The AFSers with the Petroglyphs
She Who Watches...
Saturday started with a hike
on the cliffs above the Columbia
River to see the Petroglyph “She-
Some of the kids swam in the
evening. Later, some of them slept--
most of them, eventually... Whether
they slept or not, we got them up in
time for breakfast Sunday
morning. Then we went over to Pike
Place Market. The sun actually came
out in time for pictures of everyone
atop the pig. Later some had lunch at
a Thai Restaurant, and others went to
tour underground Seattle. By the
time we all piled into the late
Who-Watches” and other
pictographs all lead by tour
volunteer Paula Christy.
Traveling further east,
Stonehenge War Memorial was a
short stop before spending
the afternoon at Maryhill
Museum. The educational
tour of Native American
artifacts helped tie together
what had been seen earlier.
Carrie Clark-Peck, Curator
of Education shared both the
old and the new artistic
talents of local tribal
members. Maryhill Museum
exhibits wonderful cultural
diversity and an international
flavor in its displays.
The two day were warm and
calm adding pleasure to this
year’s Gorge Visit, a successful
outing and learning experience.
afternoon train back to Portland,
everyone was pretty worn out, but it
was that contented, peaceful worn
out that you feel after you've spent
36 hectic hours with smart and
amusing young people from all over
the globe. The girls all eventually
found their missing shoes, and the
chaperones survived, so it must have
been a really good trip!
Theresa Deussen, host mom
Note from Bernice: Theresa Deussen
and Boerge Pedersen (Serdar's host
family) were the chaperones this year
and they did a great job. They were
wonderful with the kids. Boerge
chaperoned with me last year, so this
was his second year. I feel so fortunate
to have these wonderful volunteers in my
SE Cluster.
 Ashland Shakespeare Festival
PAGE 2

We loaded up Our first play was Hamlet. The toured the downtown area.
the kids early prologue was fun and informative. Everyone was in their rooms by
S a t u r d a y I’m not sure I would have curfew and ready to head back on
morning for the understood what was happening if Monday!
trip to Ashland. we hadn’t had it explained to us.
Faith Gabrielson, host mom of
The weather Several of the kids were falling
Giulia from Italy
was warm and asleep during the play, as it was
sunny and quite long, but the acting was good.
spirits were Possibly the Shakespearian English
high. may have been hard to follow.
In Ashland The second play the next day
we unloaded was “She Loves Me”, a musical. At
and divided up the prologue we found out that the
the kids in same story has been used for
rooms. My room had six great girls several other plays including
and the cooperation was great as “You’ve got Mail” with Tom Hanks.
all seven of us shared one Everyone was on the edge of their
bathroom. We wandered around seats by the end of the
downtown Ashland, checking out performance and the performers
the stores and basking in the received a standing ovation!
sunshine at Lithia Park near We had a lot of fun while we
Our Mission downtown. were there! Some of the kids hung
out in the hot tub and others
AFS-USA works
toward a more
just and peaceful
world by
providing
My Trip to Ashland—Ester, Indonesia
May first and second of 2010, helped us understand the set made it so we could not
international and
some exchange students had a story. So even the language was moved our eyes from the stage.
intercultural chance to visit the lovely town of difficult to understand, we the T h e a ct o r s w e r e r e a l l y
learning Ashland, Oregon. It was really exchange students could professional and made us feel the
experiences to wonderful. And with a perfect understand what was going on. story.
individuals, sunny day make this trip as one On Sunday, the second play we I really enjoyed this trip. It
families, schools, of my unforgettable moments. watched was “She Loves Me” was such an unusual trip, we not
and communities Together with some friends, a romantic musical and comedy. only had fun but also got a new
through a global we spent a long drive with We just could not stop laughing great experience and education.
laughter and song. We explored
volunteer
Until we arrived in another part of
partnership. our hotel. It was a Oregon, we learned
nice hotel. We another part of
were exhausted, American culture,
but so excited. We had fun with friends
were going to see a and refreshed from a
Shakespeare play!!!! bunch of school
“Hamlet” was homework (I had 3
the first play we sch o o l p r o j ect s
saw. This was a before the trip, what
play with high a relief!) It was really
tension, hard awesome, and
language and dark Ashland was a really
romanticisms. But fascinating town. I
personally I liked it a lot. My kind during the play. The story really had some time and took a little
of play I recall it. I enjoyed it touched us, the music was walk to downtown and visited
until the end, watched the play amazing and stuck in our head some open space there.
and tried to keep my eyes open even 3 three days after the play. Thank you for giving me a
as wide as I can. I really didn’t Both plays we saw seemed to chance to take this trip. I hope
want to miss any scene, even the balance each other. The stage the next year students will be
night got later and closed the where the play went on was able to have this great
eyes of some people in the awesome and cool, so pretty and experienced too...
audience. The prologue activities high technology. The sound
we attended before the play quality was great, and the light Sincerely, Ester from Indonesia

AFS Volunteer Appreciation Event Award Winners...
Columbia Pacific Area Team
James Spears—Chair
Ron Combs—Orientation
Coordinator
Bernie Gerhardt—Support
Coordinator
Tom Hilleary—Treasurer
Cindy and Greg Lamb—Sending
Coordinators
Lynette Ledgerwood—Secretary
Andrea Rapp—Support Coordinator
Eric Sussman—Returnee
Coordinator
T ami Spears—Co mmunicati o n
Coordinator
Sally Ann Wells—Volunteer
Coordinator and Interim Hosting
Coordinator
Emily Leis-Zushi—Sending
Coordinator
Eastside Cluster News...
