An exchange student's year in America.

• Author: Wang, Zhuoer Jenny
• Position: Voices

In August 2002, full of fear and curiosity, I left Shanghai to spend a year as an exchange student at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.

I started learning English in elementary school, but I still had some funny misunderstandings. At a picnic just after I got to Ohio, my host sister asked if I would like some hot dogs. I didn't catch the word hot, so I thought she wanted me to eat dogs!

School had already begun a week before I arrived. I felt anxious, and doubted if I could catch up. For me, every class was an English class, in addition to whatever subject it was. My first day was very embarrassing: Walnut Hills was so big and crowded that 1 was late to all my classes.

One thing that's very different about American high schools is that many students have girlfriends or boyfriends. Sometimes they even kiss in public. This was unbelievable to me, since Chinese schools are very strict about stuff like this. Chinese students don't understand a lot about sex, and we don't really talk about it.

As time passed, I became more involved at school and in my community. I forced myself to raise my hand and speak in class, and I joined the math team.

As part of my American government class, I worked on a political campaign for a county commissioner. Making phone calls for the campaign was difficult at first. My accent made it hard for people to understand me, so I practiced over and over again at home.

My host Family--Ann Lugbill and Brewster Rhoads, and their kids, Caroline, 14, and Elizabeth, 18--was really nice, but the relationship between parents and children is...