Beaufort County teens share culture with teens from around the globe

Young, excited voices filled a meeting room at the St. Helena library branch late Saturday morning.

Those voices were all speaking English, but the speech was flavored with the accents of South Carolina, Japan, Brazil, Germany and many more places around the globe.

Teens from Beaufort County got the chance Saturday to mingle with a group of foreign exchange students and share experiences, culture and a bite to eat.

The event, billed as an international teen summit, was organized by the student exchange program Foreign Links Around the Globe and the BlackButterFly Foundation, a local group designed to provide Beaufort County children with unique cultural experiences.

By meeting teens from around the world, it “open(s) up the world for the (Beaufort County) kids.” local FLAG coordinator Connie Polk said. “It allows them to branch out and see what the rest of the world is like.”

BlackButterFly Foundation founder Angel Ryan agreed.

“There is life beyond Beaufort,” she said. “Don’t be afraid; there are places all around the world with things to offer and experiences. A lot of our kids are afraid to venture out on their own.”

Beaufort High School student Vanessa Farmer said, “I would love to travel, especially to Europe. That’s something I’ve wanted for a really long time.”

Hearing what life is like for teens her age in other countries feeds her travel bug, she said.

Raven Porter, a student at Beaufort Christian School, said events like Saturday’s summit emphasize the importance of “trying new things out and seeing people come together.”

The exchange students, who spend 10 months with host families around the Lowcountry and Savannah areas, seemed to revel in the opportunity to share their culture, including homemade food made with recipes from their native countries.

The teens brought German desserts, polenta, Spanish cheeses and samples of many other global cuisines.

The exchange of ideas and experiences went both ways.

“Most Europeans think of America (in terms of) the movies,” said Valerio Petris, who was born in Italy but lives in Spain. “I thought that, too. But in the end, we are more or less the same in Europe and America.”

Mizuho Oyama said she felt a major jolt of culture shock when she arrived from bustling Tokyo.

“It’s kind of like the country here,” she said. “Things are slower. But people are really nice, and really I like it.”

“It’s a really good (opportunity) to be able to meet new people that I would probably never meet,” Oyama said of Saturday’s summit.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Beaufort County teens share culture with teens from around the globe."