CLUSTER MEETING
Natalie Grabrielson, host sib to Guilia
Gentili (Italy), was recognized
at Gresham High School's Key Club
on Wednesday, April 28, for her
volunteer work at Zarephath Kitchen
a t T r i n i t y L u t he r a n
Church. Zarephath serves free
lunches on weekdays. She was named
"Volunteer of the Year" by Kiwanis'
advisor to the Key Club and was
presented Kiwanis'' "Every Day Hero"
award. Congratulations, Natalie! She
was featured in a 1/2-page story in The
Gresham Outlook written by Rob
Cullivan Staff Writer on May 5.
THANK YOU SE CLUSTER
VOLUNTEERS!
I want to thank the following people in
my Cluster for their help:
Ron Combs, who has attended all
SE Cluster Meetings. Ron brings
supplies; i.e., paper plates and plastic
ware to all meetings. He is also our
photographer. Ron is hosting Britny
from Thailand this year. Ron also
100% Liaison Reporting
Chris Cavagnaro, Chris Cradler,
Maggie Frieske, Janet Gardner, Mark
Gardner, Bernie Gerhardt, Marilyn
Hays, Tom Hilleary, Michal Kawka,
Kristin Lachenmeier, Ruth Ladage,
Greg Lamb, Cindy Lamb, Gloria Lutz,
Andrea Rapp, Carla Cox, James
Spears, Tami Spears, Michele
Vixathep, Jane Smith.
Diplomacy Supporting YES &
FLEX
Maggie Frieske and Rustam Kocher
New Volunteers
Chris Cavagnaro, Michal Kawka,
Boerge Pedersen and Theresa
Deussen.
helped organize candy sales at his gas
station this year to help us with Seattle
expenses.
Mark and Janet Gardner, who
have hosted many times for me and
this year they are liaisons to Luis from
Chile and Britny from Thailand. Mark
and Janet also helped chaperone the
Ashland Trip and Mark has been a
chaperone/driver for Pendleton and
other optional activities.
Mindy Roddy and her husband
Mark have opened their home to
many exchange students. They hosted
an Italian girl a few years ago and since
have hosted in other emergency
situations. They helped find a family
for one of my misplaced students and
have been a second family to
Gianmarco. He stayed with them
when I went to Italy. Her husband
Mark even took Gianmarco on a
special ride on his Harley (of course,
after we got permission). They have
had social events at their house and
are now planning a Graduation Party
for him.
PAGE 3
Most Outstanding
Volunteer
Tom Hilleary, Lorraine Leedy,
James Linhares, Stephanie
Ongtooguk, Andrea Rapp,
James and Tami Spears.
Long Time Service Award
Ron Combs, Mark and Janet
Gardner, Bernice Schuchardt,
Don Sheneberger, Diane and
Less Zoller.
Thank you to all volunteers
for all your tireless efforts
in supporting the AFS
mission. Everything you
do is greatly appreciated!
Bonnie and Greg Kott are
liaisons this year and both are helping
with hosting in my cluster.
Boerge Pedersen and Theresa
Deussen, Serdar's host family,
chaperoned the Seattle trip this year
and Boerge takes Gianmarco bowling
sometimes on Sundays. He also help
at the candy sales.
A big thank you to all my host families
for making my year an easy one.
Bernice Schuchardt
 A Letter To My Host Family...
PAGE 4
•Dear Goecks Family—
Nine months ago I met
you the first time. We
got to know us better
and better, now we are
like a really family.
Because of you I had a
wonderful time in
America, because of
you I learned a lot, and
because of you my life
changed. Thank you for
everything you have done for
me, I will never forget you!
Love—Simon, Switzerland
•Dear Sherman Family—I
really want to thank my host
family for making these 10
months so amazing! I had so
much fun and learned so
many new things. I know that
it is not easy to just have
someone you don’t know at all
come live with you for such a
long time. I appreciate it so
much that you guys always
“Goodbyes are not made me feel so loved and
special! I really enjoyed my
forever. stay and I wish I could stay
longer. You guys are so
Goodbyes are not awesome and I love you! I will
never forget these cool 10
the end. months! I never thought that I
would have such a great time
They simply mean
here in the U.S. Jordan, you
are such a great person and I
I’ll miss you
had so much fun talking with
Until we meet you! Sam, you are super
funny and the best German
again!” student I ever had! Amber,
you are just awesome and i
had so much fun doing so
many cool things with you!
Brandi, I am so glad that we
spend so much time
together—You are so fun to be
around! Mom & Dad, you are a
-m-a-z-i-n-g! Thank you for all
you’ve done for me! I love you
guys! Thanks for hosting me
and making a dream come
true! Love—Anna F., Germany
•Thank you Rebeca, Juny, Nen
and Ben—one year went by so
fast, I know Rebeca you told
me so :) and yes Ben I tried to
carry my own stuff :) during
that time, but I know how
much you all helped me.
What for treasures were
WWW.AFSCP.COM
hidden under every pillow,
Juny :) or what for pants less
roommates we met, Nen :) I
want you to let you know how
much I love you and how
thankful for every moment we
had together I am, for all the
places you took me, for all the
people I met through you, and
for all the advices and hints
you gave me. For every
garage and noodles which are
out there, I hope that you
won’t forget me and you’ll
always have a place in my
heart, your daughter and
sister—Silke, Germany
•Dear Tami & James Spears—
my beloved host parents who
have done so many things for
me. I’m so glad that I have the
chance to meet such great
people like you. You definitely
make this year the BEST year
for me, thank you. I am so
grateful about everything
you’ve done for me and also
for AFS. I’ll never forget this
awesome experience that I’ve
had with you and I want you to
know that even we will be far
apart but you will always be in
my heart, always… and I will
always love you. (^__^) Thank
you very much—Aom,
Thailand
•Dear Villicana Family— I have
been living with my host
family for 9 months already,
and it is gonna be my time to
leave soon. I have to admit
that I feel so sad, I don't want
to leave this lovely family at
all. They are my second
family.
