JUNE 8, 1965
Carla Fasting Gives Her Thanks in Farewell Note
I remember that I was very confused during my first few days at Maine West, mainly because it was so big. My school in Wassenaar, Netherland, has only 600 students. So, you can imagine that the change was great. But from the very first day at school I received a lot of help. I especially would like to thank you, Jan, for being my sister, and for helping me so much, and Ten Prochaska for being my AFS guide this year. There are many more people who have helped me, and contributed to this happy year, but it would be impossible to name them all. So once again I want to say thanks to all of you."
Many of you have asked me if I have changed my opinion about Americans now that I have lived here for nearly a year. I surely have changed my idea about Americans. I thought of Americans as being very rich people, throwing dollars away, chewing gum (which is true), carrying big cameras, and wearing wild flowery shirts. Furthermore, I thought that the education both at school and at home was not strict at all, and that the students were able to do whatever they wanted. I found that there are not only
I got this picture of Americans because we see many American movies which do not always give a very realistic picture; we read most of your popular magazines, which stress the sensational things rather than the important things. The same is true with newspapers. Most of us AFS'ers expect to find a gangster on every corner in Chicago; also, we see many Americans who work for your government in the Netherlands. I suspect that many of them are living on expense allowances a n d therefore spend money more freely than they would if it were their own money. Now I have learned that I had a totally wrong picture. Therefore I think that exchange programs, between different nations, such as the American Field Service, are wonderful because you come to know people of different nations and begin to understand them better.
From my experiences I would say that the American Field Service program furthers the ideal as stated in their motto: "Walk together, talk together, all ye peoples of the earth. Then, and only then, shall ye have peace."