Almquist is a JHS senior who traveled to Japan for 10 months during her junior year. Sucic is native to the European country Croatia, and has attended JHS for six months. Almquist will graduate at the end of the school year while Sucic still has another school year to finish upon her return to Croatia.

“The Rotary program was said to be one of the best, and it is,” Sucic said of why she chose to study abroad.

Being a foreign exchange student allowed the duo to experience a completely different culture than the one they’ve grown accustomed to. While abroad, Almquist lived with a variety of host families as Sucic has during her stay in Jamestown.

“It constantly puts you in these new environments and these new things,” Almquist said of the Rotary program. “You learn about the people around you and the people yourself and where you fit.”

Petra Sucic

While both admitted there are downsides to being a foreign student in an unknown environment, neither of them will forget their unique experience.

BROOKE ALMQUIST

“It was really great,” Almquist said. “I thought it was an amazing experience.”

Despite constantly standing out in a crowd during her stay in Japan, Almquist views her trip as a once in a lifetime experience and “valuable.”

“It’s definitely something you can only get in a specific time in your life,” Almquist said.

Brooke Almquist

After landing in Japan, her drive into her hometown for the next 10 months was majestic. Seeing the unique architecture of homes gave her a sense of excitement. For her, she realized the Japanese people are just like Americans carrying out their daily lives just in a different fashion. But as time went on, she realized the cultures are, in fact, much different.

Initially, riding along on a bus down an ordinary street, Almquist recalled being blown away by the architecture of the houses.

“It just looked like a different world kind of,” she said.

Quickly, she realized behind the unique architecture were families just like there are in the U.S. However, after several months her perspective switched again.

“It’s a really different experience, culturally,” Almquist said.

From her school routine to how foreigners are treated, Almquist said the good and the bad aspects of her trip were “interesting.”

For the first three months of her stay, she stood out. Other students would approach her to take photos with her, a lot. As the only blonde, American student, at least initially, she was the focus of her fellow students.

“I almost want to describe the the first three months (as if) I was like a celebrity because literally everybody was focused on me and after that it just cut off and suddenly no one cares,” Almquist said.

Almquist attended a school known as Kin Show in a city comparative to Buffalo in size. There, the Jamestown student had to wear a uniform to classes, something she was not used to in Western New York. With a tie, a tucked in shirt, a skirt and sandals and socks, it took Almquist a while to get used to her required attire.

She said much of Japan’s school system was based on respect and leads to more organization. In Jamestown, she said students are given more guidance and almost “babied” when it comes to organization and attendance in class.

“We really make sure everybody is in place, but in Japan, there’s like none of that. Everybody just stays in place (in Japan),” she explained.

Additionally, Almquist, seperate from her almost celebrity status upon arriving, was treated differently during her stay. She described it as if they were treating her with an almost positive prejudice.

In conversation if she had any minor grammatical errors or misspoke in Japanese, the person speaking to her would quickly shift to English even though Almquist wanted to test her Japanese. This experience was frustrating at times for her when she wanted to fully experience the Japanese culture.

On one of her trips outside of her temporary home, she experienced another act of kindness. Traveling by herself, Almquist didn’t know the way around this unknown foreign city.

A Japanese woman remained with her for a large portion of her visit to ensure she made it to where she needed to go. Almquist admitted she would have never gotten off the bus at the correct stop had it not been for her new-found friend.

“Japanese people are really sweet,” Almquist said.

Initially, she chose to study abroad in Japan because of her interest in linguistics and language. For her, Japanese was one of the most difficult languages to learn, and that’s why she chose it.

She knew going in her experience would be different than how she perceived it prior to landing in the foreign country. But in the end, the “beautiful” architecture in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto and Okinawa made her trip unforgettable. While she’s unsure if she could live there, Almquist does, however, want to return and do an entire “sweep of the country.”

“Japan is such a beautiful country,” she said.

PETRA SUCIC

Being a foreigner, Sucic anticipated standing out in a crowd of Jamestown students, but she didn’t anticipate having to persuade one of her teacher’s she was in fact a foreign exchange student.

“(The teacher) thought I was making a joke,” she said.

Much of this has to do with Jamestown’s diversity, Sucic’s European ancestry and the fact she’s been able to speak English for much of her life.

Sucic didn’t choose to enter the Rotary Program to simply travel. Her intention was to try “emerging into the culture” in the “land of dreams,” as she put it.

After seven months, Sucic is surprised that she doesn’t miss home as much as she anticipated. This isn’t her first time outside of Croatia, but it is her first time in the states.

“I’m good here,” Sucic said laughing.

She also said she would consider coming back to America whether that was in the form of a visit or an extended stay.

Two primary reasons she chose to come to America was the pull of the Rotary Program and the school system here.

“What’s really different and was the reason I chose the states is the school system because I was really interested in it,” she said. “I like the fact that you can choose your own classes here.”

Sucic is from the capital Zagreb with a population of more than 800,000 in 2015. Jamestown’s population was just short of 30,000 in 2010 and Chautauqua County’s was almost 130,000 in 2017. So the ruralness and the lack of public transportation was a shock to her.

Due to her native environment, Sucic was hesitant to ask other students for a ride to her host home. In Zagreb, or any city with a dense population and more accessible public transportation, such a request may be considered more of a burden than a simple favor.

“It’s not like a huge favor where as at home it would be a big deal to take someone home,” she said.

Separately, Sucic thought her American classmates would be more open. While they were nice, she noticed many students her age have already chosen their friend group and their interests which clashed with what she set out to do here.

Overall, Sucic has enjoyed her experience in the U.S., one that will continue into the summer months when she’s traveling through the vast geographic variations of different states.

“I think it will definitely help me a lot,” she said. “Even in the 6 months (at the time of the interview) I’ve changed a little bit. I guess I have a broader perspective on everything.”

During her stay, she has been mulling what career she wants to pursue. So Sucic is taking advantage of the various courses she can take at Jamestown to further broaden her perspective and experience.

Sucic favored law as a career choice before traveling to the country, but now she is taking this time to consider more opportunities. She even has been joining as many school-related clubs and sports programs while she’s here to better understand the culture.

“I’m just trying to do as much as I can and try out a bunch of new things –things I would never do,” Sucic said. “If someone told one or two years ago that I would do this I wouldn’t believe it.”

Sucic will technically graduate at the end of the school year which she described as “fake graduating” because she still has one year left of high school when she returns to Croatia. But Sucic is confident her current adventure will lend itself to her career and life going forward.

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