Exchange student enjoyed Sisters

Max Kahnt came to Sisters for a whole school year at Sisters High School as part of the foreign-exchange program.

Kahnt said that he decided to come to America because he wanted to see America based on what he saw in the movies.

"I would see movies with America as the setting and would say to myself that's a place I want to see and I wanted to see it for myself," he said.

He said that he had done foreign-exchange programs in other places like Poland, and he said, "Why not come to America?"

He had never heard of Oregon until the program told him he was coming to Sisters.

Max said that the school system here is a lot more lax and free than it is in Germany. He said that Sisters schools offer more classes, and way more classes that are geared toward student interests.

"I took woods class and that was definitely my favorite class I took here," Kahnt said. Max also talked about how much he enjoyed playing football and lacrosse. Max said that in Germany sports aren't as huge as they are here. He said football was his favorite sport to play and to watch. Max played defensive tackle on the Outlaws team this past fall.

Kahnt stayed with the Hudson family of Sisters and he said he couldn't have all the experiences here without them. He said that the thing that he enjoyed the most about Sisters was the view of the mountains that he got to see every morning and every night from outside his window in the Hudson home. He also enjoyed the very tight-knit community feel and the culture that exists here. He said he made a lot of lifelong friends here and plans to come visit them in the future.

The Nugget asked Kahnt what surprised him about Sisters. The student's approach to his adventure meant that in a sense everything and nothing was a surprise.

"One of my friends from Germany did a foreign-exchange program and he told me to not come with any expectations and just to let everything come," he said. "I really tried to not have expectations; I wasn't surprised by anything because every single thing was something new and surprising."

When Max goes back to Germany he has two more years of high school, and he will then move on to medical school. He wants to go into the medical field and become a surgeon.