MARK WAITE / PVT A group of foreign exchange students gathered around the picnic table at Terrible's Lakeside RV Resort Friday include, clockwise, from lower left, Davide Pozzoni (Italy), Laura Haubold (Germany), Vivi Van Aert (Holland), Raphaelle Wettstein (Switzerland), Soranan Harnajaroen (Thailand), Marianne Flakk (Norway), Eric Heyden (Germany), Carol Yan (Hong Kong) and Jesus Carrero (Venezuela). Advertisement

A barbecue on the beach at Terrible's Lakeside RV Park Friday afternoon seemed the ideal way to say "bienvenidos" or "willkomen" to a group of foreign exchange students entering Pahrump Valley High School this fall.

Seventeen students are participating in an exchange through the E.F. Foundation for Foreign Study, originally a Swedish outfit, now based in Boston, that has placed over 90,000 students from 40 foreign countries in homes since 1979.

When asked what was different about Pahrump from their home, the first answer, from Madelen Naslund of Sweden was, "It's hot."

Naslund arrived Aug. 2; others are still flying into Pahrump.

Jesus Carrero, from Venezuela, said Pahrump is a lot more spread out. Carrero said his town in Venezuela has more residents than Pahrump, but he can walk from one end of it to the other in 45 minutes.

Lisa Holleman, a local coordinator of the exchange program, said three students are arriving this week and need to be placed in homes: an Austrian boy, a German boy and a Finnish girl. Holleman can be reached at 209-3282.

Host families are asked to provide a room, meals and a stable family environment. Students must have their own room and a quiet place to study. Parents must be at least 25 years old and be willing to undergo a thorough application process.

Holleman was giving the foreign exchange students, clad in swim suits, a long list of instructions around the picnic table Friday afternoon.

"Don't get all your dirty clothes and expect your host mother to do your laundry. Don't put all your dishes in the sink if that's not the rule of the house. Wash them and put them in the dishwasher," Holleman said.

Some students had to be given instructions in how to use a dishwasher, she said.

Holleman said some of the "ethnic" food in the U.S. -- for example, Swedish meatballs, Italian spaghetti or Spanish rice -- wasn't the same as back home.

A few of the foreign exchange students will play soccer at Pahrump Valley High School. Another was taking part in football practice as the kicker during the barbecue. Still others had their sights set on playing volleyball.

Holleman said Carrero, from Venezuela, is the third South American student hosted in their home. She jokingly talked about touring South America sometime in the future, visiting her student's families.

Jim Gatling was one of the host parents attending the barbecue.

"Every kid's different but they're all good kids," Gatling said.

The students sitting around the table Friday spoke English, but not all do.

"One year we had a French student. Her English was terrible, she spent the first couple of months with the English dictionary. She would point to words, her English was very halting. By the end of the year she had great English," Gatling said.

Two other students who stayed in his home came back to visit Pahrump after they graduated from high school, Gatling said.

While it takes some time out to drive the students around, or otherwise cater to them during their stay, he said, "it's fun. You get more out of it than you give."

"It's a neat experience in their culture and letting them experience ours," Gatling said. "They like going down to Vegas and seeing all the sights down there. A lot of these kids come from very small towns."