THE GRYPHON, FRTOAY, MAY 12, 1978 - PAGE 7
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America was always like a big dream.
I'm going to miss everybody, bui I'm gonna
work during vacations and holidays and get
money to come back.
If I could do it over again, and I had a
choice if I could go anywhere, even
California, I would like to come here.
It's like leaving home again.
P*rler, A.F.S. Foreign Exchange student, reminisces about
her year in Rocky Mount.
Perler returns to Switzerland
Karl Bestwick
By CLIFTON BARNES
“It’s like leaving home
again.”
AFS student Regina Perler
returns to Switzerland June 30,
and she spoke on the subject in
almost a regretful tone of voice
with her head bowed.
The 17 year-old from Marly,
Switzerland admits her heart is
still in her native land even
though a piece of it will be set
aside for Rocky Mount. “I
would prefer living in Switzer
land because of the mountains,”
says Regina, “but I would like
to take the people here back
home with me. The people are
more friendly here.”
Regina has been packing and
sending items home so she can
meet luggage weight require
ments. These are sad times for
her a^ for her hosts, Barbara
Wuymk and family. “I don’t
feel like I’m leaving,” says
Regina, “but them sometimes it
hits me all of a sudden.” This is
when she reminisces on the
year.
Memories
“This year has passed the
fastest of all my years. I
remember so good the first
speech I gave,” Regina smiling
ly says. “It was to the student
body, and Blythe (Matkin),
Toretta (Pollard), Barbara (Wu-
yciak), and Courtney (Sazama)
wrote it, and I didn’t know
what I was saying. I was so
scared.”
Regina saw ' many places
while here that she had heard
about back home. “America
was always like a big dream,”
says Regina before taking a
bite of fresh strawberry pie at
Shoney’s Restaurant. “Umm,
this is really good!” Regina
continues ... “I saw New York
and the tall buildings and the
pollution; it wasn’t as bad as I
thought it would be.”
“But anyway I saw Washing
ton, D. C., the White House and
the Washington Monument. ..
Also I saw, what is it?” She
ponders for a second, “Rhode
Island? Yes, that’s it, and I
went to Wisconsin.” Regina
also took a trip with AFS
students to the Outer Banks. “I
couldn’t believe I was swim
ming in the ocean. The beach
looks like the movies,” says
Regina.
No Regrets
With all of this Regina has no
regrets about living in Rocky
Mount. “If I could do it over
again,” says Regina as she
shakes a finger, “and I had a
choice if I could go anywhere,
even California (it’s supnosed to
be so beautiful), I would like to
come here.”
“I like the school, the people
and the family,” Regina asserts
in no uncertain terms. “I never
though I would get so attached.
I feel I got one of the greatest
families in AFS,” says Regina
after her last bite of pie.
“You know people, especially
older ladies, always say ‘look at
her cute dimples and her red
cheeks!’ I cannot stand it,”
Regina jokes as she shakes her
head and pushes away her dish.
Nobody ever said anything
about it in my country.”
Gained Much
The fair-skinned, cute-dimpl-
ed, red-cheeked Swiss feels she
gained three main things from
her trip: self confidence, a
better understanding of the
English lan^age and the peo
ple of America, and friends.
“I was shy before I came,”
remembers Regina, who was
never away from home for
more than two weeks. “When I
was with a group of people and
they said ‘yes,’ I said ‘yes.’ But
not anymore, oh, no!” says
Regina, actively using both
hands for gestures. A little bit
of a blush appears when she
states, “I really tell what’s on
my mind now.”
Barbara Wuyciak agrees,
“She has become Americaniz
ed; she voices her opinions
repeatedly. She was really op
en. She had to do as the
Romans do, I guess.”
The second thing Regina got
from her visit was knowledge
of the language and the people.
“I had two years of English,”
Regina says, “but I really
learned English while here.”
Regina recalls the trouble she
had at the beginning. Wearing
a delicate smile she says,
“When they (AFS) picked me
up I didn’t understand a thing
except ‘we are your AFS fami
ly’ and driving home they were
all talking to me, so I smiled
and nodded and said ‘ya, ya.’ ”
Regina now is well on her way
to mastering English and with
two more required years of
high school left, she is far ahead
of the others and could master
the language. That’s something
few Americans do.
As far as friends go, Regina
has made some through memb
ers of AFS and many on her
own with a disposition as sweet
as Swiss chocolates and a
dynamic, yet soft, personality.
“The friends I’ ve made, seems
like I’ve known them for a
couple of years,” says Regina.
Regina believes that friend
ship in Rocky Mount is more
^^oup-oriented than in Marly.
“In my country I have a friend
and me, a friend and me,”
Regina says while flipping her
hands in circles trying to ex
plain. “But here you have a
group and I think that is really
neat. I’m going to miss the
group of friends more than
anyone besides my family.”
The young people of Switzer
land often dress up as Ameri
cans, but Regina has learned
that their idea is not quite
correct. “When we wanted to
dress like Americans,” Regina
says almost embarrassed, “we
would put on jeans, a T-shirt,
suspenders, and chew bubble
gum and blow bubbles.”
Readjusting
“It’s going to take a while to
adjust again,” Regina fears.
Regina, who corresponds al
most every week with her
parents, is the oldest in a family
of seven which includes three
brothers and a sister, and, of
course, her mother and father.
“I can’t tell if I’ve changed that
much,” says Regina as she
stares off into the night. “I
want to see what my parents
and friends think of me.”
Since Regina has been in the
United States, her youngest
brother has entered school.
“Mom wrote and told me that
my little brother came up to her
and said ‘I never thought one
year was so long’,” Regina says
twitching a half-way smile. “I
think he will be changed the
most.”
Another problem Regina an
ticipates is her relationship
with boys. “Here you can talk
to a guy alone or go out with
him,” says Regina shyly, “but in
my country everyone says
‘Ohhh’. You just don’t do this
unless you are going steady.”
May Come Back
Regina is optimistic about
coming back to Rocky Mount
one day. f
“I’m going to miss everybo
dy, but I’m gonna work during
vacations and holidays and get
money to come back.”
Everybody’s going to miss
Regina Perler, too. American
sister Barbara Wuyciak says,
“If it had been anybody else, I
don’t think it would have been
as fun. We’re going to miss her
a whole lot. Whenever I hear of
Switzerland, I’ll think of Regina
and this year.”