This year, unlike having five or six foreign exchange students, Randall is only hosting one.

Soraya Hintz is a sophomore foreign exchange student from Germany.

“We get a lot more rain, we have [forests,] and we celebrate Christmas Dec. 24,” Hintz said. “We don’t have Halloween or Thanksgiving, but we have our own celebrations that are a bit like it.”

Hintz said she arrived in the United States Aug. 22 to the greetings of her host family, the Banks.

“They are a lot like my own family,” Hintz said. “I don’t think the way a family is changes much in different countries.”

Hintz said she misses her family in Germany a lot, but she wanted to travel and being a foreign exchange student gave her that opportunity.

“I wanted to see something new,” Hintz said. “I always liked traveling and somehow America attracted me.”

Although she loves her home country of Germany, Hintz said she is enjoying her time in the United States.

“I like the people and Randall and Amarillo,” Hintz said. “I like knee boarding and I like the mall, but I don’t like ranch dressing.”

Hintz said she is getting used to the language and new conditions of Amarillo and America, and is getting involved with many activities in both the community and the school.

“I’ve been to the fair and my first rodeo and I liked it,” Hintz said. “I [also] like Randall, it’s just one story and pretty flat but large. I like the pep rallies and I like the football games.”

Though Germany is approximately 5,000 miles away from Amarillo, Hintz said she will take in everything from her experience in the United States.

“Everything is different, the people, even the food, and [I] get homesick,” Hintz said. “But it’s worth it.”