Fred Heda: World Traveler

Guest Blogger: Carol Johnson

In a effort to share the joys of hosting an exchange student, I have asked host parents to weigh in on their hosting experiences with regards to their 2014-15 exchange students. Today's featured student is presented by his host Mom, Carol Johnson of Bryson City, North Carolina.

Fred Heda: World Traveler 

We're the Johnson family; Carol, Wally and Tim. Our new addition for the 2014-2015 school year is Fredrik Heda. Fred is the third student we have hosted and our first experience with a German student.

Fred was shy and quiet in the beginning, over a short period of time we got to know him. He enjoys soccer and track & field. His favorite subjects are math and sciences which he studies intently, hoping one day to attend university and become a chemist.

Since Fred arrived he has participated in many activities, one of his first was exposure to cold water tubing in Deep Creek, here in Bryson City, NC. He informed us, early on, that he wanted to do a lot of traveling. We took him to New York City and he spent some time with our family in Northern New Jersey over the Christmas holiday. There he had the opportunity to visit the Statue of Liberty. Rounding out the trip was a Giants' football game, walking in New York seeing Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Broadway and 42nd street. 

In January he had an opportunity to visit Hawaii and had a wonderful time with the exchange-sponsored program. He also joined student trips to Philadelphia, NYC (again), and Washington DC. In June, he plans to travel to the West Coast; California, Arizona, and Nevada. Fred also enjoyed a trip to Charlotte, NC to see our extended family and there we learned that he really enjoys sushi! Over the past 10 months, we've learned the types of games he enjoys playing with the family; Monopoly, Yahtzee, and UNO.

He enjoyed an American Thanksgiving in Bryson City and got to see plenty of snow and ice! I enjoyed hiking trails with Fred in Deep Creek and saw several waterfalls. In February we went to Athens, Georgia to attend the exchange student's MidYear Retreat and met all the other exchange students in our three-state region. Shortly after, we traveled to South Carolina to see the Greenville Warriors take on the Florida Everblades hockey team. We had a lot of fun and were joined by The Cox family from Greenville who hosted Chris from Germany.

Fred eats a variety of food here in the USA. He enjoys fish and seafood and he enjoys having access to local markets with fresh fruit and vegetables. Fred has been kind enough to cook several German dishes for our family, which we have also enjoyed.

We hope this experience will encourage Fred to be more outgoing, feel confident when meeting new people, accept change more readily, and try many more new foods and activities! 

We will miss you Fred - Good Luck!! 

Wally, Carol, and Tim Johnson

Relaxation!

I GH Apples?

Tubing with our FLEX & YES students