<I>Andrew Wilkins/Chieftain'</I><BR>Austrian teacher Gert Habach's (left) connection with Wallowa County began eight years ago after posting a call for exchange students on an Internet news group.

Even though they live almost half way around the world, the group of students visiting Wallowa County aren’t that much different from the youth raised here.

The 22 foreign exchange students hail from Austria: the land of Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Sound of Music; bordering Germany and Italy in the heart of the European Alps.

They came with mixed stereotypes of the United States, but will return seeing America as free, friendly and very, very large.

Austrian teacher Gert Habach connected with Wallowa County eight years ago after posting a call for exchange students on an Internet news group. After getting to know Tom Crenshaw, a local teacher who has since died of Lou Gerig’s Disease, they decided to arrange a student exchange.

After four rounds of trading students, the Rotary Youth Exchange continues. It’s a real exchange, Habach said, with Wallowa Valley and Austrian families taking turns hosting each others children in their homes.

Shooting and campingThe Austrian students were kept busy here in the county: they learned how to shoot a gun, went camping in Imnaha, studied the local environment, visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and went bowling.

Waiting for their next activity, the group of mid-teens laugh and talk at the Enterprise gazebo on a perfect sunny day. German is their official language, but Habach said half speak three languages and a fourth speaks four.

Each are required to take eight years of English, part of a broader curriculum of 16 classes per day.

Sixteen-year-old Ana Orescanin spoke about how she was treated when she first came here.

“People are nice and outgoing to strangers,” Orescanin said. “People are more willing to ask you to do things here.”

Her welcoming experience differs greatly from what most of her countrymen think of the U.S. While Austrians are more reserved, Orescanin said, their opinions of the U.S. and our foreign policy are not.

“Most Austrians hate the president and think most Americans are fat,” she said in perfect, accent-free English. “But they do think America has good sports players.”

The number of guns in America is another consistent criticism, but she said she was excited to have learned to shoot a gun – an illegal act for a person her age in Austria.

The Cheeseburger FactorOrescanin said she liked American cheeseburgers and hot dogs, while her fellow exchange student, Allon Camhy, 16, did not. He also criticized the U.S. for starting too many wars.

The two Austrian students’ opinions on America differed occasionally, but both seemed to have enjoyed all they learned and the freedoms available here.

“We (Austrians) think you can do anything here and that it’s a land with no laws,” Camhy said. “You can have guns here and do whatever you want with your car.”

Even though they think America has more freedoms, she said people are allowed to drive faster in Europe and on some highways in Germany, there is no speed limit at all. More people use public transportation over there because the distance between towns is smaller, gas is more expensive (even with our recent price increase) and it costs an equivalent of $1,800 for a driver’s license.

Camhy was also shocked at how big the U.S. is: “You can drive and drive and not see anything for miles.”

Also in Austria, teenagers drink and smoke more and sooner, Camhy said. He said at 16 drinking alcohol is allowed and he’s seen children as young as 10 smoking cigarettes.

People over policyThe Austrian students leave early next week, said organizer Don Swart Sr. He said he wasn’t surprised by the students’ criticism of U.S. government policy, because even though they are young they recognize the difference between people and policy – finding commonalities greater than language and culture.

“Kids are kids everywhere even though there’s a different society,” Swart said. “They dress like our kids, they talk like our kids … they’re pretty much the same all over the world.”