When Sarah Mellstrom, daughter of Mark and Kathy Mellstrom, went to Germany last fall, she found that her first host family were not right for her. It is not that they mistreated her or were not concerned, but their lives were too rigid, too bound by customs. She even disliked their food, which was mainly bland meat and potatoes.

Luckily, Sarah met a girl who had studied in the United States last year. They became close friends, and Sarah found the girl's family to be more relaxed and welcoming. The two mothers got together and arranged for Sarah to move in with the second family. She reports that this family makes pizza "just the way we do at home."

Except for breaking her wrist in one accident and her jaw in another, the rest of Sarah's year stay in Germany has been pleasurable. She lives near Feldkirch, a city in the Alps on the eastern tip of Austria, over 300 miles from Vienna and only a few miles from Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Its population is about 22,000, but that doubles in the tourist season -- that is, ski season. It is known for its chocolate and cheese.

The mountains around Feldkirch are "the most beautiful in Austria, Sarah said. She also has enjoyed the beautiful towns of Graz and Bregenz, the latter being very old and quaint.

Sarah knew no German until January 2002. She was tutored in Northfield and has improved since her arrival in Austria so that now she speaks the Feldkirch dialect so well she is mistaken for a native. She goes to a local high school where she finds her classes comparable to those she had in Northfield. Most of her classmates will go on to specific career training when they graduate; only a few will go to a university.

She has made many friends. They hang out mainly at coffeehouses, which are open until the wee hours of the morning. She has traveled with friends to a rock concert. She went on a school trip to Rome for a week. She took up snowboarding when she went on a Rotary-sponsored skiing week. That's when she broke her wrist. In July, she will travel to Denmark with her host family.

Recently, she teamed up with Northfielder Jessie Singer, another Rotary Youth Exchange student, to travel to Spain. They spent some time in Alicante, Spain, with the parents of Bruno Garcia, a Rotary Exchange student who has lived with the Mellstroms in Northfield for part of this year. The girls also visited Madrid and Toledo.

She has also taken part in political activities, on the liberal side of issues. She marched in a demonstration against a politician who wants to divert funds from schools to military hardware.

Sarah is one of about 7,000 young men and women between the ages of 16 and 19 who study in foreign countries sponsored by the Rotary Youth Exchange program each year. She plans to attend Connecticut College next fall.

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