Nine months for me is such a
short while. There have been
a lot of laughter, smiles, and
even tears. They are all
memories, and I will never
forget about these memories.
Thank you for you all, my host
family. Thank for my host
dad, Fernando, you're a funny
dad. You always makes
me happy after I am tired from
a hard situations. I will miss
the time when you used to
give me a ride to school
in every morning. I will miss
the time when we
walked buddy (our dog)
together. Thank you for my
host mom, Theresa, you're a
shopaholic mom :) I will miss
the time that we usually spend
together for shopping. I will
miss the time that we clean up
the house together. I will miss
the time that we watch the
movie at late night. Dad and
mom, you know, you guys
have changed me into a
better person. You made
me to care about other's
feelings. You made me realize
that how amazing you are and
how beautiful parents' love is. I
am love having you!! - Milk,
Thailand
•Dear Gafford’s—I just wanna
tell you thank you for
everything you have done for
me and for giving me this big
opportunity.—Renzo,
Columbia
•Dear Schenck Family—I don’t
feel like you are my host family
anymore—now you are my
family. I would like to thank
you to my American family to
help me in everything. My life
has been completed by you. I
love you guys and I wish that I
would see you again
someday.—Tipsuda, Thailand
•Dear Deussen-Pedersen
Family—I want to say THANK
YOU for hosting me for a
whole year even though you
don’t have to host me, it’s like
a gift from them and it’s the
best gift I ever got. I had such
a great time with such a great
family! THANK YOU for the
give of knowing you! I will
miss you guys! - Serdar,
Turkmenistan
•Dear Green Family—I wanna
say thanks to my family so
much...they helped me a lot in
learning here and getting the
experience and making me
understand everything around
and thanks for welcoming me
in their house and taking me
and I hope we keep in touch
together and I will really miss
them a lot :) - Farah, Egypt
•Dear Cenci Family— I want to
 PAGE 5

A Letter To My Host Family...

thank my host family for making
my year here a fun year and for
being there for me when I needed
it. Laughing at each other,
coupon shopping and other little
inside things are things that I’m
going to miss. I also want to
thank my host parents for feeding
me so well and not forgetting
dessert. I could go on with this
list forever but I hope you know
how thankful I am and how lucky I
feel that you picked me despite
the little problems with school and
everything. I feel like I’ve
become part of the family and I’m
going to miss you, and dessert, a
lot! - Elina, Finland
•Dear Rob, Dee, Sophie and
Taegen, - How sad it is that I am
almost at the end of my exchange
year and that I am going to have
to leave you. You made my year
so incredibly nice, you were the
best host family an exchange
student could ever wish for. I do
not have any single regrets about
anything I've done, and you can
probably imagine the important
role that you guys have played in
that. You always trusted me no
matter what happened, and I truly
appreciate that. You always
encouraged me to have a good
time and fun with my friends,
doing everything to make it
possible, and that was amazing.
Thanks for being so supportive!
Thank you for being so awesome,
the 4 of you, you changed my life,
and I am truly going to miss you a
lot! Thank you also for showing
me "your" America and for letting
me be part of your wonderful
family. This year was the very
best one of my life! Love +
huuuuuuge hugs! I can't wait until
you guys visit me in
Switzerland! ;) - Katya, your
Swiss daughter and sister
•Dear Lindsay Family—Thank you
so much Sandra and Daniel! For
everything you have done for me.
I enjoyed spending time with you,
but now it is time to go home. I
will miss you a lot and I hope you
both can visit me and my family in
Azerbaijan.—Jahan, Azerbaijan
•Dear Whittemore Family—I would
like to say a billion times of
THANK YOU to my host family
for everything every moments
that we have spend
together here. These
memories going to be “The hardest part of
with me till the dying day.
Also share these any friendship is when
memories to family and
it’s time to say
friends, encourage them
to become an exchange goodbye. As much as
student to meet a great
host family that they will we might like things to
continue contact them
even if the year was
stay the same, change
ended.—Kohung, is an inevitable part of
Thailand
•Dear Rousing-Weiner life. The universe may
Family—Thank you for
being the best host
seem huge and the rift
family on earth. I really between friends on
felt like home and I will
never forget about the opposite side of the
experiences we had
together and the year I
world may seem a
spent with you… - Lucia, great distance. There
Germany
are many tools
available with which

News from The Dalles Chapter... The Dalles before his departure to Japan on March 21.
we can communicate,
but even without these

Chapter in He received his Japanese family information

tools there is a secret
J a n u a r y one week before departure, so that was a that only real friends
welcomed relief to all. To accomplish his exchange, Sol
“Fix” from organized personal fundraisers selling kettle know, and it is this...All
Thailand by corn and sodas, he helped sell AFS oranges
the mountains and
w a y o f & grapefruit, and worked hard to gather
Copperville, needed funds. He was very determined to valleys in the world
California. He succeed in this experience. We wish him
is hosted by the very best during his year in Japan. cannot separate friends
Mark and Alessandro had an early Spring vacation
whose hearts are as
Chloris Mullins traveling with his host family to Costa Rica.
joining host brothers Nate and Rhett. Fix is a Jr. at The Dalles Alex was at Seaside and Canon Beach while one.”
