BONUS EPISODE | All About Greenheart Exchange with Lisa Melville Petersen, Lasha Crowell Seaman, and a group of International Exchange students!

Many who know me here in northern Colorado know that my wife and I have a fondness for hosting international exchange students. For the past two years, our outlet for getting these students has been an organization called Green Heart Exchange. I'm joined today by a regional manager and the regional director of the organization, Lisa Melville Peterson and Leisha Crowell Seaman, and they also brought along several exchange students for a short get to know conversations. Greenheart's foundation is Youth Exchange, but these ladies unfold the behind the scenes and share their motivations and craziest experiences along the way. The youths share openly about their motivations to sign up for International Exchange, and how the experience is compared to their expectations. This is a bonus episode because it doesn't fit the format of our typical experience episodes and it's more of a human interest story. However, this conversation was a catalyst for a truly loco experience for one of the students. Tune in for our next episode when Victor Bieri, a 15 year old student from Denmark, plays the part of guest host on the loco experience and interviews me, your host, in recognition of the 10th anniversary of loco think tank. Please enjoy this episode all about Greenheart Exchange. Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast. I'm honored today to be joined by Laia Kroll. Seaman and Lisa Melville Peterson. And, uh, these two ladies are the regional manager and regional director of Greenheart exchange here in Northern Colorado. And, uh, we're just going to learn about Greenheart today. And these two ladies that serve the exchange youth community. So let's start with, with you, Laysha. You're the, you're the boss lady over what kind of a territory? Um, so we are in charge of Colorado and Utah and Nevada and a tiny little corner of Wyoming and a tiny little corner of Nebraska. When I say regions, that's a big region. It's a region, yeah, yeah. And how many, um, on an annual basis, how many youth are served in that region? Oh, in the region, um, about? Seventy to a hundred. Okay, great. And then, Lisa, are you over that same region or are you a sub region? Same region. Same region. You're her right handy. You basically do all the work, she gets all the glory. Right. Mostly for the organization. We both do a lot of work. She does a ton of work. Fair enough. And so, how do you, how are your roles distinct? Like, uh, how would you describe your role, I guess? Especially this new, you just, just became. Lisa, uh, what was it? You're the regional manager. She's the regional director. Yep, yep. So started out as a local coordinator. Okay. Um, and she was the regional manager. And we just did some repositioning and, uh, refiguring of different states. And so now I do the, uh, help a lot of the coordinators in the area. The local coordinators. The local coordinators. Oh, so like if, if Jill and I had another youth exchange, we wouldn't necessarily work directly with you to come make sure our place wasn't, I also do some of that. I wouldn't, wouldn't give you up. That's right. I'm your favorite. That's right. And so, and then, Laysha, you, do you have other regional managers then, too? Or is this kind of a, the two of you are the, the main outside the local? Yeah, that's a really good question. So, we do have other regional managers. Um, Lisa is my regional manager for this area. I see. Okay. Um, so there's other. It's like in Utah, there's another regional manager for that, for there or whatever. No, we have what we call local coordinators and area coordinators. And how many of those people? Oh, local coordinators, we need a big team. Because each person usually places, you know, five to eight, sometimes a little bit more, um, students. And so in order to get to our goal, we need a large team of people to help us do that. So there's at least 10 of those. Yeah. More than that. Yeah. Yeah. 15, 20 plus. Yeah. Interesting. And those people, is it a, is it a job? Like you get paid for placements and stuff kind of? It's a, cause you guys aren't volunteers, right? This is not a, is it for profit? organization is Greenheart? We are a non profit. You are? Yeah, Greenheart is a non profit. So, um, but we do pay them a small stipend. They have to love it. Yeah, they do have to love it. Um, but, you know, there's a lot to love about it. So, we do give them, um, a placement fee for their work for, you know, Screening the family and helping them match with the student. Well, just finding people to host, right? Exactly, you know, there is a stipend for that. And then, um, we ask them to monitor the student and the family while they're in the country. Because these are, you know, our high school students are minors. Right. And so they do need to have somebody monitoring them. So we pay them every quarter for that. Okay. And if they place a certain number of students, they earn a great trip. Oh, I see. So, uh, this next year we're going to, uh, Lake Garda, Italy, which is about halfway between Venice and Milan. Okay. So, um, you know, we. When it's got Lake in the name of it in Italy, it usually means it's pretty fancy. It's beautiful. We're very excited to go and, um, so, you know, we need a team of people to help us do that and we're going to reward them for doing that. Yeah. So, and we're going to give them a bit of the culture that they're bringing here too. Yeah. Let's talk about, uh, why a little bit, uh, let's start with you, Lisa. What was your first engagement, either with Youth Exchange in general or with, with Greenheart specifically? Okay. Um, Well, my background is in social work, so I have always loved helping people, working with people. Um, I have a lot of different businesses. I do a lot of different things in the community, you know, part of the chamber, that's how I met you first at LegalShield, which you still do, I think. Yep, yep. So I still do LegalShield. And it was actually at one of those events. I was doing a vendor event for LegalShield at a, at a kid's day, I think it was. And um, It was a downtime, and I looked across the way, and there's Laisha sitting there with Greenheart and a couple of exchange students, and I thought, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go meet them and see how, see what that is all about. And my husband and I, we don't have kids, and so, um, we've always thought about fostering. And, uh, that's, sometimes that's a little hard. So I went and met Leisha and love the kids and the culture and filled out a form. Next thing I know, she's coming to my house and, and we're hosting. I gotcha. So we've hosted for three different years and in the process became a coordinator and now we help other people do the same. Oh, I see. I see. So you started in the same place as, as my wife and I were. I guess for full disclosure here, uh, my wife Jill and I have hosted two kids, both a back to back last year in Rico from Italy and Manuela from Brazil. Uh, through the Green Heart Exchange Program. And you guys both have green hearts. I was not really, I didn't realize your big green blotches were, were hearts until I just spotted them. And you have a green heart on your sweatshirt too. Mm-Hmm. That's cool. We do, yeah. I want a green heart shirt. We'll get you one. Oh, we, we can get you one. All right. Good. Yeah, absolutely. I might have one in the car. Okay. Well, I'll look, I'll look with you. And how about you? Uh, Laia. How long have you been involved with Greenheart and how did you first get there involved? Well, um, those are two different, um, answers. So, I originally got involved with foreign exchange, um, when I was about 28 years old. Okay. And my sister, who was about 12 years younger than me, she wanted to host an exchange student. And while I had always wanted to host an exchange student, and my parents were like, no. We're not doing that. Yeah. But I was right at the right age that I could do it. So I hosted a girl and then I hosted another girl who subsequently was in my wedding. Oh wow. And so then I took a little bit of a break and um, moved to Colorado. And then when I, we had children, um, I said, I want that experience for my children and I want them to learn that we're not alone in the world and there's lots of different ways of thinking. And so I started hosting when my youngest was about. 