NPR: Exchange Students Tackle Football, English In Oregon

Scroll down the [Unity, Oregon, Burnt River] Bulls’ lineup, and all seems typical ”” at the beginning, at least. There’s Caleb Andrews, a senior fullback, from Hereford, Ore. There’s Justus Wise, senior halfback, also from Hereford.

But after that, the Burnt River lineup turns into a trip around the globe ”” Kan Bakai Uchkun Uulu, left guard from Kyrgyzstan; Szu-Yao Su, quarterback from Taiwan; Jovan Radakovic, left end from Serbia. Not to mention Ju Hyoung Park, right end from South Korea; Cem Erdogdo, right guard from Germany; and Ban Du, center from China.

Six foreign exchange students have turned the Burnt River Bulls into a virtual United Nations in helmets and pads.

These 15- to 17-year-olds plopped down in the Eastern Oregon town of Unity, population of about 120, for a crash course in rural America. Like a lot of remote areas, Unity brings in exchange students to increase funding for schools ”” and for the cultural give-and-take with the locals.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, Education, Globalization, Sports, Teens / Youth