Wahtonka High School. His “break dancing” skills brought him Tim enjoyed a trip to Utah, Alessandro and
instant popularity and his easy going manner aided his Fix helped accomplish many yard, garden
successful move. and home projects during the school break.
Just before mid-year orientation The Dalles boys had a Alex reported he is learning a lot of different things in his
sleep-over at the chapter chair’s home and enjoyed playing baking class. He just finished with cookies, and is now starting
Pictionary. They said it really helped build vocabulary with pies. In his Astronomy class he has also learned a lot
understanding. A second sleep-over happened in Mid-March about comets and possible earth impacts...
with the four boys staying up until 2 a.m….fun! Pictionary and
Think-Blots became very competitive games. We wish all our exchange students a beautiful spring and
All four boys are involved in high school Spring Sports: “happy trails”.
Alex (Switzerland), Tim ( Belgium), and Alessandro (Italy) play
on the tennis team, Fix (Thailand) is on the track and field Rymmel Lovell
team.
A farewell event was hosted by Sol Ontiverous’ family
 PAGE 6
What the Exchange Students have to say...
What did the Exchange
Students have to say
when they were asked
the following questions?
1. What will you miss
the most about the U.S.?
• I’ll miss the good
times at the U.S. I’ll
miss my host family and
all of my classes at
Aloha High School—
Milk, Thailand
• I will miss my
wonderful host family
and all my friends the
most! I’m also gonna
Aom in Seattle, miss my high school and all
WA the other things that I don’t
have at home! - Anna F.,
Germany
• My friends and my host
family—Renzo, Columbia
• What I will miss the most is
my host family. I’m pretty
sure that I will miss the life
To My Aom, style, friends, and this lovely
country.—Tipsuda, Thailand
May flowers always • I will miss the most the
school it was a lot of fun—
line your path and Farah, Egypt
sunshine light your • My friends definitely. I experience.
found so many new friends
day. May songbirds over here and I will really
miss them.—Hendrik,
serenade you every Germany
• I guess the crazy Americans
step along the way. =D ha-ha well actually I
think I’m gonna miss my
May a rainbow run school a lot, and my friends.
It’s gonna be really hard to
beside you in a sky leave them. Portland is
great city and I really found
that’s always blue. a way of life I love here...so
I’m basically gonna miss my
And may happiness life in Portland.—Lora,
France
fill your heart each • Some of the friends and
family—Fix, Thailand
day your whole life • I will miss all the junk food,
sports at school, the friends
through. I've made here, my host
family and all the options in
Love, you host mom every possible thing you can
get.—Elina, Finland
• The things that I’m going to
miss the most are for sure
school and my friends. I'm
gonna miss the whole fun
atmosphere, the sports,
WWW.AFSCP.COM
clubs, school spirit, the
dances and parties, football
games, etc. I’m gonna miss
my friends a lot as well, I
really can’t wait to come
back to visit them, and I
pope they are gonna visit me
too! - Katya, Switzerland
• My host family and friends—
Jahan, Azerbaijan
• I will miss the people in here
the most—Brittany,
Thailand
• Education System it’s way
much easier here—Kohung,
Thailand
• I will miss most my host
family and all my other
friends—Simon, Switzerland
• I will definitely miss my host
family and of course
Gianmarco! - Serdar,
Turkmenistan
• I’m gonna miss my school,
my friends, my host parents
of course and all the great
moments that I spent with
them. Being an exchange
student in a foreign country
for a year is a big chance
and a great great
The best
experience ever. I will never
forget it.—Pauline, France
• I’m gonna miss Taco Bell so
much...The beefy 5 layer
burritos for only 99¢ OMG—
Alex, Switzerland
• My host family, friends,
American high school, pretty
neighbors and rain! - Riho,
Japan
• My awesome host family
and my friends from school,
sports, AFS, and may
others… - Lucia, Germany
• I’ll definitely miss my host
parents, pets, and my best
friend—Aom, Thailand
2. What food will you miss that
you cannot get in your home
country?
• I’ll miss a lot of Mexican
dishes, but the most should
be...Menudo!! (the
traditional Mexican soup
made with hominy and
tripe) - Milk, Thailand
• I really like Mexican food! :)
I’ll probably miss that cause
we don’t really have it in
Germany—Anna F.,
Germany
• GRAVY! Amy, my mom is the
best cook ever! - Tipsuda,
Thailand
• The food that I will really
miss is artichokes and the
squash we don’t have them
in Egypt—Farah, Egypt
• Carl's Jr.! Fast food is rather
expensive in my country and
it isn’t even very good… -
Hendrik, Germany
• I think that food I might miss
the most might be bubble
tea… because we don’t have
that back in France...and I
LOVE bubble tea! It’s been
my best friend when I had
hard times so I’m gonna miss
it a lot.—Laura, France
• Roast Beef!! - Fix, Thailand
• Hmm...hard one..cupcakes,
pop tarts, cheetos, ice-
cream cake, fruit loops… -
Elina, Finland
• Bagels and donuts! And also
Mac and cheese are
awesome...goldfish, graham
crackers...not really good for
you but it tastes so good! :) -
Katya, Switzerland
• Chocolate chip cookies—
Jahan, Azerbaijan
• Probably some desserts and
all kind of candies—Britny,
Thailand
• Mountain Dew!!! - Kohung,
Thailand
• I can get pretty much all of
the American food in my
country so there is nothing
to worry about.—Simon,
Switzerland
• There is several of them but
mostly Chinese food—
Serdar, Turkmenistan
• I’m gonna miss maple syrup,
peanut butter and cinnamon
rolls. Which is kind of weird
because I hated it in France!
