San Luis Obispo High School hosts a diverse international community of students. Expressions sat down with Sophie Haegeland, a foreign exchange student from Norway, to hear about her experiences at SLOHS.

Expressions: What is your favorite memory from your time at SLOHS?

Graduate Sophie Haegeland: I think meeting new people and seeing how an American school is because it is really different. Here you get electives and you can choose your own schedule which I’m not used to. At home, I just get English, Math, and the boring classes. The culture here is really interesting and different, and the people are open and welcoming. It’s been really good.  

Expressions: What are you going to miss most?

Haegeland: The weather and the people here; they are really nice. If you are downtown in a grocery store, they will say ‘Hi’ and talk to people, which is really unusual for me. I think that’s really nice and it’s a good thing that I think America is really good at. I’m going to really miss that.

Expressions: What are your plans for the summer?

Haegeland: I’m going to go home to my friends and family, and then I’m maybe going to Spain and will just hang out with my family.

Expressions: What do you miss from your home country that we don’t have in San Luis Obispo?

Haegeland: The food is different; it’s more healthy in Norway. I miss basic [foods] – not fried or burgers or everything like that – and I miss the snow. I love the weather here but sometimes it can be too warm. [In San Luis Obispo] it’s either warm or kinda cold but it’s never like so cold that it’s snowing and I love snow. I [also] miss my family and staying at home. It’s different because you don’t feel a hundred percent at home here and just like my school is smaller in Norway so I know everyone. Here, it’s a big school where you know some people but not everyone and you see new faces almost everyday, but at home I know everyone. [In Norway] you go to school and you say hi to everyone and it’s smaller, not like the city, but in general the country is smaller than America.

Expressions: Do you have any regrets?

Haegeland: I regret that I was not talking more in the beginning. I was really shy and my English was not that good so I wish I was just open in the beginning and wasn’t shy. I didn’t say hi to a lot of people in the beginning, so that’s my biggest regret.