12? No, maybe about 14 months, maybe. Oh, wow. So, I was pretty young. And, so That's a built in babysitter, right? Well And you can't pay them, because they can't, like, really work for money. Well, yeah, no, we don't, we didn't really do that. Grandma was the babysitter, but, um We do, you know, if we had to run to the store for something or, you know, leave him for a few minutes, but it's not an au pair. No, that's a different program. It's not an au pair, right? But you do want to make them a sibling. It's just an au pair, you don't have to pay, right? No, I'm just kidding. You do want to make them a sibling. And so, um, you know, you. a sibling responsibility, not like a, like an au pair type thing, it's a different type of program. But, um, so, we hosted many years, typically we would host every other year. Through Greenheart? Well, so I got involved with Greenheart in And who was it before that? Um, it was a different program, um, not to be named. Okay. Um, but I had a, you know, kind of a difficult experience working with them. And so I was talking to the Department of State, telling them to help me with a, with, And they, and I said, is this normal? And they're like, no, this is not normal. And so I said, well, how can I find something that's better? And I looked it up and I, I actually called four different agencies and Greenheart called me back within 15 minutes and answered all my questions and was It's thorough and complete. And so there's lots of different programs out there and we're all trying to do the same thing. Obviously. Well, but probably for different reasons. Like tell me about Green Hearts Why a little bit, uh, if you feel prepared for that answer. Absolutely. So our mission is to connect people and planet, right? We want to make, build relationships between people of different cultures and build peace at the end of that. And we start when they're young. Right? You can build a peaceful relationship when somebody's young. They're not necessarily going to forget that. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, it's the same general purpose as the Rotary's Rotary Club, that's been much so the Enrico and Manuela were I think numbers for, for Jill and I, but most of the rest had been through Rotary Club and it's really for the same reason, to build bridges that build peace. Exactly, yeah. And there's lots of really wonderful programs out there, Greenheart being one, that we can do more than one thing. So of course we have our high school exchange students, which are a big portion of our program, and really our flagship program. Fair. Um, because we started, it'll be, It's 39 years now, so it'll be 40 in 2025. But, um, so we. It started with the high school exchange program, kind of school to school exchange, where some schools were kind of exchanging students with each other, right? And that was our flagship program out of Spain. And then it grew from there. And now it's, you know, obviously international program where we, um, work with 70 different countries, grant students, scholarship students from every continent. Obviously not Antarctica, but every other continent. They're so snobby down there. No, yeah, it's just, they just don't, they look like the cold. So, um, but we, we have lots of different, um, cultures, but we also have work and travel. Okay. Um, so if you have a seasonal business. And you, um, need seasonal, you know, the ski resorts, YMCA, YMCA up in the, um, in either one of the YMCA's, any of one of the ski resorts, Elitch's, they all need seasonal workers, right? Beautiful, uh, accented children, or young people at, in Vail, when you go there. Or the restaurants that need the seasonal workers for that up season, right? And then Greenheart takes a cut off of that pay kind of thing to make that program work? No. The, they work for that company and we just help bridge the relationship. We're like a matchmaker kind of, yeah. And you just get paid a fee by those kids mostly or whatever to find me a, yeah, it's a visa fee. Yeah. Well, it's not for the work and travel. We are a bridge builder. Yeah. We, it's not a, for the work and travel. Um, it's the same visa, it's a college J 1 visa, but it's short term, you know, usually three to four months. But we also have internships in what we call our CAP program. And so those are businesses that need long term interns or long term workers. Um, and so, you know, for two year to two years and they're working as a, like a job shadow or work shadow, um, at a business. Interesting. So, those, and they're working as an internship or a CAP program. paid like through a regular They get paid just like a regular worker, but they're Foreign. They're from a foreign country. So do their labor laws apply so I can pay? Our labor laws apply. Oh, that's sad. I'm sorry. As an potential employer, we have to make sure that they're able to sustain themselves in our country. Right. So yeah, I'm just playing. Uh, and that's okay. It's a good question. And, um, then, of course, we also have, um, our teacher, our teacher's program. So, teachers that are in America, they want to teach abroad for a school year or whatever. They can do that. Um, high school students that want to go abroad. Um, somebody who's in a gap year themselves and they want to go and do a job abroad. Um, we can try to match make them depending on where they want to go. Yeah. Um, we work with, uh, teachers that are from the school that needs to fill, um, a spot for a science teacher or a math teacher or some other type of teacher that we have, we have Fort Collins High School. I hear you have good math people in Czechoslovakia. Let's bring one of those math teachers over because we've got a gap right now. Right. You know, Fort Collins High School has, um, got, um, teachers and students. So Fort Morgan High School has teachers and students. So there's, um, you know, George Washington down in Denver. So there's, they have both, right? So I didn't realize the breadth and scope. Yeah, and we have, we have an amazing number of programs. So we even have volunteer abroad. Very fun. Lisa, tell me about your first experience hosting a exchange student, if you're, if it's something you can talk about. I loved it. We were, we were lucky enough. Like I said, we met, we met Leisha. She came over. Uh, my husband and I were thinking Italy or Brazil. I've always wanted to go to Brazil. We've always wanted to go to Italy. And, uh, Italian students looking at me in here. But, um, so we were thinking that we wanted to host from those countries. Uh, I didn't know where my husband said, what about the Czech Republic? I studied over there for a little while and Leisha almost fell off her chair. She's like, Oh my gosh, we have a scholarship student from the Czech Republic that we just picked. And so we watched his video. He played guitar. My husband plays guitar. He was perfect match. So we brought him and just loved him. He did everything with us and great kid. And we took him to Michigan. That's where I'm from. And, uh, bad thing was that was COVID year. So he had to go home early. Pretty sad about that, but, uh, we hosted after that two more times, both from the Czech Republic, but they were sisters, so that was fun. At the same time. Um, nope, so, one was one semester. I remember one of them. That's right, I think you got to meet maybe both? Yeah, maybe so. That's right, you did. They came out to the Realities for Children event that we did. She did, within RICO, that's right. Um, and then the next year Or the year before we hosted her sister. I don't think you met her. No, I don't think so. But my husband and I just got back from Czech Republic in August. So that's the fun thing. You get to go over and meet them all and see their families. Yeah, we're, that's part of our agenda, Virgil and I, having that big stock of Well, Italy and Brazil actually I think is first because our first long term exchange was from Brazil and then Manuela makes two, so we've got two in Brazil. And Brazil's pretty awesome. I've been to Italy already. Yeah. Yeah. No offense Enrico and Andrea, that was a fun thing with Enrico is his father found me on Instagram before Enrico even came, uh, to visit or whatever and we had a little text back and forth conversation and he offered for me and Jill to stay there at their, at their lake house, uh, anytime. And I'm like, I haven't, you haven't even I haven't even met your son yet, and you're already this generous with, with your resources and your, and your character. They are the best. I mean, we just got back, like I said, in August. They would not let us buy anything. Anything. Yeah. And we spent half the time with the first boy that we had, and the other half the time with the, with the sister's family. And Very cool. Both of them. They're like, nope, we're taking you out to eat. Taking you out to eat again. Can we take you out to eat? No. Yeah, I need to get Loco Think Tank dialed in a little bit better, so we can spend the time overseas that it would take to really visit those youngsters properly. They were just so, so nice. Gave us a place to stay, wouldn't let us buy gas. You kept our kid for this long, we're taking care of you. If you're listening out there, Manuela and Enrico and, and, gosh, so many others, uh, we'll, we'll pick up some lunches and stuff. You don't have to treat us the whole time. We're not setting this expectation. They're not going to let you get away with that. Well, and, and, uh, uh, Oh, I just lost the handle on, on our first exchange youth from, from Brazil, but her parents came up, um, for a little while afterwards and we went on a long motorcycle trip with, with her dad and mom and stuff too. So it's not just the one, but a lot of times you get a chance to interact with, with the parents of these kids and, and you know, they're our age, right? So they're true peers kind of thing. Yeah. Quite a blessing