Peanut butter is the best
thing ever! - Pauline, France
• I’m going to miss my host
mom Rymmel’s pancakes—
Alex, Switzerland

What the Exchange Students have to say...
• Actually, I can get any foods
form America in my country but
I’m sure I’ll miss the serving size
of American food here! - Riho,
Japan
• Such great people...people that
are open to everything new… -
Lucia, Germany
• Fettuccini Alfredo, and the rest
of my host mom’s cooking (^-^) -
Aom, Thailand
3. What is the most important thing
you want to tell your friends and
family back home about America?
• Snow is yummy!!! - Milk,
Thailand
• I will tell them that America is
awesome and that they all have
to go there! =P—Anna F.,
Germany
• That it is pretty cool and that I
really had fun—Renzo, Columbia
• The U.S. is awesome! - Tipsuda,
Thailand
• That is the problem! You have
to come here to understand how
Americans are. That’s nothing
you can explain just like that,
except one thing, The Simpsons
is a reality show! - Hendrik,
Germany
• I think I’m gonna tell them how
great experience it is, how
Americans are not all those
stupid people like we sometimes
think.. There is great people over
A Trip to Disney World—Bernice Schuchardt
In April, I took Gianmarco and Agata to
Disney World. We flew to Houston
and spent the night with my son, and
Monday morning caught a flight to
Orlando. It was an adventure as we
flew "Space Available" on a pass...my son
works for Continental. We were lucky
here doing great things..and also,
they’re not ALL fat! Ha ha =) -
Laura, France
• Lots of things!! - Fix, Thailand
• That things are not like in TV
and that everybody is not stupid.
Oh and plenty places to eat and
big portion sizes! ;) ha ha—Elina,
Finland
• How different school is, how nice
the people here are, and I want
to prove that most of the
stereotypes we have are wrong,
or not totally true. Also show
some aspects from America that
they might not know. I really
want to do a slide show with
pictures and videos from all that
I did this year, and also show all
my school sweaters and tickets
and stuff, just so they have an
idea what I lived through.—
Katya, Switzerland
• America is an awesome
country—Britny, Thailand
• Outdoor school and another
activities like sports, clubs, etc.—
Kohung, Thailand
• There isn't just one important
thing there are so many good
things I want to tell them.—
Simon, Switzerland
• I’ll tell them that American high
schools so much different than in
Turkmenistan (classes, sports,
and uniform) - Serdar,
Turkmenistan
and didn't get bumped going, but Agata
and I spent a day in Houston at my son's
home coming back, when they only had
one seat available. We let Gianmarco
take the only seat available. We had
beautiful weather, a nice, convenient
hotel and the kids got to spend two full
days in Disney World. The three of us
spent about 3 hours the 2nd day
listening to a Time Share presentation
which saved them about $100
apiece. The sales person was very
impressed with my two Italian AFSers
and is interested in hosting. I had fun
just relaxing around the pool and
spending time at Disney Village. They
were good kids and easy to travel
with....a great adventure!
PAGE 7
• I would like to thank my parents
for giving that big change to be
an exchange student and I think
I will never thank them enough!
A year as an
exchange student
in a foreign “What I will miss the
country is the
best thing that most is my host family.
happened to me
and I would like I’m pretty sure that I
to thank my host
parents without will miss the life style,
whom my
e x c h a n g e friends, and this lovely
wouldn't’ be a
dream c o m e country.” - Tipsuda,
true! When I’ll
be back home, Thailand
I’ll push my
friends to do the
same experience! - Pauline,
France
• I don’t want to tell them
anything—Alex, Switzerland
• My school life! And our cafeteria
of Twilight!!! - Riho, Japan
• How great the landscape is and
how I changed personally and
what made me change… - Lucia,
Germany
• Not everybody is blond, LOL—
Aom, Thailand
 PAGE 8
What Host Parents have to say...
•H e l e n a from
Brazil—Our funniest
moment with Helena
was when she wanted
to make a Brazilian
dessert. Jason came
home and found her
opening a can with a
giant butcher knife.
She was stabbing the
can and trying to pry
it open with a spoon.
He quickly showed
her how to used the
hand h eld can
opener. What will
we miss the most
about Helena? She
questioned so many
Katya from
things that we told her, her response
Switzerland and Alban was always “really?” - Jennifer
from Germany Meehan, host mom
•Claudia from Italy—Our funniest
translation moment was when my
daughter Bethany was talking about
wanting an Australian Shepherd.
Claudia looked at her and said “Why
do you want a shepherd? Why don’t
you want an Australian Surfer
instead?” We will miss Claudia’s
upbeat positive attitude. She is so
bright and cheery almost all of the
time. When she ran track at the
“You and I will high school, to her it didn't matter if
she won or lost, it only mattered to
meet again
her that she tried her best—Rachel
When we are least Johnson, host mom
•Renger from the Netherlands— It is
expecting it hard for me to come up with only
one funny story about Renter.
