Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a real-life rendition of “High School Musical”? For any foreign exchange student, the answer to this is “YES!” For our friends overseas, there are a lot of questions about American high school life. Do we really break out into song in the middle of class? Are football games actually that fun? What are grades like? Well, get excited because former foreign Dub Ebba Sjoberg is back to dish the dirt on real-life experiences from her junior year at NAHS.

For starters, academic life is a lot different here than in Europe. Our Swedish sister seems to appreciate the lower-stress approach that her home country takes. In contrast, she liked the group projects she took part in during her time here. “I loved the collaboration aspect in America,” said Sjoberg. “But we don’t really have that in Sweden. Our grades are mainly based on a few big essays and exams over the course of the year.”

While acclimating to a new school in a new country, Sjoberg quickly found her favorite class: journalism. She loved learning new approaches to writing, and it helped that her teacher, Mr. Stenger, was creative and exciting to learn from. “I really enjoyed journalism because I learned new things about the media I take in every day,” she said. “Mr. Stenger’s creative approach to teaching was just the cherry on top!”

In terms of life in good old ‘Merica, Sjoberg says the movies she’s seen are pretty spot on. She’s really enjoyed telling all of her friends back home that cliques really can be cliquey, and football games are everyone’s highlight of the week. “Ok, so maybe there’s no singing in the halls,” she said. “But there was definitely a real-life Troy Bolton, and it’s so cool to share with my friends that the movie really became a reality for me.”

It seems that from the outside looking in, life in America really is like all of our favorite high-school movies. Although it’s not perfect, it’s so cool to be able to share our country and learn about other cultures. We’re lucky to be able to have these experiences with people like Ebba and show them the real Yankee life. Vi saknar dig (we miss you), Ebba!