They - young and attractive - filled the whole big hall of the editorial office with the shine of their happy faces and the ringing of their excited voices.

They - are five out of the six winners for the LDFA cultural exchange program: Julia Kucherova (school No1), Natalia Solovieva (now is a student of Moscow musical college named after Shnitke), Alyona Pipenko (a student of the university of Dubna), Olga Inozemtseva (school No.3), Alexander Leonov (school No.6) and Leeya Sirazieva (lyceum No.67, who didn't manage to come). The competition for the program took part more than a year ago. Last summer Russian families hosted 6 American students, and this summer our students spent 35 days in the families of their families of their American friends.
They were speaking so emotionally about their American life (these are the very words they used to describe their journey, organized and sponsored by the La Crosse - Dubna Friendship Association): "We were living the way they live, and were doing the things they do." While speaking they seemed to recollect and experience once again everything they've seen so deeply that they didn't remember to name themselves. Their one for all story can be summarized to the following.

What are they like, Americans?

'The first thing that impressed us as we came to La Cross, is that all people are very friendly: you just go down the street and people smile to you."
"These are not just common words, this is not just a "shift" smile but it's really so: an absolutely unknown person can come up to you and, smiling, say hi or may compliment you on a nice hairdo, clothes and wish you a good day."
"In such a way they show their good attitude to you, their interest etc.,"
"They may simply smile and say hi, although you are not acquainted."
"Another great thing was our host families. They were very hospitable, they took such a good care of us so that we didn't feel that we were so far from our home."
"In the families we stayed with we were treated as real members of the family."

Our towns look alike.

"La Crosse is a small city as well as Dubna. Dubna is situated on the Volga River and La Crosse is on the Mississippi River. In La Crosse as well as in Dubna people know each other and by the end of our stay there many people recognized us when met and even called by names."

Families.

"In the family I stayed with there are 3 boys and a girl and I felt great as I've never had brothers! There weren't a single day when I was bored or missed home! My host mother took such a good care of me, she even cooked Russian meal several times - she tried making borsch soup for the first time and it was so delicious!!!"
"I was staying with a wonderful family, I got to know many interesting people, their relatives. Two days we spent at their cabin, which is by one of Great Lakes, there they had a reunion party with all the relatives from different states. It was very big party because of the celebration of anniversary. There were people of different ages - everybody had a lot of fun!"

Cultural program.

"We all went to South Dakota, there we saw Mount Rushmore, a monument with four presidents carved in rock, different museums, national parks - a lot of things.
For example, a huge park with vast territory where there is a road. You are given a map and you just follow the way and enjoy beautiful views and watch wildlife - the animals are absolutely used to visitors and are not afraid of cars - which is surprising."
"We saw the Crazy Horse monument - a huge monument which is still under construction. Only the colossal face of Indian chief is completely done at the moment - and to compare - this only face is the size of all the 4 faces of the presidents carved in the Mount Rushmore."
"We swam three days in the pool filled with mineral water."
"We spent three days in Wisconsin Dells - a town not far from La Crosse - which in fact is an amusement place: there are water parks, amusement parks, cafes, restaurants etc. We spent three days in a water park in the USA - Kalahari Resort! It was great! I've never swum that much in my life! There were huge slides - I've never seen anything like that before! At first the slides were scary a bit - we shouted and screamed. We also went to water-slide show, to the cinema, on boat trips�"
"The family I stayed with took me to Minneapolis - to the Mall of America, the biggest mall in USA. It is huge and very beautiful! There is an amusement park inside it and we went there, and then we went to a supper show. So many impressions!!! We didn't have a day do be bored!"

We worked.

"In our agenda we had several work days - everybody had 3 of them. At first we worked at the River fest on the occasion of Independence Day. Three days we worked in turn and helped one of fast food restaurants to prepare food in the open air sell it."
"One day we did a car wash. We liked it! We were attracting people to stop and have their cars washed - we had a placard with a sign. And if stopped and found out that we are from Russia, they asked us questions, wandered if we liked there, how we felt away from home. That talking to people was really interesting."
"One day we spent in the Salvation Army. It was also very interesting to see another side of American life. There are about 80 % of well off people in La Crosse - they have beautiful cars, own houses, so working there we saw another type of people who come there simply to eat and search for shelter."
"It's big building with a canteen, bedrooms, bathrooms. Such shelters can usually be found in big cities. When people come there they fill in specially required forms, all the facts are checked - if a person really doesn't have enough money, they help him as they can."
"Working there we helped in the kitchen and cleaned the rooms."
"When we were in Chicago we were shown the slums - which contrasted a lot with all we had seen in La Crosse."

Were parting like relatives.

"About half an hour we couldn't get into the van and leave for the airport. Everybody was crying: Russian and Americans, children and parents� We became so close to each other. They are our second families now."

Has this trip change these young and attractive Dubna students? I think it was. The unfamiliar atmosphere of unknown place - our editorial office (where even commoners feel somewhat uneasy) - they didn't feel reserved. On the contrary - they were expressing their minds and emotions freely and without any hint of embarrassment. Obviously well brought up, they gained that American personality freedom: I feel THIS way, I think THAT way, I'm OPENED for you. In the way they sat, talked, everything - one could easily guess the acquired self-assurance. They smiled widely, openly - American-like. Later they said they looked a bit strange here with that permanent smile which simply meant their inner happiness and kind attitude to the people around. So this smile is shading away day by day.
Let's hope that the more young people get "infected" with this American feeling of freedom and happiness of existence, the sooner we'll have the new progressive generation formed.
As for the next eight exchange program, the competition for being chosen to the group will soon be announced. As for Russian chaperone, a teacher at the linguistic department of the University of Dubna, Svetlana Prozhirko said, all the willing 9 to 11 grade school students can compete. The committee will evaluate the participants according to the following criteria: they should have studied well at school, been active and sophisticated, well brought up, and, certainly, speak English well enough to communicate with their potential friends.