One day in some There are way too many to choose
from. Okay, the Dutch jokes about
far off place
throwing a bike on the roof… How
does a teenager throw a bike on the
I will recognize
roof? He doesn't, he’s too lazy to
your face throw the bike on the roof. How
does a relativist throw a bike on the
I won’t say goodbye roof? He puts the roof under the
bike. And how does a macho guy
my friend throw a bike on the roof? He throws
it over the roof. And so forth..this is
For you and I will
Dutch humor… - Ramune Nagisetty
•Claudia and Agata from Italy—Paul
meet again”
was driving Claudia and Agata from
~ Tom Petty the mall to Lucia's party. Claudia and
Agata were in the back of the car
speaking rapid-fire Italian, while our 3
and a half year-old daughter Frankie,
usually very chatty, sat in silence.
Then after Claudia and Agata
stopped talking, after a short pause
Frankie shouted "Hakuna Matata!"
No doubt she was trying to join the
conversation and used the only
"Italian" she knew! - Mary Senatori,
host mom
•Agata from Italy—Agata will kill us
but we'll never forget the day she
went shopping downtown, in the
middle of winter, wearing a light
sweatshirt and cotton "espadrille"
shoes with no socks. Well, we all
know how Portland weather can
change on a dime. While the Italian
gang were safe and warm inside the
Pioneer Courthouse mall, the
temperature dropped about 20
degrees and it started to snow ...
heavily. By the time she returned via
the Max to the Lloyd Center stop,
there were about 6 inches of snow
on the ground and I couldn't pick her
up because our car tires weren't
snow-worthy. She walked as far as
she could to a local cafe about 8
blocks from our house, and then
called me, "Mary! I can't walk any
further -- I am FREEZING!" So I got
all bundled up and walked to the cafe
and brought her a winter coat, socks,
a hat, scarf, and gloves. It was pretty
funny ... kind of a Portland rite-of-
passage moment! - Mary Senatori,
host mom
•Gianmarco from Italy—Funniest
translation moment...one morning I
fixed Gianmarco scrambled eggs and
hash browns on my electric grill.
Some time later he asked me to fix
him “bumbled eggs” on the black
thing. There have been many funny
many funny moments. One is the
story about a couple girls asking he
and Serdar what they charge? The
boys had no idea what they were
talking about. The other incident
happened a few nights ago. He went
to church with Luis and the church
group asked if anyone wanted them
to pray for them. Gianmarco wasn’t
paying attention and Luis told him to
put his hand up. What I will miss the
most about Gianmarco is his smiling
face; the words “thank you”; and
“spell it”; and “why, Bernice, why”.—
Bernice, host mom
•Aom from Thailand—We are going
to miss all of the
questions about why
we say crazy phrases
and strange words, we
will miss learning
about strange foods
from Thailand and
watching Bizarre
Foods Andrew
Zimmern eat bugs.
One of our funniest
translation moments
was when we were
telling Aom about our
favorite Fair food the
Elephant Ear. Aom
asked, “how do you cook it? Deep
fried? Isn’t is rough and hairy?” She
thought we were talking about eating
a real elephant’s ear. We had a good
laugh when she realized that it was a
type of doughnut. - Tami Spears,
host mom.
•Anna F. from Germany is a beautiful
young woman who is not afraid to
try new things and has made the
most of her experience by doing so.
She participated in the school play
"Little Shop of Horrors" as a
pregnant woman, and the day the
cast wore their costumes to school
to promote the play, a teacher
actually thought she was pregnant,
but Anna set her straight real quick.
Anna is also a member of the
German Club, on the tennis team
and is in the Woman's choir at
school. Singing is probably her
favorite activity. Not only has she
competed in two singing
competitions through the school but
has sung several times in church.
Her next adventure will be
performing at a dance festival in
McKenzie Stadium with 2,000 other
youth her age. I know she has had a
lot of fun learning the dances and is
ready for the performance which will
be held just days before she goes
home. One of my favorite things is
when I come home from work or
somewhere and she hears the garage
door open, she is there with the
door open to greet me. She always
has a smile on her face and has made
our home an even more pleasant
place to be. One of the things she
shared with our family was how they
dye Easter eggs on her island using
onion skins. It was a lot of fun and
they turned out far different than
what I had expected. She will truly
be missed when she goes home, but
will always be in our heart! - Rhonda
Sherman, host mom
Lucia from Germany
 PAGE 9

PROM 2010...
 PAGE 10 “Under the Tuscan Sun” And a Little Rain in Other Places by Bernice Schuchardt
Carlo and Giulia
Not many people have the opportunity to travel
abroad for three weeks and have familiar faces
meeting them at each of their destinations. My
daughter, Lori, and I planned our Italian vacation for
three weeks so we could visit our Italian exchange
students. Lori studied in Florence, Italy with Lewis
& Clark College about 20 years ago. We visited
Guilia Pertusati (1995-96) and Daniela Timon (1978
-79), and Clio Grossi (2003-04) and her friend
Giulia Soroldoni, and got to see Davide Sobrino
(2000-01), who lived with Pat and Ron Combs; and
Nicole Testini (2003-04) who lived with Lori and
her husband. We also got to see Barbara Timon,
Daniela’s sister who was also an AFS student to
California. You could never book a trip like this
with any travel agent—we got to experience and
live Italian culture for a short time with our Italian
students. This trip would not have been possible if
I had never become involved as a host mom and
volunteer with AFS. After you read this story, I
hope you get on the phone and call AFS and tell
them you want to host a student.
