Root beer floats.
For 17-year-old Terhi Kaplag of Finland, the tasty treat has been one of the highlights of what will be a six week exchange visit with the Stuart and Melody Archibald family of Sweet Home.
Kaplag is a member of the Lions Youth Exchange Program. Her sponsorship is through the Lebanon Lions Club of which the Archibalds are members.
“I like the root beer floats very much,” Kaplag said.
She said American food is much like that of her home country, although she hasn’t tried corn fed American beef because she is a vegetarian.
A senior at her high school in Villade, Finland (about 100km from Helskinki), Kaplag enjoys the arts, especially music.
“She’s already bought 11 CDs since she’s been here,” Melody Archibald said.
She’s also a movie fan, a passion shared by her host family, which includes 10-year-old Jaclyn.
Although she has no specific plans after high school, Kaplag is considering attending a university. Her father is a policeman, her mother is a secretary and she has an older sister.
Her hometown is about the size of Sweet Home and although pretty, the countryside is much flatter with far fewer trees.
“Finland has many lakes but not so many hills,” Kaplag said.
The Archibalds are old hands at hosting international students. They have hosted four students from Japan, three from Australia and two from Peru.
During Kaplag’s visit, another Finnish student will spend about three weeks with the family.
“We started hosting students when we lived in California,” Melody said. “Terhi is our fourth student since we’ve lived here. We think it’s important to have intercultural exchanges of ideas and cultures.”
The family has taken Kaplag on several field trips including visits to the Columbia Gorge, the coast and to the high desert.
“She was surprised that Oregon has so much geographic diversity,” Melody said.
As chairman of the Lions Club exchange committee, Melody said a nice part of the program is that prospective host families have the opportunity to review student applications and match interests.
“It’s a great program. You don’t have to be a Lions Club member to host a student,” Melody said.
Jaclyn says she plans to start visiting each of the family’s hosted students when she turns 16.
For more information about the Lions Club Youth Exchange program, call Mrs. Archibald at 367-4867.