there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's the point. You're building relationships and you're making families. Right? Yeah. And, and we, we want. We want a peaceful world. That's what we want and whatever we can do to help make that happen and When you start when they're young, they're not gonna forget that and you know, we even Greenheart we have leaders, doctors, lawyers It's working in the governments, um, you know, and then we also have, you know, office workers and teachers and they're teaching the kids that, that are growing up. And so you, you start when, when they're young and you build those relationships and they're not going to forget that. I was just thinking about, uh, Katerim, our, uh, Turkish exchange student that stayed with Jill and I. And, uh, one of the big things he wanted to do while he was in America was shoot a gun because guns are strictly outlawed there. And my, uh Rotary Club friend had a property with a shooting range and stuff and, and so we went and shot guns. And man, he was so good at it, because he'd played so many video games and stuff. He knew just how it worked, you know, and, uh, anyway, when you were talking about a peaceful world, I thought I would just interject with that little story. So use them always peaceful, peacefully. He's studying in Poland now. Oh, very good. Yeah. One of the cool things is, is Like, when I post a food picture on Instagram of something that I've created that's probably really delicious. Four out of the first six likes will be past exchange students. Yeah. Yeah. Kay from Japan always, uh, hits that like button quickly and, uh, Karim, also a big fan. Right. Right. So do you still talk to Enrico? Uh, we chat back and forth occasionally on the messenger. Uh, we did have a, uh, whatever, Instagram, uh, video call with him. I guess it was Six months ago or something like that probably but but we'll stay in touch forever, you know That's kind of the way that goes. That's right. Yeah, I bought as much as I talked to my sister Yeah, yeah, sometimes I talked to my past exchanges more than I talked to my siblings I hope you found his luggage I don't think he ever did. I don't think he ever did. Well, Greenheart's problem. I'm sure of that. No. No. The airlines. So, Laysha, are you full time employed then in this capacity? And have you been for a while? Um, so, no. I just, as a regional manager, a part time employee. I see. Um, but as a regional director, you are full time. I see. And I, um, up until This summer I wasn't available to go full time. I see. Um, I was finishing my doctorate degree. Oh, so I needed to focus on that and now it's finished. Tell me about that. Um, so I have a doctorate in transformational education and organization. Really long. Oh my gosh. Do I have to go into that? So my thesis was in regards to how you can teach the sounds of each language. by breaking it down into the motor movements. Because that's what you learn first. You learn the motor movement. Each sound from each language makes, is made differently with your mouth. Right. Well, even just, you know, in trying to pronounce Keterim. Accurately, that's pretty good, like compared to where I started it was like, like Kermit, right? Kareem. Yeah, but you learn how to make the movements with your mouth and then you can say it. Yeah. Yeah, very nice. I can say, uh, birya pretty good now, but only because Alma in my office is, uh, you know, bilingual with Spanish background. And so, uh, I get practiced and I get corrected. Well, most of them will connect you, but except for the one who I kept with and, and and that guy Zekka for six months. And then she corrected me two days late, two days before the end of the semester. You know, that's not my name. That was, that was my exchange student, her name was Aneshka. And I called her the wrong name, like, why didn't you tell me, like, all those months ago? Just like, like, I, when I correct people, my name all the time, so. What's the, uh, what's the craziest? experience that you've had in all of your time either hosting or managing over people and it you can obviously pull a punch It's gonna make green heart look bad. No, no, no. No, I mean, you know, so we were just talking about this the other day So, you know with everybody there's gonna be communication issues No matter what. You're really, you know, when we are dealing with our high school teenagers, they're teenagers, right? So you have to understand, this is teenager, right? Um, mostly it's just about adjusting to living in American life versus living in the life that you've led up until you're 15, 16 years old, right? So, um, in a different country, in a different language, and so in a different town and a different house and a different type of bathroom, a different food, the whole thing, right? So most of it's about communication issues. You know, we, we were talking about how there are more success stories. Then there are. Are we going to get it right every time? No, because we're, we're taking snippets of information from people on paper. Right? Well, and they're, they're real people. Like there isn't nobody that's. perfect or doesn't have gap areas. Right, right. So, um, Rob Douglas, our executive regional director, we have three executive regional directors, and he was saying the other night, it's like, like when you go to date somebody, you don't date just one person, right? You sometimes. Sometimes that's the way it is, right? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And so most of the time it does though, and you have a great time and you date for a while and then it's over. And that's what this is about. It's like you get a student from a different country, you get them for six months or a year, and they're still part of your family forever. You're never going to forget them. You're still going to talk to them, maybe. And it's usually a good relationship. But every once in a while, there's that kid that you're like, oh. I hope I don't see them a lot. You hope it's never over, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you're not going to give me a juicy story. I'm not going to give you a juicy story. Lisa, will you give me a juicy story? I don't know if we have, I'm trying to think of what I've had. It has been communication in, in the ones that I've had. But you had the one about the kid that tried to run away. I mean, that's a juicy story. It doesn't happen, but oh Yeah, so we had a student who thought she could go to Arizona Okay without telling us Did she have people in Arizona or something? Yeah, we ended up having to go, uh, no, the coordinator had to go end up picking her up, but she went with somebody else that we didn't have background checks on, and, and Like chasing a boy, or something? No, she was with a friend and their family, but, um, you know, we didn't have background checks on them, she went without permission, so. So we had a coordinator from Arizona go and pick her up and so, yeah, that is pretty juicy. I'm sure there's, uh, I'm sure there's juicier ones out there. Um, so Lisa, where, uh, where would you like to get a student from next? Are you still going to host? Youth as well in this role. Do you have one now? I did not this year have one, but we still Take them out all the time and we went and looked at lights the other day with some of the kids out out front But yeah, we're planning on doing it again and a country. I think I would choose is Armenia Oh, we have a couple down in Denver, and we did last year, and I just love them. I actually, uh, one of my former co workers at the bank, uh, Navart, uh, is here visiting. She's in Lakewood. We might go see her this weekend. She's an Armenian, uh, immigrant, and, uh, you know, really was the, the person that Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Made me aware of the Armenian genocide and all of that and a banger ping pong player Yeah, she's uh, she's got a winning record against me in ping pong and I'm pretty good as well She's visiting for two three weeks with her husband she's lived in France For the last five years or so And so anyway, I digress but I think it's an Amazing place, uh, it'd be a really fascinating cultural experience, I'm sure. The food's good, the culture, they're great kids. What is the, is the food kind of like Turkish, Middle Eastern kind of? A little bit, I think. Yeah, they took us down to a bakery in Denver and Yeah, flatbreads and different things like that. Yep, and put egg on top of it and dip it in this. It's really good. What's uh, do you travel internationally as well, Laysha? Or have you been stateside mostly? Yeah, no, we've um, had the wonderful opportunity of going to um, England, obviously, France, Greece, Spain. We just got back from Columbia. Um, next year we're going to Italy. I really want to go to Thailand and see my Thai son, and my, to China and see my Chinese students. Yeah. And to Japan. My son wants to go to Japan and take a cooking class. So I like it. Um, yeah. So there's lots of different places that I'd like to go in the, in the future. Is there any one place that you visited that You most resonated with like if I was going to move away from Colorado and America all