Article was initially published in the Statesville Record & Landmark, March 5th, 2012

by Preston Spencer, Statesville Record & Landmark

Msimu Abdullah, a foreign exchange student from Zanzibar, Tanzania, struggles to match the right words to her emotions about the time she’s spent in America.

“Days like this, you can’t describe them,” said Abdullah, who is currently enrolled at Lake Norman High School. “They’re so new. It’s different and they’re so beautiful.”

Abdullah and Nora Hesselbarth of Zurich, Switzerland, have been living in Mooresville since August with Laura and Dana Dahlgren. The two, who are both juniors at LNHS this year, are the sixth and seventh exchange students hosted by the Dahlgrens since 1999.

“It’s an experience where we mutually share,” said Laura Dahlgren. “I get to learn about their home lives and (culture) and in turn they get to live with the crazy Dahlgren family. You develop really truly life-long bonds with their families.”

Laura, whose own two children have graduated high school, said it’s been wonderful to see the bond between Abdullah and Hesselbarth grow throughout the year.

“At first, they were more getting to know each other, like friends,” Laura Dahlgren said. “Now, it’s a deep love.”

The exchange students’ experiences have been exciting – Abdullah experienced snow for the first time on a ski trip – and disappointing – Hesselbarth said the way students at school treat their teachers is disrespectful.

Abdullah is spending her school year at LNHS as part of a program called the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange Study (YES). YES was created post-9/11 to encourage understanding between American culture and the culture of those from countries with large Muslim populations. Abdullah said she was overwhelmed by how welcoming everyone has been and that the way people express love here is more open and vocal than at her home. However, Abdullah said the overall community she lived in at home was much more connected and close-knit than the one she experienced in Mooresville.

Hesselbarth is with the AFS exchange program and is receiving school credit for her year, which Laura Dahlgren said was rare for exchange programs. Abdullah and Hesselbarth said they have enjoyed getting to know their peers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

&ldquo;At the beginning, they ask you question after question,&rdquo; said Hesselbarth. &ldquo;Then, they get bored of you and they leave you alone. Then they realize that, hey, you are a (normal person) and they accept you.&rdquo; Hesselbarth said her high school in Zurich, the same one attended by Albert Einstein, is much different than LNHS, with classes scattered throughout the day and lunch off-campus.</p>

“It’s more like college where I go to,” Hesselbarth said. “When you go to school here…it’s kind of like more a prison.”

The Dahlgrens took the girls to Disney World during Christmas break, an experience each said was fantastic. Abdullah said seeing snow for the first time was fascinating, but cold, and that skiing was definitely not for her, claiming too many falls as the reason.

Laura Dahlgren said losing the girls in June will be tough, but that she will be

visiting each family and staying in touch. &ldquo;This is going to be really hard,&rdquo; Laura Dahlgren said. &ldquo;The girls have really wedged themselves in my heart.&rdquo; Hesselbarth and Abdullah expressed the same sentiments, and said the time spent was valuable.</p>

“I think every day was just like a blessing,” Hesselbarth said.