Barbara Timon
On September 3rd we left Portland for Newark
and then on to Milan. Shortly after our arrival in
Milan, Clio Grossi and her father Massimo arrived
and took us to their home in Monza. Massimo,
Clio’s father, invited Lori to go running with him
that evening and even loaned her his shoes. He will
be running the New York Marathon next Fall. That
evening her mom, Lela, cooked a typical dinner for
us from that region and family and friends were
there. One of their friends came with a bag of
baseball hats and presented each of us with a hat
and s story about where he got the hat. It was
hilarious! I did not host Clio, but agreed to be her
Welcome Family. That never happened because a
family was found for her in The Dalles. Clio and I
kept in contact that year and when she went home,
I made a trip to Italy and got to meet her family.
Then a couple summers ago, Clio and her friend
Guilia Soroldoni came to Oregon and spent a
month with me. Since then, each time I go to Italy,
Monza and the Grossi family are my first and last
stop. They are a delightful family—a lot of fun;
they’re AFS volunteers. There is always a lot of
laughter in their home. Giulia’s family is now also a
part of my large international family, and I always
get together with them while in Monza. Some day
her mom and brother may come to visit me.
Our next stop was Livorno. Guilia Pertusati
(my second Italian girl) was from Livorno. I have
visited the Pertusati' family many times in Livorno.
Giulia and her husband now live in Cagliarli,
Sardinia. Giulia’s mom and dad, Marcella and Piero,
met Lori and I at the train station and we stayed
with them for several days. While in Livorno Lori
and I made a day trip to Florence on the train and
the next day Marcella and Piero drove us through
the rolling hills of Tuscany to Siena and San
Gimignano.
We then flew to Cagliarli to spend five days
with Giulia and her husband Carlo. Marilyn Hays
and I went to Giulia and Carlo’s wedding just two
years ago. In Cagliarli we took a city tour, got
“Italian hair cuts,” and explored the downtown area
near Giulia and Carlo’s home. The next day they
drove us north to Santa Maria Narvese, where they
own a vacation home. They took us out in their
boat to a nice place where they dropped anchor
and we went for a swim. Since the water was
pretty choppy, we went back to Santa Maria,
packed up, and went to Carlo’s father Ugo’s home
in the countryside where we spent a night. He
took us on a tour of his olive grove and had a
typical barbeque for us of sausage and pork chops.
We ate something called “Fici d’ Indio,” and he
showed how they are gathered. They are the fruit
of a cactus which looks like a giant prickly pear; we
watched a demonstration of “grappa” being made;
and went on a drive through a nearby village where
the buildings are painted with scenes of their
culture. .We then went back to Cagliarli, and early
the next morning Giulia drove us to Olbia where
we caught a ferry back to Livorno. Giulia’s brother
picked us up in Livorno and took us back to the
Pertusati’s home. The next day Marcella and Piero
informed us that they were going to drive us to La
Spezia in Le Cinque Terre, and we visited the Naval
Museum there with them. This is another family I
dearly love as they have always made me feel like a
member of their family. Marcella is a retired school
teacher and Piero still teaches at the University in
Pisa.
For the next three days we were on our own in
Le Cinque Terre. We stayed in Riomaggiore at
La Terrazza B&B, a B&B at the top of the town, one
stop before the cemetery. Clio’s family found this
great place for us.. Riomaggiore is one of the five
villages in Le Cinque Terre. Lori and I visited four
of the villages. A train travels back and forth
through the villages and you can actually walk
between Riomaggiore and Manarola. Le Cinque
Terre is located on a rugged portion of the coast
on the Italian Riviera. It’s just west of La Spezia. It
sometimes is known as “The Five Lands.” When
the weather is good, you can hike from one city to
the other.
Asti was our next destination, where my
student, Daniela and her family lives with her
husband Marcello and two children, Federica and
Andrea. Daniela is a doctor and has her own
practice there. Most of you are probably familiar
with Asti Spumante wine….and the other excellent
wine Barbera d’Asti. This is wine country! When
Daniela lived with us, she compared the similarity
of the Willamette Valley with all their wineries in
the countryside around Asti. Daniela and her
family came to visit me a few years ago…25 years
after her year here as an AFS student. The first
night in Asti we had a nice dinner and then drove
to Torino to hear Daniela’s sister Barbara’s son
sing. Barbara was an AFS student in California the
year after Daniela was here and has visited my
home several times. The next day Daniela took us
to her friend’s winery, “Da Capo,” and we helped
harvest grapes with many of their friends. How
many people are able to go to Italy and help with
the grape harvest???? I picked grapes until it started
to rain and thunder and lightning. I then went to
the house and helped clean and prepare many
Davide & his girlfriend
vegetables for the dinner for the 50+ grape pickers.
The main dish was something called Bagna Cauda.
A sauce was made with many cloves of garlic
crushed in a large pan and a giant size can of
anchovies added to it. They were then crushed all
together and about a gallon of olive oil was added
to it. It was then boiled for a long time. In the
meantime we prepared many raw vegetables. The
Bagna Cauda was then served in individual fondue-
like pots. At the table you would add the fresh
vegetables to your individual pot and let them
simmer. At the end you added a fresh egg and let it
cook. There was a lot of good bread and wine, and
a lot interesting people.. We enjoyed so much
talking with them and getting to know all of these
wonderful, warm Italian people from all walks of life
--an artist, a German couple, another man Daniela
bought a table from, an engineer, and even
someone who had sang karoke with my son Rick.
The next day we visited the “Crotin de
Mombarone,” near Asti. We went on a hike with
Daniela, Federica and their friends to the
countryside in Asti. It was very interesting…a
hillside with many caves where people lived many
years ago. There were five or six rooms with
pieces of old furniture. It was amazing as there was
no electricity and evidently their only light was
from lanterns or candles. If you have Facebook, I
have photos on my website. Couldn’t find anything
on the internet. At the end of the hike we went to
the home of one of the farmers who went with us,
and he served us wine, fresh fruit, and snacks.
