Philipp Menny, a 17-year-old from Freibure, Germany, says when he met the Brown family in August, they embraced him and made him feel as if he had a second home in Marion.

Before I came, I was wondering, Are they nice?’ and Will I be accepted?’ he said. But they turned out to be very nice. They have treated me like a third son, so I just added and made a larger family.

Culture is a gift to be exchanged, and Kathleen Carroll is proud to be a part of a program that links people of different cultural backgrounds together.

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Carroll, a graduate student in history from Carbondale, said her job as the American Scandinavian Student Exchange’s local contact for the Southern Illinois area gives her the opportunity to help Americans share their world with others.

The focus of the program is to try to provide students with the opportunity to see and experience America up close, she said.

Carroll was instrumental in joining Philipp and the Brown family for the program.

The ASSE International Student Exchange Program, a non-profit organization, provides host families for international students from Europe and Asia. The students have to be 15 to 18 years of age and speak fluent English.

All of the students are required to attend a local high school for one school year and are encouraged to participate in school organizations and activities.

The program provides the students with knowledge about America, both academically and culturally. If students become actively involved in the American culture, Carroll said they receive more than a fictional insight into what American culture is about.

They come and live like an all-American teenager, she said. On the academic level we expect them to learn American history and politics. On the cultural level they learn that everything in America is not (Beverly Hills) 90210′ or Melrose Place.’

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James Quisenberry, the immediate past director of International Programs and Services and a member of Rotary a substantial funding and support group of international exchange programs, agrees that an exchange program is essential.

It’s a good idea in order to promote world peace through understanding, he said. It gives Americans contact with other cultural perspectives, because they don’t understand the value of culture exchanging.

It also gives people from other countries an in-depth view of America, and what better model than the Midwest opposed to the East and West coasts.

Philipp’s host mom, Maxine Brown, said he has added a new dimension to her biological family and opened their eyes to certain things.

He’s added a new, humorous perspective to our family, she said. We were already a fun family, but Philipp has added to that. Philipp asks a lot of questions, so through him we become more aware of aspects in our everyday culture.

And while the Brown family and most Americans take advantage of things like apple pie, baseball games, getting a driver’s license at the age of 16 and growing up with movies like The Wizard of Oz, Philipp did not experience these things before joining his host family.

Another aspect of American culture that surprises him is the dating game.

Having a girlfriend here is very expensive, he said. In Germany, both people share paying for everything. But here, if you go out to eat, then it’s the boy.

Because the exchange program has worked so well on a high school level, Carroll said it would be a good idea to expand the program with college level students. However, she has reservations about the success of such a step.

I’d like it to expand, but I don’t see it developing in the near future, she said. It would be hard because that would involve four years out of a student’s life, not to mention the financial burden.

Quisenberry said exchange programs are implemented on college campuses, even at SIUC.

In some ways it’s already in existence, he said. There are fellowships for studies abroad programs that have been in existence for some years at SIU. But, United States’ students aren’t really interested in going to other countries for whatever reasons.

What Philipp has gained from America, he will take home and share with his family. The host family he will leave behind will not be forgotten.

It’s going to be a lot of mixed feelings, he said. I’ll be able to see my family again, which is very good. But, of course I’ll miss my second family a lot. We’ll stay in life-long contact.