By Jordan Dooley
Reporter
Spirited students hustled through Silverton High School hallways perfecting last minute touches on Homecoming decorations.Some students frantically searched for glue sticks, as others hurried to clean up their mess from the past two days, but one student seems just to be enjoying the ride, as she walks down the hall with a smile and an offer she was ready to help.
That one noticeably calm student was Alice Bury, who looks at last minute decoration malfunctions as just more excitement to her life changing adventure.
A SHS senior, Bury's venture is her nine-month stay in Silverton. Born and raised in Umkirch, Germany, Bury admits she loves the comfort of her small hometown, but yearned for the adventure of seeing another culture.
Her desire to visit a foreign country inspired her to become an exchange student, and a few months later she found herself packing for a school year abroad.
In August, Bury waved goodbye to her family and said hello to the United States. Flying from the Frankfurt airport to Boston, Bury spent two weeks there for orientation and then caught a flight to Portland where she met her host family and began the experience of a lifetime.
Bury's host family, the Wolfard's, immediately helped in getting her set up and ready for school. Bury quickly realized how kind her host family is and describes her host brother, Blake, as being “very nice and funny."
Once comfortably settled with her host family, the most daunting part of her stay still awaited her; starting school. While other students primped their hair and worried about not having friends in their classes, Bury had others things on her mind.
“I was very excited, but worried about everything," Bury said. Bury has attended football games, school dances and the Homecoming bonfire.
Participating in such new activities, Bury admits it was comforting to partake in something a little more familiar to her life back home; the Oktoberfest.
“Even though the Oktoberfest here is much smaller, it reminded me of home and made me a little less homesick."
Home, which for Bury is 5,365 miles away, is rather similar to her life in the states. Although the two countries have distinct differences, Bury recognizes that her days in either continent practically consist of the same activities.
Like back home in Germany and here in the states, Bury's days are filled with school, work and friends. Despite some initial homesickness, Bury is adjusting to her life in Oregon and having an incredible time.
Whether cheering on the Foxes at football games or hanging with friends at school dances, Bury seems to be living her American life to the absolute fullest.
