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General Info | Contacts | Role

Groetjes uit Phoenix, Arizona! I’m Marni Patterson (Potter back then (marnip@cox.net)), and I’ve volunteered to be the alumni contact for Belgium – class of ’74-’75. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I don’t know where life has taken the rest of you since we all returned. I know I still remember many of the experiences I had as if they happened yesterday.

People always ask me whether being an exchange student changes you. I always tell them, “Once you’ve been there, you never look at the world the same again.” I’ve been lucky to be able to use what I learned in my career. I’m the Manager of International & Partner Marketing for a software company that just opened an office in Düsseldorf, Germany. So, I get to apply what I learned while building relationships with our resellers, distributors and partners throughout the world.

What are you doing, and what have you been doing since we all got back? Please contact me and send pictures we can add to this page. Here are some I found when I went through my archives. A few even have other YFUers in them (both American and Belgian). While you’re looking for your pictures to send, read on for a blast from the past….

Do you remember…….
Trappist? (How could you forget? If you could drink two and still ask for the third, they’d give it to you free!)
Fritten met mayonnaise (and the extra pounds you brought home because of them)
Fresh bread from the bakery every morning
Soup at every dinner
Sandwiches for breakfast
No school on Wednesday afternoons
The class trip to Italy or Paris at Easter time
The YFU trip to London
Riding a bicycle---everywhere
People apologizing because they didn’t speak English (and then speaking it perfectly)
Friendly people going out of their way to show you their country
Football games where the players actually use their feet
Speak French…no Dutch! (Oh heck. Speak English. It doesn’t offend either side).
Belgian parties (nuf said)
La Bamba at Belgian parties (ditto)
Trips with family or friends within Belgium or elsewhere in Europe
Realizing there was so much you still wanted to see and do, but you were scheduled to leave in a month
Seeing your family hold back tears as they watched you about to leave the Hamburg airport
Saying goodbye to everyone, but knowing you’d come back.