A sense of excitement washes over a young man and his heart pounds in his chest as he boards a plane going from his home country of Slovakia to America. This is how transfer student Matt Danis felt when he was on his way to Texas for the first time.

One change Danis experienced was the difference with the new scale he finds himself in.

“The biggest difference between my school in Slovakia and school here is the size, my school in Slovakia is not that big, we only have 600 students,” Danis said, “The whole school is much smaller because we don’t have athletics or band usually.”

Danis doesn’t like the lack of road etiquette in America compared to his home country.

“People are not that careful on the roads when they are driving,” Danis said, “they are speeding, they don’t use turn signals, and they don’t really respect traffic.” 

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, which is a landlocked country in Central Europe is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest.Slovakia had always been inhabited by Slovaks, Hungarians, Germans, and Ruthenians mainly and lacks ethnicities such as Hispanic or African. 

Something which caught Danis’ attention was the cultural diversity of America compared to Slovakia.

“There are less cultures in Slovakia, like less diversity,” Danis said, “I like the diversity here, with all those different people you experience more just meeting them or just tasting their cuisine.”

  Danis, who speaks German and Slovak, struggled learning English, but with the help of his teacher he managed to become fluent.

“I have been learning English since kindergarten, but mostly in high school and extra lessons with my former English teacher,” Danis said, “Extra lessons with my English teacher just helped me alot.”

Danis’s agency, International Cultural Exchange Services, decided which state he would be in based on some of his preferences.

“I got an agency and they chose which state and school because I didn’t know which state to choose,” Danis said, “They basically choose the state unless you know where you want to go.”

Danis’ experience with his host family – a family which takes in foreign exchange students – has been fun.

 “My host dad, he is from Germany, he’s been living in the U.S. for 12 years now and my host mom is from Missouri, they’ve been married for 10 years,” Danis said, “I really like them, they are really funny people.”

Danis joined the swim team when he came to America and spoke about his reason for doing so.

“I used to swim back home too,” Danis said.

When he came to the school Danis also decided to join ROTC.

“Since I was little I always liked the military stuff, I used to watch it on the tv,” Danis said, “My host mom said it was something similar so I tried it and now I really like it.”

Danis also gave his opinion on the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine.

“People don’t have to be Ukrainian to show support for Ukrainian people,” Danis said, “Even my parents who live on the other side of the country try to help.”

Danis encourages people to travel and experience the culture of other countries.

“If you could get an experience like this then just go ahead and take it.” Danis said.