together Maybe I'd go there. Oh gosh. Um, so I Have that I have the thought so I have two towns that I want to go and spend some time in Tristi, Italy on the Eastern side of Italy right before you get into Slovenia. Okay. And, um, Portugal. There's a town in the north part of Portugal I'd like to spend some time in as well. Interesting. Lisa, same question. Have you been to other places a bunch? I have, yeah. So I've been to Italy as well. Yeah. Um, not the northern part or the very southern part. So I'd like to go back and do that. Um, Brazil. Never been there, but I've always wanted to go. Back in the high school days, I had a pen pal from Brazil. Oh, is that right? So when they had pen pals. Yeah. These kids don't know what that is. But always wanted to go to Brazil. Um, my Brazilian son's in Canada right now, so. Oh, that's fun. Brazil and Canada. Yeah, they seem to have a lot of connection. Brazilians go to Canada and to Australia a lot. I don't know. It's just the, the, the route that they take, it seems. Um, well, we're going to be bringing some of the students in here in a bit, but I think for, for people that are listening to this saying, Hey, I think I'd like to maybe host or at least learn more about what that looks like. Um, can, can we describe the process and maybe Leisha, I'll let you start, but like, what's it look like from a, uh, Student exchange host. perspective. Uh, walk us through that experience. How much does it pay? Oh, no, it doesn't pay anything. There's a little bit of a tax, but yeah. So, um, first thing you go to, um, our website, hostwithgreenheart. org. It's all one word, hostwithgreenheart. org. Um, you fill out a little inquiry form, you know, your name, your email address, your phone number. Um, the, on the side, there's lots of little, um, frequent, uh, Frequently asked questions things and you will answer a lot of those questions but then one of us or another local coordinator would give you a call and we walk you through the process so The application processes, you know, you have to put your do a background check because you have to have a clean background You have to put all that squeaky clean. It's not perfect. I made it through pretty pretty clean Like yeah, you yeah most people can host right but there you know There are some things that disqualify. Any kind of violent crime, I'm sure. Because they're minors, and so we have to protect, um, them. But, so then, um, references. You have to have two references. Um, you, uh, if you're a single person, like you, you're an older person and your kids are no longer in the house, or, um, you, you know, you are, um, a single person and they want to host two students or one student, that's okay, but we have to have three references. Oh, I see. Um, and then you, you do all the application information. You put all your family members in there, your work, how close you are to the airport and what your day looks like, you know, what your weekend looks like, what, what are your expectations, right? We ask, you know, some families have guns. We ask, are you going to keep them secure or how do you keep them secure? Right. Um, we ask you, you know, uh, everything. For including the kitchen sink, you know, do you have air conditioner heater or whatever? That's not something you have to provide a safe and stable place to lay your head exactly and you know We have to have pictures of your house and the front of the house and the kitchen and the bathroom in the bedroom in the living area And somebody comes over to your house and does an interview with everybody who's gonna be living there. Yep Um, that doesn't necessarily include people that are, um, staying there short term, you know, like a, like a family member for Christmas or something, but college age kids, we have to have background checks on too, because, you know, anybody can do something funny. Um, and then we. Yeah, that was one of the more interesting things that was different from Rotary to Greenheart was with Rotary. It was like, well, Rotary made a match. You know, we sent a student here from Northern Colorado over to Japan and a student from Japan came over here to Northern Colorado and this is the student and do you want them or not? And, uh, with Greenheart, it was more like a Sears catalog. Oh, you're like, look, here's a, here's Enrico from Italy. Here's, Sebastian from Czechoslovakia, here's this and here's that, and, you know, you don't get the full file until you push the like button or whatever, but you get quite a bit of information. You kind of, you know, target areas and regions that you'd think you'd like to know more about. Right. Yeah. Well, and even we, you know, after you've done the full screening process, there's videos that the students made now that we've added since last year. Um, we have, uh, letters from their parents that we can share about this, the student themselves and that their teachers say about them and things like that. So we can share all that with you after you have said. You know, yeah, you're going to do this and done the screening process. So we're making the right match for your family, right? Because I mean, that's the point is we're built, we're building families and you are responsible for them staying with you for five years. Don't break them or lose them. No, don't break them or lose them. If they get broken, they have insurance. If they get lost, we have a tracker. Well, life's too 60, right? The expectation kind of is that, uh, you know, food and drink and a warm place to sleep and transportation to and from school. Mm hmm. And if they want to buy fancy jeans or you know, go out with their friends, well, they can figure that out to a certain extent. No, that's on them. Their phone is on them. All their clothing is on them. Their, you know, their movies with their friends and all of that stuff is on them. You're, you're going out to dinner as a family, that's on you. In our case, we generally Because we like to travel with our exchange students so they can see more parts of the country. We went to, you know, California, uh, Chicago, different places with, but usually their parents chip in for the airplane ticket. Correct. And then we'll cover the lodging and stuff from there and, you know, pay for their meals and whatever. Right. Well, and there's different options, you know, like that you're taking them to an expensive city or Disneyland. pay the ticket to Disneyland, or they, you know, pay the cruise fee, or whatever it is you're doing with them. Well, and sometimes the parents are fairly well to do, and that's why this opportunity is available, and other times they're scraping every last thing they can to have this experience for their kid. Well, and we have scholarship students too, Flex and Yes Grant students that are on You know, can be on much more limited. And how do you fundraise for that? Like, who is the funding source for those vessels? The scholarship students are often either ourselves or our partners, right? Like Greenheart, you mean? Yeah, Greenheart or the partners of Greenheart have funded the scholarship for it, right? And then for our grant students, that is an American Council's grant through the Department of State. Oh, I see. So, So there's a certain amount of funding for that purpose and correct, correct. And, you know, we have them from African countries, former Soviet Union countries that, so there's a different Armenia and Turkey and West Bank and, um, you know, Morocco, Ghana. I have a Ghana, Ghani's daughter. We do not get Russia, but we do get Ukraine and all of the countries that were in the former Soviet Union. It's Kazakhstan and Turkestan. Moldova and, uh, I mean, just go, I've been learning about it a little bit, it's a fascinating country. We have a Greek student here you're going to meet here in a little bit. Oh good, yeah. So, um, you guys have any questions for me? What, when are you going to host again? Oh, he tried. So what was your experience with hosting? Um, you know, I would say with, with a lot of respect to Rotary that the Greenheart experience was smoother in some ways. Um, just because of that, that communication and, and, you know, the technology, the videos and stuff. Um, you know, Enrico He was, uh, just so charismatic and like, our neighbors are friends with him on Instagram and stuff and like, uh, he was, uh, setting the pace at the wedding dance when my neighbors got married next door in the fall. Things like that. So there's like, lifetime, uh, uh, he was just, yeah, very charismatic. Manuela, uh, she was a little moodier, um, and loved her just the same. Like, she and I, uh, had some head butting early on that soon resolved into being, you know, a really kind of a special father daughter kind of a relationship. We did some, she was a math whiz, and I'm, I was a math whiz too when I was her age. But we had some fun math. challenges that, that we did together. And I think I like earned her intellectual respect in a way. And it was like, after that it was, we had something that, you know, Jill would never understand. And, uh, so both were really highly positive in the end. Talking about stories, you had a story with Enrico, I think, when he