German foreign exchange student Charlotte Nölle has embraced the chance to play volleyball during her time in Coupeville. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Every day is a new adventure for Charlotte Nölle.
The graceful, friendly young woman from Germany has only been a foreign exchange student for a short time at Coupeville High School, and yet she is already enmeshed in American sports culture.
Playing volleyball for the first time (other than a brief dalliance with the sport in PE class back home), Nölle is embracing life with her new teammates.
“I really enjoy being a part of the volleyball team,” she said. “Every teammate helps me a lot and supports me.
“The best part of volleyball is all the time the team spends together; I really enjoy to be with all those amazing people.”
Nölle, who was a horse rider in her native country, chose volleyball as a way to experience something new in America, and she seems to be enjoying the opportunity.
Whether in the thick of on-court action, where her height comes in useful, or cheering for the Wolf varsity along with her JV teammates, she is a bright presence in the CHS gym, a smile always gracing her face.
“To play volleyball in a team is new for me,” Nölle said. “I have no experiences in that sport, except for playing it one or two times in a PE class.
“I decided to play volleyball, because I enjoyed to play it in my PE class in Germany and I wanted to do a team sport at school.”
Nölle, a 15-year-old who hails from a small town in the north of Germany, has settled in with her host family, which includes fellow CHS sophomore Megan Thorn.
The family has welcomed a stream of foreign exchange students over the past several years, and the fit has been an ideal one.
“It was important to me, that they find the perfect host family for me,” Nölle said. “To have a nice host family is the most important thing in an exchange year.”
While in Coupeville, Nölle, who rode horses four times a week in Germany, will join Megan Thorn in the local equestrian world.
A veteran of horse-jumping and dressage, the Wolf newcomer will try Western-style riding for the first time.
“An interesting time is waiting for me,” Nölle said with a smile.
In her free time, the world traveler enjoys reading and listening to music, and hails the Julia Stiles romantic comedy “The Prince and Me” as a favorite film.
Her journey to the US has been one she started planning early in life.
“I was about 10, when I decided to become a foreign exchange student,” Nölle said. “And the interesting thing in being an exchange student is, that you learn more about other countries, their cultures, to become more independent and of course to improve your language skills.
“And that are things I am and were interested in.”
Part of the adjustment in coming to a new country is getting used to the differences in the school system, such as Coupeville’s class schedule.
At home, German students often stay together in the same class, studying all their subjects as one group.
“Our school system is very different to that one here,” Nölle said. “It’s more like a family in the form of one class.”
When she returns to her home after this school year, she’ll rejoin her high school and then “go to university, but I don’t really want to think of it right now.”
For the time being, Nölle is quite happy to focus on her adventure abroad and get the most out of her 10 months in Coupeville.
“America is very different to Germany,” she said. “But I think I did pretty good at getting used to it.”
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