From Sweden to Harpersfield Township

By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

April 26, 2009 10:17 am

— HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — Kerington Craft always wanted an older brother.
The 18-year-old Geneva High School senior, who has a younger brother in 14-year-old Dacota Craft, was excited to welcome a foreign exchange student through the American Field Service (AFS) exchange student program and was even happier to learn her new “brother” would be 18-year-old Joacim Wanseth of Stockholm, Sweden.
Wanseth and Kerington Craft certainly have the typical brother-sister relationship.
“We fight like brother and sister,” Kerington Craft said. “It is fun to have someone my age in the house, but it is definitely like gaining a brother.”
Eager to experience life in America, Wanseth never thought twice about joining the AFS experience.
“My mother was a foreign exchange student,” Wanseth said. “She got me really excited about the idea.”
Moving from the city of Stockholm to the country in Harpersfield Township was a little shocking to Wanseth, especially as the Crafts have a flock of chickens and roosters pecking around their backyard.
“I never heard of Geneva, Ohio, before,” Wanseth said. “I looked it up online right away.”
Wanseth said he misses public transportation and the ease of city living, but he threw himself into the America high school experience wholeheartedly.
Where high school students in Stockholm don’t participate in organized sports, Wanseth joined the Geneva High School football, track and wrestling teams and participates in weight training.
“All we have (in Sweden) are clubs, not really sports,” he said.
Wanseth also will graduate with the Geneva High School class of 2009 in a ceremony unlike anything in Sweden.
“We have ceremonies, but we don’t have the gowns and funny hats,” he said.
Before he goes back home in late June, the Craft family will treat Wanseth to a vacation in Canada, mom Tammy Craft said.
“We tried to help him fit in as much as possible and to make everything as comfortable as possible,” she said.
Dad Joe Craft even opened his wallet for new bedroom furniture for their guest.
“We want to take him out west to see even more of the United States,” Tammy Craft said. “If we could keep him here longer, we would.”
The Craft family won’t have to wait too long to see Wanseth after he goes back home. The Wanseth family hopes to travel to Ohio for Christmas and the Crafts plan to visit Sweden soon after.
President of AFS Geneva Charlie Kohli said the foreign exchange program, now in its 50th year in Geneva, relies on local families to open their hearts and their homes to students.
Kohli is looking for a family to host a student next year. Often, Kohli said, the host family of a local high school senior.
The Craft family became involved in AFS through the recommendation of the Privitera family, who hosted Camille Minguely of Switzerland last year.
“Hosting an exchange student is a wonderful experience for everyone involved,” Kohli said. “The benefits to the community and the students from abroad are immeasurable. This is a long, proud tradition in Geneva.”
Kohli said the AFS application process is fairly simple.
For more information on hosting an AFS student, call Kohli at (440) 466-7091.

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