"Rotary, Door county will not forget their smiling Colleen" from the December 28, 1976 Door County Advocate
By LINDA ADAMS
Rotary, Door county will not forget their smiling Colleen
By LINDA ADAMS
When South African exchange student Colleen Wienand returns to her home in Welkom Jan. 2 she will take many things — an American flag, awards and personal gifts in addition to the love and friendship of a great many city and county residents. But what Colleen will leave behind for those in Door county will be the biggest gift of all — a better understanding of her homeland; a greater appreciation of our own heritage and traditions and a bond of friendship spanning 10,000 miles.
Colleen will leave Sturgeon Bay Jan. 2, just a week short of her arrival here in January of this year. Since arriving in Sturgeon Bay nearly 12 months ago she has lived with three families, attended two Door county schools and traveled extensively throughout the United States.
COLLEEN WIENAND
The Sturgeon Bay Rotary club sponsored her stay in Sturgeon Bay together with the Rotary club in Welkom. Her host families in Door county have been Rotarians Ralph Herlache, Ed FitzGerald and Joe Zettel.
While living with the Herlaches and FitzGeralds she attended Sturgeon Bay high school and when she was at the Zettels she attended Southern Door high school. During the summer months Colleen, together with a group of exchange students, traveled throughout the west going south to Oklahoma and Colorado and north along the west coast up into Canada.
Looking back over her year in the United States and especially her stay in Door county, Colleen had a lot to say about the people, the country and their ideals.
“One of the things I will want to tell people when I go back home is how friendly and concerned the people were here. Everyone has tried to make me feel at home and has welcomed me into their families,” Colleen said.
“Whenever I was feeling down there was always someone to help cheer me up. When the earthquake hit Welkom everyone was so concerned about my family (the Roger Wienands) and were very helpful.
“Although I am anxious to get home to my family it will be difficult to say goodbye to all of my friends."
Traveling throughout the United States during the Bicentennial-election year also gave Colleen an insight into the patriotism of the American people and a better understanding of the democratic process in this country.
“I have been so impressed with the patriotism of the Americans and I would like to be able to take it back home with me. I love the way everyone sings the national anthem at the beginning of the sports events, and when the Rotarians say the pledge of allegiance at their meetings it gives me the cold shivers," Colleen says.
“I especially like the school spirit. We have school spirit back home but it isn’t the same as what they have here.”
South Africa has only had television for a year so Colleen says she really hasn’t got into the TV habit, however she was impressed with the way television was used to cover the elections.
“I found the debates and the conventions interesting to watch. Most of the time. I think the coverage of the club candidates was very good. Both sides are always given and if you want to read you can find out everything about the candidate’s views." According to Colleen, “It is important to know about your candidates when you vote."
She did decline to say who she would have cast her vote for if she had been voting in the November presidential election.
Colleen says she has enjoyed attending Door county schools. Comparing her experiences here with school back home Colleen points out there is good in each system.
“The structure of schools in the two countries is different. There is more freedom in the American schools and less formality. I especially like the class participation and discussions in my classes here.”
Colleen has taken a variety of classes. She has been involved in the choir, received the Quill and Scroll award for working on the school newspaper and received a theatre award for helping with a play. She says she will also miss going to basketball games and the dances.
In addition to keeping up with her school work and extra activities Colleen has been very active throughout the year speaking to different schools, organizations and Rotary meetings. She has a slide presentation of her homeland and is always willing to answer questions and clear up any misconceptions that exist about South Africa.
Inevitably the apartheid question arises. Even in view of the highly publicized black student riots this year Colleen still contends the American news media tends to emphasize the bad, minor points of the conflict and does not give a true representation of the total picture of the racial problems that exist in South Africa.
With a brother fighting in Angola, Colleen says she feels close to the situation. Although she acknowledges problems do exist between the races and the different working classes she feels they are problems that can be worked out.
Besides the close friendships she has developed in the county Colleen says she also has developed a love of the countryside and the weather, yes, even snow. Because they never have snow in Welkom Colleen says she will hate to leave the wintry country to return to summer in her homeland.
Throughout the winter months she has had the opportunity to cross country ski and she loves being out in the snow. She even bought ice skates and managed to master some of the techniques.
During the summer months she was introduced to sailing and boating and says she would love to join a sailing club when she returns home. Although Welkom is land-locked there are small lakes nearby.
Colleen thinks she may have lost some of her (British) accent during the year and even picked up a bit of the American slang.
She says she never had any trouble adjusting to American foods, in fact feels she may have enjoyed it a bit too much. One of the things she will miss when she returns home are chocolate chip cookies. “They don’t have chocolate chips back home so I’m going to take a bag back to make some for my brother," Colleen says.
Although it is always nice to be home for the holidays Colleen says she has thoroughly enjoyed Christmas preparation at the Herlaches. “We have Christmas trees back home but I've never strung popcorn or cranberries. Most of our Christmas customs are the same but of course we never have a white Christmas," Colleen said.
Two days after she finally arrives home after her 16 hour non-stop flight from New York Colleen will attend a national Rotary convention in South Africa along with other exchange students.
After that she hopes to get a job as a travel agent for a year to earn money to go to the university. Colleen says she would like to become an elementary school teacher.
As her year here ends she can’t say enough about the friends she will be leaving behind and all of the beautiful and interesting things she has seen in Door county and throughout the United States. She found the Rocky Mountains exciting but also loves the water and greenery surrounding the Door peninsula.
When she returns home Colleen says she will probably be asked to speak from time to time about her journey throughout the United States. She has taken many slides and says she will be anxious to tell them about the American people. “I will probably talk mostly about Door county — about the agriculture and farming, the shipbuilding, the cherries and apples and the schools. But mostly will talk about the people.
[from January 4, 1977]
Mayor Orville Austad gave exchange student Colleen Wienand a gold key to the city to take back to her homeland, South Africa. Colleen spent 1976 In this country under sponsorship of the Sturgeon Bay Rotary club.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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