Paul Harandt, from Germany has an older sister who was also a  foreign exchange student in 2006 which sparked his interest in becoming a student in another country as well. Topeka and Harandt’s city are very different, the shining capital of Kansas is much larger.

“My first impression of Topeka was that it’s a big city, the capital building and stuff like that looks very impressive,” Harandt said.

This year Harandt will be missing a special three day festival with around 3 million visitors held in his home city called Mainuferfest.

“We have a river in Frankfurt and there is big fireworks from the ships,” Harandt said

When moving to a new country, every exchange student faces challenges, Harandt is no different. Whether it be missing friends and family, or learning the native language. There are many things the students must quickly adjust to in order find success during their exchange year.

“[I miss] my friends,” Harandt said “[the most challenging thing is] “sometimes you don’t understand so much, if someone has a really hard accent I can’t understand them,”

For some students the journey can be almost as difficult as the looming year ahead. Crowded airports, confusing layovers, the anxiety of everything to come in the very near future. However on his journey Harandt was particularly jittery about his transportation to the U.S.  

“The most nervous was that I’m afraid of flying,” Harandt said. “That was the hardest part [my plane ride was] eighteen hours.”

People all over the world take pride in their country, the people, the landscape, the food and in Harandt’s case the drinks! What Harandt loves the most about his country may surprise you

“[I like the] beer, I don’t drink so much but it’s weird you can’t drink here. In Germany you can drink when you’re sixteen but you can’t drive until you’re eighteen.”