first got here that I thought was amazing. Oh, right. With Jill and your cat. Yeah, that was, uh, yeah, so, gosh, did he just get here that day? He did, or the day after, I think. So, yeah, we had the, the best cat, uh, just about, um, uh, gosh, I can't even remember his darn name, Bootsy and Barley. Barley was this little grey cat, and I was Having some, uh, health issues. I was having, I was in a stretch session. My shoulder was, I was rehabbing it at the time, and that's when I, when I, no, I was getting a massage at Jill's work. Anyway, long story short, I get a text from a friend that, Hey, I think I saw somebody just run over your cat. And Enrico had just come in that day at noontime or whatever, and like was literally there, like putting the cat in a bag with, with my wife. Uh, it had been hidden on the street in front of our house and it was just. You know, he was just so, uh, he was A magnificently emotionally aware person in general and, uh, yeah, the bond between him and Jill for going through that right in that first moment of arrival, just about like it was his first day or two and, uh, you know, I wasn't able to be there with Jill at the, in that time. And then, you know, we, me and him buried the cat in the backyard, sorry, city of Fort Collins. I know it's not legal, but whatever. It's my property. It'll be fine. And, uh, so anyway, um. But he made her a sandwich, and he was just really caring, wasn't he? Oh gosh, it was over the top. Everybody's in tears here. It was over the top. Yeah. Because he was just a great kid, I thought. He was a great kid. And, uh, yeah, he and I, uh, I'm sure he still is. Yeah. He came with our family to, uh, Cancun. That's right. And, uh, I took him downtown, uh, Cancun on the bus to go shake your booties in the club, and I don't shake my booty much, but he had, he had 35 year old ladies dancing with him along with 15 year old girls, and, uh, it was the great, he was just the star of the show, even in Mexico. It was fun. Um, well, I think I'm ready to meet some kids. Okay. And so I think we'll take a, take a pause here and bring those students that have been very quiet out there. Thank you guys. And, uh, we'll bring them in a couple at a time and, uh, get to meet some kids and hear about their experiences there. Are these guys have all been here for six months or five months already so far? Yeah, five months, yeah. Great, so they're full year exchange and here for the second semester too. Yeah. Awesome. Well, we're in a great place to, to hear more from them. And all from different countries. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Okay, we'll be right back. I'm joined now by Anna and Lisa. And Anna is from Czech Republic in the pink here, and Lisa is, uh, wearing a sporty leather jacket from Germany. Is the jacket from Germany? Yeah. Yeah? Mm. And so, uh, let's start with you, Lisa. Where in Germany? That's a big country. So I live in Munich. It's like right next to the Oktoberfest. Yeah, yeah. And so yeah, it's a pretty busy city. And it's really cool there. And how old are you? I'm 16 years old. So how have you adapted to Not drinking beer here in America, don't you start drinking at 14 in Germany? Yeah. Yeah, that's true So it's not that hard You haven't developed a habit to that. No, no, it's like in America It's not a big thing to drink in a young age So if you come somewhere, it's not like a question if you want a beer or something, right? Yeah, very good And how about you Anna? Where are you from? I'm from Prague. From Prague. That's like the big city. Yeah. It's like the capital. Almost half the people or something like that live there? It's like, so we have like 10 million people in Czech, and in Prague it's almost like one and a half million. Oh, okay. So not half, but a whole chunk. Yeah. It's a lot. And, uh, so you're a city girl. Yeah. And how old are you? Uh, I'm 17. 17. So, um, let's, uh, let's keep the microphone on you for a moment, Anna. What, uh, what was your motivation to sign up for YouthXChange? So, I wanted to, like, get to know more culture, and I love traveling, and I want to, like, meet people and be friends with them for the rest of their lives, so I can, like, visit, and they can visit me in Czech, or, like, from the whole, you know. world like from Germany so I can make like friends all over the world. And you've probably met, even just through Greenheart, how many Outside of the other three out here, how many students have you met? So, in my school we have like 14 exchange students. 14 exchange, okay. And, through Green Heart, I met like a lot of people from different countries. And which school are you going to here? I'm going to Fort Collins High School. That's just down the road here on Timberline, right? And same for you? Lisa? Um, no, I'm going on the Frontier Academy High School. Oh, yeah. It's in Greeley, um, yeah. Very good. And, uh, the same question of, of Anna is, uh, what was your inclination? Why did you sign up for exchange? So, my sister inspired me, so She did one year before in exchange year, so I was like, oh my god, that's so cool. I want to meet other people. I want to go in another country. So I decided to go to America to learn better English and just to meet new people and like learn about the culture. How, uh, has your English improved since you've been here? So in the beginning, I couldn't really talk like free cause I was like, I was scared to talk and in class in Germany, it was like, um, I was thinking a lot to like just build one simple sentence and now I can talk. Mostly, like, three without a lot of thinking. I still make a few mistakes, and I, like, still have an accent, of course. But Well, you take I can understand everything. Do you think in German? Um Still? And then translate to English? Or is it starting to become No, like Come right out of English? So, in the beginning, I, like I thought in English, uh, in German, completely in German, but now it's switched. Even my dreams are in English. And it's so funny. It's a big turning point when you start having English dreams. I've had that experience with other exchanges that we've hosted. Same, same for you. Yeah, it's the same. And even if I like talking to my friends from Czech, I forget like Czech words, so I like speak English with them because I just forget the words. So how long, um, For either of you, have you been studying English kind of your whole life ish? Yeah. Yeah. Same. Pretty much. As soon as you go to grade school kind of thing, there's some English classes. Yeah. And then, you get okay, and then you spend six months in America, and it's like, oh. Yeah. Now I can talk English. Yeah. Better. It's like much better since I'm here. Well, and English is such a silly language, just with all the goofy pronunciations and different kinds of words, and finding the right tool for the job is sometimes very hard for non native speakers. So um, what kind of trouble have you been in since you got here to America? Any trouble? They take it pretty serious to not get in any trouble. Yeah, I don't think I had any trouble. I just switched my house to families. Oh. Oh, were you the one that could have potentially moved in with Jill and I? Well, if it doesn't work out, you know where to find us. So, uh, just for a little background, uh, my wife Jill and I were, uh, potentially going to be open to hosting Anna here, uh, Yeah, she's kind of swapped a family situation and how's it going? Pretty good. Really good. I have sister that she's like the same age as me. So that's pretty nice. And I have like little brother. This is like your, your friend, you were like, Hey, can I crash your pad for a little bit? And then as it turns out, her parents liked you too and said, Hey, you can stay. Yeah. That's fun. That's been quite a experience adapting to a new home for you. Yeah. That was a situation actually last, uh, last January, my wife and I. We got rid of our exchange student from Italy on January 4th, and then later on January 4th took in one from Brazil. Uh, that was more of a swap situation. Uh, it wasn't working out as good as we'd hoped. Yeah. So it's unusual, uh, and That's humanity, you know. Not everybody is made to be friends with everybody. Who did you, uh, so you have a big sister. Do you have any other siblings, peers at home, Lisa? Um, no, I only have a big sister. But here, uh, in my host family, I have three younger siblings. Which was a completely new experience for me. Yeah. And, yeah. You've been getting bossed around your whole life, now you gotta dish it out a little bit. Yeah. How young are those younger siblings? So, The youngest one, uh, is Lily, she's six years old. Um, then there's Jojo, he's seven. And then there's Buddha, and he's twelve. Uh, no, he got, no, he, he turned thirteen, I think, on Christmas. So, yeah. