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Cultural Exchange A 'Good Life Experience'

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By LOIS KINDLE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 17, 2008

RIVERVIEW - Like their fellow East Bay High School classmates, Lee Yong Woo and Tomaz Gurgel Dall'Acqua are looking forward to their summer vacations.

But instead of heading to homes in Gibsonton, Apollo Beach and Riverview, they will be headed to South Korea and Brazil.

The two boys are exchange students living for the past five months with Carl Murphy and his wife, Ruth, in Riverview.

Murphy is a community representative for the Academic Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and normally places and monitors foreign students in host homes. This year, though, there was a shortage of hosts, so for the first time, he's wearing two hats: those of community representative and host.

"Normally, we're not allowed to do both," Murphy said. "But there was a shortage of host homes and we were able to find a community rep in Orlando who could supervise our having students stay with us."

After reviewing profiles of the 10 students out of 48 nationwide who did not have hosts, Murphy said he chose Lee, 17, and Dall'Acqua, 16. Both students came for the six-month exchange program, which began in January.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee lives with his parents, Lee Sang Gil, a lieutenant colonel in the South Korean Army, and Kim Sukyung, a cafe owner. His sister, Lee Yeon Woo, 19, is a university student. His favorite sports are basketball and tennis. In South Korea, people use their surnames first.

Dall'Acqua was born in Araraquara, Brazil, and lives with his father, Nelson, an agronomist, mother, Beatriz, and fraternal twin sister, Yara. He swims competitively and won several ribbons while here, and he also plays tennis.

"We both love soccer but cannot even find people to play here," Dall'Acqua said.

After being a bit homesick the first week they arrived in the United States, the boys settled in to a fairly normal routine. They communicated with their families by Web cam and phone.

"At first, I felt like 'what am I doing here?'" Dall'Acqua said in broken English. "But then I realized it is a very good life experience."

Like Dall'Acqua, Lee applied for the exchange program to learn better English and about American culture.

"It's very different here," Lee said. "In South Korea, we show great respect for our elders."

For example, Lee said he doesn't take a bite of a meal until after Murphy does. And when he passes food, he purposefully uses both hands to show respect.

Both students plan to go to college, Dall'Acqua in Brazil and Lee in the United States.

"I want to go to California and go into hotel management," Lee said.

Dall'Acqua is undecided but is sure of one thing: "Whatever I end up doing, I want to use English."

The high school juniors have done more than study while in the States. They've been to Walt Disney World, Adventure Island and Sarasota's Lido Beach.

"Neither of them lives by water," Murphy said. "I've learned a lot by their being here. It's been a long time since my wife and I have had teenagers in the house. It's been interesting because they are from such extremely different cultures."

AFICE students, ages 15 to 18, are from countries around the world. Some are more fluent in English than others, but they all speak well enough to function at their host homes, schools and communities.

While they are in the United States, students live as members of their American families, share household duties and observe rules set by their host parents.

All are covered by medical insurance for accidents and illness, and they receive monthly allowances from their natural parents for school and incidental expenses.

Other than feeding, hosts bear no financial responsibility.

Host families can take a $50 per month charitable deduction for every student staying with them.

To learn about hosting an exchange student, go to www.afice.org.

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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