For students, school beckons in a couple of days.
It marks the end of summer recess and the beginning of a new school year.
At Elgin High School, the start of school will bring two new foreign exchange students — Vîctorîa Nika and Ingvild Bekkeseth.
Both girls are 17 years of age and will be staying for the next 10 months with Kurt and Peggy Hanlin who reside here in Elgin.
Vîctorîa comes to Elgin from Taoyuan, Taiwan. Her father is an engineer and her mother works as a professor’s assistant at the university there.
Ingvild’s home is Vikersund, Norway, a community of approximately 3,000. There, her mother is an optometrist.
The community is known worldwide as the home of the world’s biggest skiflying hill, Vikersundbakken, which regularly hosts the World Cup in skiflying.
“Winter lasts forever (where I come from),” Ingvild said. “Snow can come in October and won’t melt on the ground til sometime in March or April.”
Both girls said they are looking forward to attending Elgin High School and participating in school activities as each enjoys dancing and music.
Vîctorîa said she wants to improve her English while Ingvild said she’s looking forward to not only improving her English skills, but to experience another culture.
For the complete story, see the print edition of The Elgin Review