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Buddha? Yeah. That's quite the, uh, quite the name. Um, what's your favorite thing about your host home? Maybe not about America in general, but, but their home. family, like, like, wait, the home in America. Yeah, yeah. So I think just that a family's way bigger. Because back in Germany, I just live with my mom and my sister. But here I live with my host dad, my host mom, my Three horse siblings, a dog, a cat, a snake, a bearded dragon, like, it's a huge family and makes so much sense. It's a whole village right there. Yeah, it's, it's just so cool to be in a, like, to be in another family and have, like, new experience. Yeah, very cool. And what's your Uh, background setting, do you have siblings too? Did we talk about that? So, in Prague, I have one little sister, and here I have two siblings. Now you have two. Yeah. And pets too? Yeah, we have two dogs here, and I have a cat in Czech. Do they have dogs in Germany or Czech? Yeah. I know they do, but it can't be common like here, like everybody's got a dog here. Yeah, in like every house there's like dogs. Like, it's not like that in Czech. Favorite American food? Pancakes. Chick fil A. Everybody loves Chick fil A. It's so good. That's true. Is there Chick fil A in Europe at all? No. Nothing. Not at all. Oh, that's an opportunity for somebody. I'm gonna miss that. That's actually, uh, definitely been a highlight. Like, no student has ever They, they will not leave before they've tried Chick fil sacrilege. Um, how about, uh, favorite classes? Uh, and how is, how does the school experience compare? It's easier. A lot easier. Too easy? Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's, here the school is really easy and it makes so much fun because you can really choose what you want to, like, study in German or maybe in Czech too. Yeah, it's, I think it's the same. Like, yeah, like, they give you, like, timetable. Oh, right. And they say, okay, you have now German, now you have English, now you have French, now you have, um Science, whatever. Like, yeah. So it was really cool. When I came here, they were asking me. Oh, what do you want to do here? What do you want to learn about? I'm like, what do you mean? And he was like, oh, you can choose your subjects. I'm like, oh How novel. Yeah, that's cool. It's really nice. Yeah, and you have like classes like yoga. Or stuff like that. I would pay for this. Or like weight class, like in school. It was like so weird. P. E. Right. That's it. It's like one class. And now we have like so many choices. Yeah. Are you excited about, uh, anything in the months ahead? Do you have any trips with your families planned or anything like that? We are planning something, but I don't know what. Okay. Yeah, but. It's gonna be something cool. I think we'll go visit Nebraska maybe because my hostess is coming to the university in Nebraska. Ah. So. Very sexy state over there. No, it's okay. I'm from North Dakota, which is basically Nebraska, but colder. Uh, and how about you, Lisa? Do you have anything that you know you're? We don't have like big plans, but we're going to Ice Castle in a few weeks. So I'm pretty excited about that. Like up in Breckenridge or something in the mountains? I'm not completely sure. I have to like ask them again, but it was a Christmas gift and I'm really excited. So, um. Imagine other young students, maybe American students, are listening to this podcast and wondering should I go overseas? Yeah. Um, what would you say to them? Um, they should definitely go. Yeah. It's like so much experience, like you're on your own. It's kind of hard, but you like learn so many things. Like to be like more on your own and how to deal with like different stuff. Yeah, that spirit of, uh, independence and growing must be part of your wiring. They definitely should go. It's like the best experience ever, and it's the best choice ever to go here. Um, first of all, you might meet so many more people and you get like. learn how to handle things by yourself and it's just so cool. And right now I don't want to go home anymore. In the first weeks I was a little homesick, but right now I'm like, I don't want to leave. Yeah. It's going so fast. I definitely resonate with that. And actually our last student, when she was getting ready to leave, she was like, you know, I've grown so much. You know, I, when I was at home, I didn't have to even really cook or wash dishes for myself or clean up after myself and stuff. I was just kind of this pampered young lady and, you know, homie don't play that in my household. You gotta carry your own and, and she was like, thank you for that. You know, it really grew me as a person. I know I can live by myself if I want to. And I probably don't want to. I like people. So, well, I'm going to ship the next batch of kids in here. And I really thank you guys for being part of the Loco. Oh, so the Loco Experience podcast, we have a segment that's the craziest experience of your lifetime that you're willing to share. Would either of you care to share a Loco experience? Any fabulous crashes on the ski slopes or hot air balloon rides? Well, we were on snow tubing with my host family, like, on Monday, so, like, a few days ago. And it was the new place in Windsor. So it was just opening that day. So we went down, and the lift broke. So me and my host sister needed to, like, walk the hell up. Like, all the way up. It was so bad. Sounds like fun. Hmm, I don't really know. Like, we experienced so many things together, so I can't really think about the best thing. Well, living with a bearded dragon is gonna be interesting. It was, I, I did, till she told me that they have a bearded dragon, I was like, what is that? What, what kind of animal is that? So I googled it up, and it was, it's like a reptile, and it was like, How big it is because on pictures you can't really tell so when I came there I'm like That's huge! Is it like as big as your arm almost? Yeah, it's like, like, I don't know how, like, this. Oh, wow. It's kinda big. I don't know how many inches. Can you carry it around? Uh, yeah, we can take it out of the cage. Yeah, yeah. And it's like, oh, okay, interesting. Yeah, we have like green dog now because we like dye them. So they have like green spots. That's a pretty local experience. Well, you ladies, I thank you again for your time and we'll talk to you again. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. We're back. And now, I'm joined by Loda. Loda. Loda. Uh, from Italy, and by Maria from Greece, and by Victor from Denmark. And I think I'll, I'll reverse the order and start with you, Victor. Uh, where in Denmark? Well, uh, I'm from the Well, my family's from different places, but we come from the island of Shilland, which is the capital island, where you'll also find Copenhagen. Oh, okay. Um, and we're from, right now I'm living in a town called Oskilu, which is a medium sized town just outside of Copenhagen. I don't imagine, like, Denmark's a pretty big country, but Almost everybody is either in and around Copenhagen and the shores around there, or what's, how's, how's it put together geographically? About, we're about the population of Colorado, um, but we're a lot smaller. Um, so around half the population is on that capital island, and the other half is on the peninsula that's connected to Germany. Okay. Uh, and then there's a bunch of people spread around on various islands. Yeah, yeah. Um, and Maria, where in Greece? So, I'm in a little town in the middle of nowhere, basically. Um, I live on a Greek island. Oh, really? Yeah. Which island? Crete. Crete. Okay, so that's the long skinny one, right? Yeah, the long one. I've been on your island before. Oh, that's nice. And, uh, uh, Rodos and Santorini. Oh, nice. All the good places. Yeah, yeah. I think it was Rodos, but we were in like an underground irrigation tunnel that we were in complete darkness for a while. Wow, that's kind of creepy though. Probably wasn't. It was, yeah. Go check it out sometime. And so Crete is, it was almost its own country for a long time, right? Yeah, it was. Like, not part of Greece? Yep. And is it different culturally than the rest of Greece? Actually no. Not anymore. No, not anymore. A lot of years have passed since that time, so we're kind of, we're kind of mixed in with the rest of the country. Very good. Very good. And, say your name for me one more time. It's chill. Ludo. Ludo. Yeah, my name is Ludovica, but everyone calls me Ludo. Ludovica? Ludovica. Yeah. And what's the Americanized version of that? Is there something similar? Um, no. No. Kind of like Ludwig. Ludovica. Yeah. I love it. I come from Perugia. It's a medium sized city near Rome and Florence, so, yeah. Okay. Like between Rome and Florence, kind of? Yeah. I've also been to Italy, actually, on the same trip. We spent two, three weeks almost in Greece, and then a week driving from Venice through Milan and Siena, Florence to Rome. Oh, yeah. Three of the five of us got pickpocketed in the subway on, uh, on the train on Rome. Yeah. It wasn't good. You've heard that story before, probably. Probably. Okay. So, we're, uh What is, is yours a small city that just kind of looks like a suburb of those two then, or is it independent from the rest more? No, it's kind of like a medium sized city. It's kind of like Fort Collins. Yeah, it's big like Fort Collins. Yeah, yeah, so not a small, I mean not a not a small place necessarily. No, it's not a small place. Yeah, yeah, so my favorite question from our last segment was what got you interested in doing youth exchange? Probably, uh, School in Italy is very stressful, so Oh, you just wanted some easy, easy school, actually, for a while. Yeah. That's what I always hear. Is it easier here? Yeah, it's easier. Awesome. I don't have any AP class, so I don't know for AP, but the standard classes are easier than Italian classes, and I don't know. I want to know something new, some new culture and traditions, so, yeah. Fair enough. You didn't have anybody, like, in your family that did exchange before you or anything like that? Uh, my aunt did an ERS au pair. So, it's kind of like, similar. Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. And my big brother went three months in San Domingo. Okay. And Maria, same question. How did you, uh, become interested in becoming an exchange? So, I have always been interested in learning other people's cultures, and how people from different parts of the world think, and basically the differences between people. And I applied for a grant scholarship, and I got accepted. And that was basically curiosity of the human, of the human species, I guess. How old are you three, by the way, Marie, I'll start with you. Um, 15. 15? Um, 15 as well. Okay. I'm 17. 17. Man, Victor, you've got the deepest voice of a 15 year old. Well, it runs in the family. I was like, I was probably 30 before I could even contend with that voice. I was a little squeaker for a long time. Um, and so tell me about, uh, your path to exchange. Well, I graduated from, well, the Danish school system is a little bit different compared to the American one. But, uh, Essentially, we have a base school that goes from kindergarten to freshman year. And I graduated from that a bit earlier than most. Okay. Um, and before moving to high school, I just wanted a break, really, because Yeah. It's It's almost like a gap year. Yeah, pretty much a 15 year old 18 year old like Americans would have. Um, I do find American school a bit easier, but again, I'm not taking any of the hard classes. I'm just taking the classes that I feel kind of comfortable with. Fair. Um, but I've also been traveling a lot. I've been traveling since I was very young. I've been quite a few places. Um, and I just felt like I had the opportunity, so why not take it? Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about, uh, your family. At home? Yeah. In contrast to your family here? Well, it's actually reasonably similar. I've got both of my two parents, and I've got a sister. She's, uh, eighteen. Okay. Um, my host family here, I've got both of my, both of my host parents, and I've got I have two older siblings, a sister at 17 and a brother at 20. Oh yeah. Um, so, I love, I actually prefer being the younger child because that's what I'm used to. Yeah. Um, I would not be ready to be the oldest child in a family that I'm not used to. That was one of these, uh, previous set, gone from being the little sister to the, to the big sibling, uh, different mindset. How about for you? Uh, in LIAD, my parents are my big brother. Did I not say I have, uh, my, my aunt's parents and my aunt's sister, and we are the same age, and they also have two big, uh, big children, so. Oh, grown up ones, or whatever. Yeah. And what school are you going to here? Uh, Frontier, in Greel. Oh, okay. Yeah. And, Maria, what school are you going to? Um, going at Greel West. Greel West, okay. I go to Polaris Expeditionary Learning School. Oh yeah. Here in Fort Collins. A little different kind of experience there too. And Maria, um, same question as these other two, but contrast your home background setting with your, with your host home. So back at home, I have a set of parents, a mom and a dad, and I have a younger brother. And now in my host family, I have two sets of parents as well. I, I have one. Big half sister, she's 18, and I have two younger half sisters. Oh, so you went to a pretty good family. Middle child! Yeah, yeah. I like it. Um, how is Greece? Uh Like, years ago now, Greece had a very troubled economy, and things like that, and has kind of been more integrated, or is it still challenged compared to maybe parts of the rest of Europe, or? Yeah, that's so true. We have been through some rough paths lately, and that's kind of hard for the economy. But we have started, like, getting out on our feet again, and doing pretty well. But I would say there's a big, a big difference between some advanced. Western European countries than Greece. Right. Still kind of playing catch up a little bit in some of those systems. Still trying to catch up. What does Crete, uh, do as an industry? Or, or where, where do they, is they agricultural? Or do they, is shipping still a big part, I imagine, of their Yeah, that's true. We actually do both things. We import a lot of our products to, like, the Western Europe. So we grow our products and ship them. So it's a combination. We grow olive oil, and cheese, and basically local stuff that are actually pretty tasty. Yeah, it's amazing being in Greece and eating the local produce. They're actually, their food is pretty tasty. Yeah. Um, and Italy has a very diverse economy. Uh, yeah. It has always been that way, kind of. And, and tell me more about Denmark. Is it like maritime shipping and stuff a lot? It's also technology, right? Well, yeah, we've got, we're pretty digitalized compared to most countries. We've got a lot of stuff online, um, and we've got a large percentage of the population who are operating online. Um, a lot of our industry is service related. We do have quite a lot of agriculture. We used to be an agriculture nation. Oh, right. The Danish farmers were some of the first to buck and kick, uh, on some of the new policy changes over there. So we do a lot of, um, sugar and we export a lot of pork as well. Oh, yeah. Um, and Yeah, but mostly service related, because we're a small country, so we can't do that much. Why do they have a competitive advantage on pork? It wouldn't seem like a, kind of a small lowlands country without that. I don't know, but we actually have more pigs than we have people. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Interesting. So, I don't know how that happened, but we're big pork exporters. Have you guys, uh, have you watched The Simpsons? Do you know about the Simpsons? I've watched some of it, yeah. Sorry? The Simpsons is an American cartoon comedy. Oh, wow. Anyway, the dad is kind of a, a doofus and there's one clip that I'm imagining where, uh, he's like imagining all the, you know, bacon and sausage and ham and, and the daughter, Lisa, said, Dad, those are all from the same animal. And Homer's like, Oh yeah, Lisa, like some magical animal that has all the best parts. And it is. It's the wonderful pig. Anyway, thanks for sitting along with that story. Wasn't that exciting for you guys? So, tell me about the most exciting thing you've done since you've been here. Um, I went to Oregon and Washington State and it was really fun. Yeah, it's quite a different, uh, geographic zone over there. Yeah. You went to Puget Sound, I suppose, and Fisherman's Wharf, all that. Yeah, I really like the coast and the ocean, so. Yeah, it's a, it's quite a beast in that part of the country. Maria, any special adventures so far? Well, it's not something special for people who are actually from the United States, but football games. Fun school stuff. People are very passionate about extracurriculars. And Stuff like that. Yeah. That's, it's cool. We've got quite a, uh, cultural tradition around some of that stuff. It's not, is soccer, is that the most common sport in Greece, I suppose, and Denmark, and Italy? Everywhere. Everywhere, yeah. If it's Europe, it's soccer. Um, how about you? Any special adventures? Uh, yeah. I did something with the, with my school, as you mentioned, uh, Polaris is an expeditionary learning school, so it's a bit different. Uh, we do things called intensives, which are essentially like, school trips, but like, on steroids, like they're pretty advanced. So I went canoeing, um, here on the Gunnison River here in Colorado. Oh, cool. And just camped on the riverbank for a few days, and that was amazing. You know, we were in, we were in the middle of nowhere. There was no service, you know. Right. Um, no light pollution. The, I slept outside for a few nights, and you could just look up and see the stars. That's quite something. It was amazing. Have you ever had an experience like that before? Like, just off, separate on your own, that Not really, cause Europe is, you're pretty close to civilization most of the time. It's too small, you're like 8 miles from town regardless of how remote. So, I uh, I actually lived in Switzerland for a decade and I was born there, so I have done some off grid stuff in the Alps. Right. Um, but it's still, it's not like You can just ride your sled down to the next village and then you're saved. It's not like, it's not like the Rockies. Yeah, true enough. Um. What, uh, what's your favorite food? Um, I think Panda Express. Panda Express, interesting, okay. Not you, Maria. Do you like the food here? It's pretty good. I mean, I'm not a big eater, so everything's fine with me. Yeah, that isn't one of your driving forces. I