[Rick Lee]

Art, it was the best thing I ever did and it changed my life forever. One Sunday in church when I was around 13, the pastor announced the need for host families for a few German exchange students. I was always a German buff and wanted to take it once I got into high school. The guy we took in was a good guy and really lit the fire for me to get into German. I began teaching myself before I started German in high school. When I was a junior I went to be an exchange student in Germany and I went to that class's 20th reunion in Germany last May (I was put back a grade and they go a year longer than we do). I still keep in touch with all my friends there. One girl from Austria, who was in the group with our German exchange student, is still a dear friend to this day. She is three yrs. older than me and I've visited her about 20 times in Austria, went to her sister's wedding and feel like they're my second family. I was just there in May. Austria is a slice of heaven. I would live there in a heartbeat. But what they speak ain't German. Some folks laughed when Obama called their language Austrian, but that's really what it is. In written form, it's German. Not so in spoken form. My German is now almost as good as my English and I can easily pass for a native when visiting there.