When we returned to the house, Davide
Sobrino came to see me. Davide lived with Pat and
Ron Combs in 2000-01. I was a Welcome Family
to him. He brought his mother and girlfriend. We
 Area Team
Chair PAGE 11
James Spears
Chair-Elect
OPEN
The Calendar 2009—2010
Treasurer
Tom Hilleary
JUNE 19 END OF STAY PICNIC—OAKS PARK—Contact Ron Combs
Hosting Coordinators
OPEN
JUNE 27 DEPARTURE DAY
Sending Coordinator
Emily Leis

And a Little Rain in Other Places by Bernice Schuchardt Continued...

OPEN
Orientation Coordinator
Ron Combs
had a short visit and he told me that on one of our trips sits on a book shelf lunch; Lori went running with Massimo,
Support Coordinators some day he and Ricardo (my student as you enter the condo. This village is and Lela had another nice dinner.
Bernie Gerhardt from Peru) are going to return to also where part of the Winter Giulia S. and her mom came for dinner
Andrea Rapp
Portland and have a reunion at my Olympics was held. .The next day we as well as some relatives and friends. It
Volunteer Coordinator house. returned to Asti. was Clio’s birthday. While we were
Sally Ann Wells The next day Bardonnechia was Back to Monza. We left Asti in the traveling, Massimo had ran a 1/2
Liaison Coordinator our destination. Daniela and her family morning for Monza. This was the only Marathon and presented Lori with his
OPEN own a condo there. We took the train time we made a goof on the Marathon shirt. The next day, we got
Returnee Coordinator
there to spend a night and on the way trains….we got on a train and it was brave and took the city bus to
Eric Sussman stopped in Torino to have lunch with not going to Milan….it was going to downtown Monza and did some
Barbara, Daniela’s sister. Bardonnechia Genova. But, how lucky, at the next shopping at the markets That night we
Communications is a ski resort where my son Rick skiis stop we were able to get off and get on spent the evening packing and the next
Coordinator
Tami Spears
with Daniela’s father almost every year. the train we were supposed to be on. morning Massimo took us to the
My husband Lawton was also there…a Clio’s mom, Lela, picked us up in airport. So, it was end of a great
Website photo of he and Daniela ‘s father taken Monza and we went to their home; had vacation.
James Spears
CHAPTER/CLUSTER
COORDINATORS
Columbia Gorge
Rymmel Lovell
Hillsboro/Forest Grove/Banks
Western Region Hosting News...
Jim & Erin Linhares Host Family Survey means we’ve received complete GLOBAL LINK TIP OF THE
Lake Oswego A survey to current host families host family paperwork (with the WEEK
Lorie James went out May 27 asking if they are exception of the PAF as long as we Recording contacts in Host
North Clackamas again interested in hosting and/or have at least a verbal approval from Family contact Logs
Maggie Frieske helping with host family the host school), and background When working with a potential or
North/Northeast Portland finding. The survey will close June checks have been finalized. At that current host family, it is important
Chris Cradler 11 so please encourage your point, we send host family to record each time you make
Portland West families to respond before then. A application to the partner country contact with them. You can create
Sally Ann Wells reminder message will be sent June to share with the hosted student, contact records in the host family’s
Southeast/Gresham/Sandy 3 to those who have not and host family-student contact log in Global Link following
Bernice Schuchardt responded by that date. correspondence is approved (note- these steps:
Tigard/Tualatin we must receive a signed PAF prior 1. Click on “Service Ref.” number
Andrea Johnson Twitter to student arrival) 2. Under Service Case Detail click
Tillamook/Oregon Coast Our Hosting Facebook page is now on “Person Info”.
Sue Cudd connected with Twitter! For those When do we use the Family 3. You can find all contact
Wilsonville of you who use social media, all of Placement Confirmed (FPC) information for your lead in the
Michelle Labrie-Ripple our updates on Facebook will now status? Person Detail.
Yamhill County show up as tweets. When all requirements for FPM 4. Enger a comment in the contact
Tami & James Spears have been met, ie. we have log each time you contact the
Camas/Washougal International Living Room received all pieces of the host family, and/or attempt to, click
Ruth Ladage Check out the May issue of the family paperwork, background on the “Contact Log” tab on
Longview/Kelso/Toledo International Living Room, sent to checks have been cleared AND a the Person Detail page.
Debbie Erickson 2,500 host family leads. This signed Placement Acceptance Form 5. In the Contact Log you can see
Vancouver/Battle Ground month's eNewsletter focused on (PAF) from the host school has all comments or emails for this
Bernie Gerhardt Japan. been received. This is the last and lead. To leave a comment click
YES/FLEX Student final stage of the process we on “Create Contact Log”.
Coordinators When do we use the Family complete before students' arrival! 6. Type your comments and click
Maggie Frieske Placement Mailed (FPM) save.
Rustam Kocher
Rymmel Lovell status?
OPEN When a host
Visiting Teacher family has
Coordinators b e e n
Jerrie Nelson screened and
Sally Ann Wells
accepted to
host, which
AFS
COLUMBIA
PACIFIC
Tami Spears
1025 NE Irvine St.
McMinnville, OR 97128

Want Souvenir/Scrapbook? E-Mail: Ron Combs r1p2combs3@aol.com

For more information and for our newsletter archives, visit the Columbia-Pacific website at www.AFSCP.com