Rufus Elging is our most recent exchange student.  He comes from Stockholm, Sweden and from a family of four: his mother is a book editor; father is the librarian for the Swedish military, and a brother.  His host family has a mother, father, 2 sons and 2 daughters and one away at college. He is starting to get used to having so many people in the household. He says the 8-year-old “sister” follows him around like a puppy.

In Sweden, the equivalent to our high school is called gymnasium, which covers grades 10 to 12. Rufus is in the 11^th grade over there and is considered a junior here. Sweden does not have sports as part of the school system. Sports are a separate endeavor and according to Rufus, you must start in a sport when you are young. That is why he was so glad that his host family signed him up for some sports activities at his school here, including cross country this fall. He likes basketball, running and soccer (called football outside of the United States). He tasted turkey for the first time when he had a turkey leg at the Minnesota State Fair (kudos to the Miller family for getting him there on the final day). The turkey leg was so big he cradled it like a baby.