think my favorite Greek food that we never get here much is, uh, tomates? Oh yeah. I miss those. Those are, like, very distinctive, uh, and what's the, uh I don't know enough about Denmark, really. Like, is it just, like, German food, but more bland? A lot of Americans don't know a lot about Denmark. Right. Um, well, yeah, we do have some Germanic, you know, ties and ties to Germany. I know what Danishes are. But our, our cuisine is pretty limited. I like to say the, the further south you go, the better the food is. And the further north you go, the, the, you know, less interesting the food is. And it's more unique. But, um, we have a lot of, you know, We used to be an agricultural nation, so you lived off what you could get. You know, it was a lot of potatoes, it was a lot of, you know, grown foods. It was, you know, lots of pork, lots of hearty meats. Um, but we're very good at pastries, as you know. Yeah. Yep, very popular for those. Um, so. Cinnamon rolls, you know, lots of that stuff. And what's your favorite American food? I like your subs. Yeah? Yeah, well Which is your favorite? I went to a couple different places, but I gotta say Jersey Mike's, you know Jersey Mike's? Sure, yeah. Yeah. Have you had a Cheba Hut yet? They're pretty good. I've not been to Cheba Hut. Oh, gotta go to the Cheba Hut. Yeah, it's the best. Sorry, just, you know, Jersey Mike's all compliments to you, but have you been to Chiba Hut yet? Uh, no. No? Well, put it on your list. Yeah. How about Chick fil A? Yeah, I like Chick fil A. It's alright. It's alright. Yeah. It's fast food, still, but you know. Fair enough. Um, what, uh, what questions would you have of me? Like, this guy that's lived here in Fort Collins for 25 years, I've interviewed. 150 people in a long form podcast now that have, mostly that have founded businesses and things. Um, what do you want to know? I've got, I'm an inch deep and a mile wide about Fort Collins and Northern Colorado. Uh, can you tell us something else about your story? I don't know. About my story? Yeah. Why I'm sitting here with this microphone and stuff? Yeah. Well, um, Loco Think Tank is, um, my small business. And that's like a, it's a membership organization for business owners, mostly. Uh, to give them an experience of, like, having a board meeting, like, thing with other business owners. So they can learn from each other how to make their business work better and how to hire and fire more effectively and things like that. So that's my business. I was a banker for many years. Uh, my wife and I do not have children, but we've been married for 20 years. We met in Fort Collins right when we first both moved here. Um, and because of that, we've hosted many exchange students, uh, through mostly, originally through my Rotary Club. And then, um, through Green Heart Exchange, uh, starting last year. And so, that's my connection to Lisa and this group here. Um, and the podcast, I guess just to take it to the third step, is three years old, uh, last month. And, because I have all of these connections to all the business people of the region, I, I know a whole bunch of people. And I've, in my years of banking and of interviewing people to see if they might be a good fit for the think tank, I've gotten good at just asking questions and trying to draw out like how to start a business, how to grow it, what were the times when you thought you were going to crash it, and, uh, just any crazy experiences along the way. Yeah. It's cool. Thank you for the question. Yeah. It's fun. Congratulations on three years. Yeah. Three years in the podcast. We don't make any money on the podcast. That would be great if we did, but 10 years. Next month, the loco think tank, it'll be 10 years old. So. And how do you think, um, since you've. Um, host a lot of exchange students. How has your perspective on the world changed, or has it changed? Yeah, it definitely has changed. Um, you know, I'm excited. I'm trying to build this business to a place where I can someday go and visit all these kids and stuff. And, and have the, the time and financial resources to be able to do that. Um, I've always been endlessly curious about people from other cultures anyway. And it's just kind of affirmed that for me. Um, that kind of desire to relate with people from different backgrounds and, and educational capacities and just, you know, like being, uh, how many people on Crete, Maria? 50, 000 or 100, 000 or not? Yeah, we have quite a lot actually. Maybe a million? Is it that big? Oh no, less than that. Less than a million. So it's like one big city and, you know, that's such a fascinating and different place than the cold frozen tundra that I grew up in North Dakota. Right? Where we, if something is only a hundred miles away, that's, it's easy to just go there and back. And that's part of the culture there. You've probably only been a hundred miles away a few times. Nope. Nope. If we would have been a hundred miles away, we would probably be at the middle of the sea. Right. Exactly. And so, my whole world has always been bigger than Maria's, but in a different way, I've only, like, I graduated with a high school class of five. Uh, and went to, lived in a town of two hundred people. And so there we have a completely, my world was much smaller. Whilst being much bigger, and so even in just that little contrast, and so those kinds of stories, those kinds of interactions have just always been really interesting to me. Thank you for the good questions. I never get to ask good answered questions. Answer questions. So we have, uh, the, the podcast is called The Loco Experience, and we have a standard closing segment with most of our guests, usually it's one on one, of the craziest experience that you're willing to share, and we'll get you in trouble with your, your host, uh, exchange people out here. Does anybody have a crazy experience you'd like to tell the story of? Well, I don't know how crazy this is, but I don't, this wasn't actually from my experience here, but it was, it was in Canada. Okay. Um, I was in Canada last year, and I was in, where was that again? I think it was near Toronto, and it was this place called Canada Wonderland, if you've ever heard of it. Never, but So it's this big theme park, and Like Disneyland, but for Canadians? Yeah. Essentially, yeah. And there was this large bungee jump esque tower where you would get hoisted up, you know, you had this full, you know, suit on, which was connected to a rope, sort of elastic rope, and then you would, it's essentially almost like you would It felt like skydiving. So what you'd do is they would count down and then once they hit zero, you would pull like a release and you would drop and you'd fall maybe a hundred feet more than that. Um, all the way down. And then you'd start swinging, almost like a giant swing. Oh, it was pretty scary, but it was really fun. Um, And actually, later on that vacation, I went to Niagara Falls as well, which was absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. Seeing the falls. We actually went really close to them as well. You can't go over the falls in a barrel anymore though, right? Yeah. Times have changed. Any other crazy experiences you guys want to share? Comes to mind? Well, it's not that crazy, but in my mind, it was crazy. Like, my trip here, sitting on a plane in the middle of a landing. Thinking, oh, I'm alone now, what did I do? Right. That was crazy to me. Yeah, that is a, because you said you're 15 as well. Yeah. That's pretty young. I don't know if I had enough gusto to, uh, go off on an adventure like that when I was your age. So, kudos to you. And if there's somebody, an American listening, wondering, maybe I should try exchange, um, what would you tell them about the why? Um, I think you should, uh, probably because all the people in the world know English, so It's easy for English speakers. Yeah, it's easy for English speakers because all the people know English, so, yeah. I agree with that. Well, you should do it. It sends your personality, it makes you mature, more mature. It makes you think of the world differently. It makes you risk or expect other people of other cultures and the things it is, and it makes you generally a better person. Awesome. I'd say do it, do it, do it, do it Um, if you're thinking about it and you're like, oh, it's, it's scary. It's nervous. Yes, it's okay to be nervous. I was nervous too, but. Once you're over here and it's going to be hard sometimes because you know you're in a new country and you don't know anyone but you can create this amazing network of people and you meet so many new people learn so many new things and If you're up for it, you can learn a new language as well I mean a lot of people come here to you know, evolve their English and as an American You can learn a second language as well. You'd be far better than most Americans But um do it definitely you'll uh, I think you'll regret it if you don't Very good. Well, I thank you. I hope you guys enjoy your, uh, your local branded sporks. Are those the best sporks you've ever had? Fantastic. And, uh, I look forward to, uh, seeing you guys around the community here in the months ahead. Godspeed.