Greta Harms is a 17 year-old EF foreign exchange student from Cadenberge, Germany. She lives with her host family Rance, Robyn, Lauren, and Rylan Miller in Meeker. Recently, Greta achieved a third place finish in original oratory at the state competition.
Joy: What made you decide to apply as a foreign exchange student?
Greta: I’ve always wanted to go to the United States, so when I was old enough, we decided to apply for it. I think I just liked the fact to go see another country for a whole year, meet new people, and just have fun.
Joy: Did you get to choose where you go?
Greta: No. Personally I didn’t pick a state, but [EF gives] you the option to do so.
Joy: Were you excited about it when you learned it was Oklahoma?
Greta: I didn’t know a lot of things about Oklahoma before I came here, but I was just excited in general. So yes, when they told me, I was really happy.
Joy: You picked the US though, right?
Greta: Yes, I did. In my program we get the chance TOW to pick between Ireland, TO POLIT The United Kingdom, and The United States. I’ve been to the UK before and Ireland was too close to Germany for me, so I picked the US.
Joy: How did you feel when you landed at the airport and saw your host family for the first time?
Greta: I was really excited. They all brought posters and were super nice. I felt really loved.
Joy: What’s your favorite thing about the US?
Greta: I don’t know if I have a favorite thing about the US, but there are a bunch of things that I really enjoy.
For example, [I enjoy] all the extracurricular activities after school, the sport events, the people in general, and the food. Of course, there are even more, these were just a few examples.
Joy: What is your favorite thing in the United States that you can’t have or can’t get at home?
Greta: Definitely the food. Especially fast food.
Joy: What’s your favorite fast food?
Greta: Chick-fil-A. Joy: What do you miss most about home?
Greta: Chick-fil-A.
Greta: My family and friends, obviously, but the food too. Some sim-walking WN ple things OF like WELLS and taking WN around OF town WELLS TICAL F a bike instead of a car. Most of the time, those are things you don’t really pay attention to until you don’t have them anymore.
Joy: Do you feel like there are a lot of language barriers?
Greta: Not really. I’ve been learning English for almost nine years now, so it really wasn’t as hard as it may seem.
Joy: What about different slang words or slang terms?
Greta: My host mother, Robyn, explained a lot of them to me, so now that isn’t a big problem anymore.
Joy: You’re doing Speech & Debate at school and went to State, right? How often did you practice your speech?
Greta: Yes, I did an Original Oratory, which is a self-written speech that is 10 minutes long. We all practiced a lot, almost every day. Even though we practiced a lot more for Regionals than we did for State.
Joy: What is the speech about?
Greta: My text is about cliches and stereotypes and how they affect the people in specific countries and the country itself. A bigger part of it was also about patriotism TON and how we can solve TON ORUM specific problems with education.
Joy: What’s the biggest stereotype here about Germany?
Greta: I think that the biggest stereotype is definitely that we constantly drink beer and go to Oktoberfest, which is not true at all.
Joy: How many competitions did you attend?
Greta: Let me think, I’m pretty sure it was five, including State and Regionals and one online competition.
Joy: Were you nervous? Greta: Oh yes, for sure. Joy: What did you do to calm down?
Greta: I usually take a deep breath before I start speaking. That really helps me calm down a lot.
Joy: Did you do that before every time you spoke or just for state?
Greta: Most of the time I do that, but not every time, just when I’m really nervous.
Joy: How did you feel when you advanced to the final round?
Greta: Well, my good friend, Allie Jarvis, and I were waiting outside for the results to be hung up in the student union.
Before we could even go and look, my other friends ran out of the building and hugged me. Then they told us that I advanced into finals. I was just really overwhelmed by the emotions.
Joy: And when you got third?
Greta: I cried as well. never expected myself to come that far. I was simply shocked, but super happy and excited.
Joy: The state competition was at OU? What do you think about the campus?
Greta: The campus is beautiful, honestly. I really enjoyed it. We even walked around campus a few times during the breaks.
Joy: Do you think you’re going to keep up communication with your family when you go home?
Greta: Yes. 100 percent. They are basically my second family now and I’ll make sure to visit them as much as I can the next couple years.
Joy: What else will you miss?
Greta: School. I have all of my good friends there, especially my best friend, Elisa, who is an exchange student as well. I’ll also miss the teachers. Ms. Brooks was definitely the one person that got me out of my comfort zone and helped me realize that hard work does pay off. I’m really thankful for that.
Joy: Would you ever want to come back and visit?
Greta: Yes. I’m thinking about coming back next year during spring break.
If you are interested in becoming a host family for the EF Exchange Program in the 2022-23 school year, please email miller11946@yahoo.com.